Spring Break '25

 I feel bad how long its been since I've written.  Seminary is an absolutely killer calling.  I feel like every free minute is spent prepping, either reading scriptures or planning lessons or researching in some other way.  Usually about 25 hrs/week.  My blog has taken a back seat.  But we had a wonderful spring break and I couldn't let those pictures go un-shared.

One of the main things we wanted to do on our trip was bike along the KATY trail.  This is a former rail line that went from Missouri to Texas.  (Formerly MKT line - Missouri, Kansas, Texas)  Say M K T fast and it sounds a little like Katy.  When they pulled out the rail lines and replaced it with a hiking/biking trail, they kept the name Katy.  It's 250 miles from St Louis to Kansas City and it's awesome.  It passes through all sorts of adorable little towns and some really scenic spots.  We biked two days and it was a ton of fun.

Can you spot Christian on that little over hang?

We also had a great time exploring St Louis. It's very similar to Detroit in a lot of ways - its struggle to bounce back from civil rights strife, it's crime rate, it's struggle to bounce back from COVID lifestyle and economic style changes, etc.  Lots of vacant or repurposed buildings and less appealing neighborhoods but also some really fun spots like the Arch and the City Museum.  We also took a walking tour with a man from the Missouri History museum that was wonderful and showed us a ton that we would never have been able to notice on our own.

The arch is incredible - just contemplating the engineering and design of the arch and the carts going up and down is of itself already remarkable, but then to experience it for oneself is a must.  Beware if you're claustrophobic, but it's worth it.  

The city museum defies description.  Its part Willy Wonka factory (minus the eating) and part stress dream escape challenge.  You're never quite sure where you are inside the building or what's ahead and you could spend days there and never explore all the tunnels and crevices and secret passageways.  It's amazing.  It was so fun to meet Julia there and hang out with her for a bit too.

While in St. Louis, the older kids also got to do an escape room followed by FroYo at a place called Bella's.  It was meant to be.  I took Peter to a nearby playground and had just as much fun while we waited.

We also visited the church history sites in Independence, MO and Nauvoo, IL.  Such wonderful missionaries led us around in each of those places and we got to see the Independence temple site, Liberty Jail, the monuments to the 3 and to the 8 witnesses, the Red Brick Store, the Mansion House, and the Smith home (where the Smiths lived when they first came to Nauvoo).  We loved visiting just as we're studying these things in seminary and everyone was so friendly and interesting.  Visiting these sites reaffirms my testimony every time of the truthfulness of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The KATY trail goes past the capital city of Missouri, Jefferson City, so we spent a few hours there.  The most GORGEOUS capitol building I've ever seen.  I've been on capitol building tours in many states and in Washington DC, but Jefferson's is my favorite.  It doesn't have the notoriety and history of DC, obviously, but it is stunning.  And with the beautiful trees just in bloom, I couldn't take enough pictures.  Up on the hill, by the river, gorgeous shining white and with beautiful art work inside - I could have hung out there much longer.  It is so obvious how hard Missourians wanted to establish themselves as a state on the level of the more populous, older, more prestigious ones on the east coast and not to be seen as a bumpkin frontier settlement.  They pulled out all the stops with this building.

No one loves Lewis and Clark like the Missourians.  They are EVERYWHERE.  I mean, I know the voyage started there, but wow, the love is intense.  I never learned so much about those two as I did the week I was in Missouri.

Miscellaneous photos from the trip:

Peter loves ketchup like the Missourians love Lewis and Clark.   He uses 4-5 packets for every small serving of fries and he's a real connoisseur of fries as well.  DQ Grill and Chill has a special place in his heart.  He was very happy on this trip with all the food stops we made.  The difference when you travel with Kelly vs. me.  I make you eat sandwiches I packed! :)

Our AirBnB was fantastic.  An 1800s farm house on 170 acres.  This little rock outcrop was on the property and was a lot of fun to hike to and play around on.  It was so fun to have a huge area to play baseball during down times and tons of room to roam around and explore.  Other than the outdated lighting which left me and Kelly and our 45+ year old eyes constantly saying "I can't see anything, why is it SOOO dark in here?!?" it was a charming place perfectly half way between Independence and St Louis and almost right on the KATY trail.

We saw all sorts of fun places on our walking tour of St. Louis.  Kelly had to take a picture in front of the Bull&Bear statue.  Alas, the market plummeted not long after.

We also saw the stadium were the St Louis Cardinals play.  And unfortunately/fortunately it was opening day.  So the energy was awesome, the traffic...not so much.  My kids are not big baseball fans, though, so we didn't try to get tickets.

A few other trip highlights - Christian, Bella, and I playing a pick-up basketball game in Rocheport, MO when we discovered the town had placed a basketball court and basketballs right by the trail.  That was a lot of fun and a nice break from the bikes.

Nightly games of Yahtzee and Go Fish.  Bella has mojo with dice that is hard to beat but I actually won once!

Going to Columbia for church on Sunday and meeting Natani, the Elders' Quorum pres, who invited us over for lunch within minutes of meeting us.  He has 8 kids and his wife and in-laws were all home so it was quite a large group.  Bless his wife for just rolling with 5 total strangers showing up with 45 minutes notice.  They were a great family and a lot of un.  He's Navajo and military so we had a lot to talk about.

I'm so glad we got to go on this trip as a family.  Our remaining vacations with Bella are few and it was a great time together.

Keeping Busy in the Winter

This month Peter has been very busy.  We are going through the application process for the academically accelerated program at Webster Elementary.  The older three attended this program and I'd love Peter to go there too, but the process to get in is extensive.  He went there three separate times this month for various tests ranging in span from a 4 hour test to a 90 minute test.  During the next phase of the application, they contact current teachers for recommendations.  Then finally they combine all that data to inform their decision which they make at a meeting of the selection committee.  We'll know in a few weeks if he gets in.  I'm friends with the testers and they told me after he was done that they were amazed by him.  "You Daltons sure are something!" one of them said.  That gave me hope that things went well.  Peter also said he felt good about the results.  Each time he left he told me, "That was easy!"  

In the mean time, he's started a few other classes.  He's still taking swimming and doing great, but he asked to do soccer again and he's been interested in skating, so we signed up for those lessons too.  The same week we started skating lessons, I heard about an outdoor skate track someone made.  It was supposedly in the woods nearby so we drove over there and hiked around to find it.  No idea who made it but it was really cool.  1/4 mile ice track in a clearing in the woods.  Peter was a grumpy pants about it and didn't really want to do it.  Really not sure why other than his rainy brain was in full force all day that day, but I managed to get a smile out of him for the selfie.  I really hope Peter grows out of his strong pessimistic tendencies as he gets older because they are exhausting for me and so limiting for him.  Then we hiked around in the woods and he grumped the entire time through that too.  I was so enamored by the sunshine and somewhat warmer weather that I wasn't going to let his mood get to me.  I had a wonderful time.  

A more accurate picture of his mood:

My soccer pictures leave a lot to be desired, but here's a few of his first day at his new soccer class.  I signed him up with WAZA soccer.  It's run by an acquaintance of mine who's an amazing soccer player.  I knew Peter could be great if he really did what the coach said but again his rainy brain and shyness got the better of him and he spent a lot of time standing around and hanging back.  I managed to catch a few shots of him having fun and trying hard and I praised him for his effort.

I have been trying to play soccer with him during the week but he's refused to do that.  After asking why he asked to take soccer again but doesn't seem to want to play, I found out that the only reason he said he wanted to do soccer again was because the coach he had last time gave out candy after practice each week and he wanted candy again.  Now that this coach doesn't give out candy, he doesn't want to go.  I offered to bring a little piece of candy each week if he plays and participates.  We'll see how things go.

Other Peter moments:

Getting a quick lunch at Panera Bread between swim lessons and testing at Webster.  He's holding up a little keychain he got at swim lessons.

Sledding.  He was wiped after running up the hill so many times.  He's an awesome daredevil, though.  He'll sled down any-which-way and he's not afraid in the slightest.  It's so fun to see.

About 10 times a day I hear "Mom, take a picture!" Here are some of those moments.

Peter also loves to bowl.  I'm not great but I like to bowl occasionally too, so on some very cold days, this made for a fun afternoon...unless I win.  I don't always beat him but the bumpers are a real advantage and things worked out for me the day this picture was taken.  "This is the worst afternoon ever!" he declared.  Alas, such is life, my friend.  Can't win them all.  The one saving grace with Peter is that he's easily distracted from his moodiness and he's easily won over by cuddles.  

Benjamin has been transferred to a new area.  He's no longer in Dodge.  We find out tomorrow where exactly he is now but while he was still in Dodge, we got a sweet Facebook message from a woman in his ward there.  She said they all love Elder Dalton and shared these pictures with us.  So awesome to see him doing so well.  The gospel of Jesus Christ really is the true source of joy and I'm so glad Benjamin is learning that for himself.