Aunt Faith and Lilli are in the house!

We were so excited for them both to get here. We mostly just hung out around the house for a few days. We went and got my hair done and the girls got mini makeovers with some friends. They had fun. Poor Aunt Faith had to control the kids while they did my hair, which took a little over 4 hours. I still owe her big time for that. SLOWEST HAIR CUT AND COLOR EVER! The girls looked cute. You could tell the difference in stylists as Lilli got a load of makeup and Baylee only got lip gloss and mascara. Luck of the draw I guess.

The girls played in the pool a lot. It was toasty for the whole first week. We had requested Chinese food. We enjoyed the company of Aunt Faith. I'm sure she was tired of our chaos and an air mattress but we had a great visit.

We then decided to take the opportunity to explore St Louis a little bit more when we took Faith back to the airport. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. I learned they have bunk beds in a separate little cove connected to rooms with 2 queen beds that have mini fridges and microwaves. It was perfect for what we needed and saved us from having to get 2 rooms due to number of people. We arrived in St Louis and went straight to Five Guys for lunch. The luxuries of being in a big area, all the good food we lack anywhere close to home.

With bellies stuffed, we headed to the zoo for the afternoon. It was MISERABLY hot. The zoo was ok. Not even close to competing with the Omaha or Indianapolis zoos which of all the zoos I've been to are by far top ranking. There was a lot of walking and back tracking to see exhibits. I didn't like the set up. Loved the penguins though. They are one of my favorite features. It was scorching so a lot of the animals were in the shade hiding. It did get us up close with the chimps though and was fun to have the hippos doing laps right in front of us. Despite being free other than a parking fee....I would find something else to do on my next adventure.

We headed back to the hotel and grabbed Denny's(yes sad we get excited over this) for dinner. Breakfast is always the best. And to satisfy promises and the anticipation, we went swimming. All 3 kids loved it, ah who am I kidding? I loved it too. I was a fish in another life.

The next day, I had a hard decision between the Magic House(childrens museum) and the City Museum. I finally settled on City Museum and if it was a let down we would head to the Magic house since it was close to the dinner destination for the evening. Let down, it was not. We ended up staying something like 5 or 6 hours. Here's my blurb if you haven't read it yet:

If you dislike heights or physical activity or have a small child(under 2ish) and you are not ok with breaking a few rules, probably not the best place for you.

It has a 10 story slide, ferris wheel on the roof, climbing obstacles up a few stories into the air(they are enclosed by industrial material), a full size ball pit, a mini circus, toddler area, caves to climb in around and under, numerous other slides, one mainly for big kids and adults, its so fast it burns your back if you don't tuck in your shirt, it was by far the best museum I've been to yet. It was a great combination for kids and adults. It is artistic yet historical and loads of fun. They do not allow you to carry children down in your lap. Everyone must go separately. Tanner's mom disagreed and on unmanned slides, Tanner got to go for a ride too, I clarified that I would not be thrown out for disobeying rules if caught, but the best slides are monitored at the entrance to them. A stroller is a pain in this place if you want to have fun. I ditched it and carried Tanner so he and I could climb and slide and have fun too.

Despite the somewhat steep price(17 bucks for roof and museum from ages 3-100), I would go back in a heartbeat!

After we finished at the museum, we took a rest at the hotel and then headed over to the Incredible Pizza Company. It is a faux Chuck E Cheese but with a salad, potato and pizza buffet. The girls had a great time, though it was farther away than I realized when making plans. I gave Cody and Faith a card and sent them off for a little sibling rivalry and I stayed with the kiddos and let them run around and play. Playing ski ball with a 3 yr old and 6 yr old was beyond dangerous. Neither one of them could get the ball up and usually ended up throwing it. I was scared for the safety of Tanner, me, and them as well as anyone within a 50 foot radius. We picked prizes and headed back to the hotel for a swim.

It was very late and apparently they were just too tired to swim when we got back. We only had half an hour before the pool was closed but promises must be kept. They were gone 5 minutes while I put Tanner to bed and met me in the elevator on the way down. They said it was too cold.

Saturday morning took our time getting up and ready and packed up and we went to the must of White Castle for lunch. Then we sent a tired, worn out, abused Aunt Faith off on a jet plane. We had a great visit with her. All the kids enjoyed her company as did Cody and I. Thanks again for coming Faith and congrats on graduating from Boise State and for becoming a Registered Respiratory Therapist! We are still so very proud of you and we love you!