St. Louis

We got back last night from a wonderful trip to St. Louis. We left Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, and came back Saturday night. We had such a good time. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to get out of Kirksville for a few days and take a little family vacation. We went with our good friends, the Goughs, who were so fun.
We stopped in Columbia on the way there at Hobby Lobby. Holy cow. I have never been there before; talk about a craft superstore. My mission was to get a few pages of scrapbook paper for my clock that I am decorating. I found some that I think will look fabulous. When I actually get it done, I can put a pic on here and tell you a little about the history of the clock (basically that I have had it for 3 years and still haven't finished it...)
We got lunch and headed to St Louis. When we got there we checked into our hotel first. Ruth got the hotel rooms on Priceline for $40 each! When we looked on the back of the hotel room door the listed price per room was $279 for 2 people and up to three hundred something for 4 or more people. Talk about a deal! We were on the 15th floor and had a great view of the city and the Cardinals Stadium. Didn't get a pic of it though.



We headed to dinner at Macaroni Grill. Oh so good. I crave good restaurant food after living in Kirksville for this long. There isn't much of a selection here besides hit-and-miss Il Spazio and Ruby Tuesdays. I tries their Penne Rustica only because I recently acquired and awesome Penne Rustica recipe from Katherine's blog that I absolutely LOVE. I actually think that I prefer this version to Macaroni Grill's. It was way good though there too. It was amazing to taste the Rosemary bread there again too.

Then we were off to the St. Louis Galleria (mall)... it was nice to step foot in a mall again. I'm telling you, Kirksville has done something to me. Some of my friends, like Ruth, get out of here a lot, but I haven't. I haven't been to a mall since our summer break, what like 4 months ago. When I say mall, I mean like any store that sells things not of Walmart-like quality usually located near or in malls. That is one great and exciting thing about moving next summer, we will be close to shopping again. Here are Noah and Adalin massaging each other in Bath & Body Works... so cute.

Adalin putting Emma in a head-lock, which was meant to be a hug. They are such beautiful girls.

All 5 stinkers. They were all such troopers being carted around town to dinner and shopping. They actually really enjoyed themselves and were great for not having their regular naps. Kira and Ben are the chunkiest babies ever.

Saturday we woke up, got breakfast at the St. Louis Bread Co., otherwise known as Panera Bread. This is one place that I really miss eating at. I love it. Then, off to the zoo we went! This was the bast zoo trip I have ever had. It was so fun going with friends, taking our time looking at animals, talking, watching the kids play. It was so fun. Notice Adalin's pant didn't want to stay up. She was showing crack all day. It was cute, actually.

We didn't quite know what this camel was doing.. maybe getting ready to, you know?? He (or she) stood there for a few minutes in this position. Funny. I love the foam at the mouth.

Adalin was terrified of this snake and would not touch it. We tried to convince her to touch it by telling her that Kira would. No success. If Kira only knew what it actually was... She might like this picture when she is older.

Fox's ears... I thought that they were funny.

Butterfly house, so peaceful, beautiful.

And a little family pic. Great day. Oh, and notice Adalin's coat... steal of the day Friday! From Gap, on clearance... $12.97. NO LIE! How cool is that!

Lunch at Steak & Shake after the Zoo... Adalin and Noah sat on the end of the table and played with the sugar packets for a half and hour.

Adalin was SO tired by the end of the day. She and Kira fell asleep 5 minutes after we headed out of St. Louis.

We hit the outlet mall outside of St. Louis where I unloaded my Birthday money at the Gap outlet. All sweaters were 50% off, I got 3 and also some brown wide leg cords that are SO cute. Adam won't let me have them until my b-day Wednesday though. NO FAIR! Everything at the Carter's outlet was 50% off too, so we got a few things for the girls there. Such good deals, we couldn't pass them up!

Overall, WONDERFUL TRIP! I am SO glad we went. It was just what I needed!