Our St. Louis Trip

We actually managed to leave town by 7:30 a.m. which was amazing considering two teenagers were involved.
Everything went smootly-a breakfast at McDs for most of us and Burger King for Caleb. We stopped just outside St. Louis and bought a huge 20 pack meal of White Castle hamburgers. Caleb wouldn't eat the, of course, but we chucked down more than a few.

First on our agenda was the St. Louis Zoo. Now, let me mention that it was very hot that day. The sweating, the walking, the dealing with Liam, and the fact that the animals were not really out much, made it sort of a flop. It didn't even match a Springfield Dickerson Park Zoo experience. The little ones had fun, but the rest of us were pretty miserable. After that we headed to our hotel at Union Station. We walked around a bit before checking in .
Union Station, unfortunately is dying. If you have ever been in a dying mall, you will know what I mean (North Town Mall, anyone?). Karl remembered it from his youth as really busy and cool, but what few stores they had were mostly gift shops, and the workers eyed us travelers like predators, just hoping we'd stop at their place.
We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was tasty, but again pretty dead. How do these people make a living?

After that, we checked in at the hotel. The parking fee was $15, which I think should have been included in the hotel. The hotel was fine, but too expensive for what we got. There was some water damage in the Karl-Caleb-Liam room, and it was really a $125 room, rather than a $200 room.
We were right by the pool, so Taryn took Liam for a quick swim, as I had forgotten to pack bathing suits for the rest of us.
After that, we left for the arch. Caleb stayed at the hotel and went to sleep because his laptop couldn't connect to the wifi. He was pretty disappointed, but he hadn't slept the day before, so he needed the rest, anyway.

We rode the Metro to the arch. Getting on the Metro at Union Station was a little stressful because of someone trying to sell tickets for cash, and someone else asking for money to buy tickets. But it was very fast and we were able to avoid driving around looking for places and the inevitable arguing which comes from the stress of getting around in traffic. The arch was pretty much as I remembered it, except the buildings didn't look as amazingly small as they did when I was a kid. Liam loved it, Taryn seemed happy, and Karl likes most things. We decided not to worry about money, so we bought all the extras we wanted (stupid photos which will gather dust, haha).
After we got back to the hotel, Karl and I had planned to go have a drink in the beautiful lobby, but I had fogotten to pack a nice top, and I was a mess. We decided to head over to Landry's Seafood, and we had a drink at the bar. I had a white wine spritzer as it was really hot! Taryn babysat the little ones, which was nice.

The next morning the plan was to go to the science center and then City Museum.
I woke fairly early and waited excitedly for the really expensive room service meal. The meal was good, the pot of coffee was remarkable and smooth.

The science center was free, but of course parking was ten dollars. We went in, bought tickets for the Planetarium's Night Sky show (I can't remember what it's called), and then walked. Liam had huge blisters from walking the previous day, but he eventually bucked up and hobbled around. He loved the tornado exhibits. Their was a simulated tornado of smoke, and a wind machine which blew up to EF0 winds on you for a low-low cost of $2. That was a hit.
Really, there was so much we didn't do there, we could have stayed much longer.
At 11:30 we went to the planetarium. The show was pleasant and relaxing. There is nothing like lying on a floor with a roomful of strangers. Even Caleb got involved and answered questions. After that, we looked at the space  stuff, and then went to the "flight simulator machines". Caleb and Taryn chose a war flight or something, they did 360 turns, and frankly we were shocked Caleb did it. There was a screen, and we could seem them laughing and hear them yelling. It was cool. Liam and I chose the weather one, where we were sucked into a tornado. The screen wasn't all convincing, 3D would have been cooler, but Liam had a blast. We went back over the highway (with clear cutouts in the floor, to watch the cars pass underneath). Liam helped some bigger boys build a foam arch with blocks and then we watched the huge marble race machine while we ate some slices of cheese pizza. This was definitely the most fun part of the trip.

After this, we were all too stiff for the City Museum. We had hoped visit my aunt and cousins, but it was my cousins birthday, and I didn't want to mess up their schedule, so we drove around the town, with a quick unplanned trip to Illinois to drive by the Cahokia mounds (the map was unclear and over the river we went). They were not as impressive as I had imagined, so I was glad I hadn't made a day trip to see them. Karl had been there before.
Finally, around the beltway, a quick stop for Dunkin Donuts (so much better than Krispy Kreme), and then back on I44 to head home. We did pick up some Jack in the Box tacos, because I LOVE them. Gabe cried a good 40 minutes of the trip, but we saw a double rainbow right before Springfield.

Overall, it was fun, and there was so much more we could have done if we had time. I don't think I would stay at the Union Station hotel again, just because there wasn't much to do in the area.

Sorry for the typos, so sleepy.

Fabulous Friday!

I think I will have Fabulous Friday posts where I share some idea on making life great. This could something related to fashion or beauty, decorating or books, current events whatever catches my fancy that week.

And this week: It's about the scarves.

Yes, I have decided to base my wardrobe for my new high school job mostly on solid colors, dressed up with scarves. I admit, I went a little wild with the scarf shopping yesterday (do not tell my husband what I spent!). It will be a sad day when scarves are totally out, though I don't mind lagging a year or two behind. Hey, they can be my trademark regardless of silly fashion!

Anyway, here is what I purchased:

Too cute!

So, yeah, some of them are little wacky, but I am okay with that. They are darling. I mean, come on, the map one when I am in world history class. The Wuthering Heights scarf in English. How Ms. Frizzle is that?

Thank you, Etsy! 

Throwback Thursday!

Actually since I received a phone call yesterday asking if I wanted a job at the high school less than 10 minutes from my home I want to make this a Thankful Thursday.


But anyway, Throwback Thursday.

 They are

just going to love me for this one! This is Taryn and Tierney in the summer of 2009, I believe. 

Wordy Wednesday

Many people do a wordless Wednesday where they post lovely pics of the week. Most of my pics end up on Facebook, however, so I thought I would just do a Wordy Wednesday. What is a wordy Wednesday? Well, I think it would be fun to practice creative writing, fiction or non, so I am going to pick a word out of thin air and write a paragraph about it.

You are welcome to add your own paragraph in the comments, if you wish!



Word of the Week:

Alligator

For forty years Matt had spent a week in Florida, fishing the swamps. He loved waking before sunrise in his camper, stepping out barefoot in the morning grass to drink in the world. Today was no different.  A riot of birds called overhead, and already the earth was warming under his feet. Through the years, friends had asked Matt how he ever got Mel to agree to letting him spend a week away. "I'm a lucky man," he would tell them with a grin. But honestly, he knew Mel relished her time alone just as much. Maybe that was luck. Matt took the last gulp of the strong coffee he had brewed, just as the sun hit the horizon. He started to turn toward the camper, and that's when he spotted it, a full-grown American alligator, just along the edge of the treeline, near the water. He often saw alligators when he was out, but this felt special to Matt. Perhaps, he mused, the alligator was slipping away for his own private viewing of the sunrise.




Yeah, that's hard. Haha. 

Terrific Tuesday

Well, I think I will use Tuesday to talk about something terrific in my life. It'll be a nice way to take time to count my blessings.

And I have to say, what is terrific is: being a teacher in summer.
Although I don't get to sleep in, since Karl's alarm goes off at 5 a.m. (and today Gabe's went off much earlier, apparently), it is just so darned nice to have nothing to do.
I enjoy taking my time getting dressed. Liam is going to preschool on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays mornings from 9 to 12:30, and we can just get dressed leisurely (he loves preschool).

Gabe is learning to communicate. He still doesn't talk much, but we are learning to read his signs. When he doesn't want something we hear and emphatic "NO!", which sounds like "OH!" but the meaning is clear. When we finally hit on what he wants, be it juice, an egg or a the correct Netflix show, he smiles and claps his hands. So...he's getting there, I suppose. He appears to struggle with initial consonants, which is interesting.

Today will be busier. Liam has baseball school, called Pop flys, where I guess they teach 3 and 4 year olds something or other. I messed up, it started last week, so he missed the first of four lessons, but we will make it today. And almost simultaneously, Taryn has a mandatory parent band meeting. Isn't that how it works?

:o) 

Oh!

I noticed I had said my cholesterol was too high last year. This year, overall it was in the normal range. My LDL was a little high, but it was in the borderline optimal range, so not too far off. Everything else was great, and normal.

The difference? I stopped adding extra butter to food, and ate less cheese.

Easy, huh?

Monday Musings

Truthfully, there isn't a lot to say.

I decided not to renew my contract. Well, actually I did renew, but the next day talked to the principal, who talked to the superintendent, who said he would consider it unsigned (meaning, I don't have to say I backed out of a contract).

Now, as Karl puts it, I have buyers remorse, but really two hours in the car a day was just too much. So while, being the worrywart that I am, it bugs me, I think it wasn't a horrible choice. The hardest blow is the blow to my identity. It's hard to go from being a teacher with a position to a sub. I am still looking for work, but with two kids still needing all day care, I want it to be within 30 minutes of home, unless I got a regular ed position. I am so curious what that would be like, I'd make a longish drive. If that doesn't work, then I will sub. It's risky, but whatever. I have to learn to handle the anxiety. I would be just as concerned if I had decided to stay, and the thought of two hours wasted in the car, worrying about the care the little one was getting.

Actually what killed me the most was getting home from work and finding the house completely trashed. Taryn said it was like that already when she got home, Tierney said no, it happened after she left. Either way, coming home to food crumbs all over the livingroom, dishes, clothes, and toys everywhere, was just too much. I would have to clean after getting home, and the whole thing was absurd. Of course, there is the option of daycare, but, IT'S TOO LATE NOW!

So that's, what is up with me!

If I am going to continue to blog, I need to organize my thoughts and blog better so watch for that!
This is the first segment, Monday Musings. This is the day I get to ruminate and fuss over stuff, and really drink in the drama. Exciting, huh?