St. Louis to 64W

Saying goodbye isn't something that comes easy.  Especially when I don't know when the next time I will see someone.  But, after a week in St. Louis, we were ready to be home.  Now don't take it wrong... we had an amazing time (aside from the weather being gloomy and wet)... everything was wonderful.  

While I would love to write about every detail of our trip... I honestly would be here forever!  So here are some day-by-day highlights:

Saturday:  Since there aren't many trees that loose their leaves here, on Saturday, the kids helped my mom rake leaves.  They ran, jumped, dove and hid in the leaf pile.  Later that afternoon, we went to visit Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Adam and baby Raegan.  After dinner (in Kirkwood), we walked a few blocks to "ColdStone".  My kids, of course, picked up litter along the way!!  I'm thinking of calling them "Litter Patrol".  They held on to what was recyclable and found a trash can along the way and put the litter where it belongs.  They make me so proud!!!

Sunday:  We went to a family reunion at Aaron's parents house.  As usual, the kids had so much fun.  Claire and Henri worked past their fears and rode Omaha for the first time.  The kids went "fishing" for toys... Claire snagged a hula hoop and had a major meltdown!  "That's not what I wanted!!" she cried.  Her Uncle Adam has this on video ;)

Monday:  Took the kids to the STL Science Center.  Chase was bummed (ok, mad and pouty) because he just wanted to go to the Magic House.  No matter how much we explained to him that the Science Center was amazing... he didn't believe us until we stepped inside.  The kids built an arch-- Henri destroyed it before I could get a pic.  They learned how to make bridges... Chase, of course, was enthralled with building the different types of bridges.  Oh, and the Dinosaur section they have 2 life size dinosaurs (T-Rex and Triceratops).  They moved and made sounds, which absolutely terrified Henri, so much that he kept saying, "I wanna get outta here."  I was able to take Chase and Claire to look at them, but even they were fearful.  So, to whoever created those Dinosaurs at the STL Science Center... Bravo!... my kids are convinced they are real!!

Tuesday:  Chase has became a fan of Mario Cart on Wii, Claire likes to run on Wii Fit!  We met Grandpa Bill, Grandma Pam, Lindsay, Adam and Raegan at Chevy's for dinner.  Henri slept almost the entire time... waking just in time for dessert.

Wednesday:  After a slow start, we made it to my Grandparents for lunch.  It had been months since we had been there... and the kids (except for Henri) ran in like they had just been there the day before.  Their toys are so simple (old, broken-in), but the kids love them.  After talking for hours, we then took the kids to their favorite place in St. Louis-- the Magic House.  We've actually been there so many times, that I've lost count.  This time we mostly played in the old section because the boys didn't pay attention to their bodies and peed their pants!  Aaron had to take an hour long (round trip) drive to my mom's to get the boys new clothes... and I was left to keep the kids occupied-- which was quite easy ;)  For dinner, we met up with Brian and Jenna and their two kids... I suddenly turned into that "old person" that says, "I can't believe how big you've gotten and I remember when....".

Thursday:  I helped my mom make her very first cheesecake!  Coming to STL, we had grand plans of walking through Stuckmeyer's pumpkin patch, going on a hayride, corn maze and playing at their wonderful farm...but with the rain still hovering over St. Louis, we picked out 3 pumpkins and headed to Aaron's parents.  The kids drew their designs on their pumpkins and Aaron quickly carved out 3 jack-o-lanterns.  The rain let up just long enough for the kids to go outside to feed Omaha, fall in the mud and have shoes filled with water.  No change of clothes, the kids had to strip down so we could wash their clothes.  2 hours later, we went to Shannon's house to hang out.  Her kids are 10 and 5, so it was craziness!  The kids hadn't seen each other since they were babies... but they hung out like they were old friends.  Maybe it's ingrained in them from being inside me ;)  We stayed there way past the kids' bed time and by the time we got to my mom's house the kids were still all jacked up and didn't go to bed until 10:30!!!

Friday:  Grandma's 80th Birthday!  I was able to talk my mom into letting my sister stay home from school-- my kids and my sister were, obviously, thrilled!  My mom spent the day cooking my Grandma's Birthday dinner, while Aaron and I packed and the kids played with their Aunt Audrey.  We spent hours talking to my Grandparents and had a wonderful dinner (thanks MOM!).  My Grandma absolutely loved her photo video (that my friend Mary Claire made).  While watching it, she reached over and held my hand, squeezed tight, and smiled.  I love holding hands.  I love making my Grandma happy.  After many hours, my Grandparents said good-bye.  Having a 15-16 hour drive ahead of us we too, said our good-byes to my Mom and Audrey (yes, I teared up) and hit the road around 6:30 PM.  With the rock slide on I-40, we had to take a new route that led us threw Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia and Virginia.  I would've liked to have seen it during the day... maybe next time.  After watching Dumb and Dumber, I fell asleep somewhere in the Virginia mountains.  Aaron, on the other hand, drove all night, making little stops to refuel-- not only the car but himself.  I woke up briefly as he pulled into a rest stop... mostly asleep, I let him know that I was not opposed to getting a hotel room, then closed my eyes.

Saturday--It had rained the majority of the drive and when I woke up from my slumber it was day (but still gloomy).  We stopped at a gas station to get some breakfast.  It's so embarrassing what our kids ate... that I just can't even write it.  Needless to say, next time I will pack breakfast.  From the gas station, I took over driving the last hour of the trip.  The rain had subsided and the kids were wide awake full of sugar ;)  As we drove down the highway to Wilmington, I could see the blue skies welcoming us home.  We finally pulled in our driveway around 11 AM.  And even though there was so much to do...

Dorothy is right... There's no place like home :)

1000 Miles

As we packed up the car, for our 1000 mile road trip to St. Louis, my stomach was in knots.  Having never attempted to drive back to STL with the kids... I imagined the worst.  Stopping every 45 minutes, fighting, whining, "are we there yet?" a thousand times.  I, obviously, had no idea what to expect and quite frankly... I calmed myself by packing the car full of a bunch of "just in cases".  It's better to be over prepared than underprepared, right?!  Needless to say, I was beyond over prepared with a bag full of snacks (from the healthy cashews to bubble gum and chocolate covered pretzels).  Lots of games and more movies than I care to admit.

Usually, the kids have to take a bathroom break 20 minutes into the trip... but this time... we made it all the way past Raleigh (over 2 hours) before the kids even mentioned it!!  The kids were absolutely AMAZING!  We only watched 2 movies (Cats & Dogs and Transformers 2), and we played lots of games, including Road Trip Bingo.  Another game we played was Rubberneckers.  To play the game... there are cards with things you have to do to get points, such as: find someone picking their nose, find a bus, etc. And then there were others called "share the road" with things like give someone the peace sign or get a trucker to blow his horn.  We chose "wave to someone and see if they'll wave back."  When I was a kid, this would've been easy.... but it really was hard to do.  We found SO many people to be on their cell phones.  Chase was absolutely embarrassed, Claire gave up... and Henri and I... with perseverance.... finally waved at a guy AND he waved back.  I was 100% reminded how much fun road trips can be.

After about 15 1/2 hours in the car, kids sound asleep in their sleeping bags... we arrived in STL at 4:30am  CST.  It was such a LONG drive and I'm horribly tired... but I am SO happy that we didn't fly.  We had such a great time... saw things-- mountains, tunnels, firework stands, you name it-- that we would've never seen had we flown.  So now that I'm over the fear... I know the trip home will be even more fun.