St Louis

On the way home from St Louis one time, we stopped at Graham Cave State Park. It was a quick stop due to the heat, but still a neat thing to see. There is a fence inside the cave so you can't really go in, but the mouth of the cave is huge. Several artifacts have been removed from here in the 1950s. I'd like to go explore some more when it is less than 100 degrees outside. Due to the hot and dry summer, the small waterfalls had just trickles of water.

Mae's final check-up of the summer we turned into a mini vacation. The kids are always excited to sleep in a hotel (elevators and a continental breakfast are pretty amazing). Other than the hotel, the attractions we visited were the Gateway Arch, Science Center, turtle playground, and Arby's. We stopped at Arby's due to convenience and the kids thought it was amazing, especially the curly fries.

The Gateway Arch area has been redone and was just opened earlier in the summer. The museum is really nice and the kids enjoyed wandering around. They were a little nervous on the tram ride to the top of the arch, but loved the view from the top! I was tempted to buy the gift shop tourist photo of us because the kids all had their eyes open AND were smiling! It was a photo miracle, but not worth the crazy price they charge.

At the science center the kids enjoyed all the exhibits, but really enjoyed the wind machine. Henry and Anne also played mind ball and Anne quickly won as she can sit back and relax much easier than Henry. Mae tried to play, but the head set was too big.

The rain cleared up just long enough for the kids to burn off some energy before the drive home. They had fun climbing on all the giant turtles.

I'm glad we were able to take the time to see more of the city than just the doctor offices. It is a really fun place with so much to see and I hope to go back again and explore some more!