Go Cubs, Go

(St. Louis Adventure) Day 3-5:
7.20.12

    Today was my father's 60th birthday. After all of us sleeping in (all but Nathan, who went work early), we wished him (many, many times) Happy Birthday, and gave him cards. For his birthday, we spent the morning at a mall. Natalie was doing some shopping. Dad and I just hung out. We wandered the mall several times, browsed books at Barnes and Nobles, and just sat on a bench while waiting. After the girls were done shopping, we cruised back to Nathan's apartment, where we relaxed for a while. Soon after Nathan got home, we went to downtown St. Louis. We walked to the base of the arch, and hung out in that area for a while. The real reason we were down there though, was for the Cubs-Cardinals baseball game. Nathan had gotten tickets so that we could celebrate Dad's b-day with a Cubs win. Sadly, they lost 4-1, but dad seemed to have fun anyway; really, we all did. Nathan even caught a batting practice home-run ball. All-in-all, it was a fun, family day.

End day 3.

7.21.12

    Yet another busy day was in store for us. We started out by going to the St. Louis Zoo, which is free. Oh, and totally cool! We spent three hours gawking at all kinds of things including: tigers, bears, lions in a tree, harbor seals, big and very deadly snakes, and more. The best part of the zoo though, is the penguin exhibit. You walk into a closed building and are met by cold temperatures and the smell of fish. You then are able to walk right up to a chest-high glass wall, and right on the other side is water with penguins! If you wanted to (get bit), you could reach out and touch them! I got splashed by a penguin. I wasn't mad though, it was awesome! After the zoo, we went to another mall nearby for a while. We then took a few hour break where we just rested. As evening approached, Mom, Dad, and Natalie went to a restaurant to eat, and Nathan, Allison, and I went to see The Dark Knight Rises! It was a very good movie. Allison even predicted the ending. A fiery plan crash over Pittsburgh, on a village of dwarfs. Imagine that. We then got Cold Stone ice cream. Yum.

End day 4.

7.22.12

    Our last day in St. Louis was spent by going the arch, and actually traveling up to the top of it! We were there early and walked through the museums that us underneath, and then we got in line to board our trolley to ride to the top. The trolley cars are really small. Only five people can fit, and that makes a tight fit. The cool thing is that there are glass doors, so you can see the inside of the arch as you go up. Almost four minutes later, we reached the top and could see out the tiny little windows. At 630 feet, it gives a nice view of St. Louis. We stayed up there for a little while before catching a trolley back down the other side, so that we went completely up and over the arch. Having done that, we grabbed a bite to eat, went back to Nathan's apartment and loaded up Rexy. We said goodbye to Nathan and hit the road. We made it back home by mid afternoon, ending our mini-vacation.

End St. Louis Adventure.

End day 5.