Since we now live so stinking far away from our Maine family and friends, having Missouri cousins a mere 400 miles away seems like it's practically next door. So this weekend, kids and I hopped in the car and drove to St. Louis. Unfortunately, we took a bit of a detour (about 80 miles) to see the sights of western Illinois, but we made it.
While there, of course we needed to see the arch. I didn't really know too much about it, except for having seen all the pictures. It's one of those thing I had to see, even if it was going to disappoint. I'm thinking back to Mount Rushmore - we got out of the car and, yup, it looked like Mount Rushmore. Thankfully, the arch was way more impressive in person than in pictures. It's was bigger than I thought it would be, and had a great museum to visit underneath. I also love the equations I came across that represent the structure. Almost makes me wish I'd kept up on my geometry. Who am I kidding, really, I didn't get far enough in math to make sense of this.
with the constants
Lu wanted to ride with the big girls. The last time we saw Ashlynn & Caroline was Thanksgiving. Lucy has grown up so much since then; there is a huge difference between just 2 and 5 but much less between almost 3 and 6. It's always cooler to hang with the big girls than with your mom and baby J.
Mama Ash here, taking care of my kids. She desperately wants to be a big sister, and played with and helped Lucy and Jamie all weekend. I think it's possible that Lucy could cure her of that ambition.
Aaannnnddd .... asleep. Again. Brandy kept on saying "is this baby for real?" 1st time in the pack-n-play and he had no problems. Just wait until he's sleepy and put him down and he's out. It's magic.
The big girls riding the metro. Pretty exciting!
This is the arch from the metro station. It's the historic section of St. Louis and there's some pretty neat brick and cobblestone work around the area.
Who knew Rob would be such a ladies man?
And here it is. Like I said, really, really impressive. Also impressive, the Sponge Bob ice pop that Lucy ate, or at least tried to eat. A portion ended up in her belly, a portion in mine, some on the ground, and a good quantity landed on Jamie's head and dripped down his face and onto his shirt. Did he scream? Cry? Fuss? No, just licked his lips.
At the Museum of Westward Expansion. I didn't (can you believe it?) get to enjoy this one at a leisurely pace and read all the exhibits, but Rob said they do a decent job of incorporating the native history and talking about the treatment of American Indians, etc. Sometime I'd love to come back to the arch and go through the museum and look at everything plus take the egg to the top to see. And no, mom, you will not scare me away from this one!
On the train on the way home this is Ashlynn teaching Lucy how to meditate. It was hysterical to see the two of them bobbing around on the train with palms together and eyes closed. Also, every person around us told me how much my daughter looked like me. Problem is, they were referring to Ash. Um, no, the one who doesn't look like me is actually mine!
The meditation must have worked.
And .... awake! Just as our excursion ended, baby J woke up and was all smiles. (Here's where you can see the red ice pop all over his shirt). Always nice to be so happy at the end of a trip!
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