Joplin

My little blog break last week was due to the fact that the kids and I decided to drive down to Joplin so we could hang out with Mike during his work week there.
Erin's birthday was on Thursday and she really wanted to be able to see him on that day! Not just talk on FaceTime.
So the kids and I piled in the car on Monday and headed down.

Mike was nice enough to bring our bikes down in his truck the day before so we could go bike riding while he was at work.

We were able to hang out at the pool there a few days as well.
And get our back to school supply shopping done.

 Finally turned seven on the 31st!

One of the things she wanted to do on her birthday was go to the mall and get a new pair of shoes. "High heels". I had been dragging my feet on that one. And I was actually looking at cute little flats, when I turned around and saw her putting these on. They look a lot like tap shoes with square heels except the heel, strap and bottom are a sparkly silver which you can't really see in the photo. As I watched her walk in them, I knew she would be ok. So we got them. And of course, she had to wear them right away.

And I will also say this...she walks a heck of a lot better in heels than I do!

Later that night we went to a local favorite pizza place for dinner. I like this picture of Erin and Mike getting a selfie on her new ipod touch.

We also picked up cupcakes so we could sing "Happy Birthday" down by the pool.
She said it was one of the best birthdays ever! :)

When we arrived home on Friday, Mike and Evan headed down to the Cardinals ballgame that night, and I took Erin to Barnes and Noble. They had a "Frozen" night for kids...

and she wanted to wear her new Elsa costume, new shoes and bring her new Olaf doll.
It was super chaotic there, so we just looked at books and then went to get her birthday treat in the cafe. That was enough for us. It had been a long week!

Now we are home and getting back to routine. But we had a great time!