Our St. Louis Adventure Part 1

We left for St. Louis in the wee hours of Monday morning, 3:58 am to be exact. We were headed to John's parents house for a week of fun. It is about a 12 hour trip which can be quite an adventure with young kids. Leaving early in the morning was something new, as we had not tried this method before and were curious to see if the boys would actually sleep in the car. We were joyfully surprised at their compliance and it really made for a much more pleasant trip.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the boys in front of this classic highway attraction in Oklahoma....a McDonald's that spans the length of the highway! We've been inside of it before and it is quite a sight....eating your Big Mac over tractor trailers speeding by below you. Only in the South! In fact, we marveled at many things that I would venture to guess do not exist in other parts of the country, for example, the world's largest rocking chair. Really, are you going to pull off the highway adding extra time to your travel to see this thing???? I'm sure not!

Monday night and Tuesday involved lots of time outside of the car. Noodle quickly became engrossed with a video game. He is that kind of child....I can already tell I will really have to help him set boundaries with such things as a kid.

Then came swimming in the backyard. These boys love to swim! Thanks John for setting it up!

And some bubbles! We really loved this contraption because it made bubble blowing so fun and not so messy!

On Wednesday we set out for Grant's Farm. Grant's Farm is the historical home of Ulysses S. Grant and includes a tour of the 281 acre wildlife preserve with over 1000 animals, including the world famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales. The tour starts off with a tram ride that takes you to the back of the park and then you can walk through all the animal exhibits and then catch the tram back out of the park.

First stop...feeding baby goats. These weren't just your average goats either. They were hungry and a little aggressive in getting their milk bottles. The boys opted to feed them through the fence rather than go into the pen and get mauled. Not a bad choice! Burrito was a little nervous about doing it but summoned up enough bravery to accomplish the task. Noodle loved every second of it, that animal lover!

Second stop....carousel! Noodle is being goofy in this picture and Burrito looks like he is still traumatized by the goats.

Next we watched a bird show that featured macaws, a hawk, an owl and even some rats! The boys, of course, liked the rats the best!

We saw lots of other animals there, including camels (Burrito was convinced that they would spit at us!), alpacas, buffalo, and the famous Anheiser-Busch Clydesdale horses. It was really fun and beautiful there. It was highly recommended that we go there and I can see why now.

Stay tuned for our next adventure at the Gateway Arch, the symbol of St. Louis and Western Expansion!