STL Vacation

My parents continued east after the all-star game to spend a few days with us and the kids.  We headed out to the confluence one day so see where the mighty Mississippi combines with the Missouri.  Its a nice little walk and viewing area.  Because of the drought the rivers were really low and we ventured down to the river bottoms.  Susie and Jonathan were the first but were quickly scared by snakes.  The rest of us took our time to explore the area.

While Susie and Jonathan explored the Gateway Arch, the rest of us went to the Catholic Basilica which was amazing to see.  Sadly our camera is not the best so none of the pictures turned out very well except for this one with the handsome man in it.

We also headed out to Lone Elk park which is kind of a miniature micro Yellowstone with elk, deer, and bison roaming the area.  Small herds but still kind of cool to have in Missouri.  The best part of the drive through park were the raccoons we discovered right next to the garbage can, go figure.  Grandpa was able to get one to come right next to his car with his classic mating call:)

Just across the street from Lone Elk park was the world bird sanctuary which contains a variety of birds.  As we pulled up we were able to enjoy the company of this bald eagle.

Our favorite bird of them all, our Dodo Bird.

Colorado Fun

As we headed east to come home we took a few days and stopped in Colorado to visit with Robert and Kari.  The original plan was to head to KC together for the MLB All-star game.  We did stay a night in KC but Joe had school during the all-star week so we did not get to be involved in the festivities.

Brooke loved playing with her Uncle Jonathan during the trip as if you could not tell from her smile.

We headed out to a historic site that also had a very historic playground that Brindi and I were able to play on.  I was able to take a lot of pictures that I will be able to use in a couple classes dealing with playgrounds.

The last night in Wray we headed to the aquatic center for thier late family night.  This was also during July so it was a great photo opportunity to "Get Wild" for park and recreation month.

Not many people showed up and after talking to the lifeguard who was a recreation degree graduate, he allowed us to take the little kids on the slides.  Celeste and I took turns but I took the most slides switching from Brindi to Dax to Brooke and then all over again.  Honestly, I got really dizzy walking up the stairs and then going down the spiral slides, but the kids loved it.

As we started to leave Colorado we stopped in Burlington to walk through their historic village.

We were treated to a burlesque show in the old town tavern.  Dax received a special personal song that completely embarrassed him as they two young ladies sang directly to him.  It was pretty cute and funny to watch him.

We also stopped by the oldest carousel west of the Mississippi if not the country.  I can't remember the exact history but this lion is worth several hundred thousand dollars which is pretty impressive.

The best part of the carousel was the cost.  It only cost 25 cents to ride it.  How cool is that.  Brindi loved this horse because of the red rose in the mane.

While in KC we headed to one of the graveyards that contained the graves of some prominent church leaders including David Whitmer and his family.

Not sure why she thought this was funny but we love our little girls creativity as her hair ties became her ear rings.