St. Louis

My mom and I took the twins and their "bestie" Titus to St. Louis for a little vacation.  Our first stop was a water park in Collinsville, Illinois.  I played in the water a little with the boys, but mostly I just sat there trying to get my back to calm down.  Stupid back.

Hayden Surfing

Henry on the Aqua-Climber

I read a little, but mostly I watched the lifeguards walk around with their whistles in their mouths.  If a kid broke a rule, they just did a quick short blow and guess what?!  The kid stopped breaking the rule.   So, I was wondering if a whistle would work in my classroom.  I think blowing a whistle on and off all day would make me crazy, but it was fun to imagine for a minute how the students would react to a whistle blowing every time they ran in the hallway or talked without raising their hand.  

 Our next stop was the City Museum.  The boys just love this place.  We've been there four times now and it's crazy fun.  Our first visit was in 2005.  The boys were so little.  I watched all the little kids running around the museum and wondered, at what age do kids start asking to go back to visit a place that they love?  The boys were 3 years old when we first visited the City Museum, but they didn't start asking to go back until after their second visit, when they were 6.  I also wondered at what age do kids stop wanting to go.  Harrison has been twice and he loved it, but when I asked him if he wanted to go, he said no, because he had practice.  I saw a few teenagers running around that place, but not many.  I don't think Harrison would've gone, even if he didn't have practice.  

Henry outside of the
City Museum

World's Largest Underpants

Granny on the roof

The city museum is a strange, but exciting place.  A friend of mine asked me what was so great about it.  They have a little bit of everything there:  a few animals, an aquarium, a collection of doorknobs, a mini-circus with acrobats, and many other oddities.  It's a lot of climbing, running, crawling, and exploring.  The place does not have maps, they just want people to have fun and to look for new places.  This was my mom's first visit and I wanted her to try as much as she could.  She was a good sport until she got stuck in one of the wire crawly cage things outside.  She was just about to panic, but I talked her through it and she made it out alive.  Hayden was afraid to crawl in some of the high places.  He does not like heights.

Hayden with the Turtles

That night, we headed to the Arch after a long day of crawling and climbing.  My mom had never been up the Gateway Arch either!!  I couldn't believe it.  She wasn't too impressed with the observation deck.  It's pretty small and it was crowded up there.  We took a few pictures and then we walked along the Mississippi river to dinner.  

Henry

I have to go back to work next week and this little trip was a great way to end my summer break.  Somehow, it took us seven hours to get home, but we made some fun stops.  

Homewood Grill
Effingham, IL 

Silliness

Firefly Grill
Effingham, IL