Middle of America . . . On Route to Utah

 From St. Louis, we drove the Highway all the way to Colorado, with one stop in Kansas. (You kind-of have to stop in Kansas, because, well, where else is there?) This time around, I found a lovely little zoo to enjoy in the morning before we drove on to CO.

Bronze statues = photo opportunities (This is a hold-over from China for the kids . . . it's one of the only times they willingly ask for photos. It's weird, but I'll take it.)

 I don't even remember anymore (and I'm too lazy to look it up) where in Kansas we stopped for the night, but it was a pretty fun little zoo.

 And the Korean food we had the night before was pretty delicious. All in all, a good stop for Kansas!

Still, it was lovely to arrive in Colorado and see family for the first time in a while. We all enjoyed getting a little extra time with the Jenkins before setting off for Utah together two days later.

This Museum!!

Okay, when it comes right down to it, the REAL reason the kids love St. Louis so much is because of this place . . . The City Museum.

It is, without a doubt, one of their favorite places in the entire world to visit (and these kids have been to a few places across the world). It is just that good.

It's gritty and edgy and creative and crazy and just a bit dangerous and always a little nerve-wracking for parents, but DANG is it cool.

The kids can, and do, spend the entire day there and have to be dragged out at closing time.

There are mazes and jungle gyms, giant slides and human skate parks, halls of mirrors and daily circus shows (put on by other kids who have been doing circus camp all week long). When the kids tire of the physical activities, there's always the art studio.

You can always find Lutece there for a huge chunk of the day.

We would NEVER plan a trip to St. Louis without going to the City Museum.

No wonder they call it the "happiest place on Earth." Wait . . . that IS the City Museum, isn't it?

Our Favorite Vacation City: St. Louis

St. Louis has long been one of our favorite cities for a not-too-far-from-home vacation. The kids continue to ask to visit.

Since it lies in the most direct path between Lexington and our final destination of Utah, it was a no-brainer decision to visit in 2015.

This time, in addition to the traditional sites, we also added a couple of new ones (just to mix things up and keep it exciting!). The previous photos are from the Old Courthouse, which is actually part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial run by the National Park Service (the Arch is also part of it). The well-known Dred Scott Decision was made here.

After exploring the Old Courthouse, we headed for the Arch.

It's always so much bigger than I remember!

We don't always go up to the top of the Arch, but it had been a couple of years since the last time we did it (and the lines were short :), so we decided to take the teeny tiny . . . like, reeeeeaaaaaallllly small . . . cars to the top.

Lutece and I took a selfie to pass the time and distract me from any claustrophobia I may have been feeling.

It's all good in St. Louis.

A Host of Selfies

 

Always interesting when your kids get a hold of your phone without your knowledge.

Independence Week

As usual, the kids get overly excited about the Fourth of July, as they do every holiday. Seriously, their expectations for every holiday are so high that the actual holiday can never live up to their hype. Also, where do they get this from? Is it my fault? Do I overdo every holiday? Sigh.

Fourth of July 2015 was extra fun though, because Grandma Terry flew in from LA the very day of the holiday (remember, Stayc was in China during this time?). For breakfast, I came down to Lutece's very own homemade patriotic pancakes.

The kids and I took a walk at the Arboretum in the morning to expend some energy and get outdoors while we waited for Grandma's flight.

Then we made a patriotic cake . . .

It looks good, but if I remember correctly, it was just ok tasting :). When Grandma got in, we had dinner, ate the cake, and then set off the fireworks from the package in the first picture. They always seem to get more of a kick out of cheap fireworks they can set off themselves rather than the big shows they just have to watch.

While Grandma was in town, we drove down to Berea and did a little shopping in the arts and crafts shops.

We took some girly pictures on the butterfly bench, and I'm trying to figure out where Phoenix was for all of this . . . Hmmm.

Last, but certainly not least, we did the hike at Anglin Falls that the kids absolutely love. It was fun to have Grandma here with us for a week (and a serious relief for me!)

A Summer Full of Fun

Summer 2015 was loads of fun. What summer isn't? It started out with a week in St. Augustine, FL and then went straight into Lutece's first ever week at Young Women's Camp as a wee 11-year-old. I was freaked out to let her go for an entire week (okay, 5 days) by herself, but she seemed to have done just fine.

There were 5-6 first year girls from our ward alone, so it's not like she didn't have a bunch of friends with her.

Phoenix and I hung out for the entire week by ourselves. I don't remember where Stayc was. China? Maybe? Maybe not yet?

 

When Lutece returned from YW camp, we did the usual summer things together:
UK Arboretum . . .

BBQs at the park with friends . . .

Visits to the Louisville Zoo . . .

Haircuts at home . . .

Swimming at the pool (with new haircut) . . .

Visits to the Henry Clay Estate and walks around the neighborhood . . .

Climbing trees . . .

Hiking our favorite Kentucky spots (of course!) . . .

And even some bowling (on those rainy days when there's nothing much else to do) . . .

All in all, not such a bad summer after all, even though we missed Stayc a whole bunch and were glad when he was back home.

It ended all too soon.

This was posted two years after the fact in April 2017. Sometimes it just takes that long.