August Adventures

August was full of visits and visitors. Just how we like it!

Lisa started our adventures off (okay, technically she came toward the end of July but it's going in this blog post anyway) with a quick trip (literally - 13 hours after we picked her up, we dropped her back off at the airport) to see the visiting Rodin exhibit at the art museum with me. Rodin is most famous for his The Thinker sculpture.

We can't go to the art museum without a stop at the children's studio!

Tyler loves the puppet show theater there.

A few days later, Opa flew out for the weekend. A Nursery Leader back in his home ward, he had been looking forward to coming to our Nursery for a long time now. That was fun! And really good to have him here to visit (Tyler uses his swing lots now that you helped us hang it up!).

Is it kosher to take pictures at Church? Well, how else am I supposed to remember these cute kids when they're all 20?

The day my Dad flew out, Lisa flew back in for a longer stay (wahoo! She must have had fun earlier). Two of the reasons I love it when people visit are:

1 - To see Tyler (and the visitor) light up.

2- To have someone to play tourist with me.

Lisa and I made it to three attractions I hadn't yet been to.

We toured the Pettigrew House which is a beautifully preserved mansion up in a neighborhood of other such homes that I love to drive through and imagine their glory days 100 years ago.

 

It's an odd sensation to be in your car driving down a busy street only to look out the window and see a huge battleship resting in the grass like a big planter. So you can see why I've always wanted to tour the USS South Dakota museum. It was actually quite interesting and was a pretty important ship during WWII.

On every visit Lisa and I had noticed signs for a Japanese Garden so we decided it was time to find it. It turned out to be a very nice walkway with Japanese influenced gardens, pagodas, and lanterns all along a little lake. Someone really put a lot of time into making this little area of Sioux Falls quite nice and unique.

Goodbye Lisa, hello Kristen! The next weekend, Carrie's youngest sister came out during her break at BYU.

It was windy at the waterfall.

We took the free trolley tour all around downtown.

And found the tri-state marker. That's right, we were in South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota at the same time!

We explored the fair.

And went to a Superhero waterskiing show. I know, right? The things you can find to do in the middle of the prairie!

The weekend of the 22nd, we met up with Tyson's parents in Omaha. We got to stay in really nice accommodations on the military base thanks to Tyson's Dad. Everyone's been telling us how great the zoo is there. They were right! There is a cool aquarium, nice animal enclosures, pretty landscaping, and even a skyride over the some of the animals. I have to admit, if I had to be an animal at a zoo, I wouldn't mind living here.

Tyler mapping out our next move at the zoo.

The view is great up here!

And even better up here! A nice way to relax your feet at the end of a busy zoo day.

We were also able to go to the temple and visit the Kanesville tabernacle again. Then topped it all off with a picnic in a downtown park in Omaha, complete with feeding the swans.

My blankey and my Grandpa. Life is good!

Happy to spend so much time with family this month!

I Live Here!

Beautiful, Isn't it? I love how you can go anywhere in this world and find beauty, no matter what the landscape or climate. In this case, we ventured about 10-15 minutes away from our house and found these amazing colors.

July Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Carrie on July 9th and Tyson on July 26th! Both were days busy with either work or Church meetings, but we made the most of them.

For Carrie's birthday Tyson and Tyler arranged a scavenger hunt around the house where she got to discover 30 birthday coupons (i.e. sleep in for a week, 1 last minute dinner made by Tyson, etc.). Nice!

For Tyson's birthday weekend celebration, he and Carrie went to see Harry Potter 6 on their 2nd ever out-to-a-movie date since they moved to SD (Thanks Day family for babysitting Tyler!). Then to a pretty lake house in rural Chester, SD. (Really it was an engagement party for his co-worker, Cherlene, but why not call it a birthday celebration too?)

Happy Birthdays and many happy returns!

St. Louis

After an eventful 4th of July, Tyson's parents flew back to AZ and we stayed in St. Louis to spend some time with Justin and Michelle, who live here. Tyler was in heaven with his Aunt and Uncle's attention.

Tyler in a playhouse in a little park off J&M's apartment complex. With sticks.

Sunday we went to Church with J&M then drove around as they pointed out the sites of St. Louis. It really is a pretty city. Our evening walk through Forest Park with all the fountains and fireflies was my favorite site.

Monday we took Tyler to the St. Louis zoo, which is free! It was fun, and this pretty much sums up how the morning went -

No, I push it!

Hugging the pig at Pappy's. Best BBQ restaurant we've ever been to!

Swimming in Uncle Justin's pool

Yep, fill up the watering can just like that.

That's exactly how it works! Good job!

Tuesday morning we hit the Art Museum and the Science Museum (both also free!) before heading out later that afternoon. We drove halfway (through monsoon-like rain at times. Yikes!), stopping in Des Moines and stayed with the Jones family (thanks so much guys!) and got back Wednesday morning in time for Tyson to get back to work.

We really had such a fun trip. Thank you Justin and Michelle for the secret fireworks viewing spot overlooking the river and the Arch, the city tours, the Indian birthday dinner, the frozen custard (yum!), and for letting us stay with you! Miss you already!

Happy Missouri 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day!

We bade farewell to Nauvoo this morning, but before heading South to St. Louis, we stopped at Carthage Jail.

It was sobering to tour the jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith sealed their testimonies of the gospel. But we all appreciated how rather than dwelling on the martyrdom, all of the quote plaques out front were positive, focusing on the life of Joseph Smith.

Next, we made our way to Hannibal, MO - where Mark Twain lived and based his Tom Sawyer books.

We went with Tyson's parents on a river boat tour of the Mississippi. How fun! It was so easy to imagine it was 150 years ago and that at any minute Tom and Huck would float by on their raft.

Our river boat was full, but the top deck cleared pretty fast when the rain hit.

I don't mind a little rain!

Thouroghly soaked, but happy, we continued on our way to St. Louis.

Tyler settled in for the ride. Road trips are great if ice cream is included! (Though messy if the little boy decides to eat the cone before the ice cream...)

Justin and Michelle took us to watch fireworks over the Mississippi River tonight. We were right next to the famous arch on a non-crowded grassy hill with a perfect view of the firework barge in the middle of the river. It was truly a memorable 4th of July. I'm grateful to live in a country and at a time where we have the freedoms to do and make everything on this entire blog possible. We truly are a fortunate people living in a fortunate time.

Nauvoo

July 1st - Roadtrip! I have to admit, Tyson and I loaded the car with some trepidation at the start of our 7 1/2 hour drive to Nauvoo. We were super excited to go to Nauvoo, but apprehensive about our backseat passenger with a history of a 1 hour car tolerance. On the dot. Much to our surprise, Tyler actually did great on the car ride! The drive went well and we enjoyed the scenery - Iowa's rolling green hills really can be beautiful in July.

Speaking of beautiful, we arrived in Nauvoo that evening. Right as Tyson's parents had checked in. We unpacked, walked down the main street, and around the temple grounds. Justin (Carrie's brother) and Michelle arrived later that night. We were all staying in the same little hotel just down the street from the temple, The White House Inn, which made it nice for putting Tyler to bed and then playing games in a different room.

Tyler must have been really excited to be in Nauvoo because the next morning he popped right up in his crib and was raring to go. Did I mention this was at 4:30am? After several unsuccessful attempts to put him back to bed, I grabbed the stroller and took him out for an early morning walk. As much as I hated getting up so early, the quiet peace of morning in Nauvoo was one of my favorite parts of our trip. If I lived in Nauvoo, I would totally become an early morning walker (remind me that I said that when we're 70-year-old missionaries, Honey).

Ty loved the statues outside the Visitor's Center. Giving the little girl a hug of encouragement as she learns to walk.

Giving Daddy a kiss on the cheek.

"Look Mama! They're playing Ring Around the Rosies. Let's go play too!"

When everyone else woke up, we went down to tour the sites, go on the wagon rides, watch the shows ("Sunset By the Mississippi" is a must see. Those Senior missionaries are a hoot!), and shop Mulholland street. We did this for the two full days we were here. Tyson visited the Land and Records office and located the property where his ancestor lived. We drove past it and it's for sale! How cool would that be to buy back the property for his family again? Maybe someday...

Listening attentively to the Senior Missionary talk about his horse.

Feeding the sheep.

Stick pulling.

Those wagons are a lot smaller than I realized! The oxen were nice though.

The nice thing about vacationing with lots of family, is having lost of babysitting offers! Tyson and I were able to attend the temple while Justin and Michelle played with Tyler.

Thank you! You guys were a big help on our trip!

I'm so, so grateful for everything and everyone that went into the rebuilding of the Nauvoo temple. If you ever get a chance to go inside, don't miss it! Of course the outside is gorgeous, but it is also the most beautiful temple I have ever seen on the inside and the spirit of the pioneers is strong. Nauvoo, itself, has that special feeling. It is one of my favorite places on earth, and now one of Tyson's as well.

For Tyson's take on Nauvoo, check out his new blog - http://tysonp.blogspot.com/

Happy Father's Day - Three Generations

Three generations of Plastow men - Tyler, his Dad, and his Grandpa were able to celebrate Father's Day together. Tyson's parents managed to snag the very last two plane seats (they checked every single airline) from Phoenix to Sioux Falls to spend the weekend with us!

A day at the zoo.

Tyler really likes lemons, or rather, the reaction we give him when he pulls his lemon face.

Weekend at Winter Quarters

Since Carrie's Mom was in town, she babysat Tyler and sent us away for the weekend of June 6th-8th. Tyson did a great job teaching a workshop - A Peculiar People with Straightforward Answers - at Youth Conference, then we drove down to Omaha and attended the Winter Quarter's Temple together! We hadn't been able to do that before since it would require an all day babysitter for Ty.

The next day was Sunday and after sleeping in! we drove to the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Very cool.

I liked what the Senior Missionary said at the end of our tour. He said we wouldn't be able to remember everything he taught or showed us that day or in other visitor's centers, but he hoped we would remember the feelings we felt - the Spirit testifying of the truth. Simple, but profound. We were able to feel that same feeling as we attended Sacrament Meeting in a small branch in Omaha.

The view from our private patio at a B&B near the temple where we stayed. You can see both Iowa (where we were) and Nebraska (the hills over yonder) in this picture. AND we survived our first tornado warning. Scary.

This was our first time away from Tyler and we missed him. Although, you know what? It wasn't as bad as we expected. Several times a day we would wonder what he was doing or if he missed us, but when we got home, he happily greeted us then ran back to his Grandma. Hmmm. Guess he was okay without us. Thanks for babysitting Mom!

Happy 2nd Birthday Tyler!

Tyler's 2nd birthday was on June 4th. We can't believe our baby is 2 already! At his 2 year old check up he came in at 29 lbs (50th percentile), 3 feet tall (90th percentile) and very healthy.

We started the day exploring the Sioux Falls zoo. It is a small, but pretty zoo. We did the whole thing in just under 2 hours - complete with the train, the carousel, a petting zoo, and even a camel ride.

The cute 6 week old baby camel (we did not ride on the baby).

We picked up Carrie's Mom at the airport, showed her around the city and continued with the birthday celebrations!

Happy Birthday Ty! We love you so much!

Hotel Plastow

If you are ever passing through South Dakota, our home is always open! It was so fun to have Marc and Rebecca Jones and their little girls (friends from our BYU days) come stay the night on their way from Iowa to Washington. We will provide a grand tour of Sioux Falls, a deluxe air mattress (and pack 'n' play for the youngun's), breakfast, and travel itinerary suggestions (did you guys end up stopping at the Corn Palace?). Perhaps we should call it the Plastow Bed & Breakfast. How could you not want to stop and visit? :-) You are always welcome!

Tyler and Lucy kickin' it at Falls Park.