A Trip to St. Louis

David only gets one week off this summer, his week off was 2 weeks ago... so this post is a little over due. Anyway, we decided to head to St. Louis during his week off! We had a blast! We stayed with David's Aunt Jana and Uncle Rod Thorley. They are amazing people with amazing kids! We sure love them. They showed us several St. Louis sites and introduced us to some good food.

The first afternoon we were there, they took us down to the arch. AMAZING! We took the little ride to the top and looked out the windows at the top of the arch. It truly is an incredible landmark. The museum was fun to poke around too. We tried some yummy salt water taffy there and then the Thorley's took us out to the best frozen custard ever! Ted Drew's = Delicious! It was there that Hannah had her first treat. Peter and Evelyn's first treat was their 1st birthday cake. But we caved a couple months early for Hannah... She kept grabbing at everyone's frozen custard. I guess I got a little soft and gave in to some peer pressure. ;)

View from the top.

View from the top.

The following day the Thorleys took us to the St. Louis Zoo and the sites adjacent to the zoo within Forest Park. After walking around the zoo, seeing tons of neat habitats and animals, and riding the train within the zoo... we headed to the World's Fair Pavilion for a picnic lunch. Before heading back for naps they drove us throughout Forest Park. There are so many things to see and do. You would have to stay for an entire month or more to see everything! Then, that night they introduced us to some amazing pizza! Wish I could remember the name of the company... So good! And we watched the spelling bee, who knew a spelling bee could be that intense and entertaining!

At the World Fair Pavillion. It was humid, but beautiful.

The next day we visited Grant's Farm. It was a neat place and free to the public! The zoo was free too... so many free, fun things to do in St. Louis! We went on a little informative tram ride throughout the Farm and then visited the various animals and watched an animal show. The show was cut short though... it began to rain. It started as a sprinkle and we were a little sad that they stopped the show for a sprinkle. But it grew into a downpoor! It didn't last too long and luckily we were already under shelter, but it sure made the remainder of our visit muggy. I believe it is more humid in St. Louis than here in Bolivar. I could be wrong, but it seemed that way to me. We fed the goats some milk and then we went back to the Thorley's for lunch and kids naps. Once the kids were down, they watched the kids so David and I could attend the St. Louis temple. It's always wonderful to visit the temple. :)

Our final morning there, we joined the Thorleys on their doughnut quest. They have a list of the top donut shops within St. Louis and they venture out to a new place on their list every Saturday and evaluate the donuts and the shop. Last time we visited we got to join in on the deliciousness too. :) We got our donuts and then headed to Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center. First, we ate our donuts then we headed inside the neat exploration center they have there. The center is another free place to visit. The kids loved it! There were trails and things to explore outside as well as the neat indoor center. I was like a miniatre of the Discovery Center in Springfield. Then we headed home. We had lots of fun and made many memories. We are grateful for family and the Thorley's willingness to take us into their home and show us around St. Louis. It was a great vacation!