Staycation Last Day...with the 5 of us

Thursday, July 21, we headed to Purina Farms. I had been there with the kids but this was Drew's first trip. We started the day watching a cow milking demostration (2nd one of the staycation) but this time the kids got to try. After that we headed up to the hay maze, corn play, and tractor riding. Then it was time to watch the dog show. In case you've forgotten this was the hottest week of the year so it was pretty impressive that the dogs were out performing. Of course Molly enjoyed watching the "booffys" jump in the water. After lunch we went on a tractor ride then hung out inside before heading home. We took the scenic route home in hopes of the kids taking long naps. It was pretty successful.

Watching the Dog Show 

Waiting for the tractor

Drew is loving the video from '83

Molly picked out a toy chicken from the gift shop, saw the fish in the pond, immediately threw the chicken in the pond...we were cracking up!

We cleaned up then headed to a yummy Mexican dinner. I had to leave dinner and go to a soccer coaches meeting but Drew took the kids to buy more water balloons. When I got home the deck was full of popped balloons. They had a great time again!

So far behind...

Wow, I'm so behind, I'm not sure it's worth trying to catch up...but here we go. I'm not a quitter. So, day 6 we headed to the St. Louis Arch. No one really knew what to expect. As soon as we got there, we bought tickets and headed up. I don't think the kids knew what was going on so they didn't have time to know whether to be scared or excited. They were excited. Everyone enjoyed the trip to the top. Once we go there, Drew and I could not tear Matthew and Molly away from the viewing windows. They were loving it. Matthew loved looking at the barges on the river. Andrew thought it was so cool to see Busch Stadium from so high up.

Waiting for car 5

Tight squeeze

Once we were back on stable ground, we went through the museum. Andrew was able to answer questions during our walk through and earn a Junior Ranger badge. Of course the other two totally lost interest and I had to take them to the gift shop for snacks. But Andrew was pumped about his accomplishment.

Hot, but still a Jr Ranger

Once we were rejuvenated from the arch, we headed to the Butterfly House at Faust Park. We had never been, so it was an adventure for all of us. Once we were in "the house" Molly and Matthew (and Drew) kind of freaked out. Molly had a butterfly land on her and that put her over the edge. Andrew and I took our time after they exited and tried to find all of the butterflies on the handout as we went through. Matthew was patiently waiting for us under a cockroach dome when we exited. Good thing we went during half price hour:).

Not a fan

Our plan after the butterfly house was to head to a Japanese restaurant and have the kids experience the chef making the food right in front of them. Little did we know, this would scare Matthew and Molly to death. I thought I was going to have to leave the restaurant with Matthew he was so upset. So much for our fancy dinner! Surprisingly, Molly loved the fried rice and Andrew and Matthew loved the steak. So it wasn't a total waste of money. Of course we had to get some Fro Yo after to redeem ourselves.

Before the madness

LOVE

Priceless

All better

All in all it was a great day and we were ready for bed!

Staycation: Day 5

Tuesday we headed to the Transportation Museum. We arrived as soon as it opened so we could go to the first Creation Station session. We had never taken the kids to the Creation Station room so it was a new adventure for all of us. I think the kids had a good time but they were really wanting to go on the train ride. So if we did it again, we'd do the train ride first. The miniature train ride was the highlight for them. They loved the trolley ride to the train and then the two trips around the track. Once we got back we walked around and looked at the big trains and got on as many as we could. It was another SUPER hot day so after that everyone was DONE. We headed to Bread Company for some lunch then home for naps. 

Somehow they all ended up wearing blue 

Construction Worker Matthew

Police Officer Andrew

Firefighter Molly

Cleaning the ship

Train Ride

After naps we headed to Target to get some of Andrew's Kindergarten school supplies. We also grabbed the ingredients for smores and got water balloons for our evening activity. The smores were pretty much a fail because my strange kids don't like marshmallows but the water balloons were a HUGE hit!

Matthew came up with the idea to bite the balloons

Staycation Day 4

Monday, our day started with a trip to Suson Farm. We had never been so we didn't really know what to expect. As we pulled up their were horses and a donkey roaming in a field. We went over and visited with them for a little bit. Then we headed over and saw a cow named Philip and a John Deere tractor. Then we walked past the stalls of the barn and ended up walking right into a "cow milking" demonstration. Talk about perfect timing! After we watched the farmer milk the cow we walked around and saw a lot more animals. I was most amused by the biggest pig I had ever seen, it was crazy! Molly enjoyed watching the chickens because they were quite active and interactive.

Drew's favorite, an enormous hourse

Seriously?

The perfect "vacation" picture

After a fun but hot time there we got in the car and started thinking about what to eat for lunch. Nothing says vacation like Cracker Barrel! We had a very enjoyable lunch and the kids really liked the store on our way out.

Sleeeeeepy

During nap time, Drew, Andrew, and I filled up the van with donations for Goodwill because after naps we headed to Toys R Us as a special treat. We usually stop at the Lego store on our trip to the beach so this was taking its place. Andrew picked out a Cars 2 Leapster game. Matthew picked out a Captain Rex helmet. And Molly picked out a baby with accessories. Everyone was thrilled. Then we came home for Andrew's favorite meal, Dominos.