Next: Train to St Louis

I had planned on going to St. Louis on Sunday. Chris and Meg's Sunday was looking busier and busier. Meg is RS president and had meetings all morning, Chris had to prepare a lesson and church was at 1:00. The only times the train ran was 8 am and 4 pm so I decided to take the morning train to St. Louis. I love to take the train, it is not as rushed, crowded and uncomfortable as flying. The scenery is better, It's cheaper than driving and no one has to spend 4 -8 hours in a car to get me.

I hadn't seen Matt and Erin's family since our cross country trip to North Carlonia last year. The kids have grown so much. We FaceTime almost weekly, but it is not the same as being there. I have missed their hugs and kisses and snuggling with them while reading, crafting or playing on the iPad. 

We went to the Butterfly House because it was an good indoor activity for a rainy day. I kept thinking I need to reread "The Girl of the Limberlost" as we spied hundreds of butterflies in a natural habitat  They also had a special orchid show throughout the house. The warm, tropical air felt really good on a chilly fall afternoon. This picture reminds me of the times I wanted to tell my kids "act like we're having fun, darn it!" 

There is also this cool cockroach bubble that they can view from the inside. The kids never get tired of popping up inside the bubble to be grossed out by the giant cockroaches. 

Matt was able to take a day off of work and we went to a Louis and Clark museum. This year I have been to the beginning of their journey in St Charles MO and to Salmon, Idaho, near the end of their explorations. Compared to our river trips, it is hard to imagine how arduous their journey must have been, especially considering how early in US history it was--1805. 

The morning I left for home I took some last minute pictures to keep me going until I see them again. 

Lily and Ian were making a race course around the basement and Lily made signs for the racers. Ian has a great imagination and Lily is quite the artist. 

And then there is Molly.  Horsing around on the merry go round next to the Butterfly House. 

Molly looked so cute in the sweater I gave her for her birthday.

It was such a wonderful trip. 

First, Kansas City

I got back last week from a trip to Kansas City, Missouri and St. Louis to visit Chris, Matt and their families. It was a great trip and it was nice to visit them in their own homes. The grandkids are certainly more relaxed in familiar surroundings. 

I flew into Kansas City first. Meg and Maggie picked me up and we were home in time to meet Ezra and Travis at the bus stop. I was so happy that they are not too old to run up to me and give me a big hug in front of their friends. 

The first thing the kids wanted to show me was their Halloween costumes. Ezra is Percy Jackson, my kind of costume, a sword and new Percy Jackson t-shirt, Maggie is Elsa, one of Meg's piano student's grandmother made the dress, and Travis is Harry Potter, a whole new generation of kids is reading the books.

Megan, Maggie and I visited a couple of museums while the boys were in school that Meg wanted to see before they left KC next June. The Aribia Steamboat Museum tells the story of the white

Steamboat Arabia whose hull was pierced by a walnut tree snag near Kansas City on September 5, 1856. She carried 200 tons of cargo bound for settlements up the Missouri River.  Lost for 132 years, it was actually found deep in a corn field next to the river because the river had changed course since she sank. The exhibit was was filled with things, carefully restored, necessary for life on the western frontier.  Thousands of boots and shoes, china and kitchen supplies, farm implements, nails rusted together in the shape of the box they were in, cloth and sewing supplies, and even printing materials that were going to Council Bluffs for a magazine published by a member of the church. I was a little lustful of all the antiques displayed.

Of course spending time with Ezra, Travis and Maggie was the best. I went to soccer practices and Ezra's game. Watching Ezra play soccer reminded me of watching Matt play at the same age. A little painful. He was not totally engaged and agressive enough when he played.  Poor kid. Travis on the other hand could have played for hours. 

We made Halloween sugar cookies, it wasn't nearly as bad as I remember when I made them with my kids.  Grandmas must be more patient, or kids are better behaved for their grandmas or maybe I have picked up a few tricks along the way and frosting from hell to breakfast doesn't bother me the way it used to.

We also went to see Dr. Chris at his school. My son the dentist. He is using a $20,000 microscope that he had to buy for his residency, "the better to see your root canals, my dear." That's Ezra's teeth you see on the screen behind Chris.