One More Time

Going, going, going and almost gone!

I love Lion's Choice!

T:  Yep, that's right number four in 5 days!

G:  If mom makes me eat here again, I'll go Crazy!
Before we headed home, we had to stop by Lion's Choice one last time!  Yes, it was our fourth trip to the roast beef eatery!  No, I wasn't sick of the place yet.  Yes, I want a roast beef sandwich right now!  Alex was a bit tired.  Afterall, it was his nap time!  He started to fall asleep before he got his food.  We had a great time in STL!! Thanks Beth and Jeremy for hosting us!  You all rock!  Thanks Anna and Kate for playing with our kids!!!

Headed Home

This is what the Arch elevator looks like.  Tight squeeze!

The kids check out Busch Stadium from the Arch!

Before we headed out, we stopped by downtown St. Louis.  When I was a kid, Dad used to take me to Cardinal baseball games and Blues hockey games.  I loved sports.  Maybe why I made a career of it.  The Cards were out of town, so there were no games going on.  At least we got to see the new stadium.  One day, I'd like to catch a game.  Keith and the kids went up in the arch.  I wanted to save 10 bucks, so I just checked out the museum.  It's a pretty awesome view from the top of the Arch.  Here are a few pics!

Family Time

The classic Princess pose!

Since I spent part of my childhood in St. Louis, I still have some family in MO.  My mom has several brothers and a sister, so I have lots of folks to see when we are in town.  Here's a couple of pictures of Savannah and Kenzie!  Wow, have they grown up!  We had a great time catching up with my aunt and uncle.  They cooked us a great meal and we got to swim!  Good times!

The St. Louis Zoo

I love the STL Zoo! It rocks!  Another bit of history, with the Louisana Purchase Exposition in 1904, the process to establish a zoological park began.  The zoo was finally opened in 1910.  The state legislation provided that "the zoo shall be forever free."  How awesome is that??  A free zoo!  I wish more cities could provide that discount for their zoo visitors!  Here's just a few pictures that we took on our trip to the zoo.  

Fountains

Tastes great and less filling!

A:  I try pooping Daddy!

We let the kids cool off at Des Peres Park.  STL has so many parks.  It's pretty cool.  This particular park had a big fountain for the kids to play in!  They also had two huge play structures!  After the fun, we went to Silky's for frozen custard.  We wanted to compare Silky's to Ted Drewes.  It was pretty good, I thought it was richer then TDs.  Both places get my vote, it's all good!

Grant's Farm

 I love STL because they have cool places to visit for FREE!  So nice.  Grant's Farm has been one of my favs since I was a child!  You can see the animals up close and even feed some of them! Grant's Farm is the ancestral home of the Busch Family (yes, the beer folks).  Here's some more history, our 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, founded and farmed part of the 281 acres (in the 1850's).  Thanks to the Busch Family, you can visit the farm for free!!!  It all begins with a tram ride that takes you along the outskirts of the farm.  When you exit the tram, one of the first things the kids can do is feed the goats!  You can buy milk bottles for a dollar and then let the kids feed the goats.  We went inside the pin, but the goats started jumping all over us.  We quickly exited and fed them from the outside!  We even got to feed camels!  But the cutest feeding of the day is when Alex and Anna sat right next to each other while eating their snack!  This was so cute.  We were trying to get them to kiss, but they were too shy!  

Ted Drewes

My fav pic of Anna!  Look at those eyes!  G & K BFFs.
Ted Drewes is the FAMOUS frozen custard place that exists only in STL!  It is amazing!  My parents grew up on this stuff, I grew up on this stuff and Grace had her first taste of ice cream when she was just a babe here at TD!  This was Alex's first time at Ted Drewes.  I think he liked it!

Imo's Pizza and Turtle Park

Friday night, we dined at Imo's Pizza.   I love this thin crust style of pizza.  It makes me feel less guilty, you know saving carbs and stuff.  We tried to go to the zoo that night, but it was closed thanks to a private party.  We headed over to Turtle Park and let the kids run around.  Ted Drewes was next on our list of things to do!

Friends in STL

Yes, this was a family vacation for us, but one of the main reasons we picked STL was to visit our friends!  The Floyds are in seminary right now and we wanted to pay them a visit!  We got to stay in an apartment on campus, right across the hall from the Floyds.  This worked out so well, our kids loved to play with each other.  It reminded me of my college days...living right next to all my friends.  The other picture is of my friend, Priscilla.  We became friends early on in elementary school.  That was a LONG time ago!  We've kept in touch through the years and I had to steal her away from her work, for a lunch date!  It's funny how even though you don't see friends for awhile, when you finally meet up again, you pick up where you left off!  Good friends are hard to find, but when you find them, you have them forever!

More Magic House

A:  Look at my fish, I dropped it in the stream!

This is Kate, Grace's friend!
I'm practicing blowing out my background.
What a hair raising time!!!!!

The Magic House

Tam with a camera, shocker?

Friday morning, we headed over to the Magic House.  This place is a huge children's fun house.  It's educational, entertaining, and just plain neat!  Yes, I went to this place when I was little, but they've added on quite a bit!  Grace loved this mock-grocery store.  She even got to check herself out!  How cute!

Lion's Choice

I look crazy here!  Okay, I'm obsessed (yes, obsessed) with Lion's Choice roast beef sandwiches! Lion's Choice is a fast food chain in STL.  They have the best roast beef sandwiches, the BEST.  I grew up on these and every time we go back to the Lou, I have to eat at LC.  Seriously, in our short trip, we ate at LC four times!  Thankfully, Keith likes this place too!

St. Louis Trip

We just got back from our family trip to St. Louis, MO.  For those of you who don't know, I grew up in St. Louis and moved to TN is when I was in the 8th grade.  St. Louis is a great town for kids!  There is so much FREE stuff to do and so many parks, that it is a parent's dream!  I have lots of pictures to post, so hang on!  FYI, I've been watching these photography dvds and I'm trying to get my camera off that green box.  So, I have to take lots of pictures to improve my work!  These are a few pics that I took of the St. Louis Arch!!!