St. Louis Visit

As mentioned in the previous post, Parker's school was closed the last week of June, so I decided it was a good opportunity for a trip to St. Louis (if I have to take off work anyway, might as well go somewhere).  Parker and I flew out Thursday morning and came back Monday morning.  The way there was an out-of-the-way layover through Orlando, which meant both legs of flights were 2+ hours.  On the way back, we flew through Chicago.  Parker did so great with all of the flying.  She took a nap each way, which is great but also gets to be a bit uncomfortable for Mommy in the middle seat of an airplane with 28 lbs of dead weight to hold.  Not complaining though!  Sometimes an unconscious child is a good thing.

"Helping" to push stroller in the airport

On Thursday, Annie picked us up from the airport and we hung out at their house all evening.  We had pizza for dinner and pulled out the water table for some fun in the backyard.

On Friday morning, we headed out to Grant's Farm.  It is kind of like a zoo, but owned by Anheuser Busch and so the adults get free beer.  It was pretty warm that day, but stayed below 90 so it wasn't too bad in the shade.  Parker loved the tram ride, feeding the baby goats, and seeing the other animals.  She was not a fan of the carousel, somewhere along the way she become a bit afraid of the up & down part.

We had dinner at my parents' house Friday night (pork steaks!) and then I went to hang out with my girlfriends for the evening.

On Saturday, we took the kids to the Clayton's neighborhood pool.  As expected, they all had so much fun that the worst part was getting them out to go home.  After they were changed, we caught some cousin-love on camera.  This is the best video of the entire trip...

 After naptime on Saturday, Parker and I had a play date with my girlfriends and their 16 or so children.  Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the craziness.  Saturday evening was spent at the Clayton's, hanging out in the backyard and enjoying some ribs that Jason smoked that day.  Grandpa taught Parker a new trick that the Clayton boys have known for some time.

Parker and I spent the night there that night.  We enjoyed some delicious crepes made by Chef Jason and utilized the new playroom in the basement.  Then we took the kids and then all went to a local park.

Sunday night, my parents invited my aunts & uncles over for dinner.  The kids had fun playing on the neighbors play gym and Uncle Steve joined in for some baseball.