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!

St. Louis trip post 1

I have so many St. Louis pictures that I will be breaking them into two posts. This first one is our first night there, including the Cardinals game. Enjoy!

Upon arriving at our hotel, the Crowne Plaza, Holden was mesmerized with our 21st floor view. Does anyone else out there understand why this made me nervous?? Jay made fun of me, telling me it was bullet-proof glass. There's something about seeing your baby pressed against a window up this high that is slightly alarming! But it was a great view. He has a book all about the Cardinals and Fredbird, and it has the arch in it, so he immediately started pointing and yelling, "Da ARCH! Da ARCH!"

One of the best features of the hotel (in our opinions anyway!) was the rooftop pool. After we found our rooms, we headed right up to take advantage of the nice day. The weather was perfect while we were there; high 70's/low 80's with a slight breeze and sunny. I've never had such nice weather in St. Louis; usually it is scorching hot! Holden loves to swim and had a blast with everyone in the pool.

I think this is one of my new favorite family photos of the three of us.

If the view from our room was cool, the view from the pool was spectacular. There was an observation deck where you could look out and see everything. Again, it made me nervous every time Holden was near the edge, even though he was always held. His favorite thing to see (besides "da arch)" was the sightseeing helicopter taking off and landing.

After our swim, Holden got a bath before dinner to wash all the chlorine off. We had to continue the tradition of the shower cap picture since we have one from last year's trip. He thought this was so funny! I had to include the nudie shot; check out that farmer tan he's sporting! Hilarious!

We ate dinner at TGI Friday's downtown. What a difference a year makes! Last year we ate at this very same spot, Holden threw massive fits about sitting in his high chair, and Jay and I had to take turns eating and then waiting outside with him. This year he sat in a booster seat between us in the booth, colored, chatted, pointed out the scenery, and was just delightful. Very happy (albeit a bit loud at times) and sweet. He even ate some of his food, which is also progress! :)

My parents in their matching shirts

He may look like his Daddy, but he's definitely my child; loves his Dr. Pepper already!

"CHEESE!"

A fun shot of "the guys" outside the restaurant.

After dinner, we headed to the game. The stadium was within walking distance of our hotel. Holden knew they had a playground since we'd talked about it, and insisted we head straight there. It is such a cute area for kids. This year we remembered to pack socks since they are required in the play area.

Group shot in our bleacher seats. The sun was setting...can you tell it was just a LITTLE bright? Holden's face cracks me up!

He quickly remedied the sun glare with his shades and then also his little hat. What a stud! Of course 5 minutes later he yanked it all off and was done with it. :)

Once the sun lowered, it was such a pretty night. Clarify that I said NIGHT, not GAME! One of the worst Cardinals games in history. They played the Giants, who have an amazing pitcher. Even Pujols struck out, and I quickly went from hoping for a win to just praying for 1 single run! Nope, didn't happen. They lost 10-0. Holden really enjoyed being at the game so it was still a good experience...just not a good game!

I had to throw in this picture for Holden. He is obsessed with Fredbird and asked about him all night. "Where's da bird, Mommy?" "When is the birdie comin' out?" "Where'd dat bird go?" "Get a hit, bird!" (I think that he is under the impression that the players are all Fredbird.??) Since he is so terrified of characters and costumed creatures, I was shocked. I still don't think he would have been happy to see him up close, but he loved spotting him down on the field. We visited the "Cardinals Build a Bear" store and got his stuffed Fredbird a tiny ball, bat, and glove. We also got Clyde the Clydesdale some shoes. That place is a gold mine!

Coming soon: our trip to the arch and Grant's Farm. Have a great 4th of July, everyone!

At least he uses his manners

Busy weekend!

We had a very busy past weekend, went to St. Louis Monday/Tuesday, and are gearing up for the upcoming holiday weekend! Lots of pictures to come. These are from last Saturday.

Can you tell he put on his shoes all by himself? :)

Holden and I took a walk to the park early in the morning while it wasn't too terribly hot yet. I just love his little Osh Kosh bibs!

Holden and I headed to Joliet in the early afternoon with my parents. My cousin, Alexis, graduated from high school, and it is a tradition at My Uncle Paul's house to roast a pig for special occasions. I can never bring myself to eat it after looking at it, but there is always plenty of other good food to be had. :) Here is Holden with Papa and Uncle Paul, Papa's big brother. (New shorts due to potty training accident right before we left! At least he tried.) :)

Holden wasn't too sure about that pig. (Can you blame him?!) He kept saying, "Oink oink hot?" in a very questioning tone. I didn't tell him that's where bacon comes from...it's one of his favorite foods and I can't afford for him to not eat it! :)

Family shots. My cousin, Alexis, is in the top left one. Aunt Alina made the apron especially for Uncle Paul. Eric, Alexis, and Uncle Dave played sacks all afternoon, cousin Kyle (Alexis' older brother) was Holden's buddy, and we got a shot with Holden's Great Grandma Bourke, even though he was tired at that point and wouldn't smile.

My busy little boy! He loved watering Aunt Alina's huge garden with the hose. It had a trigger on it and he was thrilled that it was "like a free fighter's hose." (Fire fighter) :) He also enjoyed playing with "the puppy," who is actually a very old but small and gentle dog named Fifi. Cousin Chuck got a new Pontiac car that was built in a town in Australia named Holden, so we got a shot of Holden "driving" it. Holden also enjoyed interrupting the sacks game. As you can see, he makes sure to get the beanbag in the hole every time!

The Bourke Bunch!

Papa and Holden doing some hardcore napping on the way home.

After napping on the way home, Holden was up and at 'em and ready for more action! Which is a good thing, because we had a party with Jay's side of the family for a late Father's Day celebration. (It was the date that worked best for everyone.) We picked up Jay and headed over to his Uncle A.J's house. Here is Holden chillin' in the pool with cousins Chelsey (behind him) and Emma (in front), and a neighbor friend.

Cute kiddos!

Holden had a blast on the go-karts!

Allison, Kelsey, and Chelsey

Fun with Daddy

My boys are such ladies men. :)

A trip to the Peoria zoo

We recently visited the Peoria zoo. They have a brand new Africa exhibit with lions, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, and other African animals. It is so cool! It rained on and off, so we were bummed that a lot of the big animals were inside. We could view them through a little window, but we will have to visit again to see them in the huge outdoor exhibits. Holden didn't know the difference and was fascinated with everything.

We saw all kinds of neat things. The warthog was so ugly, but her babies were so cute! They followed her closely and always wanted to hide under her belly. Holden loved the lions and the big, furry rabbit.

We were pleasantly surprised when we parked to notice Grammy and Papa's (my parents) car right by ours! We had them paged and enjoyed touring the zoo with them. Small world thing that we went on the same day without knowing it ahead of time!

I thought this sign was hysterical.

So I used to be totally appalled and horrified by those child leash things. While I don't think I could ever bring myself to use one...I now understand...as this is the view I had of my child most of the day...

This fake camel was the highlight of Holden's day. He threw a huge hissy fit when we made him get off! I love his little wave.

Runner-up was the dolphin in the kids' play area. He would seriously stand with his hands on his hips and glare at other children when they took a turn climbing on it. We are working on the whole sharing thing...

but I still think he's so cute! :)

76xa2ekitv (Ignore this #-it's a code I had to paste here in order to register for a blog tracker. Because I'm a dork and think things like blog trackers are cool!) :)