10 years of wedded bliss - Aloha!

 Karl and I have been looking forward to a 10 year anniversary trip to Hawaii for, well, almost 10 years.  Our parents deserve MUCH thanks for their willingness to take care of the kiddos while we were gone.  We left Annika and Lauren in St. Louis with Gpa and Gma Pollack and we dropped Audrey and Sami off in Chicago to go to Michigan with Gpa and Gma Blankespoor. 

We had an amazing time.  Here we are at a luau in Kauai.  Too many pics to post, so click here to see more:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.2349957746591.2114357.1179538192&type=1&l=346a67743d

October Happenings

Big fun with the Sprick family!

We dog-sat Smokey for a few days.  It took Annika a day to warm up to him, but by the end she didn't want him to leave. 

New serviceberry tree for the front yard!  For some reason our mums were out of control beautiful this fall - definitely in spite of my efforts, rather than because of my efforts. 

Car pool buddies Jonathan and Noah came over to watch a Carinals play-off game.  The table is in the corner so that they didn't have to miss any of the game while eating their dessert. . .

Aunt Lesley came for a quick visit.  Yeah!

Cardinals win, Cardinals win, Cardinals win!  Even the Botanical Garden celebrated with a red fountain. 

Aunt Lesley taught Annika how to knit.  Now Mommy needs a(nother) lesson!

I had to do a lot of convincing to get them to stick their hands into the pumpkins.  Must be girls or something!

Proud of their creations!

Aunt Lesley raked up a big pile of leaves for the girls to jump in.

Yes, these are the same costumes they wore last year. :-)  But aren't they cute?!

A stop at the Goodmans was a must.

Lauren turns 5!

Lauren's cake of choice was the "butterfly cake." 

New scooter!

Can you guess which gift came from us and which came from Grandma and Grandpa?  I'm pretty sure the princess dress was a bigger hit (no pun intended) than the Cards t-shirt. 

High fives all around!

A birthday trip to the new neighborhood playground.

The Magic House was having a special costume day on Lauren's birtday so the two of us went for the morning.  The Lewis and Clark trail (below) is only open to ages 5 and up so Lauren was pretty excited that she was old now enough to embark on the adventure. 

There's a reason birthday decorations are WAY cheaper at the dollar store.  Read the top sign carefully. 

Karl's birthday marathon

 Karl was crazy enough to sign up to run a marathon on his birthday.  The route went within walking distance from our house so the whole family came out to cheer him on. 

 Way to go, Daddy!

 Post race birthday celebration - you've earned it!

 Daddy and his girls.  Best birthday present ever.

Enjoying Parks with Grandpa and Grandma

It has been a long time since we've been to Elephant Rocks (last time with you, Mandy).  It was so much fun to see the girls get into climbing on the giant rocks.  I would have LOVED this park as a little girl. 

 Lauren couldn't wait to climb to the top. 

 Love this pic.

 Exploring is great fun. 

 Picnic lunch on a beautiful fall day.

 Johnson's Shut-Ins was destroyed when the dam broke a few years ago.   Hence, the sign.  It took 3 years to rebuild. 

 The water was cold, but the girls didn't mind.

 Karl, Grandpa, and the older girls camped overnight.  After our church retreat camping experience we kept the twins at home. 

 Smokey - fearless guard dog! 

 Fall Family Fun Day at Forest Park

 Lauren's ready to catch a big one!

We were able to enjoy the last carriage ride of the day.