St. Louis: Highs and not so highs

It feels too hard to write a comprehensive post about everything during our almost 1.5 week trip to St. Louis. Instead I’m going to list some of the awesome and not so awesome moments that I remember.

HIGHS

Webster Pool. The swim day in St. Louis was great. The weather was beautiful and it wasn’t too crowded at the pool. It was hard for us to commit to going that day but in the end it was the very best day we could have gone and I’m so glad we did. That pool is one of my kids’ favorite places in St. Louis and it’s always better with cousins.

St. Louis Zoo. The zoo trip was also awesome. It rained that morning but didn’t rain again while we were there. It wasn’t too crowded or too hot. We saw a lot of animals. My parents came for some of it but left early. It was a great trip to what has got to be one of the best zoos in the country.

Farm run. On the first morning at the farm I ran and then swam alone in the quarry to cool off. It wasn’t too humid that morning and it felt so good to get out and away from everyone for a while. I listened to my book and reveled in the break from being with people. Then I came home and changed into my suit and swam across the quarry lake. It was just a leisurely swim and it felt perfect. No one was around and it was so peaceful. That morning was awesome.

Culver’s. We ate twice at Culver’s, once on the way out to the farm and also on the way back. On the way there we ordered online and got “Curd-side pick up” because, how could we not? On the way back we ate with cousins and had a ton of fun. Culver’s is a drive-to-the-farm tradition and it did not disappoint. This year they had pretzel pub burgers! And of course, cheese curds.

City Museum. The City Museum has always been a favorite but usually we go alone and this year we got to go with cousins which made it so much better. We stayed there for over four hours and our only regret was not getting outside before the rain started again.

Urban Air. On the second day of rain we hit up Urban Air, a trampoline park on steroids. We got the Platinum passes and they sell a half off version for adults so I got one. We had a lot of fun, and tried almost everything. I was surprised to find that my knee could manage limited stints on the trampolines. It was a surprisingly fun day.

Bass Pro Shop. We kept passing this massive Bass Pro Shop and after a first failed attempt (they close at 7pm on Sundays) we got to go inside. It was totally nuts in there. I could have walked around for hours. We all got hats and had a great time.

NOT SO HIGHS

Packing. Packing to come here then unpacking once we arrived then packing again 2.5 days later to go to the farm then unpacking again when we got back to my uncles. Then doing TONS of laundry and finally packing again to head to Chicago. I will be happy to not pack again for two weeks once we get home (we’ll probably just do this laundry and leave it packed for Hawaii because we don’t really wear shorts or tank tops at home).

Rain. It rained our final 1.5 days in St. Louis. And this wasn’t the on-again-off-again rain I’m used to here, but just a constant pouring for 36 hours. It sucked. We made the best of it with a trip to the City Museum and a trampoline park on steroids, but it was not fun to get drenched every time we walked to the car. (Otherwise the weather was wonderful so I can’t really complain.)

Honestly, those are only not so highs because we had a really great trip. It was a great mix of fun activities with extended family, enough down time to recharge and pretty decent sleep. I will take it! Now we’re on a tiny plane getting ready to fly to Chicago for three days with friends. I hope our luck continues!