As the school year started to wrap up, the kids and I discussed summer break and what we were going to do to pass time. We all love to travel, and the children love to visit new places like me. Since Steve was busy with work, and didn't think he would be able to take much additional time off, the kids and I planned a road trip that we could do by ourselves. We all researched fun destinations, and things to do in various cities.
We ultimately decided that a road trip through the Midwest would be the easiest, and allow us to visit my parents in Peoria along the way. Steve wanted to be apart of trip, and decided to meet us for the last few days. So after we received the "all clear to travel" for Walker, we proceeded forward and packed up my car. We headed first to Arkansas, a state that none of us had been to before. We found out that Arkansas State University had a free museum with some dinosaurs (something Walker loves). So we set out to for Jonesboro, AR. The kids traveled great there, and after checking into our hotel, we headed to dinner downtown. Following dinner, we hit the local Walmart for a few snacks and things to keep the kids entertained in the hotel rooms along the way.
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| Trying on sunglasses |
The next morning, we got up early and headed to the Crowley Ridge Nature Center. They had a few things the children could do indoors, and they opened before the museum at ASU. Kids had fun, and then we headed to ASU so Walker could see the dinosaurs. They also had a variety of other exhibits and activities for the children. Had we not bought tickets for the Arch in St. Louis, we easily could've stayed longer than the two hours we were there.
On our way out of town, we grabbed lunch on the way, and hit the road for St Louis. Walker took a nap, and the big kids watched a movie....another easy ride. We flew into town on two wheels, and quickly unloaded our car at our hotel so we could race to the St. Louis arch for our assigned time. We had to trick Walker, since he had NO desire to go up in the elevator to the top once he saw it. But once we were inside the tiny elevator, and at the top...he was fine. The view was great 630 feet up in the air!
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| View from the top, looking at Busch Stadium |
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| Loved the reflection in the Mississippi River |
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| The tiniest windows at the top |
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| 5 passenger elevator cart, a little shaky and very tight and hot! |
Following our visit of the arch, we enjoyed a slow walk back to hotel where we could decompress for a bit, have a snack and get ready for our big evening at the City Museum! We walked to the City Museum because it was a beautiful day and I didn't want to deal with parking. We had heard wonderful things, but really didn't know what to expect.
When we walked in and I saw literally hundreds of people, I realized I needed to prepare myself. We arrived around dinner time on a Saturday night, thinking the crowd might die down as time wore on....I was wrong. I don't think they close until midnight, so the teens packed the place.
The City Museum is no "museum." It is the most unique place I have been to that suits both kids and adults. Huge indoor and outdoor slides that go several stories high, a bus that hangs off the top of the building that we can climb inside, mazes, swings, games....and SO MUCH MORE!
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| B and P riding the ferris wheel on top of the building! |
The kids had a blast, and so did I! I hung with Walker the whole night and the big kids went off by themselves a couple of times for 15-30 minutes at a time, and then we met back up at a designated place. It was crazy hot inside, and we were all so active, so we were sweating bullets! We had a late dinner of pizza from their restaurant inside, and kept the fun going until 11pm! Everyone was still going strong, but I had to pull the plug since we still needed to get home, and we had another full day the next morning.
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| Outside view of City Museum looking up |
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| Walker rode on this train over and over again! |
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| outside the zoo in front of a park |
The next day we slept in a bit, but then packed up our room and drove to the St Louis Zoo. We had heard wonderful things, and were excited to check it out. It was another hot day, but we all thoroughly enjoyed walking around seeing all of their animals. They had baby elephants that were adorable playing in the water, hippos that were swimming in an clear tank in front of us, penguins, polar bears, a gorilla, black bears and so much more! We spent several hours there, and finally cooled off with some ice cream before hitting the road to Peoria.
Once in Peoria, we hung out with Nene and Poppy. We went out to eat, raced go-carts, played mini-golf, went swimming and visited a couple of museums. They kept us busy so the kids could never say that they were bored.
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| Dinner at CCP |
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| In front of a Giant Dump Truck Wheel |
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| At CCP pool |
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| Go Nene! |
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| Kartville Fun! |
Everyone h
ad fun, and I was even able to see some friends. The kids were so good, and thoroughly enjoyed their time at Nene and Poppy's house. They relaxed and played games, colored, hunted out of bound golf balls in their yard and took their dogs for walks (kind-of). It seemed that the dogs preferred to be carried or ride in the stroller....insert an eye roll.
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| Lazy Riley |
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| We had to eat at the black and white country club (AKA Steak-n-Shake) |
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| Drinks w/ Tiffany and Erikka |
We finally left Peoria and headed to Midway Airport in Chicago, where we dumped our car in long-term parking and picked up Steve! We decided to ride the train into the city (probably should've uber'ed) and checked into our hotel. Since we arrived mid morning, we had all day and decided to make the most of it! First stop, Shedd Aquarium! I had such fond memories of the place, but I must admit, I was slightly disappointed. Some of the exhibits were closed, and it was crowded and dark.
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| Shedd Aquarium |
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| Outside Shedd with the Chicago skyline in the background |
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| Buckingham Fountain |
Since we had to take in the city and several of its important landmarks, we decided to just walk along Lake Michigan, and to our restaurant near the river. We definitely logged several miles, and thankfully Walker rode along in the stroller happily.
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| Millenium Park and the infamous "bean" |
When we finally it made it back to our hotel that night, we crashed since we had a BIG day up in Wrigleyville rooting for the Cubs. The next morning, we ubered up north and got dropped off right in the middle of everything and went straight to a store to load up on new gear. Both of the boys got jerseys and hats, Bennett a tank top and hat, and Steve and I bought new hats. Then we went to Sports Corner for a couple of beers and lunch before the game.
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| This boy loves his "B-B" |
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| Preston loved the game! |
Our seats were terrific, under the awning and along the first base line. The Cubs were playing the
Cardinals, which is always a fun rivalry. Following the game, we headed back to our hotel to meet up with Steve and Becky Gebhart and her two kids. We all went out for dinner, and then headed back to the hotel to hang out. We chatted it up while the kids played! The next morning we got up and hit the Museum of Science and Industry. The place was HUGE, and we spent several hours there, but we finally left so we could visit Dylan's Candy Store. There we had a light lunch, and spent a small fortune on candy!
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| Bennett in front of a huge submarine |
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| Astronaut Walker |
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| The boys shooting water guns |
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| Dylan's Candy Bar |
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| Preston was in heaven! |
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| That candy set us back about $50! |
For our final morning in Chicago, we went to the lego store, and then the boys visited the Sports Museum, while Bennett and I window shopped in the American Girl Store. Then Steve and the big kids rode the "L" back to the airport, while Walker and I ubered back to our car (they had to experience all major forms of transportation in the city). Walker and I arrived about the same time and picked them up. Then we piled into the car and drove through Indiana towards Louisville. It was a busy weekend in chi-town, but what a fun and memorable time!
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| Good-bye Chicago! |
Louisville never disappoints. We had a fun day and a half exploring the city on foot. All of us loved the Louisville Slugger Museum! We hit the pedestrian bridge, walked along the river and the kids swam in the hotel pool. Sadly though, our trip had to come to an end....so we finally drove home.
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| Nothing better than swimming in a hotel pool! |
Today was a special day for the preschoolers at All Saints.... Grandpal's Day! What made the day even more special for Walker was that BOTH sets of grandparents were present for the very informal day. Walker was thrilled to show everyone his artwork and classroom.
We kicked off Preston's birthday celebrations with Steve being a mystery reader and having lunch with him at school. It was definitely a surprise, and all of the kids love having a parent there to break up the monotony. Steve read two books, and Pres loved every minute of it.
