Denison Family Vacation

We survived the first ever Denison Family vacation!!!! We took Saturday through Wednesday to go explore Branson, MO. We stayed at Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake. We left Saturday morning and hit the road, first stop being the "Biggest Bass Pro in the World!!" Savannah loved saying this as we were checking out the store. It was nice to get out of the car and stretch the ol legs. From there we got to our final destination, got our bearings and got a little dinner. It was an early night for us all as we were tired from driving most of the day. Sunday we woke up and Daddy did a little fishing. After breakfast the whole family did some fishing and Savannah caught her FIRST FISH!! I don't know who was more excited, Savannah or Daddy, but it was pretty cool nonetheless! After the big catch of the day, Savannah and I enjoyed watching Daddy catch a nice bass and catfish on the Barbie pole as we were heading back to the dock. Sunday afternoon we met up with Matt and Brooke. Matt and Cameron went to SIUE together and he and his wife Brooke have a place down here. They showed us a GREAT time on their boat for the afternoon. Savannah was a little hesitant at fist of being in the deep water, but she had a wonderful time and made a new friend with Brooke, who played tea party with her on the lake! She took a great nap on the boat on the way back to the resort. On Monday we woke up to rain and weren't sure how to spend the day. Savannah and Daddy went to get ice before we headed out in search of something to do and Savannah fell and started screaming. Turned out she fell right on a wasp and got stung. Her thumb immediately swelled, her arm was incredibly hot to the touch and she started to run a fever. So yes, we were THOSE parents and took her to urgent care to make sure it wasn't an allergic reaction. And you guessed it, it wasn't and she was fine. Better to be safe than sorry! From there we got some lunch and then all three of us took a nap. After that fun filled morning, we checked out the kiddie pool and Savannah had some fun playing there. After getting cleaned up, we headed out to downtown Branson in search of dinner. Well, Savannah had some other plans for us and got sick on the way. A short stop to a grocery store to get crackers and Pedialite we headed back to the room and Savannah chilled out and mom and dad ordered room service. Quite the date night!!! We woke up on Tuesday to more rain, but decided to try out Silver Dollar City regardless. Thankfully by the time we got there, the rain was gone and it was a GREAT day. Sadly, Savannah was too short for the rides, but had fun shooting the big water guns, seeing the sights, playing in the water and of course the train ride! We got robbed but thankfully didn't have to give up our money! We then had lunch, saw a few more sights and headed back to the resort. We decided to take the boat out and do a little swimming. Savannah has not been in deep water as of this week and by today she was so brave and was swimming in between mommy and daddy like she had been doing it for years! Then we fished a little more and Savannah a champ and caught TWO more!!! One of them came off the hook in the boat and before we knew it, Savannah had picked up the fish and held it a little while before throwing it back. She was such a champ all weekend long! I even caught a few of my own and I had to remind Cameron a few times that he did marry a Huster and I know a little about fishing! We then got cleaned up and headed to dinner and put a close to a great vacation! The ride home was little long since Savannah decided a nap was not in the cards. But all in all, we are happy to be home, Chip is happy to be back to his own couch (although he was greatly cared for while we were gone thanks to Jen) and I am so grateful to have such a great family to vacation with!!!! But I think I can wait a little while before the next trip is planned!!!!!!!

Fourth of July!

Happy Birthday America!!! That's what we taught Savannah to say this weekend, since every time we might do something out of the ordinary, she thinks it's a birthday party for someone! And she was right in her own little way! It was a GREAT weekend once again. We spent Thursday night with Savannah getting to play on her new swing set with her cousins, Emily, Erin and Ryan, who were spending the week with Grandma and Grandpa. Then Friday we took it easy and later in the evening we hit downtown St. Charles to check out the festivities with Matt, Theresa and Danny. We were going to stay for the fireworks, but decided to wait until the actual Fourth. Sadly, the parade was rained out Saturday morning and so we opted out of it. Then the annual Weaver BBQ got cancelled, but we are VERY grateful that Great Grandma Wehmeyer is doing much better and hopefully will have a full recovery at home this week. So instead we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a BBQ and Savannah had a ball with all her cousins, aunts and uncles. After that we went back to the riverfront to see the fireworks with Aunt Denise, Uncle Dave, Emily and Ryan. Savannah had a great time walking around, seeing the sights and enjoying the company, not to mention the funnel cake Aunt Denise got for everyone! Of course, it was clear skies up until five minutes before the fireworks started and then it started raining! Thank heavens we have an easy going child, who loved watching the show and told her Daddy, that it's just a little water! We left half way through the show and got back to the car and dried off and into PJ's. Savannah was asleep five minutes from leaving the parking lot and slept in till 9 then next morning!!! So it wasn't the typical Fourth of July for Denison family, but we enjoyed it and had a great time with family and friends. Next week we are off on our first ever family vacation to sunny Branson! Can't wait to see the sights and relax for a few days.

Easter Sunday, Go Cards!

GO CARDINALS! The Denison family had no plans for Easter Sunday so in honor of my Mom we really wanted to go to the Cardinals game. It was an afternoon game and Savannah had not yet been to a game so it was perfect. However, we didn’t want to spend a hundred bucks on tickets and then leave in the fifth inning and I missed getting our work tickets so we had thrown in the towel and were looking for something else to do. But then Linda got the call from Keri. She had won some tickets through work and didn’t have anyone to go with her. Since Savannah is under 3, she didn’t need a ticket so we took two of Keri's and we were off to the ball park. Savannah was very excited about going. That’s all she was talking about. It was pretty cute. We started the morning with 8:00 mass and then back home for a family breakfast which worked out to be an early lunch for Savannah. This allowed for an early nap, but the little booger never fell asleep. A few nod-offs on the way to the ball park was all we got out of her so we were expecting it to be an early day. Since it was Easter Sunday, there were not a lot of people at the game which made parking and getting in the gates really easy. Another plus for us taking Savannah. Once in the gates, the questions started. “Daddy, what’s that?” was the most popular one. Oh, and “Daddy, I want a snack.” We found our seats and she (and her Mother) began the people watching. They both tend to do this everywhere we go. It’s good for Linda and I because it seems to keep her occupied most of the time and keeps her pretty well behaved in public. We really lucked out with the afternoon. Not only was the weather nice (not hot, not cold, not too sunny, just perfect) but the fans around us were awesome. Savannah was talking with the group of fans in the row behind us. They must have been a group of friends that share a row of season tickets. They were super nice, high-fiving Savannah and getting her to yell “Go Cheddar!” “Go Wicker!” “Cubs Suck!”, you know, the things you yell at a ball park. We also told Savannah that what happens at the ball park stays at the ball park, so we should be good. Savannah had so much fun that we actually saw the entire game. We definitely have a Cardinal’s Fan on our hands. She has added “Cubs are Stinky” to her list of Stinky teams. A short walk back to the car and we were on our way back home. We expected Savannah to sleep on the way home, but I think she was too excited about the game. Grandma Denison would have been in heaven… if she wasn’t in heaven. Since it was only about 4:30, we decided to finish the perfect day off with a dinner at our favorite watering hole. We stopped at Culpepper’s and had dinner. Savannah was actually asking for her buddy Boggs by name, but he wasn’t working. After dinner we came home and snuggled together on Mommy & Daddy’s bed to watch a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Movie that Savannah got for Easter. (The bulb burnt out in our big TV so we had to watch it in the bedroom.) It was the perfect ending to the perfect day. We are excited to do this all over again. Enjoy the pictures, and we hope you all had a very Happy Easter.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Linda, Savannah and I have had a wonderful Easter so far. We started our festivities on Friday evening. We colored several eggs at the kitchen table. Linda has been sick most of the week leading up to the holiday weekend so we were not able to color eggs earlier in the week. For the last few weeks she had clogged sinuses and just felt miserable. When she finally went to the doctor, they did a chest x-ray and found that she had pneumonia. A small case of pneumonia, but pneumonia nonetheless. Luckily she is feeling better and she got to color eggs with Savannah. I think Savannah was amazed more by dropping the little tablets in the water and watching the water change color than actually coloring the eggs. Saturday morning was cinnamon rolls and an Easter Egg Hunt at Great-Grandma Huster’s house. This is a yearly tradition and only the families with little kids are invited. It was a lot of fun. Savannah was running all over looking for eggs with all of her cousins. I don’t know how many eggs Great-Grandma had at her house, but every kid had a basket full. Savannah had a good time. Then Saturday afternoon was spent over at Grandma & Grandpa Huster’s house with all of Savannah’s Cousins and Linda’s siblings. It’s always nice to hang out with the Husters, Schusters and Grandma & Grandpa. There was another Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma & Grandpa’s house followed by playtime in the backyard. What a beautiful day we had for being outside. Savannah and Erin played hard and wore each other out. The men cooked pork steaks (or we watched Les cook pork steaks) on the deck and took care of a few cold ones while we were at it. It was a very relaxing afternoon. When we finally got home it took Savannah about 10 seconds to fall asleep. Easter Sunday came early and we went to 8:00 mass with Grandma & Grandpa. When we got home from church the Easter Bunny had been to the Denison house. Savannah had to go out and Hunt Easter Eggs for the third time this weekend. She made short time of this Easter Egg Hunt. Then it was inside to count her loot and eat some Candy! She had a very cute Easter Dress on and, surprisingly she was willing to show it off for the camera. Now the rest of the family is taking naps (or at least laying down and talking to her “guys”) in preparation for the big Cardinals game this afternoon. Yup, it’s only fitting that Savannah go to her first Cardinals game on Easter Sunday. Mom is definitely on our minds and we know she would be beaming with pride taking Savannah to her first game. We’ll be taking the camera, so hopefully we’ll get to share this experience with you too. Enjoy the pictures, and we’ll be back soon.