Evangeline Turns 3 (part 1): St. Louis, the Zoo and Mizzou Homecoming

Last week we celebrated our first little girl's third birthday. Evangeline is growing so tall she is 31.5 lbs and 36 inches tall. She wears size 8 shoes and 3T clothes. She doesn't eat a lot of diverse foods but she gradually is adding food. She can write her own name and knows all her colors. She also knows about 30 words in French. She loves people, and is very helpful. She loves dinosaurs, princesses and super heroes. But most of all she loves her little sister.

At Chesterfield Central Park with James.

Roger and Margery.

Hide and seek in the sculptures.

Her birthday began with a celebration with our friends the McCommis Family who live in St. Louis. We miss them here in Columbia, but try to see them every other month when we head to St. Louis. First we went to a park in Chesterfield, MO for a play date, and then headed back to the McCommis' house. Evangeline and James blew out candles together.

Brenda and I met in our birth class and James and Evangeline are three days apart in age. We also introduced Margery to James's little brother Roger. Roger was born in February he's 8 months old but was early so he am Margery are pretty close in size. Roger loved this. We had a delicious dinner and cupcakes that Kyle, James's daddy made.

All the kiddos rolling on the ground.

The 3-year-olds and their cupcakes.

Playing with James.

Instant Friends.

The Perreault girls and the McCommis boys.

We picked my parents up at the St. Louis Airport and headed to a Starbucks for a little snack before heading to the St. Louis Zoo. Brenda, James and Roger met us for part of our time there. It was Margery's first zoo trip.

St. Louis Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Wiggins.

Over the bridge, walking to the zoo.

Trying to look for ducks.

Margery and Grandpa.

Margery and Mama.                                                    Our little River Otter.

 Friday Evangeline had cupcakes at school for her birthday. She insisted on wearing her cupcake dress. Grandma and Grandpa took her to ride the carousel at the mall.

Saturday we got up early and all went the University of Missouri Homecoming Parade. Evangeline hung out with her friends Siri and Eliot. We were also joined by some of her friends from La Petite Ecole. The kids loved the parade, as well as the candy, beads and footballs they collected from the people in the parade.

Waiting for the parade.

Margery's first Parade with her daddy. She thought the drums were a little too loud.

Collecting candy in Elsa bags.

Catch Up Time

I feel like I am always playing catch up.  The month of June was a whirlwind with Greg teaching a Summer Class and me taking my last (required) class ever. We also took a few trips to St. Louis and my sister Sarah came to visit for a week. Our first trip was for a Cardinals/Nationals Game and to visit our friends the McCommis Family. Our second was to go to the St. Louis Science Museum with Aunt Sarah.

Sarah was so helpful helping us to organize and eliminate things from the downstairs area. We also had a lot of fun doing things together. So grateful she came to visit. 

There are a lot of exciting things going on at the Perreault home as we prepare for our little P-Nut to arrive. We also will be welcoming Greg's sister Edgerly to Columbia in July as she took a job here with a local bank branch.

Here's a few photos of our June adventures.

Dinner out with PhD friends at Las Margaritas. E dressed accordingly.

Father's Day weekend at the Cardinals/Nationals Game.

We had a great time, and the Cardinals won. E loves baseball.

Spending time with our friend James after an overnight in St. Louis.

We love our friends James and Brenda. It was great to spend some quality time with them.

Family time at VBS "Wilderness Escape"

Aunt Sarah and E at Little Mate's Cove in Como.

E dancing with a rainstick at VBS.

At the Science Museum in St. Louis with Aunt Sarah.

Learning about how fish turned into Lizards in the Mississippi River.

Saying goodbye after a great week!

Grandma Carri's Visit

Here's a book of photos from Grandma Carri's Labor Day weekend visit. We had a great time at the St. Louis Zoo, at the Splash park and St. Louis arch park during her visit. We also got to watch Greg complete his second Heart of America Marathon. Go Greg! Anyhow enjoy the photo book below.

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Spring Time- March, April, early May

Spring has been very busy at Chateau Perreault. We had a visit from the Varner family and a lot of adventures around Columbia and St. Louis. It was also a landmark season for birthdays, I turned 30 in April, my dad turned 60 in April (in Texas), and Evangeline turned 18 months bringing more parenting challenges. Several of our family friends are moving this summer, which makes us sad. But we've been spending a lot of quality time with them. It was really cold this spring. Most days were 50 degrees or colder. That meant that our outside time was limited to the warmer days.

Getting quality time in with Claire at the playground in our neighborhood.

Evan and Claire playing at Claire's house.

James and Evangeline take a trip to Shelter Gardens.

My birthday outfit from Mom and Dad.

Evangeline and the shirt she won from Lately Lily.

Evangeline recently learned how to blow bubbles.

And met some fire fighters.

And went to the University of Missouri Vet School Open House.

Here she is playing with James again at Barnes and Noble.

And Wishing Grandpa Will a happy birthday.

And cuddling with her super hero daddy.

She has really gotten into stickers.

Meeting baby Gabe Varner.

Another thing she loves is the swing.

Evangeline has grown so much. She is saying a number of words and really interested in Potty Training. We hope to start that sometime this summer. She loves being outside. Especially playing on the playground slide and swings. She is learning to love drinking things other than milk and water. She tries to taste almost anything with a straw.

She loves cookies and asks for one when she sees anything that looks like a cookie. She asks to "swing" "slide" "walking." She lets you know when she needs "help," gets "stuck," or wants "more." She also says "please" and "thank you" which makes me so happy.  I love having a polite little girl, even if she is a toddler and uses the word "mine" a lot too. She's also started to say the names of her friends "James," "Claire," "Anne," "Gabe," and her teachers and friends at school.

Nine and all mine

Evangeline is nine months old! We can't believe all she is doing. She's walking, talking and eating finger foods.

We are so blessed.

Her favorites include bath toys, baby dolls and stuffed animals.

She's extremely social, waving hi and bye to everyone. She is singing along with musical toys, dancing to music and laughing at dogs.

She loves food pouches--specifically banana. She's a growing girl. Below are some photos from our adventures this month

James and Evan playing

Our little Laura Ingalls- We have been reading
The Little House on the Prairie

Standing by the St. Louis Arch,
Great way to celebrating being able to walk.

Hanging out with my stuffed animals,
and talking to them

Making Mommy Smile

Zoo Trip No. 2

Last week we went to the zoo with our friend Crystal and her daughter Claire. The drive to St. Louis was totally worth it. We saw the giraffes, zebras, elephants, hippos, penguins, chimpanzees and gorillas.

When we met the gorillas, one beat on the glass and scared Evan and Claire. He was so close you could have touched him had there not been glass.

We also got pretty close to the penguins. One was floating in the water with his beak right next to the glass well. Evan laughed at him for about five minutes.

Below are some photos from our trip.

Evan and I with the Zebras

Evan and the Chimp eating

Claire and her mom in the penguin house

Evangeline and Claire were pooped after the zoo.