"The Gateway to the West"

The car ride down hear seemed to fly by. Quite short after our trek out west. We stopped at a great little restaurant on the hill called Anthonino's. Look fir on a coming episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Very yummy. Our next stop in St. Louis had to be the Arch. The park surrounding the Arch is beautiful. While Gail and Dale took a stroll with the babies, the rest of us went up to the top. During our wait in line we saw a crate of "gooseberries". Sweet reminder of Dad. Soon we were riding in eggs that were obviously built when people were much smaller. We inched our way up to the top. A long four minute ride. I could hear Dalton screaming from the next egg, " Ahhh we're stuck!" My egg was a much more subdued ride with Doug, Paige, and two high school girls that we didn't know. The kids had a blast! I even took a picture of the crappy cardinals stadium for my mentally retarded brother. Yeah Dan I said it! Go Cubs Go! Then it was back to the hotel for a little swimming, dinner and of course the Olympics. Minor detail though; out of our three rooms only one gets NBC. What the heck?!

On The Road Again!

This is our last trip of the summer before we return to the routine of school! Our destination is St. Louis! Along for the adventure is G.G., Papa, Dan, Yaya, Maya, and sweet Josie! And we are off!

Day Fourteen.....Our Adventure is winding down.

Today we visited the children's museum in Wichita Kansas. This was the best children's museum that I have seen. And the visiting exhibit..... Wait for it....STAR WARS!!!!! From original props to interactive droid
programming to friendly Tuscan Raiders fun was had by all. Elyse and Paige loved the Chubacca costumes. Doug thought the Yoda puppet was cool. Dalton is quite the droid engineer. I think he could have stayed there all day.
The museum also had an entire castle complete with catapults, a moat, coat of arms design, dress up, puppet show.... And more.
They had an entire room full of manipulative puzzles. It was great to watch the kids use their problem solving skills. Brooke really surprised me. She obviously gets her spacial reasoning from Doug. I loved watching him challenge the kids to see things differently to solve the puzzles. He really is brilliant.
I think Doug and I are getting tired because we both thought a hotel sounded great. We ordered in from a great BBQ restaurant, swam and the kids watched a Netflix movie on Paige's laptop. Tomorrow just driving home. It's been a great trip but I miss our family and am ready to be home!
Oh, the tornado pictures are for Grace. When she heard we were in Kansas she was worried about the tornadoes. While I was driving Doug sent pictures from the Internet describing the tornado we were "experiencing". No worries, we are all safe and sound.
I don't know if you can tell by the pictures but Elyse LOVED the turtles; so much that she was compelled to kiss them!

Day Thirteen....Don't Mess With Texas!

More driving today. In the small town of Santa Rosa, NM we found The Blue Hole. It is a naturally occurring artesian spring. It is 81 feet deep and the water is 64 degrees year round. The kids waded in the creek that is fed by the spring. Just like the ocean, I should have put them I their suits. One will never learn. Paige was the most hesitant, she is more of a chlorine pool kind of girl. Brooke and Dalton however had a blast! After seeing the scuba divers there the kids want to learn. Maybe that can be part of our next vacation. After a quick change of clothes we were on the road again.
Goodbye New Mexico hello Texas. Dalton asked why they have the saying "Don't mess with Texas". I honestly don't know why. Doug thought maybe because they have big guns to match their egos.
The next stop was Cadillac Ranch. This was made by a group of artists in 1974. It is supposed to represent the evolution of the car line. I saw it as an opportunity to teach my children the art of graffiti. Why not give your children spray. Even Elyse got in on the fun. How do you get spray paint of skin anyway?
Camping in Oklahoma equals bugs, heat, humidity, and women who smoke cigarettes in the shower room. Even a poor little cockroach couldn't stand the smell. Ahhh I love camping! Second hotel card please!
Tomorrow on to Kansas.