{St. Louis}

we surprised the girls with an unplanned trip to st. louis for the long weekend.
we were going to just jump in the car saturday with packed suitcases in the back and hit the road but then we wised up and figured that meant we had to do all the work!

so we told them friday morning instead.
they were running around like busy little bees.
there were clothes everywhere.
suitcases being dragged around from room to room
it was a nutty "everything half done" disaster.
throw in trying to clean the house (cause i always have to do that before i leave) and i was pretty much a basket case by the time dave got home!
maybe it would have been better to do all the packing ourselves!:)

our first stop was the arch.

have you ever been?
i was there once when i was young.
this place is impressive.
even on a cloudy day.

we headed inside to see the museum and to maybe take the ride to the top.
someone wasn't quite sure yet?!?!

the museum was so fascinating.
so many amazing details and information.

after exploring a bit we decided to come back tomorrow when our bravery level would be at it's highest and we could try that trip to the top one more time.

15 degrees warmer and this would have been the perfect picnic spot.:)

see the wedding?
we saw a TON of weddings on saturday.
guess this is the go to spot for wedding photos.

and just so i don't forget how i look on most trips....three year old on my hip and all.:)

the girls were so excited about getting back to the hotel to swim before our fancy dinner.
when we saw the pool we were a bit bummed.
it was seriously the size of about two king sized beds next to each other...the water was brownish and there were about 10 people (very loud people) in it when we got there.
dave was such a trooper.
i wish i had a picture of his face as he held aubrey and swam her around.
it was hilarious!!!
poor guy.
luckily the girls kind of agreed with the yuckiness factor and we were out of there in 30 minutes.
never to return again!:)

for dinner we went to a fancy italian place on the hill.
i guess this is an area known for their italian food.
sorry to say, for me it was just ok...i guess they never had my baby's italian cooking before.:)

we woke up sunday to sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures.
they was a big festival at the botanical gardens we couldn't wait to check out.
what a beautiful place.
if we lived in town this would be one of our favorite hang out spots for sure.

see janey.
love this girl but she never just walks.
she is always spinning, practising a dance move, skipping, hopping or some form of all of the above whenever she goes anywhere.
i don't know how she makes it through the school day cause she would never dream of doing that in school!:)

the tents were filled with such amazing things from local vendors.
dave sampled (and purchased) everything from sausage to dips to wine.
all the girls and i really cared about were the sweets.
we had mint cookie fudge that was amazing and this gooey chocolate butter cake....oh my word!
we devoured it in about 5 seconds and really needed another!
dave was like, let me snap a picture of you four ravenous sugar fiends!
with four ladies in the house...this is your life baby so get used to it.:)

after visiting all the tents and snacking like crazy we decided to explore the grounds.
this place was amazing.
we could have wandered around here for hours.
i was imagining a picnic blanket somewhere under the trees while the kids ran around.
maybe next time.....

not sure of the significance of the red fountain?!?!:)

i just loved all the old buildings here.

she finally sat in her stroller...but it took fruit snacks to get her there.

i look like 10 of this shot...this was the best one.:)

give three girls anything that resembles a stage and this is what you get.

learning about bees and
abandoning the stroller again.

after a lovely afternoon and lunch...

we headed to the arch to give the trip to the top one more try.
and just in case you hadn't seen enough pictures of this majestic masterpiece,
here's a few more.
this time with sun.

we made it to the top of that beauty.
and we had a perfect birds-eye view of the cardinal game below...totally cool!

it was a wonderful weekend.
and one we will always remember.

have a happy day,

cindy

PS
this was how much stuff we wheeled into the hotel that night...the girl at the counter laughed as dave remarked something about having three daughters!:)