St Louis Mini-Vaca

One place I've wanted to take the kids for the past few years is Grant's Farm outside of St. Louis.  The few times we have visited St. Louis, we haven't had an extra day to visit the Farm.  The last weekend of October promised to be another warm weekend with no rain.  We took advantage of the weekend and headed to St. Louis. 

 

Our first stop of the trip was Forest Park.  We could have easily spent the entire day here - exploring and learning!  Forest Park is free!  It is large - over 1300 acres and was host to the 1904 World Fair. There are museums, a planetarium, outdoor theater & zoo as well as places to eat, lots of hiking and beautiful scenery.  This is a must see if you are ever in St. Louis!

 

Round Lake

 Pagoda Circle

 The Great Basin

 

The Planetarium

Will:  Look!  This is how a T-Rex DABs!

 We had two other stops during the day.  One was Turtle Park (which we visited in 2011, wow! the kids have grown!) and the other was Tower Grove Park.  Because of the sunny day with warm temps, everyone was out!

Turtle Park 

Tower Grove Park

We really wanted to visit the Arch but the grounds and museum were under construction.  While we could've visited and enjoyed the view from the top, we decided to wait and enjoy everything together - another trip.

We called it a day and headed to our hotel for a pizza dinner, swimming & sweet dreams!



 Sunday, October 30 - the last day of the season for Grant's Farm!  We were blessed beyond what we could ever have asked for!  Another wonderful day and sparse crowds! We hopped on the tram and enjoyed the tour of the grounds. 



 



We passed a restored "Hardscrabble" - the log cabin built by Ulysses Grant.  This site gives a good history of this particular home/time in Grant's life. Without making an effort to do so, we visited two of Grant's homes this year!



We enjoyed our time at the Tier Garten - feeding animals!  We also got a glimpse of the Busch Family Estate!

Will & Alex took their turns at feeding the Parakeets and goats (Maddie & Kaitee opted not to). 

This next series of pictures had Matt & I laughing for a long time!  Will tried for quite a while to get this goat to eat...with no luck.  He just wasn't interested (probably full!).  He finally got the goat to start eating, to which Matt & I could imagine the goat's thoughts..."oh fine, I'll eat.  I'm going to pay for this later!"

While Will is feeding the black goat, this brown goat shows up (he's been following Will around the whole time).  You can see Will's frustration with him while he points his finger and says no.  Then you see the goat cock his head and look up at Will innocently (or dumbly??) and Will can't help but start laughing.  In the end, the brown goat doesn't drink anything but walks away!

Feeding the Parakeets

 

Checking out the Camels & then Going for a Ride!

We walked around a bit more before boarding the tram and heading back to the entrance.

This was the saddest little mule we've ever seen!  He was trying to
blend in with the wall!

We ended our time visiting the stables and Grants National Historic Site (across from the farm).  Unfortunately, we only saw one colt out in the pastures...and a few full grown Clydesdales in these stalls.

What a fun weekend!  We look forward to heading back in a few more years to visit the arch!  We couldn't have asked for a better trip for the family.  Maybe next time we can take in a Cubs / Cards game while we walk around the downtown area a bit.

Quad Cities Honor Flight

Every few months, the QC Airport hosts a welcome home to the local Honor Flight.  First of all, if you don't know what the Honor Flight is, look into it.  Secondly, now that you know what it is, go to a homecoming!  You will not regret it.  Be sure to bring your tissues too! To be able to shake their hands, welcome them home and tell them (in person) "Thank you for your service" is so moving (I'm tearing up even now as I think about it!)

Matt has attended a few of the homecomings, two of them we have all attended...keeping the kids up until 10:30 to go out to welcome home the vets (usually getting home after midnight).  It is worth the tired kids that we have to deal with the next day...what an amazing life experience for them to be a part of!

This particular Honor Flight included Vets from Vietnam.  Becki's Uncle Denny was on this flight.  We met up with Becki's dad, sister and niece then found Uncle Denny's family.  The airport was packed so we headed to the end of the receiving line. 

Here is Maddie waiting patiently for the Vets to come through...

Some of the first Vets to come through - you can see the emotions, even on the chaperone's face.

Then we saw Denny! 

Denny with his brother, Ron (Becki's Dad)

While the rest of us enjoyed our time and were moved to tears many times...Will was bored and ready to go home.  He received a lecture a few days later, telling him of all that these soldiers went through and how they deserve our respect and a sweet welcome home.  Hopefully my words got through to his heart and he will have a better understanding next go around.

Family Pictures

We received a wonderful Christmas present last year from Becki's boss...A Family Photo Session!  We haven't had family pictures taken in a few years, so it was a wonderful gift to receive. As Cousin Eddy would say, "...It's the gift that keeps on giving, all year long!" 

Much thanks to Stephanie Michelle Photography! She did a great job of finding shots that included some colorful trees (even though the trees weren't very colorful yet!) and had patience with the kids!

Stephanie had a lot of fun with this picture!  Ever dramatic...

She told everyone to start tickling Maddie and captured this photo - I love it!

The only request I made of Stephanie was to snap a few pictures of Maddie & Will.  We have pictures of them together since their birth date!  It is neat to watch them grown individually and as siblings.  There are times I see them walking and talking together and it melts my heart.  They don't realize the gift they've been given - hopefully one day they will see that they have a built in best friend with each other.

Who knows when we'll get around to another set of family pictures...probably a few more years before kids start heading to college (gulp!).  It isn't too far down the road!

Visiting Galena & Fulton, IL

We took advantage of some warm weather in October and hit the road - heading north to Galena.  We drove along the river - LeClaire, Clinton, Bellevue & Dubuque (Iowa) then crossed the Mississippi to head into Galena.  After seeing the town, we headed to General Ulysses Grant's home (later to become President Grant).  Grant and his wife Julia, moved to Galena in 1860 (with their 4 kids).  They were given this home in 1865 by a group of Galena men when Grant came home from serving as General in the Civil War.  It is a beautiful home with a magnificent view of Galena!

After visiting Galena and Grant's home, we headed south along the river to Fulton, IL.  The kids were wanting to visit de Immigrant Windmill in Fulton.  We were just in time to take a quick tour and hear some history from the tour guide.  It is always amazing to watch a working windmill!  We also enjoyed the vibrant (late season!) flowers.

Here's Will - trying to catch a few butterflies!

  We somewhat reenacted a picture taken years ago when we first toured the windmill.  Not quite the same set up...but still amazing to see how much they've grown!

We called it a day and headed home!  We are thankful for quick daytrips to great areas, steeped with history and beauty!

Homecoming Parade

Both girls participated in the Moline Homecoming Parade this year.  They had a blast!  It was fun to watch from the sidelines as well.  I know that soon enough, all four kids will be participating in one way or another!
 Kaitee decided to walk in the parade with the French Club.  Their dress theme was carnival characters or mimes.  She had a fun time putting this outfit together. 

Practicing her "mime in a box" routine

Here she is with full face painting.  She loved it!!

 Alex marched with Wilson Middle School Band.  She's loving band and marching season!

One of the highlights of the kids' week was meeting Aisha Praught.  Aisha is a Moline Alumni who just returned from Rio, where she competed in the Steeplechase events.  The kids met her at the Cross Country meet the night before and then we saw her again in the parade.  Definitely a highlight!