Weekend Recap: Memorial Day Weekend

I just love long weekends, don't you? I seriously think I could have Andrew home every day with us and not get sick of it {I think}. I just love family time and this weekend was no different.  It was a busy three days but oh, how I loved them!

Saturday we started early to make the trip to St. Louis.  It is only about two hours away but we weren't sure how hot it would get and we also weren't sure how crowded the zoo would be.  We left our house around 7:00 that morning and let the boys have milk and donuts in the car while they watched Jungle Book. {appropriate given the zoo day, am I right?}

I am really glad we got there early. It wasn't too crowded yet but the workers said it was generally one of their busiest days each year.  

We took our double stroller but the boys were not having it.  They wanted to walk and take it all in.  We did the reptile house and monkey house first.  Beau was so funny. As soon as we walked into the monkey house he started making his little monkey noises! Ha!  We really did see quite a few animals. The only disappointment was the penguins and bear exhibits were closed.  The bears are always my favorite because they are generally really playful and I think the boys would have loved that! We were there almost 4 hours and the boys walked a lot of it.  After the train ride and a snack though, they succumbed to the stroller.  Beau got a look on his face when we were viewing the elephants that said, "I'm done. We can leave anytime."

After the zoo we headed to Forest Park to have a picnic.  I don't love eating out all day long and I hate fast food so I packed a picnic lunch for us instead.  It was a really beautiful day.  Sunny with a breeze, high of 80.  We could not have asked for a more perfect day.  Our boys were fading fast after lunch so Andrew and I decided to head to Springfield.  We needed Benjamin Moore paint and the drive would allow the boys to nap.  We got our paint and went to the mall for awhile.  I could spend hours at the mall but the mall with two little guys is not the mall experience I enjoy if you know what I mean.  ;)

Check out how tired Beau was!

We had an early dinner before heading home. I don't think this mama really took into account all the walking (5 hours) and driving (5 hours total) that we were going to do.  Needless to say I was wiped.  As were our kids. They were in rare, but hilarious, form at dinner.

Sunday had been set aside to begin to tackle our outdoor project.  I mentioned on Friday that we were going to be finishing up the sprucing up of our outdoors.  The boys and I played outside and we got to work.  Our plans were delayed a tad due to the 30% chance of rain that turned into 100%. {Sorry, Andrew} About nap time though the rain stopped and I got to work priming the shutters.  My mom got to come over for a visit so the boys woke up to Gammy being there, which they loved! We spent the rest of the day playing outside and painting.  Andrew was going to grill but the thought of some burgers and ice cream sounded much more appealing so my healthy dinner went out the window and we walked to the Burger Joint in town.  When you are outvoted, you are outvoted.

Monday was a gorgeous day.  It was much more humid and sunny than Sunday so the boys got sunscreen immediately, even though it was early in the day.  I got water guns and buckets and their water table ready.  They were so funny squirting us all.  Hudson "washed" his car {cozy coupe}, bike and all our cars too! Beau was content to dump cups of water everywhere! After three hours outside, we hot, tired and hungry! My mom and I grabbed Subway and we all packed up and went to the lake for a picnic.  {We love picnics and eating outdoors.  I love the fact that my kitchen doesn't have to be cleaned up!} After our picnic, I gave our boys a bath. Yes, a mid-day bath, they were THAT filthy and sweaty from playing outside that morning!!

I got some things done around the house during nap and Andrew finished up our outdoor project.  I was just going to head out to take a picture when it started to POUR!!! We spend the rest of our weekend indoors playing and movie watching.

It was a pretty perfect weekend.  And, this morning, it was another gorgeous day so I popped out to take some photos! What do you think??

Here's before {again}:

And after:

Here are some close ups of the deets ;)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend with your loved ones, celebrating those who sacrifice so much!