10 Things

I didn't send my boys 1200 miles away just so I could get a much needed break. Mostly I did it for my mom (she needed the company), but also for all those wonderful things they could experience being some place new. Here are 10 things they have done/seen/learned so far.

1. Took a ferry boat across the Mississippi. Yes this is something we could have done the many times I have driven the boys to visit my parents, but I never thought much about it.

2. Making home-made noodles. I just don't have the patients or equipment to do this at home.

3. Experience small town life. We live in the city, and there are a lot of perks that go along with that. But there are drawbacks too, and I'm glad my boys get to see how simple life in a small town can be.

4. Visiting the Hulston Mill. My dad is in charge of restoring it, so they have been spending a lot of time there.

5. Building a damn. They wanted to do this at home, but we don't have any streams around here they could use. Luckily, there is a perfect little stream running behind the Mill.

6. Lunch in St. Louis with their cousins. They usually only get to see their cousins once a year, but since they were so close they arranged a day visit.

7. Building a birdhouse. My dad is something of a wood worker, and has this awesome shop set up. He gave Nico some spare pieces of wood and nails, and let him build the roof to a birdhouse. Lucas gave up quickly, after smashing his thumb a couple times with the hammer.

8. Learning to sew. Well, Nico learned to sew, after a tear developed in one of his stuffed toys. He found he enjoyed it, and continued on to sew a pillow.

9. Discontinuing bad habits. Lucas has successfully stopped sucking his thumb, thanks to some helpful advice from his Bushia (Bushia is Polish for grandmother).

10. On a walk to the park, they saw a deer hanging in some one's front yard, half way through the process of being skinned. They walked over to take a closer look, and Nico now knows what the inside of a deer looks like. This is something they would have never seen here in the city.