Elephant Rocks State Park

Yesterday we packed the kids up and headed down to Elephant Rocks State Park outside Graniteville, Missouri for some hiking and exploring. Elephant Rocks is a park comprised of giant granite boulders that stand end-to-end like a chain of circus elephants (according to the website). There are paved trails that go around the biggest formation (which make it really easy for kids), but plenty of off-the-beaten path trails, as well as tons of rocks to climb on, up, over and through. 

The park is about 90 minutes away from St. Louis, so it's a bit of a drive, but the kids did great in the car (for once) and Ryan and I had a chance to write down our massive pre-vacation to do list on the drive. We packed a lunch and our raincoats and planned to spend a few hours in the woods, hiking, climbing and exploring. We made it about halfway around the one-mile Braille trail when it started to pour on us. We high-tailed it back to the car, completely drenched, but laughing. We stripped off our wet clothes and ate our PB&Js in the car while we dried out. Once the rain let up, we changed into some dry clothes and headed back out to explore. 

The rocks in the park were really cool - there were so many neat formations with little tunnels, crevices, caves and gaps. There were overlooks at the top of the rocks and little ponds and boulder mazes off the main trails. Mac loved climbing on the rocks, jumping off everything and blazing the trail as fast as he could. Mim, on the other hand, picked flowers and took her sweet time exploring every little thing. These two seriously couldn't be more different. Occasionally, we'd make Mac stop and come back to see something particularly cool, like different types of moss growing on the rocks, snails and slugs we found, mushrooms and even some cacti! I've never seen a wild cactus in Missouri, so that was pretty exciting for me too. 

The rocks were mostly covered in moss this time of year and the rain made them slick in places. While it didn't stop Mac (or even slow him down), I'd love to come back over the summer when the rocks are dry, warm and pink. There's plenty to explore in this park - we didn't make it to the old railroad engine house or the abandoned quarry on the property, which would be fun to do next time. The park's located in the heart of the Missouri iron and granite mining area and we passed tons of mines, quarries and excavation sites on the drive down. 

Even though it was a bit of a drive just for a hike, we had a lot of fun at Elephant Rocks. Our cell phones didn't get any service in the area, so we weren't able to look for treasure, but we hiked and explored for about three hours before heading back home and they did great. Mim got a bit tired and crabby towards the end and immediately fell asleep in the car, which made for a very quiet ride back to the city. There are plenty of picnic tables and even a playground, so next time we know there's lot to do. Mac talked about how much fun he had on the giant rocks all night, so I'm sure we'll be back soon. 

What did you do this weekend?

Mac Says

While eating dinner:

Mac: Look how much food I ate. I ate almost all the food. That was a lot of food. Like 80 bites. My tummy's so full it's hot. Smoking hot. I think that means I need to go race. Who wants to race?!!!

Me: Mac, what's your favorite animal?

Mac: Stingray.

Me: What's your favorite color?

Mac: Green.

Me: What's your favorite food?

Mac: Junk.

Me: Mac, do you want to go to the grocery store with me?

Mac: No, I want to stay here with daddy. But how about you bring me home a cookie? 

Me: No, that's no the way it works. You don't get a cookie for staying home. 

Mac: Hmm...well that's going to be a problem. 

Greeting him after getting home from work:

Me: Hi honey, how was your day?

Mac: I'm not your honey, honey.

Mac: When I'm a thousand years old I'm going to be bigger than daddy.

Me: Well, maybe. You'll probably just be dead.

Mac: Yeah, probably because a dinosaur ate me. 

While geocaching around our neighborhood:

Me: I don't know, the next one is pretty far away.

Mac: Don't worry, I can handle it. I promise my butt won't get too tired as I sit in the wagon and you pull me.

Me: Mac, do you want to go with me to vote?

Mac: Do we get to go fishing too?

Me: No, we're going to stop and vote on the way to school.

Mac: Where's the boat?

Me: No, not boat...VOTE with a V, like velociraptor.

Mac: Will there be a velociraptor there?!!!

Me: No, just a place to vote. You just press a button.

Mac: Oh. No thanks.

After voting:

Mac: Well, that was boring. Why do grownups like doing boring stuff? They didn't even have toys or suckers.

When walking him into preschool, to his teacher:

Me: Sorry we're a few minutes late. Traffic.

Mac: It took FOREVER at that stupid stop sign. My mom hates that stupid stop sign. 

After school:
Me: You know, Mim missed you while you're at school. She asks where you are.

Mac: Sometimes I miss Mim when I'm at school. 

Me: Awwww...that's so sweet.

Mac: Well, I only missed her that one time. 

Mac: Hey mama, do you want to play that racing game with me?

Me: No honey, I don't really want to play right now.

Mac: It's ok that you're a really bad driver.

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mac: Daddy.
Me: You want to be a daddy?
Mac: No, my daddy.
Me: Do you know what your daddy does for work?
Mac: He's a grown-up so he has to go to meetings. It's so boring.

Me: What do you want to do today?
Mac: Let's go to Florida!
Me: That would be so much fun.
Mac: But Mim can't go. No sisters allowed.
Me: Can I go? Did you know that I'm someone's sister?
Mac: You're a sister? Ewwwwwww!!!

Me: What do you want for lunch?
Mac: Peanut butter and jelly!
Me: We're out of bread, sorry.
Mac: Ok. Guess I'll probably just starve then.

While attempting to tell him a joke:
Me: Knock knock.
Mac: Knock knock.
Me: No, I say 'knock knock' and you say 'who's there?'
Me: Knock knock.
Mac: Knock knock.
Me: Ok, who's there?
Mac: Who's there?
Me: Banana.
Mac: I DON'T WANT A BANANA!!
Me: Never mind.

During dinner:

Me: Eat your chicken.

Mac: How many bites?

Me: All of it. 

Mac: If I eat 80 bites of chicken can I have a cookie?

Me: 80 bites? Yes, probably.

Mac: How about 2?

Me: No.

Mac: Life's not fair.

While building a leprechaun trap:

Me: You know, leprechauns are really fast and sneaky. It's not easy to catch one.

Mac: I'm really fast too. Probably faster than a leprechaun.

Me: Well, don't be disappointed if we don't get one.

Mac: I think we will. And I'm going to keep him in the basement in a cage with my crickets and get him out and have races with him. I'll feed him potatoes and let him have all his friends over for dance parties.

Me: Hmmmm...

While picking out our nightly movie...

Me: How about The Good Dinosaur?

Mim: Arlo!! Arlo!! Dinosaur!!

Mac: I don't want to watch that movie, I want to watch the movie with the Iguanodon, where the the Quetzalcoatlus drops the egg and the  Xenotarsosaurus has all those teeth and the Diplodocus jumps up and eats those leaves and sneezes and the the Yingshanosaurus is really thirsty and the Coelophysis chases them away. You know, that one.

Me: Okay...

After nap:

Me: Hey, I think the neighbor girls are outside. Do you want to go out and play with them?

Mac: Ugh. I guess. They all want to play with me and I only want to play with Molly. 

Me: Hmmm...it must be hard being so popular.

Mac: Yeah, it really is. 

To Mim while he thinks I'm not listening...

Mac: Mim, do you want a cookie? Say you want a cookie. Do you want a cookie? Tell mommy you want a cookie. Cookie? Cookie?

Mim: COOKIE! COOKIE! COOKIE! COOKIE! COOKIE! 

Mac: Mama, Mimmy really wants a cookie and she ate all her food so we should get each get one. She's such a good eater. And I love her. 

At pre-school drop-off:

Me: Try to have a good day at school.

Mac: I'll try, but I'd rather just stay home and eat cookies all day. 

Me: Me too, kid.

At bedtime:

Mac: How about we read 5 books and 3 songs. 

Me: Two books and 1 song.

Mac: 7 books and 18 songs.

Me: 1 book and 1 song.

Mac: 1,000 books and 80 songs.

Me: 0 books and 0 songs.

Mac: A MILLION BOOKS!!

Me: I don't think you quite understand how negotiations work yet.

Mac: Am I winning?

Me: I love you, honey.

Mac: Yeah, I know. You say that all the time.  

Hooray! It's Opening Day!

Hooray, it's Opening Day! It's officially baseball season in the greatest baseball town in the U.S. of A. While the first official home game of the season may not be for another week, Cardinal fans across the city have been celebrating the return of our most beloved pastime all weekend long...us included!

I didn't grow up in St. Louis, but we were die-hard Cardinals fans nonetheless. Even as a kid with zero interest in baseball, the gymnast in me loved watching Ozzie Smith do back flips across the field and my brothers and I looked forward to my dad taking us to one special game a year...even if we were sitting in the nose-bleed section. Now that I'm married to a die-hard Cardinals fan and have been forced to appreciate the subtlety and beauty of the game, I have a whole new respect for baseball. I love going to games, sitting in the cheap (or super expensive) seats with a beer in one hand and a score card in the other. The excitement is palpable and Cardinals fans are definitely the best in the nation.

These two Cardinals cuties were born into a baseball loving family and little do they know that it all began at a Cardinals game many moons ago. My very first date with Ryan was a Cardinals baseball game. As was our second and third! We've celebrated so many special occasions since at Cards games, including our first year anniversary, my first Mother's Day, our first official night out post baby, our first night out post second baby and Mac's birthdays. 

We've also taken the kids to quite a few baseball games. Mac loves going to the games, but is sensitive to the noise - having noise-cancelling headphones make a big difference. Mim, on the other hand, loves the noise and the crowd, she dances in the aisle and is always the center of attention in her section. Plus, the endless supply of hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy certainly helps. Both kids love going to the games with us and we're hoping it's a tradition we can continue with them. 

If you have a hometown team that you love - please take some photos of your littles in their baseball best and link up with us below! For the next week, feel free to post adorable pics of your kids on your blog or use the hashtag #hoorayitsopeningday on Twitter and Instagram. We can't wait to see your kiddos supporting their favorite teams! 

Who are you rooting for?

An InLinkz Link-up