Missouri

Tuesday during the day I had a nice time at the beach with my friend Stacey and her kids. Then the boys went to the temple with a large group of teens from the Ward that evening.

Thursday we left to Missouri. I had hoped to get out by 6am but we got out at 7am. Mostly because we stayed up late watching Stranger Things, I managed to get Tyler interested in the show too. Thankfully I forgot about the time difference so according to Missouri's time zone we did get out at 6am. The trip went smooothly and we did our usual stop every 2 hours and at each stop the kids would switch from audiobook to screens or vice versa. We listend to "The Magic Misfits" which wasn't the best book ever but the kids seemed to like it enough. I was not impressed with one of the main characters having 2 dads but whatever, I guess children's lit has to be all kinds of inclusive these days.

We also made a pit stop at Uranus Indiana. I had stopped by a Uranus Missouri with my mom before so I had to hit this pit stop. Unfortunately we decided to follow the signs instead of Google Maps and basically ended up taking a 10 minute detour before finding it. It was worth it. They have all sorts of funny things for sale there so I got Tyler a great shirt for his birthday. They also have super yummy taffy that I snacked on throughout the trip.Plus you can't beat the poop hole photo op outside and the dinosaur photo ops.

We beat Mariah's family to the VRBO so we had some time to chill after the 8 hour trip. I once again did good with the lodging. It was clean, roomy and in this quiet historical neighborhood, across the street from a beautiful cathedral. Plus it was really great that we shared a wall with Mariah's family but all got our own space. 

When Mariah's family got to the VRBO we chatted for a bit and then determined we were all hungry so we went and got dinner at Fitz's. Mariah's family knew all the good food places but it also meant that we were going to places that weren't super cheap. It was hard to calm down my frugal brain that didn't love spending so much money on food. However, the food was good and they were famous for their Root Beer so everyone enjoyed some good Root Beer. I even indulged in a root beer float with the kids. The only drawback to this place was it was slow, and we were there for at least 2 hours. I will say that I was impressed throughout the trip at how well Mariah's little ones did with waiting. I swear my older kids started losing it before they did.

After dinner, we went back to the VRBO and put our kids down to bed. Then we went over to Mariah and Jeff's VRBO and stayed up late chatting with them. I really do enjoy their company. We talked a bit about Tyler's dad and every time I am reminded at how much Tyler IS his dad. They have the possibility of moving to Michigan for Jeff's residency in a year and I know it's low on their list but it would be so nice to have them in the same state. 

Friday morning the kids were up early as per usual. Mariah's family took a bit longer to get ready so the kids and I walked to a nearby park and played for a bit. Once everyone was ready we headed to the St. Louis Zoo. All you have to pay for is parking so that was nice. It was a really hot day (90's and humid) so we were all melting and barely lasted the few hours we spent there. Penny's fav part was all the elephants. Ben definitely loved the penguin habitat where you could up close and personal with the penguins. Plus it was freezing so we all got to start shivering instead of sweating. Steven loved the Prairie Dogs because they reminded him of his guinea pigs. And we didn't get a pic of it but Lucy loved the bear we saw roaming around it's cage. Mariah's kiddo, Red, got excited every time he saw water, it was pretty cute. 

The kids, of course, were very insistent that we needed to visit the gift shop before leaving- frequent reminders about that. Lucy got a polar bear stuffie, Penny got a elephant stuffie and Ben got a penguin stuffie. Now we have 5 million and one stuffies. Steven couldn't find anything he liked, it's hard being a teen. Then we went back to the VRBO and had lunch (leftovers from dinner and easy macs). 

After lunch we had some R&R time. Wesley and Tyler napped, the rest of the kids chilled on the couch watching TV and I chatted with Jeff and Mariah. Once we were all recharged and ready to face the heat again we drove out to the Gateway Arch. We unfortunately couldn't actually ride the tram up it because it was booked solid for days (it was a holiday weekend) but silver lining, that saved us $100. Instead we took some pictures, touched it and went into the museum. The museum was like an airport in that they went through all our bags before we could enter but it was worth it for the a/c. Also they had an exhibit that showed the views from the top so Steven insisted on taking some "fake" pics because he wants to trick people into thinking we actually rode the tram.

When we finished up at the Gateway Arch it was time to get some food. We went to this neighborhood called The Hill that was full of Italian restaurants. Parking was an absolute mess and it was so peopley but I guess that's part of the experience. We ended up eating on the patio at Favazza's because they could seat all of us but that meant not much relief from the heat. Once again expensive food and it took forever to get the food. Apparently I am not in love with authentic Italian food because I like Olive Garden's fettuccine better but I can now say I have had a genuine Italian food experience. When we finished up it was back to the VRBOs to get the kids to bed. Then more chatting with Mariah and Jeff until late in the night.

Saturday we took the morning slow and got everything packed up and the VRBO cleaned up. Then we went and got soft pretzels at Gus's Pretzels that was just down the street. I had been eyeing the place since we got there. The pretzels were really cheap so I expected them to be small but they ended up being good sized and we had way more pretzels than we could eat. They were yummy though and provided for a good snack the rest of the day. I especially liked their cinnamon sugar bites.

We had a bit of a hard time getting to our next destination, the City Museum, thanks to a parade that had blocked off the street we needed. Thankfully a nice police man directed us on how to get around the parade. Tyler was so surprised that I wanted to pull over and ask the officr for help. I  guess I am more like my dad than I realize sometimes. The City Museum would have been a nightmare for me if I had younger kids, I don't know how Mariah didn't get overwhelmed. This is basically just one giant jungle gym. There are tunnels and slides and billions of things to climb and explore. It was really cool for the kids but it was so peopley and tunnels and slides would take the kids to different levels of the museum. It would be so easy to lose a kid there. Thankfully Tyler and Jeff are good at crawling after the kids. There were a lot of tight spaces that there was no way I was going in them. I think my claustrophobia has gotten even worse with age. 

Some things of note from our visit there...the kids were all brave and went down a 10 story slide. Ben and Steven both climbed in this terrifying tunnel that took them from the 2nd level to the 3rd level, with nothing below the tunnel. And they both were really helpful in getting Jessie and Red through that tunnel, it was sweet. There was this "skate park" with a super creepy tunnel that they all went in with their Uncle Jeff when I refused to go in. There was a unicycle rider and a juggler (that dropped things more than he should) and a lady that danced while twirling her really long braided hair... That last act was really weird.

The a/c in the place was not so great so we once again were sweaty messes so although the kids had a blast, they were definitely ready to leave after a few hours. We had a late lunch at Fire House Subs and the kids were introduced to "Friends" which was playing on a TV there, man that show is scandalous. Steven kept shaking his head and saying, "that's inappropriate". 

When we were done eating, it was time to say goodbye to Mariah's family. I hate goodbyes. Then we did a quick stop at Cahokia Mounds before heading back to Michigan. The mounds are basically hills that Native Americans made. We walked up the largest one, Monks Mound and it was a really beautiful view from the top, plus it was cooler up there. I can understand why people build their religious places up on hills. It also made me wish we had hills and mountains in Michigan. 

And finally our trip was done and we just had the 8 hour drive home left. This time we listened to "Eragon". I'm hoping the kids will get into this series like they did "Wings of Fire" but nothing seems to get them interested quite like that book series did. The drive was fairly smooth- we saw a beautiful sunset and then lots of fireworks, found a place to get some fireworks of our own for the BBQ we're hosting on the fourth, our car didn't break down and....we got pulled over by a cop! So that was fun. Apparently our brake lights keep getting stuck on so yet another issue for us to fix. But it was nice of the cop to let us know about this problem.