Katy Trail

Last week - you know, when we got TWO, ACTUAL days of fall, I decided to ride the Katy Trail.

There's a delightful town 10 miles away called Hartsburg with a cute cafe: Dotty's Cafe. Michelle and I rode there and back in the spring and it was lovely. She hooked the girls on her bike trailer on her bike.

THIS time, I decided to be nice and offered to pull the girls behind MY bike. We even borrowed a bike trailer from Neighbor Joe, who was a sweetie to offer it and to instruct us on how to use it.

Well... we drive to the trail (because Jeff City isn't smart enough to have a pedestrian/bike connection to inarguably the BEST idea Missouri has ever had - although it's rumored to get one next year) and hook up the bike, trailers, and girls (a 20 minute process).

I gleefully get on my bike, push one pedal forward and think, "Dear... God..." Adding 50 pounds of toddlers makes biking a less than pleasurable activity. Not wanting to look like a weenie, I carry on and after taking the first mile or so to convince myself I can, actually, make it to Hartsburg and back (total mileage: 20) while dragging the girls, I start to enjoy myself. The scenery along the bluffs is breathtaking. We ate a lovely meal at Dotty's Cafe (everything there is good) and played around in town for a while. When we try to load the girls up for a second trip in the trailer, they were not pleased.

The ten miles back was continual fighting, crying, pushing, pulling toys (and possibly biting) between poor Sophie and Anna who were both well past their nap time and smashed together so closely a blade of grass could not have passed between. At mile four, I gritted my teeth, ignored the scenery, and booked it. I pulled energy out of goodness knows where in order to GET HOME AND GET THE GIRLS OUT OF THERE. To add insult to injury, Anna fell asleep the last ten minutes and chose not to nap later in the day. Fun.

Would I do it again? Heck yes! With both girls in the same trailer? Never, never, ever again!

A closing story from the first time we rode last spring. We get nearly to Hartsburg and a pair of bikers says something like, "those must be the girls who lost their shoes." Both Michelle and I look at each other then look down at the kid trailer. Sure enough, Sophie had pulled off both her shoes and chucked them both out of the trailer. Evidently, her water bottle as well.

As we ate in Hartsburg, other riders commented on the shoes. Evidently, the shoes got a lot of attention on the trail. Here's why:


This is what we found waiting for us on the return trip by the Claysville Store sitting on the trail - about two miles outside of Hartsburg. Some kind soul had gathered them up and placed them where we'd see them.
Too cute.

First Cute Hair Day!!!

Anna kept her hair up "hayr oup" ALL DAY TODAY FOR THE FIRST TIME!

And did she look cute?

Oh yes she did!

(Just saying.)

Over the River and Through the Woods

To Granny's House We Go!

We took a trip to Granny's ("Geenies") house yesterday on the train. It was a quick visit just to spend some time with cousin Molly and Ben, who were delightful to see, as always. Molly loved me especially much this trip... (goofy grin on RiRi's face right now).

It was a day of mass transit for the Stokes Family because Daddy flew to Boston today for work. We will miss him terribly (even though I did my usual MASS, RUSHED, CLEANING of the house - including mopping the kitchen floor despite my travel fatigue - because I have that weird thing about the house being MINE ALL MINE for a few days). Poor Daddy was supposed to go yesterday but was still recovering from a mystery illness. Poor Daddy. I'll blog about that tomorrow and I hope you all pretend that I did it WHILE he was sick since it was supposed to be a blog to make him feel better!

Anyway, here are some pics from the train ride:

Here is Anna snacking her way across mid-Missouri. We spent the whole time in the dining car. Having been on the train the morning before, I'm sure Anna was thinking: Just TRY to get me into a seat, lady!


And here she is sitting ON the table. Because... well, why not?
Notice our things are also on the table in the back of the shot. We took over three empty tables in the otherwise empty dining car.

Our only visitor was some crazy guy who said weird things like, "you'll have one more" and "what's going on with your brother?" and then read my palm. Thankfully, he wandered off to be off-kilter somewhere else :-).

I miss the family in "the lou" but am oh so happy to be back in my own bed.
Till next time...

Uncle Joshy = the WORLD FAMOUS CHEF!

Uncle Joshy made the Daily News in New York!

Click on the link above to see the article.

Famous one week and a daddy the next (probably)
Go Joshy!!!

A Word About Daddy...

Was there ever a girl so loved by her Daddy than Anna?

I drove to and from St. Louis this Saturday for Mary's baby shower and was super excited about a day off work. ALSO, daddy was excited all week about his "daddy and daughter day"! I drove out of Jeff City having full knowledge that Anna would be fine, if not better off, for a day without me and with her other best friend.

I even took the back roads because the scenery is better (including the ugliest dog I'd ever seen in a kennel in the back of a truck - turned out to be a sheep - well, of course). I listened to a book on tape because I COULD and I did NOT have to listen to kiddo music!

Anyway, they had a great day together!
Here's to ALL the daddy's in my life! Hip Hip Hooray!
And a big shout out to Anna's daddy, the sexiest, most wonderful, silliest daddy around!


"Gonna catch me ridin' daddy, gonna catch me ridin' daddy!"



Who is in the tent?


Two goofballs!

Other Daily Hip Happenings

Today we went to the Y so I could swim my laps. We didn't go for a while after the triathlon this summer because I was swimmed-out! So Little Miss Anna Banana Pants was not as familiar with this Y as she is the spin class Y

When I brought her to swimming Y three weeks ago I left her sitting at her little table, eating her snack, as is her Y tradition. When I got back almost an hour later, she was still sitting there! The lady in charge said she sat there the whole time!!!

This is Anna, I'm talking about. The girl who can't sit still for 5 minutes! I sat her down at the Y today with her snack in front of her, kissed her and walked out. Came back a while later, and there she is, still sitting - again. It makes my heart melt and feel a tinge of sadness at the same time. I think, "My poor baby just sat there. What was she thinking? What was she feeling?" But part of me knows!

Just like her momma, Anna is a BIG extrovert, but just like her momma and daddy, once surrounded by people, we draw in and observe. So I know what she was doing that whole time. Watching. Observing. Thinking. Learning. Wondering.

On another note, Anna's language is just amazing now. 5 word sentences, all the time: "No Anna turn do self" (It's my turn to do it, myself). "See oneand Anna in miwwa" (Saw another Anna in the mirror).

Her favorite things to do:
-Watch "Lella" (Cinderella) (Still)
-Pull the cushions off the couch and jump as well as jump off anything
-Dance (And oh boy you should see the creative moves she has!)
-Listen to music (I have her music CD in the car and we listen to the same song about 7 times before she gets distracted by something and forgets to say "mowa" to play the song again.
-She loves to get in her "seep sack" at night always tell me "dawk" when daddy turns the lights off, then "hands out" (for some reason) when I lay her down then "up happy" or "sun owt" depending on if it's nap or bedtime.
-She still rubs/twirls her hair whenever tired or needing comfort.

-She currently hates taking baths or getting her hair put up (so much for her being extra girly). She wants her hair up infrequently, then pulls the rubber band right out.

-She has an overly dramatic way of saying NO if she's upset: "Nowe, nowe, nowe, nowe, nowe, nowe, nowe, Nowe" on and on in the most pathetic tone complete with shaking her head side to side at times. So very daytime talk showesque.

-She is definitely in charge at the moment, "NO ANNA do dat!"

She marvels me with new words learned everyday and she's getting so good at letting me cook or do other tasks while she plays alone. What a good ageNow-So-Terrible Twos!