Fall Trip to St. Louis

This is a very picture heavy post because I was in major picture taking mode this trip!  The kids had a 4 day weekend off from school so we packed up the family camper and headed East.

One of our first stops was a spur of the moment decision.  We toured Grants Farm State Historic Site and it was very educational.  The kids protested a little since it was supposed to the their break from school but they were determined to find the fun in this as they do everything in life.

They spent quite a bit of time digging up broken pottery pieces, discarded horse shoes and found nails from around the property.

We try to take group pictures every so often and this one was turned out like Mike Wazowski's photos from Monsters Inc.

Here are some reference pictures so you can see why we were calling Amanda Mike Wazowski 

(He's the little green dude)

I re-took the photo and Amanda stretched her neck to be included this time. 

Meanwhile, back at the camp ground...

The next day we toured the Anheuser Busch Brewery and a good time was had by all... not just the beer drinkers.

Amanda enjoyed the Clydesdales.  Big, small, painted, and stuffed.

Mmmmm.... Beer

 This place was HUGE and over the top fancy!  Pictures do NOT do it justice!

 Inside the gates of the brewery there was a small village to tour with streets connecting the stables, brew houses, aging buildings,  rail lines, and even a school house!

 This is the 7th floor of the packaging, canning, and bottling house.
We could have stayed here all day watching the assembly lines!

After some beer samples (Mmmmmm.... Beer) we took the kids to the City Mueseum.  It's not like any museum I've been to before.  The kids were all "BORING" until they saw the front with all the climbing structures and then they were all "YEA!!!!"

 THIS.PLACE.IS.AMAZING.

 The kids split up pretty early on and I followed the purple shorts while Eric followed the orange shirt.

 We did run into one another once in a while, but this place is HUGE!

 The good news is that I now know with absolute certainty that my children do not suffer from a fear of heights!

 We were lucky that the weather was beautiful for outdoor adventure, but they also have a very extensive indoor section that it was very easy to get lost in.

 You better keep up with your children or you may never see them again!

As if all the other stuff wasn't enough, they also had a rooftop section to explore.  This is where we caught up with the rest of our family.

That orange spot at the top is my son!  I had to zoom in just to see him! 

After our climb to the top we made a dramatic descent on these 10 story spiral slides.  The kids enjoyed the ride so much that they hiked back to the top to side again.  I regret to say that I hiked back up with them and ten flights of stairs made me feel every one of my 39 years!

 We spent A LOT of time exploring the caves at the bottom of the slides.

 We were at the museum for 6 HOURS and the kids were still not ready to leave!

They kept finding nooks and crannies that they had yet to explore.

 They wanted to head back outside, but Eric and I could take no more climbing so we sat in the courtyard and watched them explore.

UP

 And Over! 

 Zoomed In...

 Zoomed Out!

 Thank you City Museum for a wonderful family outing.

Our last day there we toured the World Bird Sancaturary.  The kids had fun quizzing me on my bird ID.  I did pretty good on the North American birds.  From other continents... not so much.

 Across the road from the sanctuary is a wild animal park where you can see elk and bison.  We found the elk, no problem, but the bison were elusive this day.

 As the sun was setting, we hurried back to our campsite to pack up and head home.  The kids are very good helpers and each have their assigned tasks when it's time to break camp.
 Logan was getting all his gear stored on his bunk bed.

 Ready?

 Almost!