Jonathan's Birthday in St. Louis

Jonathan reached the whopping 30 in August and we decided to celebrate in St. Louis. We had never been there and have never really taken a family vacation that wasn't to see Gramps and Grans so we picked a semi-close spot, made some reservations and had the time of our lives. Getting going was a little rocky... I decided to bath myself in poison ivy the week before we left so I was still oozing and puffy and itchy and scratchy. My face, ears, neck, arms, legs and chest were covered in blisters and a rash. By our last day there I ventured to wear mascara for the first time in weeks and I only got an occasional poor girl has leprosy look from strangers.

Six Flags... First on our stop was a visit to Six Flags in St. Louis. Being the plump, cute girl that I am I was restricted to the tamer of the tame children's rides and was the official 'wave every time I go around in a circle' Mom and designated picture taker. There were very few people at the park the day we decided to go so Jonathan was able to go on all the manly rides time after time. Jonathan was feeling guilty that he was having all the fun and I was watching him, but I really didn't mind. He said that was the problem. If he doesn't keep me going I'm going to turn into one of those old lady party poopers that doesn't have a thriller bone in her body. Need pregnant women have thrills?

St. Louis Zoo... I definitely recommend this one, it's free and my kids loved it. Other than being exhausted from constant fun we loved seeing all of the animals. They loved seeing the baby tigers roll around with their mom. The giraffes were close enough to feed leaves to and the fish and hippos were awesome under water.

The Magic House (Children's Museum)... Another winner for sure. If it wasn't so awesome I would say showing up on family free day was the best part, but the exhibits were tops. The boys fished, built fire houses, made sand castles, sent messages through vacuums, rode slides 2 stories down the building and explored their little hearts out. We we definitely hit this one again if we go back.

Grant's Farm... Another freebie that was a ball. The best part was by far feeding the goats. It was $1 a bottle to feed the goats and Jonathan decided this was a little steep, so we bought 2 bottles and kept filling them with water. The goats didn't seem to mind. Adam thought this was great. He had to keep butting some goats out so he could feed just the one he wanted. Matthew felt a little smothered by the critters and I just tried to keep them from eating my shirt.

The Arch... tight quarters! The little shuttle car to the top of the arch was TINY. We rode with two men on the way back down and one poor guy was beading sweat and tapping his feet trying not to vomit, but we made it. The view was quite impressive but the viewing space was small. It was a great place to celebrate the big #30.

Happy Birthday!! We made our way back to the motel and went for a swim. Late that night we ordered pizza and did a microwave cake with candles. Jonathan got an iPod and Matthew got his first bite of wax.

St. Louis Temple... beautiful. I only wish we could have attended. The grounds were perfect as was to be expected.

We had an awesome time. I was glad to have one more jont with the two boys before two turns to three.