First Leg: St. Louis

So I must have been feeling ambicious because the day we were leaving for a 2 week trip, I also decided to take the girls to the Preschool Skate before I had to drop my mom off at the airport after lunch.  But I was able to get both done (and have fun at the roller rink), plus get the van packed and get on the road by about 4:30.  We stopped for dinner at a Bob Evans just east of Indianapolis and made it into St. Louis at a fairly decent hour.

Fiona, Caitlin and Ava having a blast at the Preschool Skate.

On Saturday we picked up Grama and Papa from their hotel, after a stop for McDonald's breakfast, and then headed out in one vehicle to the Magic House Children's Museum.  Fiona had a lot of fun exploring the different exhibits, including a Sid the Science Kid area, a beanstalk to climb, huge musical instruments, a construction area, a little kids area with a slide, a bubble room and mock-ups of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Oval Office.  I carried Ava and she slept through most of it.  She woke up in time for a snack outside while Fiona and Papa played in the sandbox.

 Exploring a tree house.

Life size chalk drawings. 

A 2.5 story beanstalk and Fiona climbed the whole thing up and halfway down. 

Fun with scarves. 

This mic was hot (I don't think it was supposed to be) so Fiona enjoyed testing it out.

Trying out the resolute desk. 

Sean in Congress.  :) 

There were 3 chairs, one with 2 pulleys, one with 4 and one with 6, to show how more pulleys made it easier to lift someone. 

We then headed to lunch at McGurk's and Cahokia Mounds.   Ava fell asleep on the way there so I stayed in the van with her while everyone else went in the Visitor's Center.  She woke up in time to go up Monk's Mound (the biggest one) where she fell on her face when she lost her footing on the gravel.  She had a scratched nose for a couple days, but otherwise was OK.  We went back to Grama and Papa's room for English muffin pizza followed by cake and ice cream for Sean's birthday.

154 steps (I think) was the agreed to count for the number of steps to the top.