The Magic House!

So this first picture is not from the Magic House, but it seemed to go along with the theme- it was taken the day before, so I added it in because he looks so stinkin' cute in it!

Trying to make the most of our final days of summer, Rick, Kieran and I ventured out to the St. Louis area again- this time to visit the Magic House in Kirkwood. The driving didn't go as smoothly as our last trip- Kieran was awake almost the entire way there with lots of crying jags off and on to punctuate the journey- he did however, fall asleep the final five minutes before we pulled into the parking lot ;) He was a real champ though when we got inside and only had a couple miner melt downs- mostly due to sharing things that are so obviously there just for him. But otherwise, despite the missed nap, the crowds and the delayed meal, Kieran did a great job and had a lot of fun.
After enjoying a little lunch at the Magic House Cafe, we went to visit Aunt Joyce and Uncle Furcin in St. Charles. Kieran was on his (mostly) best behavior for the duration of our stay and we all had a lovely time chatting and catching up with family- even though mommy and daddy were on KP duty (a.k.a. following KP around to make sure he didn't break anything!) most the time;)
The drive home was perfectly quiet, as Kieran passed out almost immediately and slept the whole way home- yay! However, this set him up for a rough nite-nite routine as he was sufficiently re-wired for action and did not go so quietly into his crib. Below are some highlights from the trip...

Me and Kieran watching the model trains. He LOVED the train... he made his "CHOO! CHOO!" noises with so much enthusiasm he sprayed the protective glass with spittle!

We were really impressed with the "construction zone"... lots to see and do. Of course KP loved playing in the rocks. He wasn't so sure about the Caterpillar earth-mover, but he sat long enough for a photo opp!

In the "under two" section Kieran really enjoyed playing pretend: driving a car, rolling in the ball pit and playing with the doll house- that is until he had an altercation with another chubby tot that seemed to think he should be allowed to play too... silly baby- doesn't he know everything Kieran sees belongs to him?!

Finally, here Kieran is playing at the sand and water tables- he loved this. These are no ordinary sand and water tables- they are huge and have fountains and wheels and things that move and go. We especially liked the little red waterproof apron he got to wear to help keep him dry- at least in theory ;)