Missouri Trip

Last week we took a few days and spent a long weekend in Missouri visiting family.  We drove to St. Louis on Wednesday night, stayed the night there and visited the Gateway Arch early Thursday morning before finishing our drive to my Dad's.  I was a little worried that the boys would be afraid to get into the tram that took us to the top of the arch, but they were good sports and had a great time.  Underneath the arch there are a couple of stores and a museum.  The boys didn't have much patience for the museum, so we covered that quickly and went on our way.

This is a replica of one of the trams in the arch.  It only seats 5 and has no windows!  Thank goodness none of us are claustrophobic.  

The doors to the trams.

Seth & me in the tram.

Chris & Noah

Views from the top of the arch.

Chris told the boys that they needed to help hold the arch up.

Seth

Noah

Friday afternoon we went to the creek to catch crawdads and found the most amazing swimming hole.  It was beautiful, cool and perfect on a hot day.  There were rocks about 6 feet up from the water that everyone had fun jumping off of....including Seth.  He decided he wanted to jump even though he can't swim.  That fearless little guy jumped off those rocks (to Chris who was waiting in the water, of course) and loved every second.  He surfaced all on his own immediately and then Chris helped him to the shore.  Noah thought he wanted to jump, but changed his mind when he got to the top of the rocks.

Friday was also Bub's birthday.  We like to throw birthday parties for each other and pinatas are a requirement.  We couldn't find any pinatas, so we improvised.  I'd like to introduce the 'Hillbilly Pinata'.  The concept is simple:  fill a Wal-Mart bag with candy, hang it from a tree and whack it.  If you would like to create a Hillbilly Pinata for your next party, here are a few things you need to know:

1:  Double bagging the pinata is unnecessary.  I thought a single bag would be too easy, so we double-bagged it.  Apparently Wal-Mart bags are stronger than you'd think.  It took A LOT of effort to get that pinata to break.

2.  Don't put bags of M&Ms in the Hillbilly Pinata.  They will break open during the pinata whacking and will then scatter all over the ground.

3.  Don't put Tootsie Rolls in the Hillbilly Pinata.  They will break.  No lie.

4.  If you love your wiffle bat, don't use that.  Our Hillbilly Pinata dented our wiffle bat.  It may have something to do with the first item on this list and how hard we had to whack the bag to get it open.

Hillbilly Pinata

Bub with the super awesome shirt I got him for his birthday.

Saturday we all attended my 20th class reunion at Mansfield High School.  It was so much fun to catch up with everyone that was able to attend.  We missed a few, but overall it was a great turnout.

I think I spent 99% of my time with this beautiful woman during my school years.  It was great to be able to pick up where we left off and get to know her gorgeous family a little better.

We spent the day at Silver Dollar City on Sunday with Bub, Mindy, Gavynn, Riley, Dad, Judy, Aunt Ninnie, Cyndie, Cal & Macy.  It had been more years than I can count since the last time I went.  It was just as much fun as I remembered.  I loved the new rides that they added and was grateful that Mindy, Dad & Judy volunteered to take the boys to the kids area so we could ride the roller coasters.

The view from Wildfire.

A typical picture of me and my brother.  The only thing missing is my finger up his nose...I had to hold the camera.  My mom would get so annoyed at us every time she tried to take a picture.

The kids after getting soaked on Thunder River.

(Macy, Noah, Gavynn, Seth, Cal)

 

Seth

The boys love getting press-on tattoos and were very excited to get airbrushed ones.

Seth

Noah

Monday morning Dad and Judy took us to the catfish pond to go fishing.

Papa helping Seth reel in his catfish.

Chris & Noah

Noah reeling in his catfish.

Papa & Noah

Chris was excited to get a bite after Seth, Noah and Judy all caught catfish.  He was a little disappointed to reel this guy in.

He redeemed himself.

Dad wanted to be sure to hold the fish out in front of him so it would look bigger in the picture.

 

After we got home from fishing, Chris and I took a ride on Dad and Judy's four-wheelers.  I can see why Dad and Judy enjoy taking those out.

The boys didn't want to go for a ride, but they modeled the helmets.

Playing baseball in the backyard.

That afternoon we went to Bub & Mindy's to let the kids play together one last time before we headed home.  Noah cried when it was time to get out of the pool.

As usual, the trip to Missouri was busy and jam packed with activities, but we wouldn't have it any other way.  I can't wait until we all can get together again.

-Shelby