the iphone pics tell the rest of the story

Random iphone pics taken during our vacation time in Illinois/Missouri

A mickey mouse pancake made Liam's morning a little happier at breakfast the morning after the wedding.  I'm not too sure how much he actually ate, though.

The one picture I took of the arch.  We stood in line outside for probably 30-45 minutes.  The kids did pretty well, even though it was hot and sticky.

Kinley's "first trip to the arch" picture.

Liam posed for his picture outside the arch.

Eating at Grays Brothers.

 

Yes, our trays were loaded with food.  Andy took the boys through the line first.  Good thing he looked to check their trays... I think they each had at least 3 desserts on them!

cousin fun, end of vacation

Our last afternoon of our vacation, all the Spielman family cousins got to get together at Grammy Pammy's.  The kids had fun playing in the pools and I think they had fun just seeing each other.  It was a busy house, with 11 kids ages 9 and under. 
 

 

The adults hanging out.  Who's watching the kids?

Kella was in fine form and was excited to entertain us with her talking-mostly about the elevator ride at the arch.

Grammy asked for it, and she got it-a nice, updated picture of her and her grandkids.  (Back row: Maddie, Ewan, Cale, Marcus Middle: Jacob, Everett, Grammy and Kinley, Kella  Bottom: Ewan, Xander, Abbie) Now, I just have to print it out and mail it to her...

Aunt Courtney, U ncle Jim, Xander and Everett got to meet Kinley. 

 

Jim and his boys.

The "O-Niners" Liam and Abbie played nicely together.

The next day, we left after lunch for the trip home during which, Kinley decided she was tired of traveling and cried and fussed the last, oh 2 1/2 to 3 hours of the trip.  I don't blame her.  On the way home, too, we stopped at another Man V. Food location-Grays Brothers Cafeteria.  The kids were excited to stop at another food spot they saw on tv.  The food was great, too.  I think we will be stopping there again.

to the arch! again

The next day (Monday June24th), we went to the St. Louis Arch.  Last year, Ewan did not get to go.  He had said no, so we didn't get him a ticket.  Then, he was sad that he couldn't go up.  So, this year, we went back with the plan that everyone who could/wanted to, would go to the top, because we were not planning on coming back to go up the arch again for a long time.

Found an outdoor parking area to park in after coming close to scraping the roof of our van on the underground parking garage ceiling.

First stop, snacks! I like those hard candy sticks-50 cents each-a good price for a sugar fix.  Andy bought tickets for himself and the 5 older kids.  Kinley and I stayed on the ground.

Looking out the top of the arch.

Kella loved looking at the water, and riding in the elevator.  She kept telling people "elevator!" and "to the top!".  So excited.

Ewan, also excited to go.  He had been talking about it for a while.

 

 

 

In the elevator.  Not sure how Liam felt about the ride up and down.

 

 

A late lunch was earned for the weary travelers,

 

Then, back to Grammy's for some fun with the cousins,

One day more

I'm feeling like a grump today. Andy's been gone for almost a week and I have been going it solo vs the kiddos. It's been okay. We've had some good times: swim lessons, karate, got to church on Sunday, managed to make a run to Walmart, got to the library, 4th of July parade, strawberry shortcake, banana splits.  I've managed to keep the kids fed and in clean clothing. The house is not a total disaster. I think I've gotten between 4 & 5 hours of sleep each night. Just not in a row. The kids have been pretty good. Marcus has been a great, if somewhat reluctant helper at times. Ewan has been very attentive to the baby, bouncing her on her chair to calm her down. Cale has been very helpful, too. Everything's starting to catch up, though, and I'm ready for my helpmate to come back.  Ready to hand Kinley off to her daddy so I can put the house in order, fold some laundry and perhaps prepare a meal without Kinley crying because she isn't being held. One more night. One more day. Andy should be home tomorrow night. I don't know who will be happiest: me, Andy or the kids. 

Cale's dream realized-more vacation fun

We like to watch food shows at our house.  We especially like Man V. Food.  The boys especially like watching the food challenges to see if Adam will win out over food.  On one of the episodes, they featured Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.  They make a concrete custard and serve it to you upside down to prove how thick it is, like concrete.  Cale was sold.  We had to go.  How great for us that it was only 10 minutes from Grant's Farm?  We made it our lunch stop, dessert first.

Cale, so happy to be at a place he saw on tv.

Look!  The custard is thick!  (It didn't stay thick for long in the heat of the afternoon.) Cale got a cherry flavor that was really good.

Everyone loved it!  Marcus got a buttercream, I think.  Also, good.

Liam got vanilla.  Delicious. (I had to sample all of them.)

Ewan got cherry as well.

The grown-ups got orange juice slushies.  They were terrific.  After dessert, we did a drive through to Arbys for actual lunch, Then, we went back to Grammy Pammy's for some cool off time in the pools.  The one time I chose not to pack their swimsuits....but the kids were okay with just wearing play clothes.

 

 

first va-cay stop, Grant's Farm

We decided to go to Grant's Farm while we were at Grammy Pammy's house.  Neither Andy or I had ever been and I was curious to see what it was like.  It was hot.  It was humid.  It involved some line standing with the children.  It's not a bad deal, though.  It was $12 to park and get into the farm, and that's all we would have spent if we didn't go to the gift shop to sugar up before we left (since we had sweat all our energy out).  We could have spend more, but we did not bring cash for in park snacks or the merry-go-round.  I did find some change so all the kids could feed the llamas.  I'm thinking we're not going to make a return trip, unless we want to go back when the little ones are old enough to remember.  But, it was a nice family outing that I think the kids enjoyed.

In the long, winding line to ride the tram.  6 kids, 3 adults, 2 strollers.

Kinley and Daddy!  3 weeks old and she's been to 3 states already.  What a traveler.  She eventually fell asleep (or the heat made her tired, hard to say).

Grammy and Kella.  We convinced Grammy to come with us.  Surprisingly, after standing in lines at Grant's Farm, she did not want to come with us the next day to stand in line for the arch.  But, we appreciated her help in wrangling the children.

Finally made it to the tram!

Looking tired and ready for a ride.

The smartest animals on the farm were these elk.  They had the sense to be in the water.  I'm pretty sure the temp that day was a balmy 90 degrees with a "feel-like" temp of close to 100. 

Kella got confined to the stroller after a while.  She was not a fan of that idea.

In line for the tram to get back to the front and out of the park.  We were ready to go!

(The next stop that day had the boys, especially Cale, very excited.)