Our First Week in St. Louis

We've already been in St. Louis for over a week and continue to adjust a bit more to our "new normal" every day.  I hope you enjoy a long update...

After six weeks of sleeping in pack-and-plays, BOTH kiddos were happy to be sleeping in their own beds again:

When we're able, we try to meet up with Haune on campus to attend a brief chapel service with him:

I've learned a few things about the Sem:

     1.  The professors and the Sem community at large have a good sense of humor.  Every fall there's a 5K race for the Sem community called "The Faster Pastor."  Every winter there's another 5K race called the "Frozen Chosen."  Every Tuesday night various profs take turns getting on their soap box.  Literally.  They share their ideas informally and publically with whomever wants to attend while standing on top of an old soap box.  Every Friday afternoon is Wine and Whine where you sit together on campus, drink wine, and whine about tough courses. 

     2.  Not only does the president's wife have a lot of common sense, she also has a green thumb.  Apparently, she told her husband "Why are we budgeting [x amount of dollars] every year for flowers when we could simply plant food for the seminary students?"  So that's what she did.  There's produce wherever there is a flower bed.  Some of the delishisness I've come accross so far is: tomatoes, kale, green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers, zuccinni, lettuce, onions, broccoli, chives, cabbage, peach trees, and perhaps a few more things that I'm neglecting to list.  What a wonderful surprise that was!

Tomatoes/onions on the left, spices/tomatoes in the middle, and kale and an unidentified veggie on the right.

We live very close to Forest Park where there is numerous free attractions (including an amazing zoo).  It's simply beautiful.  It's apparently twice the size of Central Park in New York and has a ton of bike trails, so I reckon we'll be spending a lot of time there with the kids.  Forest Park pictures are below:

The fountains across from the Science Center (which is also free).

St. Louis himself

A gorgeous little gem of a place called The Jewel Box.

Beautiful gardens and picnic spots are scattered throughout the park.

Beautiful.

1904 Word's Fair Pavilion

There are a lot of little kiddos in our apartment complex, so Julia's been able to have a few playdates:

Our neighbor girl, Sasha.

Another little neighbor girl named Maddie.

I recently realized that I'm typically holding Cal when I'm taking pictures, so we needed another pic of Calboy.

Playing with Daddy in the chapel.

Just playing dress up.

She thought Cal needed a bow too.

These two LOVE taking a bath together.  In an itty bitty little inflatable tub.

We enjoyed checking out Turtle Park, which is also close to the Sem.

Every Friday night there's a potluck for students, their families, professors, and Sem workers alike.  I snapped
a picture right before it got super busy.  Last Friday there was about 50 people there.  It's a nice way to meet one another.

That's all for now!  Whew, we've been busy!