July 24, 2012: We just spent three nights in St.Louis. It was the first time we had been there. When we got into town we drove straight to the airport to pick up my mom who flew in to meet us. She grew up in St.Louis and we have always wanted to see it together. She was thrilled to be greeted by the girls holding a LaLa sign at the airport. We drove to my godparents, Julie and Sid's house. It has been so hot we went for a swim at the neighbors house right away. We stayed in the pool for a few hours and then headed back to the house. We ate and all hit the hay. Sunday morning we took the kids to Grant Farm. It is a huge park owned by Anheuser Busch. You pay to park and that's it. When you enter we hopped on a little train and rode all around the grounds seeing the animals they have. There is a herd of bison, emus, yaks, deer, birds, fish and others. When we got off the train we fed goats with baby milk bottles. The kids go right in with them and would get mauled by the goats for the milk. The kids didn't like that and preferred to feed them through the fence. Molly liked to share the milk bottle with the goats, being sure to take turns with them. Eww! We saw two fun shows on birds and elephants. And of course the kids rode the carousel. We saw two giant old tortoises as well as some other animals. The best part of this place for the grown ups is the free beer! They had samples of newer products which we really enjoyed. Anheuser Busch makes something called the 19th hole which is beer lemonade and iced tea. It was very refreshing on a hot day. Then we entered the courtyard of the stable area which looks like a Bavarian Beer garden. Here we ate brats for lunch and had more free beer. Ice cold Buds from the tap. It was so fun. We rode the team home and checked out more stables where the world famous Clydesdales are housed and trained. Being a life long fan of Budweiser it was a really neat place to see...oh, and the kids loved it too! We went home for naps and did some more swimming in the neighbors pool in the afternoon. That night julie and Sid took us to their club for dinner where we met and ate with Mom's cousins Joan and Holt. Such fun. Monday we went into the city early. We tried to go up the Arch but the wait was a few hours some bought tickets for the next morning. We went to the Budweiser brewery for a tour instead. It is a huge and impressive place. My favorite part was in the packaging plant, seeing all the cans and bottles on the machines getting filled and boxed up. We had more free beers there too. As I have said, after all money I have spent on Bud products in my life it was nice to have a few freebies on them! While the kids napped afterwards my mom took me around St Louis to see her old
Apartments and homes and school. It was great to get a visual on all the stories I have heard over the years. Despite a few spots being gone or looking differently we had fun seeing it all. That night LaLa babysat the girls and James and I went to see the cardinals play the Dodgers. Pop bought us the seats and we were in the 10th row right behind the Dodgers dugout. We had a lot of fun and it was fun to get out together. Thank you pop!!! Tuesday morning we went back to the arch. The little trams you ride up in are just like escape pods from star wars. It was funny. There were great views from the top. We checked it out, took some pix and headed back down again. We went back to Julie and SIDS to pack up and hit the road around 1. We're on the last leg of our trip now. We'll be home in about 4 days.
