Knowing that Amelia was fairly young to be traveling too far, we decided to head to St. Louis for our 2010 vacation. We also decided to go over Memorial Day since we knew both Lee and Taylor would be out of school and Lee could be off work - a notion we couldn't guarantee for the rest of the summer. Some people may consider us crazy for taking a 7 1/2 month old on vacation, but I am determined not to change our "regular" lives because of our baby. I want her to learn young that we travel, visit friends and family, and explore different places. We just change the way we do things - not what we do.
We left Friday night and stopped about 1/2 way there - Effingham, IL - the home of the "Cross at the Crossroads". This gave Amelia a break and guaranteed that we didn't get to the hotel too late. After Taylor's quick swim and dip in the hot tub, we headed to bed fairly early because we still had a 2 hour drive the next morning.
Saturday we arrived in St. Louis and immediately took in Grant's Farm. I have wanted to go there for quite some time, and I really thought Taylor would enjoy the animals. The best part - it is free! Okay, so you pay for parking and things inside the park, but it was still relatively inexpensive. We first got to see the Clydesdales (amazing!). There was a mommy and baby colt, along with a Clydesdale named Lee :-). Then we took the 25 minute tram ride into the park where Taylor got to feed the goats and camel; we saw lots of animals; and, we watched an Elephant education show.
Since it was a hot and humid day, we then headed straight for our St. Louis hotel to relax, swim, and hang out. Amelia got to swim for the first time, and she loved it! She is such a great, adventurous baby. That evening we headed to Forest Park, which is absolutely beautiful. We walked around, let Amelia play in the grass, took pictures, and enjoyed the evening.
On Sunday, we headed to City Museum, which is an interactive exploratory museum for kids and adults alike. If you are an overprotective parent, this is not the place for you. Kids can go into holes and passageways, and you have no idea where they will come out. But, that is what makes it fun too. After the morning and early afternoon there, we headed to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which has one of the largest mosaic displays in the world - 41.5 million glass pieces in more than 7,000 colors covering 83,000 sq. ft. It is absolutely amazing! After that we headed back to the hotel for a night of room service, swimming, and relaxing!
Monday we headed home, but before we left St. Louis, Taylor wanted to go up The Arch again as we did several years ago on a return trip from Oklahoma. Lee and Taylor went up, while Amelia and I hung out at the bottom. Then Taylor and I headed across the street to the Old Courthouse where the original Dred Scott hearings were held.
We drove the 4 hours home on Monday, and we found out that Amelia's threshold is about 3 1/2 hours. We stopped at a rest stop about an hour from home, but that didn't help her tiredness of her car seat. Good thing we didn't go farther than St. Louis :-)!
All in all, it was a great trip. We hadn't been away as a family for some time. Just us - The Lawmasters. I believe our last trip with just us was in 2007 when we went to Disney. It was nice to spend time together, be away from home, and make good memories for the future. Now....where to go next year?
