Spring break 2022!
Road trips are not my thing (I get terrible carsickness), so I think I surprised Nate when I suggested a road trip. At Christmas, we had so much fun with Kara and Jud and especially baby Nell, and I wanted the boys to be able to spend time with their cousin. So we hopped in the car and hit the road!
On Friday, we left early and drove 4.5 hours to Iowa, where we stopped for the night. We found a hotel with a cool waterpark and we stayed in the pool until it closed at 9pm (with a short break for dinner). I think they went down the slides about 50 times each. The water was warm, the slides were fun and we had an absolute blast.
The next day we got up and swam from 9am-noon. More slides, more swimming, more fun. Before we left, we hit the arcade, which the boys were very excited about.
We drove 4.5 hours again. The boys watched movies, played car bingo and when we stopped at the gas station, we loaded up on so many snacks and treats! The drive went pretty fast and when we arrived in St. Louis, Xander said, “St. Louis is beautiful!” Augustus was asleep, but Xander was very impressed and excited.
We got to Kara and Jud’s house and hung out for a little while, at which point, Xander kicked off our stay by vomiting. If I was Kara and Jud, I would have kicked us out right then and there (they did not). I was pretty sure it was just a “fun mom fail” with too many snacks because he felt much better afterwards and ate pizza for dinner and none of us ended up sick- THANK GOODNESS! But oh geez, what a way to arrive.
On Sunday, we headed to the Arch and the Arch museum. It was 70 degrees and sunny and it was SO amazing to be able to be outside.
Baby Nell (and Kara and Jud) headed home from the Arch for Nell’s nap time, and we headed to the rock climbing gym. The boys (and Nate) were skeptical and unsure they wanted to do it, but once we got harnessed up and tried it, I think we all surprised ourselves and each other. It was SO fun!! Everyone was really good at it- Nate got to the top of the wall. It was such a great family activity and we will definitely do it again!
Nell woke up from her nap and we headed for a very cool nature playscape (https://www.forestparkforever.org/playscape) to run around and climb on fallen logs and big rocks. The weather was so perfect, I was in heaven.
It was so nice outside that we went to another park, this time a playground, so that the kids could keep playing. Then we went home and Jud grilled brats for dinner while we sat on the deck and had drinks. We ended the night with a movie night (we watched the new movie Turning Red and ate popcorn). It was literally my perfect day. It was so fun and so happy and it was just fabulous. Before I had children, I knew I was going to love them and care for them. But I didn’t fully understand how cool they would be and how much I would enjoy spending time with them. Our boys are funny and fun and smart and clever and so fun to be around. They are the best people and family time is just such a great time.
Fifteen years ago (or maybe more), I heard about the City Museum and knew I wanted to check it out. The building the museum is in used to be a 9 story shoe factory and it’s HUGE. No pictures can possibly do it justice- it was the coolest place I’ve ever been. Every where you look, there were tubes, tunnels, slides, places to climb, things to look at. I felt like we were in the Goonies or Indiana Jones. It was extraordinary. I was a little anxious as we lost the boys a few times when they climbed into a hole and disappeared into another section, but overall, we managed to stay together most of the time. This video doesn’t even fully do it justice, but it shows you what an incredible place it is- https://www.citymuseum.org/about-us/drone-video/. I think you could go back every day for a week straight and still see new things each day. We were there for 6 hours and VERY tired by the end, but I want to go back!
That night we stopped for frozen custard for after dinner, but it was a little earlier night for the boys (we were all exhausted). Another perfect, fabulous, fun day.
Today was our marathon drive day. The dogs needed to be picked up by 6pm, so we couldn’t budget in a lot of stops. I have several meetings tomorrow and need to be at one in person as well, so we couldn’t extend our trip. Our only option was to drive all day, however, the day was actually pretty smooth. The boys watched 4 movies and other then a short stop for lunch and a brief gas station break, we powered through with little complaining.
When we got home, Uncle Danny had a surprise for us. He’d told me earlier in the week that facebook ads had gotten him and there was a surprise on the way. Is there a better way to end a road trip than with a road trip themed meal? You know I love a theme! I’d already planned breakfast for dinner, so when a car/truck waffle maker was waiting for us, I can’t even explain how excited I was (forget the kids, I loved that gift the most!). It was the perfect end to an absolutely fabulous spring break trip.
Kara and Jud were such wonderful hosts. We ate so much good food. We did so so many fun things. We spent great time together laughing and having fun. We picked up 2 very tired happy dogs who have been sleeping since they walked in the door. The trip was better than I could have ever imagined. I am so grateful we could do this and I can’t wait for the next one!