St. Louis (aka Pauli Family Fun Weekend!)

We spent this past weekend in STL with Brandon's family. Our first stop was the STL Zoo. It was about 95 degrees and it is safe to say we were all hot and sweaty! The apes proved to be the most entertaining. Let's face it, who doesn't laugh at animals playing with their poop! The zoo was open late because there was a band playing until 8 pm. It was not crowded and we able to roam around at our leisure. The kids rode the carousel with Mimi and Pops and before leaving Elizabeth got her face painted.


We found a new area of STL called the Delmar Loop and actually ended up eating dinner there both nights. The first night we dined at an Italian/Pub type restaurant called Cicero's. Italian nachos were really good!

We started Saturday morning at Grant's Farm. Owned by the Busch family, this is the home to the world famous Clydesdale horses. However, there is so much more than just horses! The adventure starts with a tram ride through Deer Park. Animals of all kinds (not just deer!) are roaming around you...really close, there are no barriers between the animals and the trams. Given the heat the animals were not real active, but a lovely family of geese and mules did walk right next to us! After the tram ride we feed the goats. We did this last year with Elizabeth and it was so much fun. You get small bottles of milk and you can go into the goat's pen or feed them from outside the fence. You have to stand your ground if you go in because these goats are smart. If they see you with a bottle in your hand they want your attention. The little ones can easily get knocked over. Elizabeth thought it was funny to have the goats all around her, but wasn't too excited about being pummeled, so after being inside for a bit she opted to feed the goats from the safety of behind the fence. Stella and Grant also preferred this method! Stella even taste tested the bottles for the goats! The carousel is located right next to the goats and once Elizabeth spotted it that was next on the agenda. Just the girls did the carousel today. I am not sure going around in a circle is really Grant's idea of a good time. Then there was a bird show that had trouble holding the little ones attention. It was cute, but just didn't move fast enough. To be honest, I couldn't understand what the parrot was saying either! We visited the beer garden for our hospitality drink (or snow cones for the kids!) and a snack. Really we just all needed to take a break in the shade, because once again it was a scorcher! We visited the Clydesdales and then headed back to the hotel for a little R&R and break from the sun. We were all hoping for naps, but the kids didn't feel that was necessary and only one out of the nine of us got to snooze!

We packed up and headed to the Brew Tour. And once again some more "hospitality drinks!". We actually got to pet the dalmatian in the stables. It was probably my fourth time on the tour and to the best of my recollection, not much has changed in the beer brewing process or the history of Anheseur-Busch! But we were happy to share the experience with the rest of the family.

We ate at Fritz's a restaurant that brews it's own Root Beer. Once again a great meal and we ended it with a trip to Ben & Jerry's!

We went back to the hotel and went swimming, but the water was really cold. Yes, it was an indoor pool, but not an enjoyable swim. I quickly voted for a Sunday morning swim to be taken off the agenda!

We had a relaxing Sunday morning before heading to the stadium for the game.

I was very excited that we had new Cardinal gear to wear to the game. Not a great picture of the kids, but you can see their shirts!


I guess the kids needed a pregame nap. Yes this was on the way to the game...not on the way home! Grant looks like he is ready to catch a pop fly!

Elizabeth was excited about two things...fireworks and Fredbird. Well, first you only see fireworks if there is a home run or if the Cardinals win. Second, Fredbird does make as many appearances as one might think! We had to make up a lot of stories about where Fredbird was between innings! Did you know that Fredbird has a "birdie bathroom" at Busch stadium? When we first got to our seats Elizabeth said she was hungry and we said we could go get food. "I don't want to leave, I don't want to miss the game!" Oh a true fan! I should mention it was like an hour before game time! I think she was just on the look out for Fredbird. Lucky for us Pujols gave us a home run in extra innings to win the game so there were fireworks! It was a really good game! The kids did super despite the warm temps. We were actually very lucky to be in the shade. I'm not sure we would have been able to withstand the sun beating down on us for three hours!


Brandon even took Stella during the middle of the game to change her out of her Cubs shirt and put her in a Cardinals dress!

Brandon lead us most of the weekend, whether driving or walking. He does both fast! So it was not always easy for everyone to keep up, but everyone behaved themselves really well....oh there was that incident at the end of the brew tour, but we won't go into details of that display of brotherly sisterly love!

It was a wonderful family weekend and we are so grateful to have been able to spend it with our family! When we got home Sunday night I was getting Elizabeth ready for bed and I ran downstairs to get monkey (her lovie). When I came back up she told me she had pottied in her pull-up. When I asked her why she didn't just get up and go to the bathroom she responded "Mommy, I was just relaxing". Well it was a relaxing weekend, I guess she was still in vacation mode! Thanks Mimi and Pops for everything!