Weekend Trip to Saint Louis (October 19-20)

This was the view outside of our hotel room on Saturday morning. We drove up to St. Louis on Friday evening and got an incredible rate at the Hilton at the Ballpark. One side of the hotel faced Busch stadium and the other side faced the Gateway Arch. Luke was so excited to see the concrete "rainbow" outside our window. That day he learned a new word--arch.

I have fond memories of visiting the St. Louis zoo as a child. The South entrance to the zoo has a very familiar zoo sign that I can remember from our visits to the zoo. Antother thing that impressed me as a child was that this zoo was free admission.

This time, I researched the zoo on the internet and I found that parking can also be free if you arrive early enough to get a one of those free zoo surrounding parking spots. Also, within the first hour the zoo is open, the rides on the carousel are also free as well as entrance to the children's petting zoo. We were able to arrive early and all of my "zoo research" paid off. :)

Luke loved riding the carousel. In fact, we (Luke & Jen) rode it two times. John David wasn't too sure about the ride when his zebra started moving up and down. Needless to say, John David and Al didn't ride the second time around.

What a happy face!!
In the children's petting zoo area, Al & John David were able to get up close and personal with this friendly goat.
Luke had really been looking forward to seeing the monkeys at the zoo. However, he seemed disappointed when they were behind glass. I think he thought he would be able to hold the monkeys like Curious George. After getting over the intital letdown, Luke was able to enjoy talking to this gorilla through the glass. We were able to see a lot of great animals at the zoo. However, it is very difficult to get the animals and people (especially small children) in the same photo. Above, the boys pose in front of the zebras. And below, Jen & the boys look into the sun and try to smile with the giraffes.
We could not believe how friendly this giraffe was with the visitors. No zoom needed on this photo. I am glad that the lions, tigers & bears were not that friendly!!
What a great Daddy! Al spent most of the day picking up the boys so that they could see over the bars. The double stroller defintely came in handy but the boys often couldn't see due to thier vertical disadvantage. So, Al spent much of the day with one on his shoulders and one in his arms!

We did take time to watch a 3-D movie about dinosaurs. Believe it or not, John David kept on his glasses. The movie was neat but long enough for our boys.

I think Al & I both agreed that one of our favorite exhibits was the Penguins! They were so neat and they were not behind glass so it really felt like you were right there with them. Plus, it was nice being able to "cool-off" inside from the warm afternoon sun.

We had a beauiful day at the zoo. The weather was perfect and the boys did great. We were at the zoo from 9:00 am-4:15 pm. Only 2 minutes down the road, and the boys were already asleep!!