We’ve been without our beloved old Airstream for a few months now, and its absence is making all four of us a little bit crazy. Traveling is something that’s in our blood, and thankfully we have successfully passed that trait along to Makgill and Clara Beth. Collin is currently on the way to retrieve the old camper and bring it back to its rightful home (it was being repaired…new axles or something? part of the joys that come along with owning a 40 year old camper), and in anticipation of having it back I have been on Pinterest all morning planning out future trips. Do you ever think about how many places there are that you HAVE to see with your children and then think about how few years you have with them in your home and get super stressed out because you just can’t do it all? Yeah, me too. But then I thought about all of those vacation photos that are sitting on my computer’s desktop just waiting to be blogged and decided that I better start posting about our old trips before planning out new ones. Because again, this is my baby book. And the memories MUST. BE. DOCUMENTED. So, here goes. St. Louis, 2016. Not in the Airstream, but still fun.
We left the day after Christmas to spend a few days in St. Louis before heading on to Collin’s parents’ ranch in southern Missouri. Why St. Louis? Collin grew up there, his brother still lives there and had recently opened a sandwich shop, and it just seemed like a fun city to explore. It definitely was! I don’t think we’ll ever travel out that way without making a stop in St. Louis again! It was an amazing city and we barely touched all that it has to offer. I have a bazillion photos from the trip, so I may need to break this post up, but I’ll start at the beginning with what was my favorite part of the city, the St. Louis Zoo. Gracious, I love a zoo. It’s weird, because I definitely don’t think of myself as a huge animal lover, but I so enjoy spending a day at a zoo. Collin has always told me how great this one is and he was so right. And y’all, it was completely free!
First we met up with the absolute BEST things a person could see in St. Louis. Cousins!!! They were incredible little tour guides.
I loved how close you could get to the animals here. It almost felt like you could reach out and pet them. I mean, I know you couldn’t actually do that, but I love that they made you feel like you were having a really close encounter with these giant animals.
It always amazes me how fast these kids warm up to one another. We don’t see them nearly enough, yet they immediately fall into cousin BFF mode as soon as we meet up.
We spent an odd amount of time learning about the poo.
Remember that urban legend about the kid who takes a penguin home from the zoo? That could absolutely happen here! They were so close! And they liked to splash. =)
He was my favorite.
No wait, maybe he was. This guy was hilarious.
Clara Beth and Bella made it their goal to take turns reading every single word on every single sign that the zoo had posted, and Makgill and Camille made it their goal to distract them.
We finished up with the zoo just as Collin’s parents and our nephews were heading into town, so we all met up at the newest and best that St. Louis has to offer, Eat Sandwiches. Collin’s brother recently opened it, and y’all, it is SO SO good.
I absolutely LOVED the look of the restaurant! Seriously, I could have sat there and just stared for hours. Exposed brick, restored old church pews, local St. Louis art, and beautiful light. Swoon.
It took the boys about 3.7 seconds to jump into a conversation about their favorite thing, cars.
But, y’all, the food?? Holy Moly, my brother in law knows how to make a sandwich. Every now and then Mak will still look at me and say “I’m thinking about Uncle Byron’s dip.” YES. I so get it. The dip was my favorite, but everything I put into my mouth was delicious and I really wish it was just a little bit more convenient for us to eat at Eat Sandwiches. Franchise maybe, Byron? =)
Love all six of them so much!!!
And with that this post is getting pretty long. I’ll be back soon with The Arch and the Science Center!
