St. Louis Weekend!

On Memorial Day weekend, we made our annual trip down to St. Louis. We don't usually go this early, but Derek wanted to go to this particular Cardinals game, and I consented, figuring at least it wouldn't be so hot. Wrong wrong wrong! It was a lovely 97 degrees when we were there, so we were all pretty hot during our outdoor activities. THe only good thing was that there wasn't any humidity, so at least we weren't dying from that too! 

This was our first big car trip with two children, so we were a little nervous with how it would go. But it actually was great! Bella watched movies and played games on the ipad the whole way- and Gracie watched Baby Einstein and slept a whopping 20 minutes. For some reason, our children are unable to sleep in the car!

Bella is so thrilled to have her picture taken. :) Notice that a princess outfit had to be worn even for the car ride. I had to hide it in the hotel so she didn't try to wear it wherever we went throughout the weekend!

We left on Friday morning and got to the hotel mid afternoon. Derek took Bella swimming in the hotel pool for awhile while Gracie slept- then we went to the Cardinals game that night! We did a timed family picture- but couldn't get Grace to look at the camera. :)

We stayed at a different hotel this year because we wanted a suite and a pool for Bella to swim in. An added bonus was the hotel happy hour! We didn't even have to feed Bella at the game because they had hot dogs at the hotel. Much easier that way!

Bella was very excited to go to a Cardinals game and wear a bird shirt like Daddy wears. :) She even clapped and cheered go Cardinals!

Gracie was also a good girl- we kept her happy by eating puffs and chewing on a plastic spoon. :)

On Saturday, we began the day by going to the Magic House, which is the Children's Museum. Bella had lots of fun again this year!

Making a giant bubble around herself.

Walking through the pathway of mirrors- she was not a fan of this. Gracie got to be lugged around in the Bjorn- which she was good with!

Bella of course tested out all the available slides. She was even big enough to go down the big slide this year, which is one that goes from one floor to another floor. I went on it right behind her, and it was pretty fun!

Building a tower with Daddy.

Testing out different bell sounds with Grace and Mommy.

Splashing around in the water room!

Her favorite thing to do this year was go shopping in the grocery store. She does like to help me when she goes shopping with me, so it makes sense!

Plus she got to throw in whatever she wanted into her cart, which doesn't normally get to happen. :)

Checking out was the highlight of her grocery shopping! I think she needs a little cash register of her own- she had lots of fun doing that! 

Driving in a car.

Bella's other favorite activity was something new this year- a veterinary clinic! Bella is obviously all about kitties, and she loves to doctor them, so this was perfect for her.

Checking out her kitty.

They even had cute little veterinary coats to wear. :)

Working as a librarian in the library-

Bella also loved taking care of the babies in the pretend hospital. It was hard work getting a baby as the Magic House was absolutely PACKED. So once we got one, we didn't let it go.

Feeding her baby. I remember doing this last year thinking it would be such good practice for becoming a big sister. :)

Having a tea party in the attic room.

Daddy made sure that we did the electricity ball again this year. :) And it made for a funny picture again! I also liked that I could see Bella's hair is now LONGER than mine!

Miss Gracie took a break from the Bjorn to check out what was happening. She was good as can be the whole morning, as usual! She was making faces at Mommy while Bella did more shopping. :)

After the Magic House, we visited our old favorite St. Louis restaurant, Dewey's pizza! Gracie snoozed in her car seat while we all enjoyed our pizza.

Bella was a big fan of it too- too bad there aren't any Dewey's in Iowa! We bought extra to take home though as our room had a fridge.

That afternoon, we ventured out in the heat and went to the zoo. at the Children's Zoo, Bella got to pet a guinea pig.

Grace chewed on some sunglasses. :)

The water fountains were a popular place due to the hot weather! Bella is not brave enough to jump in the water, but she liked it splashing on her hands.

We also visited the goats at the Children's Zoo. Bella pet them with a brush.

And fed them some hay. :) She's getting very brave around other animals!

Waiting in the line for the train showing off her blue tongue from her sucker. With such a happy expression!

Gracie and Daddy on the train- poor Gracie looks so hot! Both my girls unfortunately got my gene of getting a very red sweaty face when hot.

The other rosy cheeked girl. :)

Bella was very excited to go on the carousel! She'd been planning to ride on the jaguar, one of her favorite animals, but switched it up for the sea lion instead.

I posted this specifically to show what naughty Daddy was doing... checking his phone while on the carousel ride! :)

Gracie was getting to be pretty sleepy, but she had trouble falling asleep since it was so stinkin hot. :( Poor girl!

Waiting outside to see the penguins- Daddy and my's favorite exhibit because it's inside and freezing. :)

Bella however deemed it to be "too cold." She apparently hasn't learned the value of being cooled down!

Checking out some monkeys. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of the big kitties, which Bella was pretty disappointed about. None of them were outside since it was so hot. She got to pick out a new animal at the end of the day though, so her disappointment faded away. She even said her favorite part of the zoo was picking out her animal. Ha!

Daddy and Gracie...

And Mommy and Bella! Holding her new "Kitty." This kitty was named Mama Snow, as we already have the baby version of the snow leopard. She picked that out on our trip to St. Louis when she was 1, and it is still one of her most adored kitties. :) Even though it's not actually a kitty.

On Sunday morning before heading home, we spent some time swimming in the pool! Bella had a blast splashing around.

And the water was actually warm enough that Gracie enjoyed it too!

Such a devilish look on her face here. :)

Our two sweet girls in the water. :)

Then Bella decided to start splashing us all!

Mommy with my little ladies.

Then we headed back home! Again, not much sleep took place in the car... Bella slept for a little bit (20 minutes) which was quite surprising. But Grace actually slept for over an hour! All worn out from our busy weekend. :)