Last weekend we took a family "vacation" - we were in town almost the whole time, but Andrew took Friday off, and we made an effort to do as many fun things as possible (well, a bunch anyway). Since our current family/life/work situation makes it hard for us to take a big vacation, we decided we'll keep doing these mini ones every 3 months or so. We all really enjoy them, and it's so nice to get away from our routine!
Here's the rundown...Friday morning: Butterfly House, feeding ducks and playing in Faust Park; Friday evening: mall; Saturday morning: Suson Park farm; Saturday evening: hotel downtown, dinner, stroll, pool; Sunday morning/early afternoon: Meramec Caverns and boat ride
We started the fun Wednesday night. The Botanical Gardens has a free music festival that runs all summer, and it was the last concert of the year - we hadn't made it to any yet. It's Andrew's favorite thing to do in St. Louis, and we both love the Gardens, since we went a lot when we lived so close a few years ago. The girls were great and had SO much fun dancing to the music (after a trip to the back to see the "big fishies"). There were tears when we left, but prior to that they won the hearts of those around them to the point that a law student asked me if she could babysit them! Alden was fine once I traversed the whole Gardens with him screaming so I could feed him in the bathroom - he was entirely uninterested in eating in the dark/heat.
Kara, Anna, and me in the "biggie car" before departure...Anna avoiding her paparazzo father.
Friday morning at the Butterfly House...
The Butterfly House has big display cases of bugs (loved, Anna even pet a cockroach several times; Kara declined), but is mainly an indoor greenhouse-type place with SO many butterflies flying everywhere. Cool, but kinda strange to have a bunch of butterflies flying in your face all the time. After Kara got over her initial fear, they both had a lot of fun running around screaming and jumping and swatting butterflies.
There's also an outdoor garden area. The girls are cuter than ever, but the worst at posing.
Anna and I found this back in a corner when she was trying to run away after crying about not being able to eat rocks or something equally important. She made me go get Kara so they could sit together, and Kara "drove" them around...this is what they'll look like 14 years from now, only a mom can hope they'll have more hair by then.
After the Butterfly House they climbed around the big caterpillar outside, fed some VERY crazy ducks cheerios (their favorite of the entire weekend, they've told me), and played on the swings/playground - Anna learned how to swing on her belly, and Kara figured out how to climb a ladder by herself.
A note on the shoes: they usually wear one of each...Andrew's idea to keep them from fighting over the dark pink ones. Other than "are they twins?" comments about their shoe arrangement are what we hear most (except at church, where they're known for being barefoot...I think that people at church think I don't put shoes on my children - I do, but they take them off as soon as they get a chance!)
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