The last one may seem a little difficult - but a quick trip to southeastern Missouri and even the seemingly impossible becomes attainable.

But as for #4 - we decided to introduce the girls to a little rock climbing (not the harnessed kind, with plastic mountains, but the kind with actual rocks!) at a place called Elephant Rock state park.

Here are the three ladies of the family at the summit of this mountain of boulders:

At the base of the mountain, they had a playground for kids - including baby swings. Here’s Will learning that posing for a photo with your two sisters means having your neck pulled in strange ways sometimes:

The girls were excited from the moment they saw the first boulder - here they are after their first successful climb:

As we made our way up the mountain, we found quite a few tunnels and caves to explore:

Once they got their footing, they felt like Superheroes (able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…). Here they are showing off their super powers:

Poor Will was confined to the stroller - but he was happy to get in on a bit of the action:

Will watches everything his sisters can do and we can tell it makes him crazy that he can’t just jump right out of his strollers (or his parents arms) and join them. We suspect these types of Fuchster family adventure days will only get more interesting once he actually can join them.

I on the other hand was feeling a bit less than inspired as I could barely walk having participated in an 80-mile relay race between the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

Either way - nice to be out on a beautiful day with the kids and nice to know that something so simple as a walk could inspire someone’s day:

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And here’s Lucy with her debut of “Wendy the Whale”:

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The reward of course is the candy inside - thus disqualifying Mr. Will (which was all melted and perhaps licked multiple times by squirrels since the eggs are hidden earlier in the day).

Here’s Lucy proudly displaying her winnings:

Let it be known that a little squirrel-lick is not enough to deter Lucy from eating chocolate (Grace is somehow happy that Lucy is sharing squirrel germs):

This next one has kind of a “professional” quality to it - unfortunately, the girls kept passing the camera back and forth, so we’re not sure who gets the photo credit for this one (this is the Missouri side of the confluence):

And finally - just to bring us back to 1993, the gold ball at the top of this pole is how high the water reached during the flooding that year:

Since we had two cameras that day, the adults did take a few pictures too. Not that we’re any better than the kids, but at least when we take the photos, the kids appear in them (which is more interesting to look at then photos of us aging ungracefully).

Here’s a close-up showing just how high the water got in 1993:

Here are the girls and their mom directly in front of where the two rivers collide (it’s a lot less rough than you might think):

Here are the two girls (who feel extra special since when we go on hikes, they get to walk with their Camelbacks on their backs):

And, since Grace drank her entire Camelback in the car, we had to find a secluded tree for her to pee as soon as we got there. So I took a close-up of Luce, who’s much better at conserving water:

After months of opening his mouth during dinner in the hopes of getting a bite or two of something non-liquid, Will finally transitioned from milk to rice cereal. Grace even offered to try his rice cereal concoction to show him how it’s done.

Here he is getting ready:

And here he is eyeing his mom in anticipation:

He was a bit skeptical after that first bite:

But then decided that this just might be something he could get used to:

After her mom showed her how it’s done, Lucy got in on the action:

Although a little uncertain after his first “meal” we suspect Will is going to be a pro (although not of the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest variety, we hope):

Lucy thought a balloon draped from her forehead would intimidate all current and future opponents:

And Grace worked on looking cool and confident (but may have missed the mark a bit):

Combine his new love of hats with an outfit from southern Texas (courtesy of his cousins Anna and Matthew) and you have the Fuchster version of a Mexican hairless:

And here is Senor Will with his Amigas:

She didn’t go alone - she was able to convince her mom that an afternoon away with just Lucy could be quite relaxing:

And, just for fun, here’s an image we found of Lucy the last time she got a little fancy (it might have been for Will’s Baptism). Here she is reading a book with her grandfather: