This afternoon I ran some errands, which included shopping for our St. Louis vacation and updating my sad summer wardrobe a bit. When I came home, the girls busied themselves playing with bubble wands in the backyard. It's funny, because I always thought of bubbles as a younger child's toy. Clearly they can be enjoyed at any age!
Monday, May 22
Today was our first Monday without a scheduled soccer practice, which was just as well since it was rainy and cool. While we were at Pearce, Josh and I picked up the girls' soccer participation medals, which they were proud to model. When we got home, I found Yuna relaxing in the hall. Her position made me laugh.
Tuesday, May 23
Today was the girls' last day of school. They had such great years and really learned a lot. We're so proud of them. On to the next grades...but first, summer!
Wednesday, May 24
No first day of summer vacation with Gramma would be complete without a little spoiling. Today it took the form of the Dollar Spot, where each of the girls was granted $5 to spend how they chose. Elaina came home with an assortment of pool toys, while Ellie opted for a mermaid barbie and a hula hoop. She and Elaina spent a good part of the evening practicing their new skills.
Thursday, May 25
Buckle up, folks. It's about to get long.
Today we left for our mini family vacation. While it deserves its own post (and may get one yet), I at least want to document everything we fit into what equalled two days. It was an amazing, busy time, and it all started when we hit the road about 2:00 Thursday afternoon:
We arrived in St. Louis a little before 5:00 and headed straight to the Urban Chestnut in The Grove district. Josh got settled with a tasting tour and ordered our dinners (he and I split a schnitzel sandwich and fries, with an appetizer of steamed mussels, and the girls had freshly made corndogs and fries), and the girls and I found a place to sit outside. The weather was just about perfect, as was our food. If only the girls had thought so, too. How they can scarf down McDonald's like it's haute cuisine and turn their noses up at delicious, fresh food is beyond me, especially considering how well they usually eat. Lesson learned: next time, we're going to the URB (Urban Chestnut Research Brewery) and ordering them a slice of pizza instead.
After dinner, we headed to our hotel and checked in. The girls were hilarious--they wanted to inspect every nook and cranny of the room. We digested dinner for a bit and then changed into our swim gear. The pool was ridiculously cold, but they had a good time. When we came back upstairs, they had their bath and some relaxation before we all went to bed.
No first day of summer vacation with Gramma would be complete without a little spoiling. Today it took the form of the Dollar Spot, where each of the girls was granted $5 to spend how they chose. Elaina came home with an assortment of pool toys, while Ellie opted for a mermaid barbie and a hula hoop. She and Elaina spent a good part of the evening practicing their new skills.
Thursday, May 25
Buckle up, folks. It's about to get long.
Today we left for our mini family vacation. While it deserves its own post (and may get one yet), I at least want to document everything we fit into what equalled two days. It was an amazing, busy time, and it all started when we hit the road about 2:00 Thursday afternoon:
We arrived in St. Louis a little before 5:00 and headed straight to the Urban Chestnut in The Grove district. Josh got settled with a tasting tour and ordered our dinners (he and I split a schnitzel sandwich and fries, with an appetizer of steamed mussels, and the girls had freshly made corndogs and fries), and the girls and I found a place to sit outside. The weather was just about perfect, as was our food. If only the girls had thought so, too. How they can scarf down McDonald's like it's haute cuisine and turn their noses up at delicious, fresh food is beyond me, especially considering how well they usually eat. Lesson learned: next time, we're going to the URB (Urban Chestnut Research Brewery) and ordering them a slice of pizza instead.
Friday, May 26
Today was jam-packed. I don't think I've ever had a busier day of vacation, but it was an absolute blast.
We started with breakfast at the hotel, which the girls found to be very exciting. Ellie declared her yogurt the "best yoguwrt ever", and Elaina enjoyed her donut.
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| waiting for the elevator to breakfast |
After breakfast, we got dressed and headed to the City Museum. It's hard to adequately summarize that place--it's a mix of jungle gym and art and eclecticism and energy. I highly, highly recommend it to anyone visiting the city. We started our adventure on the roof, which included several slides, a bus that hangs off the building (upon which I managed to nearly knock myself senseless while exiting), and a Ferris wheel. It was a beautiful morning, and not very busy at all--pretty much perfect.
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| Ellie driving the bus that nearly brained me |
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| View from near the top of the Ferris wheel |
When we had exhausted the fun of the roof (or at least tried everything once), we headed inside for more exploration and slides, then back outside to the area called MonstroCity, which, aside from the ball pit, was a massive tangle of iron and rebar and stairs and slides, with a couple of plane fuselages and castle turrets thrown in for good measure. We had an absolute blast climbing around and exploring.
When we went back inside, there was more exploring and climbing to do. (My one regret of the day is that I didn't have a pedometer with me!) I also finally found a purpose for my small stature--anywhere the girls wanted to go, I could go with them. Sometimes we would head into a cave, get a few feet in, and Josh would ask how it looked ahead. I usually responded, "I can make it--but there's no way you can." We finally tired out around 11:30, having spent just shy of four hours there.
Next, we headed to lunch and made a few other "grownup stops"--a trip to Schnucks for Josh to stock up on some Urban Chestnut he can't buy around here, a stop at Blueprint Coffee for some local roast (visitor tip: for every bag of coffee you buy, you get a free item off the menu!), and a stop at G&W Sausage, where we bought Josh's beloved landjaeger, or, what Ellie lovingly refers to as "meat lollies".
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| Mom and Dad's stuff is soooo boring! |
After forcing the girls into adulting for a bit, we headed over to the Science Museum. I think the highlight for the girls there was the walking overpass that crosses the interstate, and the souvenirs they got to pick out to bring home. (Elaina chose "Wolfie 3", and Ellie chose a squirrel she named "Jr. Nut Nuts Serrano.")
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| Ellie wanted to try the Hamster Wheel as soon as we got there...so she did! |
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| Watching cars pass underneath our feet |
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| Showing the science of tornados |
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| Hand topography |
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| Beloved souvenirs |
By then it was time for dinner, so we drove over to Blueberry Hill, a famous burger joint that's decor is made almost exclusively from toys. The girls enjoyed exploring the different rooms and oohing and ahhing over the large Pez display. They also thankfully had something on the menu Ellie wouldn't fuss about--grilled cheese--which she happily devoured after our busy day.
That probably would have been enough for one day, but Serranos aren't quitters, so we decided that a trip to St. Louis really isn't complete without a stop at Arch Park. So off we went. The girls were amazed at how big the structure is up close, and a little sad they couldn't climb it like everything at City Museum. We walked through a street party on our way back to the car and danced with them on our shoulders. It was one of my favorite moments of the day.
To round out the day, we went to Ted Drewes' Frozen Custard, where the girls enjoyed fresh, amazing strawberry custard, and Josh and I shared a concrete mixer with the local secret "tunnel of fudge" (totally worth the extra 25 cents). We headed back to our hotel, bathed, and the girls fell asleep almost immediately. Josh and I watched a bit of the Cubs game and were soon asleep ourselves.
Saturday, May 27
After the whirlwind of yesterday, the girls were gracious enough to let us sleep in a bit. We headed down for breakfast, where I made a waffle for Ellie and Elaina (who didn't want it after I brought it to the table, of course...), and helped a French-speaking woman locate the waffle maker after she nearly put her finger in ours and spoke excitedly.
Before long, it was time to check out. Josh took a couple pictures of the girls in their home away from home before we left.
We then headed out to Grant's Farm, which is about 25 minutes from St. Louis proper. It's a beautiful location, and well-staffed with friendly workers, and also happens to be the home of the Anheuser- Busch clydesdales. We waited about 15-20 minutes for our tram, and then took a ride to the main location while listening to the history of the farm and seeing some exotic wildlife (Texas longhorn, deer, and ostriches, mainly. Oh, and a couple really big turtles!). We bought the girls "fun passes", which entitled them to a carousel ride, a couple of bottles each to feed to baby goats, and a snocone. They started with the carousel ride first, and Elaina really impressed me: the animal she chose didn't actually go up and down like it should have, but she was such a great sport about it.
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| Waiting for the tram |
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| Baby longhorn that Elaina begged me to photograph |
Next, they got to feed the baby goats. Cuteness overload.
We walked through the various exhibits, which included macaws of varying colors, wallabies and kangaroos, elephants, zebras, and llamas. It was getting a bit warm, so we stopped for the snocones. Elaina chose banana, and Ellie had cherry.
And then, what was the most fun thing to me, they got to go on a camel ride together. Having never ridden a camel myself, I thought it was a particularly fun and unique experience (though perhaps wouldn't have killed the trainer if he'd taken another lap instead of just the two...).
We walked a bit more and then stopped for lunch before heading over to an elephant show. (Ellie's favorite part was that the elephant both peed and pooped right as the show started....oh, to be five....). By then, we'd exhausted ourselves and most of what Grant's Farm had to offer, so we hit the road home.
And then, what was the most fun thing to me, they got to go on a camel ride together. Having never ridden a camel myself, I thought it was a particularly fun and unique experience (though perhaps wouldn't have killed the trainer if he'd taken another lap instead of just the two...).
We walked a bit more and then stopped for lunch before heading over to an elephant show. (Ellie's favorite part was that the elephant both peed and pooped right as the show started....oh, to be five....). By then, we'd exhausted ourselves and most of what Grant's Farm had to offer, so we hit the road home.
We got back at just about 3:00, tired, happy, and filled up from our adventures.
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