St. Louis

This weekend we were fortunate enough to get some great Cardinals vs. Angles tickets from Schreiber, so we decided to make a weekend out of it. On Friday we loaded up the kids and drove 3 1/2 hours east.

When we got there our hotel was only about 5 minutes from the temple so we decided to go check it out. It was absolutely beautiful. The grounds were gorgeous, and they had these amazing little flowers that were orange, yellow, and pink all on one little stem. They are my new favorites and I have to figure out what they are!

It is amazing the spirit you can feel just by being there. It has been a while since we have been able to go to the temple, this is the nearest one and we don't quite know anyone well enough to leave them with our kids all day.

After we checked into our hotel we headed to the game. All Pierce has been talking about for the past week was, "baseball". He was so excited to get there. He is such a BOY! Derek took Allee to try to get a ball from batting practice and she was so close! The kids to her left and right got balls, so when they came back to our seats she was not happy. After the promise of some cotton candy she perked right up. We had some tasty hot dogs and some amazing garlic Parmesan fries and settled in for the game. The Cardinals won, which is always fun when the home team wins. Allee got her promised cotton candy and Pierce picked out a blue hat. It was a great evening.

The next morning we woke up and took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo. It is an amazing zoo and the best part is admission is free! There is so much to do and see. Allee's favorite animals were the elephants, and they were so close! Pierce loved the monkeys. You can see how they settled in next to the glass and he kept telling them about his blue hat. He LOVED them. It was such a hot day, around 91 degrees with 90% humidity so we all enjoyed the train ride. The only down side to the zoo is that in order to park for free you have to walk a bit. We didn't mind since we had brought two strollers and both kids fell asleep on the walk back to the car. I love seeing the kids light up at the animals and something about the zoo makes me feel like a kid too.

The last thing we did before heading home was we stopped at Gateway Arch. I was so excited to go up in the arch, but by the time we made it there the tickets had sold out for the day. Note to self and anyone going there, book online! We did enjoy seeing the mighty Mississippi and the arch is absolutely beautiful. It is SO tall. Next time we are definitely going inside.

Before heading home we stopped and ate at The Cheesecake Factory, the best dessert I have had in ages! When we were leaving we passed Tori Hunter, a player for the Angels. Derek was so excited.

The kids were exhausted and we were as well, so we headed home. The kids watching Curious George and Derek listening to his Celtics on the radio. I took them all in and enjoyed the wonderful family I have.
It was a wonderful trip and just the getaway we needed. It is so fun to take the kids new places and we feel very blessed to be able to do all these fun things.