St. Louis Part 2

On our second day at St. Louis, we were up at at 'em by 9am and headed to the Gateway Arch. Holden was so interested in it this year, and loved pointing it out. It was a beautiful, sunny day and in the low 80's...perfect! We thought he'd love looking at the cars, trucks, and other scenery from the top. Weeellll...let's just say he was NOT a fan of the extremely tiny, claustrophobic elevator ride up! I can't say I blame him; I've done it so many times since I was a child and I still get the "heebeejeebees" in that tight space. The second we started he was saying, "Holden all DONE!" over and over. See the bottom right picture of this collage for his feelings about this ride. Once we were up there, he did like looking out the windows, but I think the small space and all the people kinda freaked him out. We didn't stay up there too long. We'll wait a few years before we try it again! As soon as we were outside again, he was back to pointing out "Da Arch!" and looking at it. Coulda saved us some money had I known!

Some of our views from the top:

The arch also has a neat museum back on the ground level. There were a lot of hands-on things for Holden to see and touch when we were there. He liked this a lot better than the ride!

My family at the top of the hill, minus me. :) Can you see my dad waving?

After the arch and lunch at McDonald's, we headed to Grant's Farm. It is one of our favorite places to visit when we're in the St. Louis area. We have NEVER had to wait in line before...until this day, that is! There were a lot of schools there, and the line just to get into the park was an hour and 15 minutes long! It felt like we were in Disney World. Fortunately the weather was nice and not too hot. Holden was a real trooper waiting. He was so excited to finally get on "da choo choo," as he called the tram that takes you into the park.

My dad the tour guide.

First stop off the tram was feeding the baby goats! This year, Holden was a real pro at it with a little help from Grammy. We didn't actually go into the goat pen as I have learned from experience that the goats will knock small children over in their haste to reach the bottles. There were plenty sticking their heads through the fence, so we just fed them. Holden was hilarious; if they got bossy and pulled too hard, he'd pull the bottle out of their mouth and tell them "No, no, you SHARE!" Then he'd feed a new goat. If only he took his own advice?!

The park had a carousel and Holden just loves those right now. He wanted to ride a regular old horsey this time, and he asked Daddy to ride with him.

Some other shots from our visit. We saw lots of animals, fed llamas, had some yummy treats, and enjoyed the elephant show. The elephant was supposed to play a harmonica, but he actually ATE it! Not part of the routine but pretty funny. Then he spit it back up for the poor zookeeper to contend with.

I don't know why this scanned so small; maybe if you click on it you can view it a little larger. We had this taken in the Clydesdale exhibit.

Making a wish at the beer garden fountain. Holden enjoyed emptying my purse of pennies!

My son, the snake charmer. Of all the things in the gift shop, this is what he picked. I also got him a cute shirt which of course he could have cared less about. It has Clydesdale's on the front and their butts are on the back. :)

We had a great trip and it went so fast. Thanks for joining us, Grammy and Papa!