Home - Texas - St.Louis - Rt. 66

A few days before we left on our trip we had a picnic outside in the hot weather. 

The older this girl gets, the more active she has to be in order to get her energy out. 

Going to a park every day and running around is pretty much a necessity.

 One of my friends gave us this powder you put in a bathtub that makes it turn into goo.

The more you move, the thicker it becomes.

 She loved it.

Texas:

Ben had his last week off for this residency year and we decided to head on down to Texas to visit his grandma. We couldn't afford 3 plane tickets so we hopped in the car and made a road trip out of it. We enjoy driving and stopping at little cafes, "world's biggest..." whatevers, antique stores (okay, I like to stop), and Charlotte goes with the flow pretty easily.

 What is more exciting than a ring pop? Especially when it comes out of princess packaging.

 Ben was post-call the day we started our drive so he slept quite a bit through southern Illinois and the cornfields.

 Playing with a sticker book above.

Below, one of the "prizes" she got every few hours.

I wrapped little dollar store presents to open when she started to ask how much longer we were going to stay in the car.

 That night we stayed at a hotel in Miami, Oklahoma.

They pronounce it My-am-uh. 

I kid you not.

 At a rest stop she wanted to "drive" for awhile so we let her.

 Passing a ridiculously huge indian.

 We are milk drinkers. We go through 3 gallons in a week easily. 

We had about 2/3 of a gallon left in our fridge and Ben filled up some Nalgene bottles and chugged it along the way.

Don't worry - it's non-fat.

Can you imagine chugging 2%? Gag.

 After driving through Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma, we reach Texas!

Ben's grandma lives north of Austin.

 Charlotte catching june bugs.

 We spent time with Ben's Uncle Pete and Aunt Jenni, along with cousins Hailey and Hans.

Of course I got zero pictures with them in it.

 The Sunday night before Memorial Day we went to a Marine Corps concert and listened to them play 40's/50's big band music and patriotic songs too.

At the end they played the "theme" song of each branch of military and the veterans from those branches were to stand up and we'd clap.

It was awesome. And of course I bawled like a baby.

Then they asked the WW2 veterans to stand up and there were at least 7 or 8.

I bawled even harder.

 We spent Memorial Day with extended family and had a BBQ.

 That night we watched the PBS Memorial Day concert (which I never knew about).

Bawled like a baby and felt super patriotic. 

 Playing at NanaMoo's pool.

I was boring and worked out in the gym while they played.

 Ben using noodles in a variety of ways.

 We were there on the one year anniversary of Grandad's passing.

Here we are watching a dvd of his Irish wake.

Charlotte had us watch it 3 times so she could point out all of the family that was there.

 Biking through NanaMoo's neighborhood.

 Drinking an orange Crush at a BBQ joint.

 Ben played soccer with Charlotte quite a bit. This was our last day there and they ran around for a solid hour kicking a ball around her huge yard.

 They decided to cool off with the hose.

 And spit out some water.

 NanaMoo's neighbors were kind enough to let Charlotte borrow some toys.

They have twin granddaughters that are too old for these baby dolls

so they gave them both to Charlotte and told her she had to give one to our new baby in August.

We'll see if she keeps that promise.

 On our way to St. Louis. 

Above just about to fall asleep

and below watching a movie.

 The drive to St. Louis was a little crazy. We literally were in the middle of all those tornadoes that kept touching down in Oklahoma and Missouri last weekend.

They were touching down in towns 45 minutes behind us and an hour ahead of us. 

We only had lighting/thunder/rain the last hour or so until we reached St. Louis.

 Charlotte and I were so tired of eating Texas BBQ (don't get me wrong, it's amazing) and other amazing food in Texas - that we opted for boring salads when we reached St. Louis.

 We stayed 2 nights at the hotel inside of Union Station.

It was built in the 1890's and has been restored really well.

 It was walking distance to everything we planned on seeing.

 Outside Union Station.

 Walking around downtown.

 The old courthouse that heard the Dred Scott case.

 Eating gross "St. Louis style" pizza at Imo's.

Blech.

 Heading up to the arch.

 I headed to the bathroom (shocker), and Ben went to the gift store and bought Charlotte this picture book about the arch.

While we waited in line to go up, he read it to her.

So cute.

 Looking down at the Mississippi River and East St. Louis, IL - where Ben's grandparent's grew up.

 He kept using the picture book to teach her all about the arch while we were at the top.

 Looking down on downtown St. Louis.

 You sit in a small white capsule to go up and down the arch. 

Only 5 people fit into one.

We met a few people down on the ground who refused to head up because they were claustrophobic.

 Below, Charlotte showing us her Buzz Lightyear pose after getting back down the arch.

 Then we headed to Busch Stadium for a Cardinals vs. Giants game.

 It didn't end well for us Giant's fans.

 We snuck down to lower seats to watch the fireworks show after the game.

 The next morning we made our way back home along Route 66.

 We stopped at a diner from the 1940's.

 And a few other stops along the historic Route 66.

We'll be home for 36 hours before Charlotte and I fly out to Washington. My mom bought us tickets for our last hurrah out there before this baby is due.

We had a WONDERFUL time in Texas and always love seeing Ben's family. Ben's Nana always spoils us with restaurant visits, movies, golf, pool time, and not to mention she is absolutely the funnest to hang out with. 

We look forward to our next Texas visit.