#3: Explore St. Louis

I know you are just waiting with bated breath to know what item I'm going to cross off next!  ; )  I think next post will stray from the list because I just need to update on some things that have come up but aren't on the list! 

BUT, this weekend we got to do one super fun thing on the list -- we met up with friends, the Js, in St. Louis!  I'll admit that when I made the list, I knew we'd be going there, but I added it anyways because since we've moved to KS I really have wanted to take advantage of living by some neat cities to explore.

Ok, on to the trip.

So first of all, St. Louis is about four hours from KC.  This doesn't sound like a tough trip - we lived about four hours from my parents when we lived in ND.  But, wait.  This is NOT the same four hour trip.  The drive Friday afternoon (don't other people work anymore??!) was basically traffic the. whole. way, with dinky little towns making up strip malls almost the whole. entire. way.  It was weird.  That stretch of highway also included more highway signs that I've ever seen and, oh, did you know that MO mile markers are actually every .2 miles??!  Can you say waste of money?  We saw some interesting signs to say the least, but my favorite was when I saw a sign for pork butt that read, "HOT JUICY BUTT" and M piped up from the backseat, "That is groooooss!"  We also made up a song, "Going to St. Louis!  St. Louis here we come!" (to the tune of Going to Kansas City -- we're so very creative!).  My favorite line was when JJ sang, "St. Louis has the highest rate of gonorrhea...." I looked at him strangely and he added, still singing, "It really does!"  SO glad JJ is learning so much in Med. School!

We found our hotel relatively easily and got all checked in.  We settled ourselves in, and called the J family, who.... was in the lobby!  Woohoo!  We had so much fun catching up with JPJ, CJ, AJ and JPJ's sister MJ.  The J fam moved to IN, where JPJ works as a post-doc at Purdue --- and CJ starts a new job Monday!  Yay for her!  MJ is visiting from India, so it was just wonderful to see her again!  We decided to order in supper so the kiddos could run around and we could talk a little more uninterrupted.  That turned out to be a great idea, and we had some yummy Chinese food and then hit up the pool!  M suddenly LOVES pools, which is great for us!  The only problem is she doesn't see the need to wear her life jacket OR swim with Mommy or Daddy.  ugh.  Swimming lessons in the NEAR future?  : )  Little A also enjoyed the pool, but was good and wore his life jacket!  : )  *Thank you to SIL LJ for the awesome idea of bringing some pool toys.  We just threw in some bath toys before we left, and both A and M had a nice time playing with them!

I was so nervous about how both kids would sleep.  From the beginning, C didn't seem to sleep so well in the pack and play, which is why we moved him into his crib so early.  Now he'd be forced to sleep in it.  duh duh duuuuh.  BUT he had his longest stretch of sleep to date!  (5.5-6ish hours!)  And M??  Where do you put a two-year old??  We decided to try out her couch and (insert huge sigh of relief) she slept ALL NIGHT!!  She did try out about seven positions, according to Daddy (she was laying on the floor on his side of the bed), but who cares as long as she didn't wake anyone up?!  : )

We had a nice continental breakfast and then took off for the zoo.  Just to give a little perspective, it was 85 degrees when we got in our car at about 8 am.  Yuck.  It was so hot and humid, it was ridiculous, but the St. Louis Zoo is awesome!  We found out that it is consistently rated #1 by a parent survey of zoos around the ... nation? world? either way - #1!  The J's experienced some unfortunate moments as the tires on their stroller popped one by one (JPJ saved the third one, though!), and JPJ left his wallet at the zoo stroller check out spot, but they smiled through it and made the best of it.  We did as much indoor fun as possible -- CJ's interest in seeing the penguins was just about THE BEST idea ever, because it was freezing inside.  A welcome relief!  We also took a train ride through each section of the zoo and even watched a sea lion show.  Some highlights were when the sea lion "acted" like other animals - a seal sliding on the stage, a shark swimming through the water with his flipper acting like the shark's dorsal fin, and also when the sea lions took dives -- they flipped upside down and stood with a big diving pose for quite some time.  I'm hoping MJ sends me her pics of this occasion, by this time the kiddos were tired and hot, so we didn't drag the camera out.  

Hanging out at a cool zoo and M finds the play kitchen... PB&J anyone?

A loves birds!

Keepin' the baby cool...

Chillin' with the penguins!

More penguins!

Giving hugs!

 
After the zoo, we hit up Old Spaghetti Factory, which was perfect.  It was close to our next (and final) destination AND we would be able to sit for a while in air conditioning!  Plus I heart OSF.

Then, duh, duh, duuuuh, THE thing to do in St. Louis -- check out the arch!  Everyone except for JJ and our two kiddos decided to head up to the top.  I'm so glad I did it, but don't feel like I need to do it again.  JJ, M and C watched boats in the water but mostly just stayed in the shade.  When M saw a lady with ice cream, my sweet, hot baby declared, "M want that in M's mouth!"  JJ found a big Popsicle for her to enjoy.

After we got out of the arch, we said our goodbyes and both headed home.  Apparently the Js ran into some yucky weather, but we had great roads all the way home (despite the traffic. again.).

YAY for visiting a new city, but MOSTLY yay for getting a chance to see our dear friends again!