Meet me in St. Louis

My children were devastated after discovering that we'd be gone for the first 1/3 of spring break and then dentist appointments were the only thing on the schedule. So, we decided to go to St. Louis, Missouri to visit my sister, Mandi, and her family and see the sights. Because of timing and unavailability of tickets at convenient times, we did not actually get to go up INSIDE the arch; however, we did get to visit the beautiful park surrounding it and the museum about Lewis and Clarke hidden underneath the arch.


Here is an instructional station to learn how to place your hand on the ball to throw the numerous types of pitches. I had no idea there were that many! My hand physically could not hold the ball for an extended amount of time in certain positions. OUCH! I'll stick to basketball.

These are original stadium chairs from a LONG time ago.


My cuties by the arch.

Here we are leaning against the arch. Shiny, huh! Lizzie liked that part.

A new perspective...

Braxton pointing to where Percy Jackson must have jumped from the arch. My boys LOVED the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In the book, (not the movie) Percy is getting attacked by a chamera in the St. Louis arch and has to escape by jumping out of a window and landing in the Mississippi River. Quite unbelievable, but heroes do unbelievable things!

My beautiful baby

Peek-a-boo

My other beauty

We were told that if we were in St. Louis, we HAD to try Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. It made it onto 2 Food Network shows, so Steve was more than willing to try it. Plus, he's gone for 8 weeks without sugar and was ready to take the plunge on something newsworthy. The concoction lived up to the hype. There had to be no less than 50 people standing at the ordering window. The workers never write anything down (a trademark) and got everything correct. Service was quick and the frozen custard was AMAZING! We went back again just to make sure it wasn't a fluke. :)

Here's the gang patiently waiting for their dessert.

Another "must see" was the free zoo. Another great event. It was packed! Steve and Uncle Ryan walked 45 minutes each way to find us a parking place after dropping us off. I guess all of St. Louis goes to the zoo on Good Friday! We still enjoyed ourselves, saw some new animals, and got to see our cute kids discover and learn more about the animal kingdom.

I love Lizzie's face here.

And I love my cute nephew, Max! He's so huggable!

The elephants were great. Emma was really bothered that he left his poop right there for all to see. He was too distracted by the itch on his back foot, I guess.

"Brothers don't shake, brothers hug." Tommy Boy

Max has a thing for puddles and he loved every splash. He was in heaven!

The underwater viewing of the hippos was REALLY cool. Their size astounds me--and Evan, too.

Carter is one of my animals.

Emma is always ready for a photo shoot. Anytime. Any place.

I never could get out of her what secrets she was telling Chris, her cousin. Hmmmm.

This is a tattoo that Chis got WEEKS ago and has not let my sister wash off until his cousins could see it. He is so cool.

Carter eventually got in trouble by a zoo staff member, but sure had fun while he was breaking the rules and splashing those around him. Shocker! I was trying to capture the droplets of water and the smile with my camera, so I was too busy to tell him to stop. My bad.

Awwwwww!

Do they have to grow up?

After the zoo and swinging in the front yard, we went to our hotel for a little swim. It was a nice, warm pool, my favorite. The kids had a great time until...Carter got some wire stuck in his foot. Steve thinks it was from a wire brush they use to clean and scrub the pool with. Needless to say, it took tweezers, hand squeezing, and the hotel manager to get involved, but everything was fine in the end and his tetanus shot was still current.

He survived, but barely. Can you tell?




Next on the itinerary was a science museum. They had lots of exhibits about space and the construction of the arch. The big kids liked building them, the little kids like pushing them over.

Here was a technology exhibit. Every number pad had a different tone, so you could make a song with how you jumped on the hopscotch.

Dinosaurs are always fun, especially life-size.

LIzzie was reaching out to touch someone. Creepy.

Emma got to touch a tornado.


Outside was another fun exhibit/playground.




We sent the old men (including Braxton) off to Priesthood sesson and Mandi and I kept the little ones busy doing Easter crafts. First was "eggs in a nest". We made nests out of rice krispie treats and then the kids put jelly beans in them for the eggs. Then...you get to eat them!

Here are the eggs we died using sponge painting--a new technique I've never tried before. Fun and different.

These were to help protect the clothing.


This picture shows my favorite part--getting to hang out with my sister. She is a talented, faithful, intelligent, loyal, and strong woman whom I admire and adore. I love her humor. I love her humility. I love her. She makes me laugh and has more faith in me than I have in myself. I am so glad that I could share her birthday with her. Thanks, Mandi, for a great weekend! I hope we can get together again!