St. Louis - Day 1

Well, vacation is over. So sad!  The first part of the week was far from the staycation that I called it. We worked so hard around the house...I'll try to post some pics of our projects soon.  We got a lot done & with volleyball season just around the corner, there are things that had to be crossed off of the list.  After all the work was finished, it was time for a mini vacation in St. Louis.

This trip. There's just so much to say about this little trip that I'm not sure where to begin.  We left on Thursday morning.  The plan was to have a picnic at the Arch & walk around, tour Busch Stadium at 2pm, and then have dinner with some volleyball parents. 

We arrived later than expected and had to eat our picnic lunch on hand towels in the hotel room.  The room was tiny, Miles was excited, and I was low on patience. We had been warned about construction at the Arch, so it actually turned out for the best. Our hotel was right next to it, so Miles was able to see it. We asked him on the drive to St. Louis if he wanted to go up in the Arch. He replied and said, "Dad, you know I'm scared of heights." I have no idea where that thought originated, but he's very consistent about it. After seeing the Arch, he was terrified. I finally had to tell him that we would never make him go up in it and that we would not ask him again. His fears seemed put to ease finally.

After lunch, we walked to Busch Stadium for our tour.  When they called the 2pm tour group, I pulled out the tickets I bought online only to realize that I had brought our game tickets, not our tour tickets.  At this point, I was not a happy camper and near tears. I asked Darrin if we could just buy some more and he kindly said yes. I told the lady taking the tickets what I had done and asked if there was anywhere to buy more tickets. She was very nice and just let us go in.  I'm so thankful for her kindness.

As interested as Miles looks in this picture, he was just the opposite.  I thought he would think it was cool and that it might make him more interested in the game, but no such luck. You just never know with kids.

Miles took this for us...

He always takes one portrait and one landscape :)

After the tour, we rested in the hotel. Miles needed a break, and honestly, I did too.  I didn't feel good and my feet were killing me.  I think our hard work at home caught up with me during our trip.  I felt lousy pretty much the whole time we were there.

After a little down time, we met the parents of one of Darrin's volleyball players, Bret & Andrea, for dinner.  They live in St. Louis and were so helpful as we planned our trip. We ate at an Irish pub called McGurk's. If you ever go to St. Louis, I highly recommend it.  The food was excellent and the atmosphere was great.  We ate outside and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

So, that's Day 1.  The biggest screw up for me occurred on Day 2.   Check back tomorrow and I'll fill you in.  It was a doozy.