St. Louis 2011 ~ Sunday-Tuesday

After our late night at the Arch on Saturday, we had a lazy morning on Sunday.  Jerry and Sherry had offered to watch the kids while Rudy and I went out, so we decided to take them up on it.  (They might have disowned us if we hadn’t!)  We were going to go to dinner and a movie, but I suggested that we go to Six Flags.  We used to have season passes before Caleb was born and I hadn’t been since then.  After lunch, we hopped in the car and headed for Eureka.  We got a few minutes from the house and I realized that if we bought our tickets online we would save about $20, so we turned around and went back.  As I got on the computer to buy the tickets, Rudy was watching TV and saw a weather advisory for St. Louis County.  There were ugly storms brewing in the Eureka area, but he watched for a little while and determined that they would be gone by the time we got there.  I hit “purchase,” spent $100 and off we went.  The closer we got to Eureka, the darker the sky got.  We did a memory lane drive through Fenton to kill some time while the storm passed over.  When we got to Eureka, it was raining, but not pouring, so we went on in the park.  Those $100 tickets were nonrefundable after all.  It rained…and rained…and rained some more.  There was thunder and lightning and all of the rides were shut down.  We did manage to ride the carousel 3 times…because it was covered and out of the rain.  After a while, it became blatantly obvious that this storm was not going to pass over, clear up or plain ol’ quit.  We finally decided to tuck our tails, cut our losses and go out to dinner.  So…after 3 rides on the carousel at approximately $15 per person per ride, we left Six Flags.  Not our best adventure…

We went to dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants, Lazy River Grill.  Yum.  Deelicious!  We enjoyed being in familiar surroundings, visiting with each other (without wiping children’s mouths, taking anyone to the bathroom or reminding anyone to please be careful and lean over their plate).  After dinner, we decided to head on back to Florissant, pick up anyone interested and go get frozen custard.  That’s just what we did…and Fritz’s  was wonderful.

Monday was actually the 4th of July!  Rudy and I took the kids to the Mills (mall) for a while.  Both kids LOVED the aquarium at Cabela’s. 

Caleb tried out a bat at an electronic batting cage and then on this crazy trampoline thing…

We got both of the kids some new Crocs and had a late lunch at Chevy’s, which was supposed to be quick and just a snack, but it took them 45 minutes to bring our food.  Nola was exhausted, so Rudy ended up taking her out in the mall to walk and then I switched places with him. 

By the time we got back to Jerry and Sherry’s it was almost time to eat dinner.  The boys squeezed in a little fireless fireworks time in the driveway…

  

…and Little Miss Firecracker walked the runway for a few pictures.

After dinner, we went to the Florissant fireworks.  It was a great show! 

 

Caleb acting silly…

Our whole crew…

 

Jerry and Nola watching (and laughing at) fireworks…

Tuesday was our zoo day!  The temperatures dropped a little and we were able to enjoy a great day at the St. Louis Zoo!  The kids loved seeing the animals and our friend Jenny joined us to catch up on each others’ lives.

Click here to see Caleb grow up taking pictures with the frog statues at the children’s zoo:

Petting animals at the children’s zoo:

Caleb up close and personal with an elephant and a zebra:

Nola up close and personal with a chimp:

Jenny and Caleb petting stingrays:

Jenny and the kiddos:

After the zoo, we went back to the house to give Nola a chance to take a nap and everyone a chance to freshen up.  We had dinner at our all-time favorite restaurant, Cunetto House of Pasta.  Nola was a grump, so it was a little stressful.  Sherry graciously volunteered to take her outside to walk around so that Rudy and I could finish our meals in peace.  (Maybe next year we shouldn’t try to do the zoo and a nice dinner on the same day.)  Afterward, we spent some time outside of Cunetto, letting our dinners settle and playing with the kids. 

Sherry, Jerry, Rebecca & Jared with Nola and Caleb:

It was a great ending to yet another great trip!

St. Louis 2011 ~ Friday & Saturday

Every year, we look forward to our trip to St. Louis.  Rudy starts getting all nostalgic and we both start planning every activity and meal.  Our first stop on Friday (7/1) was in our old neighborhood – Glenn Brooke Woods.  We were excited to see and catch up with our friends Jen and Broc and their kids.  The kids played and we visited and got all caught up on the latest happenings in the neighborhood.  It was wonderful to see our sweet friends and they even treated us to dinner.  I was awful and didn’t get a single good picture.  I was too busy chasing kids and talking!

We left the Browns’ house and headed north to Florissant.  We got to Jerry and Sherry’s house and felt like we were at home.  We let the kids stay up waaaay past their bedtimes while they got reacquainted with their great aunt and uncle who love them as though they were their very own grandkids. 

Saturday, we had a lazy morning, then went to the neighborhood pool (which is much more awesome than ours) and had fun splashing and playing in the water for a while.  When we got back to the house, we had burgers and hot dogs.  After our late lunch, we loaded up for our trip downtown.  We’ve spent some portion of the 4th of July weekend at the Arch 10 out of the last 13 years.  The group that goes with us changes a little every year, but we are always there with Jerry and Sherry.  It’s always unbearably hot.  It’s always crowded.  There’s always a chance of rain (and we’ve gotten rained on several times).  But…there’s always a great fireworks show.  There’s usually a great concert (Best = Hootie & the Blowfish, Worst = Cyndi Lauper).  There’s always a fabulous opportunity for people-watching.  There’s always overpriced fair food and cold lemonade.

 

We’ve taken babies (sometimes not so intelligently) and we’ve taken grandparents.  We’ve taken Caleb every single year of his life – and Nola too, for that matter.  This year was no exception to the rules.  It was over 100 degrees when we got down there.  I wasn’t sure how we were going to make it.  We had water-spraying fans, lots of water to drink and we took turns taking the kids into the shade. 

At one point, I took Caleb to look for the kids’ area.  We walked all the way around the Arch and back.  He was excited to see the flooded river.  By the time we got back to our seats, I was starting to feel sick from the heat.  I was glad to see that some shaded space had come available and our crew had moved into it.  It made all the difference in the world.  We were joined this year by Rudy’s uncle Doug and aunt Lisa, as well as our friend Joy and her kids.  We thoroughly enjoyed the Steve Miller Band concert, which was the reason we chose to go on the 2nd instead of the 4th.  Nola entertained us with her dancing throughout the concert.  After the concert, we enjoyed the fireworks.  Caleb was able to watch it without covering his ears (or eyes) and Nola sat in my lap for most of it.  She would laugh when the sky would light up and would even sometimes cry when they fizzled out.  Both kids were sound asleep by the time we got out of the city traffic.