2018 Books

In Summary:
Total books read: 79. Of those, 60 were audio, 11 were on Kindle, and 8 were traditional paper books. August was my biggest reading month, primarily because we went on a 5000-mile road trip and listened to a lot of books along the way.

The top 10% of books I read this year (rounding up):

1. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson - It's #36 on my overall list below. It is such an important book.
2. Educated by Tara Westover - It's #58 on the overall list. I could not stop reading this book and gabbing about it to Eric and anyone else who would listen.
3. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech - It's #3 and #7 on my list. I had read it twice before. I read it for book group in January and was reminded again of how much I loved it, so I made Eric listen while I read it aloud to him immediately after I finished it. He's a good sport.
4. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - #39 below. It's kind of weird that this book is in my top ten, but when I think about books that have made me think a lot, this is one of them. There aren't many children's books that have ethical dilemmas as real and striking as this one. You can have a real philosophical discussion with your kids after this one.
5. Martin Luther by Eric Metaxas - #42 below.
6. American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee - #33 below. This is a great non-fiction that has good flow in the narrative.
7. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor - #9 below. I've thought a lot about this one since reading it. I'd like to read it to my kids one day.
8. Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas - #63 below. For pure enjoyment's sake, this is a good one. It really is funny, and it's surprisingly heartwarming.

(I included the numbers as they are in the list below so you can read what I thought of it pretty soon after I read it. There were some that I have enjoyed more as time has passed. I don't know what that says about the book in its first read-through.)

In Full:

January
1. Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty* - Not my favorite of hers. More than the usual swearing/sex, and so many of the characters were just not likeable.

2. Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris* - It took me ages (literally a couple of years), but I finally finished this book. I started with a paper copy and eventually switched to audio. But I had to check out the audio several times before I finally finished it. I liked the predecessor much more. This one delves into the political machinations of his presidency quite deeply, and it was just hard to follow sometimes because I wasn't paying enough attention.

3. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech - Y'all, this was my third time to read this book, and I loved it even more than the first two times. I fed the baby at about 4 in the morning and then couldn't fall back asleep, so I just stayed up reading it, and when I was done I wanted to wake Eric up so I could read it aloud to him. I am just so glad my book group picked this one.

4. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell* - I didn't enjoy this at first, but it really grew on me. I could do without all the swearing, though.

5. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah* - Really gripping story with a lot of moving parts.

6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling* - I am just having so much fun listening to this series.

7. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech - I know that this was already on the list for January, but as soon as I finished it, I started it again. I read it aloud to Eric, just like I said I wanted to in entry #3.

8. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli* - I had so many friends give this book 4 or 5 stars, but I just thought it was alright, not amazing.

9. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor* - I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Possibly my favorite part, though, was the message at the end from the author.

February:
10. The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes - Y'all, sugar is just terrible for us. And we can't fully measure its effects on us until a few decades into our lives. This book was insightful and depressing.

11. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline - I really wanted to like this book, but some of the characters were so flat and some of the plot was so contrived that I ended up just really disliking it. Decent story, terrible writing. Anger inducing.

12. Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper* - This was a book group read that I probably would never have picked up on my own, but as soon as I was finished I put the second one on hold.

13. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling* - I liked this one better than I remembered. Listening to this series just gets me so excited to share it with my kids one day.

14. Peeled by Joan Bauer* - It was fine. I'll probably look back at the title years from now and not remember anything about it.

15. Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger - Read this one with the boys, and it took a while, mostly because we've had too many late nights over the last few months, so many nights we didn't read. This one ends on such a sweet note, and I had forgotten that.

March:
16. Salvage by Angela Armstrong - I continue to be excited with the prospect for Angela's full-length novel. Great characters, intriguing dystopian world.

17. The Mountain Between Us by Charles Martin - Predictable enough that Eric, only listening to my periodic plot synopses as we got ready for bed, called the ending when I was maybe a third into the book.

18. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper* - I didn't love this one quite as much as Over Sea, Under Stone, but I put the next one on hold as soon as I was finished. How had I never heard of this series until recently?

19. A Week in the Woods by Andrew Clements* - I expected this one to be more like Hatchet than it was. Despite my misguided expectations, I rather liked it and was impressed with the character development. I'd like my kids to read this one someday.

20. How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids* by Jancee Dunn - Really enjoyed this one. It was so fun to listen to, gave me such great satisfaction that my husband doesn't suck, and gave me many ideas on how to improve in the areas where we could use improvement.

21. The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright - Great story, but it took me a bit to get into it. I wasn't thrilled about the writing, but the story is really worth reading.

22. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - I had a lot of fun reading the illustrated version with my kids. It was often over Felix's head (he's 5.5), but Ike (7) loved it.

23. Greenwitch by Susan Cooper* - Plugging along in this series and still enjoying it.

24. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander* - When I first started the audio, I wasn't so sure about this one, but by the end I really loved it and was sad it was over.

April
25. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling* - I have a hard time with Harry's moodiness in this one, and I always have, but I still am enjoying listening to this whole series again.

26. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple - Mostly I just couldn't wait for Bernadette to go missing because she was so obnoxious. Once I knew that the author was also a writer on Arrested Development, I had a much greater appreciation for the humor, and I really enjoyed it.

May
27. Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen* - This one was just so sweet.

28. The Grey King by Susan Cooper* - I very foolishly let this one expire when I only had about 30 minutes left, then I had to wait for it to become available again, and for the last 30 minutes I was thinking, "Wait, what's going on?" So I might need to read a re-cap before I listen to the final book in the series.

29. Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer* - I kept thinking this one reminded me of Peeled (number 14 on this list), but it wasn't until I added this book to my spreadsheet that I realized it's the same author. I definitely preferred this one, but neither is a masterpiece.

30. Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper* - This was, overall, a satisfying ending to this series.

31. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling* - I really loved this one again, possibly more than the other times I've read it (twice?). The plot is paced well, and there is so much lead-up to the final book. I just really like it.

32. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard - So very meh.

33. American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee* - I was so enthralled by this I finished it in two days. I want to go spend all my time in Yellowstone admiring wolves.

June
34. Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos* - I just thoroughly enjoyed this one. It reminded me a lot of The Wednesday Wars.

35. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling * - Audiobooked on our road trip. I do love Jim Dale, and Ike wanted to listen to it again on the drive home. (It was Eric's first time to read the first book.)

36. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson - Man. Go read this and contemplate injustice in our society. It will blow your mind.

37. Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong, Mark A. Tabb* - Great story, pretty terrible writing. I'm sure the co-author had a difficult task, but man, it was hard to listen to sometimes because the writing was so bad. (And probably hard for Eric and Andrew to listen to as well since I kept interrupting the book to give examples of why the writing was so bad.)

38. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom - A good read. I finished the whole thing on my flight back from Europe.

39. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor* - I was surprised by how much I liked this one. It presents a very genuine ethical dilemma. We listened to it on our road trip, and Ike seemed to really enjoy it.

40. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling* - It's been fun to re-listen to this whole series amidst other books. There were a lot of details about this seventh book that I had forgotten.

July
41. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo* - Downloaded this for our drive home from Seattle, and we finally finished it about two weeks later. It was a good one for the whole family. (But I definitely preferred Shiloh.)

42. Martin Luther by Eric Metaxas* - Another great nonfiction for the year. I have a lot of respect for Martin Luther, and it was cool to read most of this before my Europe trip and then finish it a few weeks after. When I go back to Europe I'd like to do some more sight-seeing focused on Martin Luther.

43. Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary* - Such a fun book to listen to with my kids. I can't believe I've never read any of these before.

44. The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert - I'm not that crazy for chick lit to begin with, and this one is particularly bad. I stopped at page 109 then read the last few pages so I can discuss it for book group.

45. William Tecumseh Sherman: In the Service of My Country: A Life by James Lee McDonough* - An all-around really good biography. I didn't think it swung too far into hero worship, but it also didn't totally vilify Sherman for his weaknesses (and there were many). I found his rocky relationship with his wife fascinating.

46. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo* - This book was intense. I'm appreciative of the author's diligence in gaining a really in-depth look at a Mumbai slum and the people in it.

47. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling* - We listened to this one on audio during our road trip. It was Eric's first time to hear it in full.

August
48. My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett* - We'd read this one on our road trip in 2015. It was fun to listen to it again.

49. Elmer and the Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett* - I didn't like this one as much as the first.

50. How We Got To Now by Stephen Johnson* - This was such a fascinating book to listen to on our road trip. I loved learning about the progression of various inventions and how one idea leads to the next and to the next. I also loved the idea of the inevitability of certain inventions. So many problems affect so many people that somebody is bound to create something to solve that problem. They may not go about it in identical ways, but we'll get to the solution eventually.

51. The Dragons of Blueland by Ruth Stiles Gannett* - I liked this one better than the second, but probably not quite as much as the original.

52. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary* - Eric is not that crazy about this series, which makes me sad. But I really enjoy these books, and so do my kids.

53. Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor* - We liked this one well enough, but the first is definitely better.

54. The BFG by Roald Dahl* - Oh, how much we all loved the audio for this book! It was so much fun! We had all seen the movie adaptation of this one, but none of us had read the book. I'm sure we'll listen to it again on some future road trip.

55. The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley* - I enjoy Flavia de Luce, especially on audio.

56. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley* - When you find some audio you enjoy, you just stick with it.

57. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley* - I guess I just figure if you've got a series of audiobooks you like, you should just plow on through them.

September
58. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover - Just go read it. It will blow your mind.

59. Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley* - I'm just going to keep plowing away through the audio for this series.

60. The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley* - I am pretty sure I liked this one even better than the first. I felt like so many stories of orphans really gloss over the emotional trauma, and this one delved right into it really well.

61. The Dead in their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley* - This one got pretty ridiculous (which is really saying something since this whole series is about an 11-year-old genius chemist/detective), and another book I've been waiting on came up on hold, so I'll be taking a bit of a break from Flavia now.

62. The Book of Essie by Meghan Maclean Weir - I was sucked into this book so fast and was really captivated by it. It reminded me a lot of the one Jodi Picoult book I read in that it handles current issues and looks at several angles of a tough ethical problem.

63. Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas - This was both hilarious and heartwarming.

64. On My Own by Diane Rehm* - Meh. Parts of this were good, but overall it was just fine. 

October
65. Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets* by Svetlana Alexievich - So fascinating, but so depressing. In fact, it was so depressing that I took a break from it to read Diane Rehm's book about grieving her husband of 50+ years. Rehm's book was positively joyful in comparison.

66. Seinfeldia: How  A Show About Nothing Changed Everything* by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong - I really wanted to like this book, but I thought it got tied down with the details of the show's creation. Given the title, I expected it to be more about the show's effects on culture. It does touch on that, but not to the degree I had hoped.

67. Reporter by Seymour Hersh* - I think Seymour Hersh did amazing things in his career, I just found this book surprisingly dull considering what his investigative reporting entailed.

68. Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott - So boring. I really wanted to like this, but big snore from me. I didn't finish it, but I endured enough of it to count it for the year's reading.

69. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - It's a little long, but it's quite a good thriller-ish book (for its time).

70. Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming* - This book is kind of hard to listen to because it deals with parental abuse, but it is so beautifully done. I loved hearing about Alan's journey on Who Do You Think You Are?. I've worked on many episodes (though not on his since I don't work on the British version), and so I loved hearing a bit more of his own background. I need to try to track down his episode now.

November
71. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley* - Another Flavia book. They are getting more and more ridiculous, but I still enjoy them.

72. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling* - It took our family a while, but we finally finished this one. The movie is still way too scary for my boys, but we did show them a brief clip of the movie so Felix could understand the part with the time turner because it was confusing to him.

73. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer - Rather slow at first, but I really liked it in the end. None of my book group co-horts made it through the slow portion.

74. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mewed by Alan Bradley* - I am honestly getting a little tired of these. I need to find another go-to when I need a new audio book.

75. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah* - I loved so much about this book, especially the writing and the main characters. I thought the last third or so was a little ridiculous, though.

December
76. A Full Life by Jimmy Carter* - I knew so little about Jimmy Carter. I really enjoyed this book and learned he has written several others. I'm sure I'll read a few more of his.

77. Scarlet by Marissa Mayer* - I started this book ages ago, shortly after reading Cinder, and then time got away from me and I didn't finish it. I am so glad I finally got around to it. It's a lot of fun, and I went straight to the third book (Cress) when I finished this one.

78. Cress by Marissa Mayer* - Still really enjoying this series. The audiobooks are done so well. This may be a series I listen to again, actually. (I'm currently reading the last book in the series, and I probably will finish it first in 2019.)

79. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater - This is just not that great of a read-aloud book. Felix found it endlessly boring, and it took us ages to get through it.

*Denotes audio-books.

Felix is Six!

This year, my little Felix is six! His birthday fell on a Saturday, and he was born on a Saturday too. In fact, he was born on a General Conference Saturday (during the Saturday afternoon session, in fact), and I look back at the session of that day with particular fondness. I remember some of the specific talks so clearly (like the one by President Uchtdorf in the morning session, when we were driving to the hospital, and he quoted his wife on their bike rides saying, "Dieter, it's not a race," and I was thinking, "Eric these words do not apply to you. Please drive faster!")

I don't think Felix is a huge fan of having his birthday fall on General Conference, but hopefully one day he'll love it. This year we watched the Saturday afternoon session with Eric's grandma and celebrated Felix's birthday there.

When he went to the store to get his free birthday cake, he hoped for a strawberry one, and there was a strawberry one in stock, so he lucked out. Felix loved looking surprised when we sang, "my goodness it's you!" and he had fun blowing out his candles. He wasn't sitting close enough, so it took several tries.

Lately Felix loves painting. He and Ike were given a lot of tiny toy soldiers last year for Christmas. Eric has spent hours painting those soldiers in the last few months, and Felix loves to help. These little clothespin airplanes were another project that Felix really enjoyed. Felix also likes to color and will sometimes spend a good chunk of time working on a picture.

A few more pictures of Felix:

At his preschool Easter egg hunt in the spring:

Last day of preschool:

First day of kindergarten:

Felix really enjoys kindergarten. He is incredibly well-behaved at school (and at church too), and he always comes home with reports of how many kids had to move their clips down each day. (I'm trying to help him understand that he needs to worry about himself and not the other kids, but I'm also so amused at his shock at their bad behavior.)

I taught Ike to read before he started kindergarten, but I knew that I would lose that battle of wills with Felix. Nevertheless, he is learning to read now, and with it coming more from his teacher than from me, he seems a lot more responsive. I am working to help him understand that it's okay to mess up, and sometimes you have to try really hard and practice a lot to learn something.

I just really like this picture that Ike snapped of him while I was doing a swim class with Trixie:

This face is the epitome of what this kid does when he is fed up with pictures, which happened a lot on our road trip this year. (I don't blame him; sometime his dad's wielding of the camera is just overkill.)

I am pretty sure I mentioned this in another post, but Felix got stung eleven-ish times by hornets on our road trip. We got him some painkiller and antihistamine, and he was ready for canoeing. He really is a tough kid. He hasn't broken any bones or needed any stitches (knock on wood) in his life, but he has had some other painful experiences that I will not enumerate here. He always bears them with such bravery! When it comes to getting shots, I never worry about how he will do. He still usually cries when he gets them, but he is so brave in the moments before, which makes things so much easier on everyone.

He was pretty excited to have me put this butterfly on him at the aquarium. 

Felix is such a good boy. He can get really impatient, especially when he feels that he's not being listened to. I feel like kindergarten has mellowed him remarkably. He comes home from school ready to do his chores, usually without complaint, so he can get on his way to play with friends. He loves reading together, he loves dancing, and he is still a terrific sharer. He is so sweet with Felicia and is surprisingly tolerant when Trixie is being terrible to him (pulling his hair, tackling him, licking him, etc.). (Trixie's favorite sibling is probably Felix right now, but sometimes she's not fun to play with.) He loves trying to help her learn her letters, and he frequently corrects her when she mispronounces words. (Speaking of which, he couldn't say is R's or L's a a year ago, but he has no problem with them now. He doesn't understand why other kids might still struggle with those sounds, because once he figured out how to say them, things clicked really quickly for him. When he first started to realize that he could say R's at the start of words, I'd hear him practicing to himself, which was so amusing.)

I love my Felix!

Trixie is Three!

Trixie turned three about a month ago. She is the sweetest little girl, but she's also three, so sometimes she's a bit of a tyrant.

We call her our little German girl because she is so blonde and has beautiful blue eyes. She loves the dirndl that her grandma sent her from Germany.

Here sister has a matching one, and Trixie loves to match her sister.

This summer she got to do swim lessons in a class with me, and she loved them. She was so excited to go each day, and she had no fear.

All the kids in her class had to jump off the diving board (and if they wouldn't jump, they were dropped), and it was her favorite part. She loved it so much. She still asks me almost daily if we can go swimming at Grandma Great's pool. When I tell her that we can't because it's closed (we went on Labor Day, which was the last day it was open for the season), she tells me that Grandma Great has a key and we can open it (which is true).

I have to be better about putting my glasses away.

None of my children love animals as much as this one. She is just obsessed with all animals. She loves to pet dogs she sees out on walks. Last week at the Ashton Gardens, they allowed patrons to bring dogs, and Trixie was in absolute heaven the night we went. She is getting pretty diligent about asking the owners if she can pet their dog before approaching the dog.

We used pony rides as bribery/encouragement to get Trixie potty trained. Luna is one of my favorite horses where we go riding. A few weeks after this shot, Trixie rode a pony named Trigger. He got out of his harness while Trixie was on him, and then he started running around the corral, and Trixie fell off. It was very traumatizing for me, but apparently not that traumatizing for her because after crying for a few minutes she asked to ride a different pony. She asks me most days if she can go ride a pony.

Trixie was actually pretty nervous when I put this butterfly on her at the butterfly exhibit at the aquarium. It was rather funny.

It was so fun to celebrate Trixie's actual birthday. I rented a bounce house, and we let neighborhood kids come play on it all afternoon and into the evening. Trixie picked a cake from the grocery store. (Our local grocery store does free small cakes for kids under 12 if you are a loyal customer, and it really makes my life easier.) We had cake as a family, and she loved having everyone sing to her.

A few other things I want to remember about this three-year-old:

• She asks "why" after about everything I say.
• She loves cuddles.
• She loves to be included and plays the part of a middle child rather well.
• She loves nursery and cries when she can't go. (She's missed the last two Sundays due to a cough.)
• Her talking as skyrocketed since we ditched the pacifiers in April. It was like a magic bullet. She went from almost never saying two-word sentences to speaking pretty much like a normal child her age. She's comprehensible to people outside of the family, and she has so much to say!
• She lets me do her hair. I never thought I'd enjoy it as much as I do.
• She is extremely social and is always looking for a chance to play with other kids.
• She loves baking with me and asks almost daily if we can make cookies.

2018 Summer Road Trip: Days 13-14

There are actually no pictures for Day 13. We drove all day. We camped in Colorado, and it was actually a perfect camping spot. It was:

• free
• secluded, but easily accessible from a main road
• equipped with a portapotty that was not terrifying
• high enough elevation that it was chilly at night

Eric slept in one tent with Felicia. I shared another tent with the three other kids. They fell asleep very quickly.

The next day (Day 14) we went to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

I actually have zero recollection of catching this butterfly, but there is this photo, and that is my body and my shirt, so I guess I caught a butterfly.

These two are so much alike in so many ways. When Ike isn't teasing his siblings, he really is a good big brother.

Eric is usually the one behind the camera, but I got a few of him on this last day. There is a little evidence that he held the baby sometimes.

But mostly it was me. (Because, as mentioned in an earlier post, I'd rather carry Felicia than Trixie.)

I would love to go back to Black Canyon of the Gunnison one day and do more hiking. We were just spent and ready to get to our next destination (and finally home!) that we didn't spend a great deal of time there.

Then we went to Colorado National Monument. It was pretty cool.

The kids all saw a few lizards.

We learned that Felix does not know how to flex his muscles.

There was an insane amount of bribery to get this picture, and even then I don't think our kids deserved whatever treat Eric gave them.

Trixie loves her daddy so much. It was way too hot for piggy back rides or shoulder rides, but it was also too hot to deal with tantruming kids, so there we were.

Then we drove home. We got home early enough that I had time to go buy groceries and take my van through a car wash and vacuum it out. I think it speaks to how boring my life is when I say that one of my life's greatest joys right now is taking my van through a car wash and then using the fancy vacuums in every nook and cranny of the interior of my van. I love those fancy vacuums. And I love the compressed air too.

All in all, it was a great trip. And of course, my husband is already thinking about where we should go next year.

2018 Summer Road Trip: Days 11-12

We left St. Louis and headed down to Dallas. We figured if we were driving all the way to Indianapolis and then stopping in St. Louis on the way home, Dallas was only a 10-hour detour, so why not? (And I know a few of you are thinking, "Because 10 hours is a long drive, you crazy lady," but when you road trip like we do, what's 10 more hours?) My family lives in Dallas, and we hadn't been there since October 2016.

We played at my brother's house all day on Day 11. Felicia's real-life middle-name is my mom's first name, so it was great for them to finally meet. My baby wasn't shy at all, which was nice for my parents to see what she's really like.

My brother's kids and my kids played and played and played and played together. Trixie and my brother's daughter are just a couple of months apart, so it was fun for them to play together.

Trixie also loved my brother's cat, Samuel L. Catson.

My brother's son was also there, but he hates pictures of himself, so I don't have any.

The next day we went to the Dallas Arboretum, another venue that has free admission with our Thanksgiving Point memberships. (We even got my parents in for free!) Despite my mom having lived in Dallas since like, 1975, she had never been to the Arboretum until this trip! She really liked it.

It was good for my kids (especially my older kids) to have more time with my parents. They don't get much time together, so this was special.

That evening we met up with my sister and her girlfriend at their apartment, but I have no pictures (fail!). It was great for me to meet my sister's girlfriend. I can tell my sister is really happy in her life right now, happier than I've seen her in a long time, and that made me really happy. (Also, because Trixie is obsessed with animals, she was obsessed with my sister's dog, and my sister's dog was not having it.)

While we were in Dallas we stayed with another of Eric's cousins who moved to Dallas in the spring. Our kids love playing together (and their dog likes kids, so Trixie got to chase "Moffy" around endlessly.) (His real name is Murphy and he's an incredibly patient dog.) Felicia got to eat lots of dog food so she also is a big fan of the dog.

Their oldest kid is Luke, and he loves babies. Last summer when we got together with this family, Luke wanted to hold Felicia endlessly. Then when their family was visiting Utah this summer, we saw them twice, and again, Luke wanted to hold Felicia. He was glad to get a few more snuggles in while we visited them, and I was glad to finally get a picture of this sweet baby-loving boy. (Although, for the record, I don't think he's always loved babies. I heard a story that when twin siblings were born he asked his mom if maybe next time they could just have one baby at a time instead of two.)

2018 Summer Road Trip: Day 10

We left Indianapolis and headed for St. Louis, Missouri. Although we had been to Kansas City, Missouri, a couple of times (to visit Eric's brother when he lived there), neither of us had been to St. Louis. I wanted to go visit the arch, but Eric was not even remotely on board. We did drive by it, though. We actually got a much better look at it than my picture can show. When we were close to it, I was too busy looking at it to bother taking pictures.

We met up with Eric's cousin, Megan (who also graciously hosted us!). She took us to a local children's museum, and we had so much fun playing together. Even though our kids and Megan's kids are second cousins, they know each other pretty well because Megan usually makes it a point to get together with us when she comes out to Utah. (Megan also lived on the same floor as me our freshman year at BYU, a connection that Eric and I discovered on our first date when I learned his last name.)

At the museum, Trixie and I got to be in a giant bubble together.

The kids all climbed a giant beanstalk instead of taking the stairs.

They all donned constructions hats (with one bizarre child insisting that backwards was frontwards).

And Felix was a way better behaved president than the one we're actually stuck with right now. (Wow, Sherry, how much are you going to criticize the president in these road trip posts? Um, I think I'm done, but if you know me in real life, I'm not even close to done.)

Back at Megan's house the kids played together and caught a frog.

At bedtime Megan and her daughter played a violin duet together, and our kids loved listening to it. Trixie loved getting to pluck the strings on the violin, but what she really wanted was a chance to actually play the violin. Too bad, sister.

It was such a fun visit to these cousins! Megan took such great care of us in the very short time we were there.