Meramec Caverns Camping Trip

Wade and I took the kids camping this weekend to Meramec Caverns. It was a short trip, but it was a lot of fun. I hadn't been to Meramec Caverns since I was pretty small, but surprisingly my memory was pretty accurate. The only big difference being that I wasn't claustrophobic when I was little. And I couldn't believe that it bothered me being in the cave. It's a large cave. Nothing at all confining. But I made it, and it was really neat. The kids really liked it as well. The Stage Curtain

The Wine Table

Before climbing the stairs to the wine table we were told that the climb can be hard. And that if we didn't feel that we were up to climbing 58 stairs we could skip this small part of the tour. So after their warning speech about the 58 stairs, the ranger asked if there was anyone who felt that they could not climb the 58 stairs and Sofie yelled at the top of her lungs "Me!"...

Sofie is holding a frog.

A rough week...

I try to keep my whining to a minimum. But my last week, it has been rough to say the least. It all started when we went on a family bike ride. Belleville has a very large community bike ride. It is called the Tour de Belleville. It's a night ride, and it's for families. And it is strictly for the experience, not a race. So Wade, Noah, and I signed up for the ride. Sofia and Rylan were participants by riding attached to Mommy's bike in our cycling trailer. At the Tour de Belleville, Noah and I wrecked our bikes. Noah hit a sewer cover at full speed and hit the ground hard. I was to close and going to fast down the hill. I managed to avoid Noah, but I ran over his front tire and completely wiped out. Wade rescued me and wisked me off to the emergency room. It was a Saturday night and my road rashed knees, elbows and dysfunctional wrists were understandably not a priority. But all in all we were in and out relatively quickly. And the news was good. No broken wrists, no shattered knee cap (Yes! The doctor actually thought that!). Just a whole lotta road rash, sprained wrist and a bunch of bruises. That was the start. On Monday, I did the forbidden. I wrecked Wade's brand new truck. And it as all my fault too! Kids fighting in the backseat, not paying enough attention... Luckily, it was a minor fender bender. So how much worse could it get, right? I soon found out, we got home and discovered that Mia and Jamaica had eaten rat poison. So off to the emergency animal vet for us. After some vomiting medication and a whole lot of activated charcoal, we were sent on our way. Again, another positive, we caught it before the symptoms alerted us that something was wrong and the girls seem to be fine. The symptoms of this particular poison will manifest within 2 weeks, so keep your fingers crossed that all continues to be normal. Here's another positive, I have some cute shots from the bike ride. And I'm gonna post them for you...


Rylan hated his bike helmet. Sofia was trying to cheer him up.

Daddy Babysitting...

Last night Sofia and I ran to Wal-Mart for a few things. When I came home this was the scene. That's adult swim in the background. The particular program is Family Guy.

Fourth of July

This was the extent of our Fourth of July. Smoke bombs, snakes and bumblebees in the culd de sac. (I looked the spelling of culd de sac up. That's really how you spell it!) There were a few large fireworks going off around us, but all we could see were trees. The kids still loved it. Rylan even told Wade and I that "we should set fireworks off every year at this time." So from here on out the Trapp Family will have fireworks on the Fourth of July! :)

Kirkwood Pool...

Last weekend, Steve, Julie, Emma & Audrey were in town, so we all met up at the Kirkwood Pool for a day in the sun. Wade even joined us after riding to the pool on his bike. That's a pedal bike, not the forbidden motorcycle.