Friday, June 8, 2007

Day 3: St. Louis











Woohoo... the first day we've been in one place for the entire day! :)

After breakfast this morning, we went to the Arch because we heard that it could get pretty busy after 10am. B still took great joy in yelling "Arch!" when she spotted it on the way there. It was nice going at 9am... there were only maybe 10 people with us at the top. Z loved that he could see the train below, and B seemed to like looking out of the windows at first, but I think the whole experience was a little too claustrophobic for her. At the bottom of the Arch is the Museum of Westward Expansion. I was impressed that Z was really interested in the American Indian exhibits, remembering the Native American that came to speak to him at preschool. But THEN, we saw someone changing the light bulbs on one of the automated lifts, and that's the only thing the kids wanted to see. So much for education.

We then went across the street from the Arch to the courthouse where the Dred Scott case was heard. This was probably my favorite part of the day, reading about Dred (whom you tend to forget was an actual man, not just a court case), his family, and their lawsuit to become free from their owners. There is also an exhibit on the Underground Railroad, which we had to zip through because Z was being a pain.

On the way back from lunch, we walked past the Federal Reserve Bank, which I really wanted to go in and see, but it's not the kind of place that gives tours... I probably would have been arrested.

After the kids naps, we took them to the City Museum which is like the Children's Museum on crack. Half of the museum is outside, suspended above the ground with an intricate maze of walkways, stairs, and bizarre twisted tunnels, hung from which you can find a fire truck, a crane, two planes, crazy slides, a tightrope challenge, and a ball pit. At first, I thought this museum might be too advanced for the kids, but they had a good time. There is also an aquarium and more crack-induced fun on the inside. J and Z took turns going down a 3-story (yes, 3 stories!!!) high slide, and Z and B did another that was about 1-story. I was nervous for her, but she loved it. The museum is in an old bank building, so we were able to walk through the safe and see all of the safe deposit boxes... H probably had a lot more fun doing that then the kids.

We also walked halfway across the Eads Bridge, one of the bridges connecting Illinois and Missouri, so we had fun standing in different states than each other.

It was a bit of an early night since the kids needed baths, but that's probably for the best since we have a long drive tomorrow.

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