Day 1 - Wednesday (3/25) - We left home mid-day so the kids would nap on the 2.5 hour drive to St. Louis. They did really good and we got to the hotel around 4. We had used priceline and gotten a really nice hotel in the downtown area. That evening we went out to eat with my brother Phil and his girlfriend Becca. Later that night, we checked out the hotel pool and had it pretty much to ourselves. The kids enjoyed it and we were off to a good start!
Day 2 - Thursday - We got up bright and early and headed for the zoo. The weather was gorgeous, the animals were active, and the kids loved it. They had a children's area where the kids could go on slides, play on a hippo statue, walk a tight-rope, etc. This zoo is fabulous! It has every animal you can think of and generally has several of each animal. Kendra was fascinated with the fish and any type/size of turtle. Gabe was impressed by the monkeys, giraffe's, bears, elephants, etc etc etc. And he got splashed by the penguins and he thought that was pretty funny. Kendra seemed to fall asleep every day around 1 or so so she always missed out on a thing or two. I won't bore you with all the animal pictures though we took our fair share so we could remember all the amazing animals!
Day 3 - Friday - We spent the majority of this day out at the St. Louis Mills mall. It is quite the mall! Our main stop was the Cabela's store. We'd never been to one and wanted to check it out. They had lots of wildlife displays and the kids really enjoyed that. They did end up getting new guns at Cabela's...the kind with the cork that when you pull back on it makes a loud pop. They were pretty funny shooting the animals in the store while we waited for Dad to check out the store.
The mall also had a playground area, a place for kids to ride rides, glow in the dark mini-golf, a bounce house room, etc. So much for kids this age!! I had to ride the first time with Gabe but after that, he decided he was big enough to ride all by himself. Kendra was a little too short so she just watched.
That afternoon, we took advantage of the nice weather again and took a paddle boat ride and fed the ducks/geese. Kendra liked them from a distance but afterwards when we sat on a park bench and fed them some more, she wasn't too sure about them. Gabe surprisingly really liked feeding them. He just about got nipped one time when he was just pointing to a duck and it mistakenly thought he was feeding it...but we survived.
Day 4 - Saturday - This was probably our favorite day. We went to a place called the City Museum. It was just amazing. The place is full of things to climb on, slide down, walk through/under/around, jump on, etc. It really is a great place for kids (and adults) of all ages. Phil came with us and we were pretty glad he did. It was nice to have 1 extra hand to give one of us a break sometimes! Check out the pics below for some of the tight places we squeezed through. I can assure you that we all paid the price for this for several days thereafter. I know Heath and I were sore for a couple days...our bodies just aren't used to all that twisting and manuevering! We actually arrived when they opened and stayed for probably 5 hours. We went home and took a break for a bit and then came back for 3 more hours we liked it THAT much. Afterall, the admission is good for all day so what did it hurt to return??
Gabe in that same log:
Kids resting on some random hands.
Taking a breather...
Family rest stop underneath the train station.
Phil wouldn't attempt this one...wonder why??
You're half way there Dad...no turning back now!
This was at the bottom of a spiral slide that you went down after climbing up 7 flights of stairs. After carrying Kendra up the majority of the way the first time, she and I sat out the second time. When you got to the bottom, you were definitely smiling/laughing and you also had a hard time walking straight.
And this is Kendra completing the daily ritual back at the hotel. She always has to get that fuzz out of her toes after wearing socks all day :)
Day 5 - Sunday - we were on our way home bright and early that morning. We stopped in Mt. Vernon and met up with Beth for a quick breakfast and to play on the playground at Burger King. To this day, Gabe still asks if I think we should go eat and play with "Little Bill" at the playground. I don't think that was really his name...but I go with it. He and "Little Bill" had quite the time playing on the playground and helping Kendra get through places she needed help with. When we got home we had some napping to make up for. The kids slept from 12 to 4:30 or something ridiculous like that. And I didn't get off the couch for that time either.
Day 4 - Saturday - This was probably our favorite day. We went to a place called the City Museum. It was just amazing. The place is full of things to climb on, slide down, walk through/under/around, jump on, etc. It really is a great place for kids (and adults) of all ages. Phil came with us and we were pretty glad he did. It was nice to have 1 extra hand to give one of us a break sometimes! Check out the pics below for some of the tight places we squeezed through. I can assure you that we all paid the price for this for several days thereafter. I know Heath and I were sore for a couple days...our bodies just aren't used to all that twisting and manuevering! We actually arrived when they opened and stayed for probably 5 hours. We went home and took a break for a bit and then came back for 3 more hours we liked it THAT much. Afterall, the admission is good for all day so what did it hurt to return??
This is Phil after a long struggle through a really tiny hole. At some points you couldn't crawl anymore, you just had to pull yourself through with your arms.
Gabe in that same log:
Kids resting on some random hands.
Taking a breather...
Family rest stop underneath the train station.
Phil wouldn't attempt this one...wonder why??
You're half way there Dad...no turning back now!
This was at the bottom of a spiral slide that you went down after climbing up 7 flights of stairs. After carrying Kendra up the majority of the way the first time, she and I sat out the second time. When you got to the bottom, you were definitely smiling/laughing and you also had a hard time walking straight.
And this is Kendra completing the daily ritual back at the hotel. She always has to get that fuzz out of her toes after wearing socks all day :)
Day 5 - Sunday - we were on our way home bright and early that morning. We stopped in Mt. Vernon and met up with Beth for a quick breakfast and to play on the playground at Burger King. To this day, Gabe still asks if I think we should go eat and play with "Little Bill" at the playground. I don't think that was really his name...but I go with it. He and "Little Bill" had quite the time playing on the playground and helping Kendra get through places she needed help with. When we got home we had some napping to make up for. The kids slept from 12 to 4:30 or something ridiculous like that. And I didn't get off the couch for that time either.
All in all, it was an awesome trip. We couldn't have asked for much better! Oh, I forgot to mention that our kids got to see a few "crazies" on our trip as well. There was a haunted house festival in town and there were some weirdos staying at our hotel. Kendra was pretty amuzing at the stare downs she gave people in the hotel lobby!
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