Grammy and Poppa's with Sam

We spent the week surrounding Memorial Day in St. Louis with Uncle Andrew, Aunt Abby, Sam, Grammy, Poppa, Tante Janet and Uncle Randy, Uncle Rich and Uncle Ben. It was a great trip. We were able to take advantage of free babysitters to go out to lunch and enjoy time together with family. Aunt Abby and I even got to have Starbucks several times without thinking about the kids!!! What a treat! More than anything I am so thankful for such a wonderful family that is so close and loves my daughter so much. It is overwhelming to realize how much she is loved. We already miss everyone very much and can't wait to see them again soon. Most of all we hope to see Aunt Erin very soon since she couldn't be with us.

It was so fun to have more time with Tante Janet!

Sammy is a snuggler and nothing makes Aunt Becky happier than when Sammy wants to snuggle!!! Did I mention that I love this little guy SO much?!!!

Emma just loves Uncle Rich. We are so thankful to have seen him twice in the past two months.

Tante Janet, Uncle Randy and Emma Kate

Grammy's little girl!

Grammy's little boy!

Uncle Rich was so thrilled to see Sam after such a long time!

It was wonderful to have so many people that wanted to help take care of Emma and so special to see how much they love her.

Emma enjoyed lots of quality time with Tante Janet. We wish she could spend that time with Emma every week!

For his birthday Poppa's staff gave him two swings for the yard. The little ones loved swinging and having lots of people cheer for them and make silly faces at them.

Grammy and Poppa took the kids on walks around the neighborhood in a double stroller. Boy did this make me glad I don't have twins.

All clean! Emma has a Duck towel at Grammy's.

Uncle Randy came all the way from Denver at the end of the trip to meet Emma! Thanks for making the effort at such a busy time, Uncle Randy!

These two little ones definitely did not lack attention.

Emma loves her Uncle Ben!!! We sure did miss Aunt Erin and hope to see her soon.

Emma learned how to give kisses while we were gone. She was obsessed with giving Aunt Abby kisses on her nose. One of the greatest moments of my life was when Emma turned to me and gave me a kiss all by herself. It was wonderful!

I just love him so much...he is the most precious little boy! He LOVES to play with blocks and trucks. Emma plays with dolls and people. Emma did not touch a single one of his trucks the whole time.

I looked over at Emma and she was waving to everyone in the room...she is practicing her princess wave. She enjoyed all of her time with Poppa and even cuddled with him several times.

We tried to get a picture of Great Grandma with both kids...you can see how that turned out!

Getting ready for the pool...Emma has her cover-up on and Sam was showing her how to roll the ball back to Uncle Andrew.

Sam is Aunt Becky's "Little Sack of Sweet". I could just eat him up and could not get enough of him last week. I miss him so much.

Pool time was a great success and so much fun for the kids. They played for 45 minutes with the ducks and measuring cups.

We were able to put the pool on the screened in porch...no bees or sun...what a great place!

He is just the sweetest thing. I could just scoop him up and kiss him to pieces!

The air conditioning was broken for the first three very hot and humid days we were in St. Louis. The kids played in diapers all day. Emma loved to play with the xylophone. You can see the hammer in her hand. They played very well together.

Uncle Andrew is a circus!

Emma took lessons from Sam on how to play alone. He plays alone for an hour and as long as he was playing next to her, Emma was happy to play with toys. As soon as Sam went away, Emma wanted to have someone pay attention to her. I told Aunt Abby that we may have to rent Sam out on an hourly basis.

The roses were beautiful.

Emma is again playing with a blade of grass. Sam wasn't too sure about the grass...it was hot and the grass was rough.

Here is a video clip of the kids in the pool...so fun!