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.

Heading home from Florida

One more post from our trip to Florida. Here are photos from our trip home. We stopped in Live Oak for dinner with Greg's dad and his wife Rachel and then drove a few more hours. We stayed the night and then drove 12 hours back to Columbia. It was a long trip with a toddler and dog in the car, but we were grateful to be home.

On the swing.

"whoa!"

Hanging with her grandparents. Ready to sleep in the car.

My new favorite photo.

Another stop at Cracker Barrel.

St. Louis Arch. Only two hours left until home.

More photos from Catie and Danny's wedding

Here are a few more photos from Catie and Danny's Wedding that my cousin Rachel took. Rachel is so talented and she's a great photographer. Some of my favorite photos from family gatherings are ones that she took. Sadly, I'm just now getting around to sharing them. I'm really glad because I did not have any of our family from the wedding. Thanks again Rachel.

Evangeline and her grandpa Will.

Our family.

Love this girl.

Angel eyes.

Florida Visit in March, Part 2

We enjoyed park play time and visiting our friends Rose and Scott and their two little ones. Evangeline loves Allison (3) and Luke (1). Evangeline is right between the two of them and loved playing with them in the back yard with bubbles.

 

We also got to see our friends again at Church on Easter Sunday. Evangeline loved the Easter Egg Hunt at the Chapel and looked adorable in her Malley and Co. dress.

Bright sun on Easter Sunday on Palm Beach Island

Evangeline in her dress and the Intra-costal waterway.

Sitting in church before the service.

Easter Egg hunting with Aunt Edge.

Couldn't wait before the wrapper came off. So impatient.

Beautiful friend Rose and her son Luke. Me and Evangeline.

Allison and Luke with their eggs.

Evangeline and Luke.

Florida Visit in March, Part 1

In March we took our second trip driving down to Florida. With Wylie, Evangeline and our stuff in our small car the trip was not the most comfortable, but it was worth visiting Alabama and Florida to see family we had not seen since last summer. Here are some favorite photos from our trip.

We started the trip early to avoid an impeding snow storm. That meant we got an extra day in Birmingham with Edge. We also stopped in Live Oak to visit with G'ma Rachel for lunch on the way down.

Drinking "Milk" was our favorite car activity.

Enjoyed our multiple stops at Cracker Barrel.

Evangeline hiding at Momma Goldberg's Deli in Birmingham, AL

Evangeline loves her Aunt Edge.

Visiting G'Ma on the farm in Live Oak, Florida.

Meeting the goats.

Walking around in downtown Live Oak.

We finally arrived in West Palm Beach after two days of driving from Missouri. Evangeline loved the Florida "heat" although everyone we met thought it was really cold outside. In reality it was 50 to 80 degrees the entire time we were there. Which was great weather considering Missouri had a high of 38 during spring break.

Hanging out with Nana.

Spending time with Grandnana.

Walking to the park. Our daily outing in Wellington.

Evangeline loved the fountains all over Florida.

And the swings.

A shot with mommy. Someone looks tired.

Cuddled up in the pack and play with Sammy the frog.

Feeding and meeting Nana's fish.

In downtown West Palm Beach at City Place having Ritas's

Another trip to the park

She loves slides!

Playing in the baby pool with ducks.

Catching up again

I have not blogged here since March. There are several reasons for that:

1) This semester was the hardest one I have had in school. In my 20 plus years of school I can honestly say I have never worked harder than I did this spring.
2) Evangeline demands a lot more of my time and is increasingly more active.
3) I've just been trying to survive and get enough sleep to function as a PhD parent.

That said I'll be posting several blogs to bring you up to speed on the life of our family. We've been in Columbia most of the spring, but we did take a trip down to Florida during spring break to see Greg's parents, grandmother and sister. We also got to see my friend Julia get married and spend some time with our friends in Florida. Evangeline has grown leaps and bounds.