Cakeway to the West 15.2...

...Same trip continued!

Cake #232 Jersey County Courthouse

Cake #233 Calhoun County Community Foundation

Cake #234 Pere Marquette Lodge & Conference Center
Awkward! Walked inside and saw people holding trumpets so I walked out and BAM-there was the cake!

Cake #235 Aeries Riverview Winery

Cake #236 Piasa Bird
Very cool! Ate lunch at Fast Eddie's after this one...mmm, burgers, fries, Elwood on a Stick, and shrimp!!! Oh and did I mention for both of us, it was less than $15!?

Cake #237 Alton Visitor Center

Cake #238 Alton City Hall

Cake #239 Lincoln-Douglas Square and Franklin House

Cake #240 Robert Wadlow Statue
We had way too much fun at this one!

#olympiadhandstandcontest

#olympiadhandstandcontest #overachiever #almostpeedmypantslaughing

Cake #241 National Great Rivers Museum

Cake #242 Our Lady of the Rivers at Portage des Sioux

Cake #243 Castlewood
This wasn't on the same trip but one more cake found!

Our convo on the way home:

 

Sha: Today wasn't so bad. We didn't kill each other.

Me: I know, we're ready for the Amazing Race.

Sha: What?!

Me: We found twenty cakes, ran a marathon, ate ten shrimp, did handstands, and covered a ton of miles. I think we're ready.

Sha: I think we'd definitely be picked when they saw how we reacted when we got angry.

Me: Yeah, we'd never get picked. They'd have to bleep out every other word.

 

Maybe if we clean up our language, we'll be on the next Amazing Race? And we'll have the #cakewaytothewest to thank for it!

 

 

Ozeri 3x Tower Fan Review...

...Gotta love Missouri weather? Last week, I was wearing pants and hoodies and this week we're pulling out the shorts we'd already packed away! Luckily, I have this awesome Ozeri 3x Tower Fan so I don't have to turn the AC back on.

Upgraded with canted fan blades that utilize the physics of blade curvature to generate opposing sound waves to reduce blade noise and isolate the soothing sounds of the airflow itself.

Boasting unrivalled technology, the 3x Tower fan is engineered with 3 independently controllable fans and 3 fan speeds, offering up to 9 levels of cooling and customized airflow.

Defining the latest in stylistic innovation and digital decor, the 3x Tower fan is among the world's thinnest fans at less than 3 inches thick and boasts a visually arresting design with an elegant reinforced glass base stand.

Features 3 preprogrammed airflow patterns designed to foster sleep, relaxation and comfort with 90 degree whisper-quiet oscillation for optimal air circulation.

Extended range remote control and the touch sensitive LED control panel provide easy access to all features, including a 7.5 hour timer that can be programmed in 30 minute increments.

Of course, AR was curious about it but I loved that the vents over the blades were small enough that her little fingers couldn't get hit.

Girl loves wind in her hair!

Review:

I love how this revolving fan took up almost no space in the room and was silent to boot! The screen over the blades are great because my curious two-year-old kept wanting to touch them but luckily, there was no worry on my part. I also enjoyed the timer options and the option to use one, two, or all three fans!

*I received this product at no charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

Cakeway to the West: 15.1...

Last Sunday, just my sis and I went #cakehunting. We got up to 242...we are sooo close!!! Only ten-eleven more to go with the bonus cakes!!! Some cakes are already being taken down (the Busch Stadium one which is one of my favorite/funniest pics we've gotten) or other issues are going on with their areas so I'm glad we got as many as we have so far. I just hope the last few we need stay in place until we get them!

This trip was a little frustrating as some had been placed in locations we'd already been to. For instance, this first cake at Express Scripts has a cake right across the street that we'd already gotten. :-/

Cake #222 Express Scripts

Cake #223 Fountain Park/MLK Statue

Cake #224 Sumner High School

Cake #225 Annie Malone

Cake #226 First Baptist Church
We text this pic to my dad and said, "Look! We went to church!" All he wrote back was "God Bless You." Side note: I think this cake used to be a roaming cake.

Our next stop was smack dab in the middle of the #rocknrollmarathon So we stopped and ran a bit...realized we already had this cake and the one we were looking for was actually a few streets down.

Cake #227 Lafayette Square
No worries-we found it! Check out the runners in the background!

BONUS! Ameren Cakes!!!
We already had the one Ameren cake on right. Ameren donated a ton of money to this project so the cake on the left was located inside their facility and only available to their employees until NOW. So BOOM, got it!

Cake #228 America's Central Port/YMCA
First Illinois cake for the day!

Cake #229 Lewis & Clark State Historic Site
We realized that old people thought our shirts were cute, people our age thought it was dorky, and some people just thought it was our birthdays!

Cake #230 Confluence Tower
Discussions of handstands started here...wait for it...

Cake #231 Southwestern High School
OMG! We drove way out of the way to get this one that was in the middle of no where, sitting outside a football field in a town with a spray-painted sign with it's name on it. Seriously...

Stay tuned...

Halloween at the Park!!!

...This past Saturday, we met up with some of AR's friends at the park for a little Halloween playdate. As we were getting ready, AR wanted to clean the toilet...her request!!!

Once we were all ready, we met our friends and turns out we have quite a few superhero friends! It's always good to have some of those around in case of an emergency.

We recycled our mermaid costume from this summer and AR was a winter mermaid.

AR's bestie Emma was there although I feel like it's been YEARS since we've seen any of her friends!

They had this bouncey thing that AR loved!

Then she'd just climb to the highest part of the playground when I wasn't looking! No fear, seriously!

Me and my girl who I'm so grateful for these days. I mean I'm grateful for her every day but here lately things have been rough, just a lot of things going on with life in general, so when she grabs my cheeks and says, "Mommy, I love you" or "I missed you, Mommy" it means the whole world to me. Love you, baby girl!

Shoutout to Ang for organizing this and to all the mommas for the great treats!

2014 Cards #Postseason...

...On my wedding anniversary, Papa took us girls to the NLCS game 1 against the Giants. Unfortunately, we didn't bring home a win but we had a great time! Here's Papa with his granddaughters and his brick.

My sis and me with the brick...and AR photobombing, she wouldn't get out of the pic!

All us girls!

Papa and his girls!

AR is still free so she didn't have a seat. Well, what do you do when you don't have a seat? Sit on the cupholder!

Sha and I pulled out our stocking caps for some rally cap ju-ju but it just wasn't enough!

I was really hoping for an I-70 series but alas our boys just couldn't pull it off. Since we're out, I'll say this once and probably never again...GO ROYALS!

Potty Training Conversations...

...It seems as though more and more of my friends are discussing potty training. We started loosely training right after her second birthday. Luckily, my mom was here all summer so they worked really hard on it and she's doing great. We still have accidents from time to time and use a diaper for naps/bed time but she's usually more successful than not. Most days she has no accidents at our sitter nor at preschool and I consider that #winning! Here are just some of our conversations over the past few months...

*On the phone with a co-worker and former Olympic soccer player, I lean over AR's carseat and she says directly into the phone, "Mommy, I wear panties!"

*AR hates when I vacuum. One Saturday in June, I told her to go wait in her room while I vacuumed the living room. A few minutes later, I finish and go to check on her. She's innocently sitting in her room in the dark, on her glider completely naked. I ask her if she needs some Mommy love (meaning Mommy holds her and we cuddle) and she said yes. I pick her up and sit on the glider...in pee. Needless to say, Mommy had to change her pants and panties too.

*Leaving Emma's birthday party we just got on the interstate when AR says, "Mommy, potty! I poop!" Next exit-poop break! Luckily, we made it.

*Conversation on the potty:

 Me: You need to wipe your vagina.
 

 AR: Oh 'gina?

Me: Yes, your vagina.

AR: Audi 'gina?

Me: Yes, AR's vagina.

AR: Mommy's 'gina?"

Me: Yes, Mommy has a vagina.

AR: Daddy 'gina?"

Me: No, Daddy has a penis.

AR: Oh, penis...Audi penis?

Me: No, only Daddy has a penis. You have a vagina.

AR: Oh, Audi 'gina. Okay. 

*On a Sunday morning, I was called to the bathroom to help "the baby" aka her doll to go potty. What this really meant is that she took her baby potty and dropped her in the toilet.

*I was folding laundry on the couch while Matt sat in his recliner. AR was running around naked before bedtime. I heard her toot and asked if she needed to go potty. “No, I fine, Mommy.” Matt and I continued talking while AR stood between my legs. I glance down and see she has pooped. I exclaim, “AR, why didn’t you tell me you had to potty?” and Matt says, “Wow, AR, I didn’t know something that size could come out of you.”

So yeah, it's a work in progress but we're getting there. I will say this, cleaning up poop in a diaper is much easier than cleaning up poop in panties!

Just Chillin' at Nanny's...

...This trip was lots of play and relaxation too! With a 2 year-old, you know you can have fun anywhere so some days we didn't even leave Nanny's house. Here's so pics of us just hanging out around Nanners' house. Here's AR and I chillin' on the deck early one morning. Of course, my child has no idea that vacations are meant for sleeping in!

On Sunday, AR went golfing with Nanny...still at Nanny's because they live on the golf course!

AR helped Nanny cut bell peppers for dinner...

...and sampled a few too!

Nanny and AR worked on learning how to sew

My mom is so good working with AR on things I wouldn't even think of doing like cutting with a knife/scissors or sewing...I'm too chicken but Nanny knows how to let her do it safely.

Ta-da! Finished product...a bunch of scraps sewed together! Hey, we all gotta start somewhere, right?

Thank you Nanny for a great trip!!!