whobody rocked a cardinal's game?

The main reason we went to St. Louis was to take the kids to a Cardinal's game. 

The Cardinals have been Keaton's "team" for a few years....but especially this past year as he has been getting more into sports.  My grandpa (grandpa firetruck) was a HUGE Cardinals fan and he passed this down to Keaton. Our hotel was very close to the stadium.  Before the game we headed up to the bar at the top of the hotel (kids are allowed up there until 7pm :))  We wanted to check out the view and give the kids the chance to have their first ever KIDDIE COCKTAIL! 

We hung out a bit up there...and took a few pictures. (I should add that sadly, none of the kids really 'liked' their kiddie cocktail :) but I did my best to finish them off). Here is the view from our seats in the hotel top bar!

We then headed to the game. All in all we had an EXCELLENT time! It was great. Cruz very much enjoyed entertaining all of the people around us.  He was, as usual, charming.

Lola thought it was SUCH a coincidence that there was a player named FREESE *and* Cruz had the name FREESE on the back of his shirt!  :)

Keaton was very much into the game...

The other ones just enjoyed all of the entertainment....and food!

Oh, and entertaining the people behind us.

Cruz was SUCH a ham....and really had a blast!

This was the very, very nice lady who was sitting beside Lola...she chatted with Lola the WHOLE game!  About midway through she left, and came back with pom poms for Lola and a foam cardinal claw for the boys the share! It was SO sweet.  

More food...Nash fed Cruz some frozen lemonade!

This was my favorite part of the whole vacation! What a great night!

whobody swam in the fountains?

So after the arch we headed to Citygarden (or something like that). The kids had a blast on the splash pad and swimming in the fountains. I just need to finish getting these vacation pictures rolled out here because the....(sniff)...summer...(sniff)...is...(sniff)....over.  School starts in 2 days! 

So...this was a great day on our vacation.  The arch was right away that morning, and then we went swimming in the fountains and got wet in the splash pad....and then we went out for lunch!

Out for lunch Cruz got his first taste of chocolate milk at a restaurant.  Mostly because he stole Keaton's cup and wouldn't let it go!!!

After we went out for lunch, the 2 little boys and I napped while Jason and Keaton and Lola went swimming *but, shhhh....don't tell Nash!  Later this night we went to the Cardinals game...pictures soon to follow!

whobody went to the arch?

Of course we headed to the arch on our trip to St. Louis.  

On the same day as the zoo, we actually walked over to the arch after "nap time".

 (I put the quotations around it, since no one technically napped that day.)  

It was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and included crossing a lot of busy intersections...which the kids LOVED. 

They really enjoyed the experience of being 'downtown'.

We took a few pictures on the way in...

When we got inside, however, we realized the place was PACKED!  

So, we made the executive decision to skip the arch for the afternoon and come back in the morning.  We headed back outside, and let the kids take a little rest on the bench. (Nash was complaining that his "wegs hurt".)  After a little break, we decided to head north to Laclede's Landing (?) and find somewhere to have dinner.  

Since Nash's "wegs hurt" Jason actually gave him a shoulder ride...

while Cruz fell asleep in the stroller.  

We found a GREAT restaurant with outdoor seating, 

and pulled up the stroller to the table with Cruzie sleeping soundly.  

The birds were chirping, 

there was a nice warm breeze, 

the weather was perfect, 

we all ordered our favorite drinks, 

and we were sitting there enjoying our most relaxing moment of the vacation....

when, suddenly... 

Nash blurts out in a very slow, low and grumbly voice.

"I...hate...dis...pwace."

We laughed SO hard, because, he really didn't, he was just saying it because he really didn't know what else to say.  He was a little tired from all of the walking, and did not nap in the hotel room, but he didn't hate this place.  It was SO funny, because it was obvious to ALL of us that this was the best, most relaxing, most enjoyable meal of our whole trip. Too funny. 

I think that for both Jason and I, 

this was the funniest moment of the whole trip!

After our dinner, we walked back to the hotel and enjoyed a relaxing night swimming.

Then the next morning, when we were all ready, we headed BACK to the arch, and were able to go right up! It was not busy at all...and was totally worth coming back for. 

The kids loved it!

whobody went to the st. louis zoo?

Our first full day in St. Louis we headed to the zoo.  

The weather was BEAUTIFUL our whole trip! I think the high was like 80 degrees! 

Totally perfect...especially with me being pregnant.  

(I've been told by Jason that I don't handle the heat well when I am pregnant.)

Usually it seems our vacations are during those weeks that are at least 100 degrees!

The kids were SUPER happy to be at the zoo, and they behaved very well.

Here are the older 3 in front of the black rhino. (Cruz was really here, he was just in his stroller...because that is where he is the safest! and usually the happiest.)

Nash's favorite animal is the HIPPO...and of course, when we first went by them, they were cleaning the hippo cage, so there were no hippos out! 

Luckily, we backtracked later, and they were JUST letting them into their cage. 

This hippo was walking around on the land, then suddenly jumped in the water and charged Lola!!! It was great! She loved it. They were very fun to watch (and were pretty much all of the kids' favorite animal of the day.)

The kids just HAD to take their picture with this snake! (Fake, of course...)

All 4 kiddos in front of the zebras... (I swear Cruz was happier than this all day....)

Oh...my favorite 18 month old! Isn't he sweet?

This is the newest face of Nash's for pictures...I think these are supposed to be binoculars or something?

We had a GREAT morning at the zoo with our family. 

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day!  Zoos are SO much fun to visit!

whobody went to st. louis?

Last week we took our summer family vacation.  

In the past we have visited Chicago and Kansas City. 

This year we ventured to St. Louis!  

Jason and I went to St. Louis as a part of our honeymoon and had a great time there, and we were also there when the Panthers made it to the Sweet Sixteen.  

We knew it would be a great place to take the kids. 

(Not to mention, the bonus that one of my bestest friends, Angie, lives there with her family.)

The roadtrip there was excellent!  The kids were very good.

(Big thanks to our vehicles DVD system, and the 10 DVDs we borrowed from the Hoeger family library. Turns out our kids are getting tired of watching Cars, Cars 2, and How to Train a Dragon....the only 3 movies that we own.)

When we got to St. Louis, we checked into our hotel, which was great. 

It was located right by Busch Stadium and only a few blocks from the Arch.  

(This photo was actually taken on our last night before the Cardinals game, 

but it shows the awesome view from our room!)  The kids love to stay in hotels!

We have always wanted to give our kids the experience of staying "downtown" somewhere and this was truly the perfect opportunity to do it!  We swam for a quick half hour, and then we took off and met Angie and her family for dinner at "the boathouse". 

It was great!  The kids fed the ducks and themselves (mostly the ducks) and we had a great time catching up with Angie and Justin.  

We ended the night with a walk and a quick dip in a fountain! 

(The kids loved it!)

whobody has a new bike?

Here is the bike that Cruz was riding this past weekend. 

He was "walking" it all over the yard while the other 3 rode their bikes (with wheels). 

He was SO proud...and it was stinking cute.

This was a bike I bought at a garage sale for like fifty cents...it had a back wheel...but Nash broke it off last summer (big surprise) so it has been up in the shed ever since.  That is, until Cruzie discovered it!

Safety first!