Our Little Vacation

Our little weekend vacation was absolutely fabulous! We all got back feeling refreshed & happy! Olivia & Rachel had such a great time. I think we are going to try to get away like that more often. It really didn't cost too much at all - basically just the hotel, gas to get there & back, food, & parking. We of course, let the girls pick some items at the zoo gift shop. So now they are the proud owners of 2 little stuffed monkeys, a monkey mask, 2 St. Louis Zoo t-shirts, & a monkey grabber. (can you tell Olivia liked the monkeys? haha) We ended it with Sunday at Grant's Farm. I highly recommend both.

Here are a ton just a few pictures from our trip...better late than never!

I said "Smile, we are going on VACATION" - this is what I got!

On Saturday we arrived in St. Louis...thanks to my extreme lack of wonderful navigational skills, we didn't end up getting to walk to the zoo from our hotel. But we did get to sit in stand-still traffic lines trying to get into the parking lots at the zoo! haha! Once we finally got inside, it was totally worth it! I love the St. Louis Zoo! Olivia & Rachel had so much fun, so did Jarrett & I for that matter. Zoos always make me feel like a kid.

me & the girls with the snake statue

Olivia by the Elephant fountain

Daddy & Rachel enjoying the real elephants! They were her favorite!

Olivia by the huge fish in the Hippo area

Rachel wasn't quite sure what to think of the fish

Olivia's favorite animals - The ZEBRAS...let me tell you, that girl was excited!

the baby giraffe

The Jar & me - Olivia took this picture. Good Job!

by the end of the day, Rachel's interest started to dwindle...so she started poking Olivia with a stick she found. haha - we are model parents huh! Take a picture, don't stop & discipline her! :)

The monkey mask! Funny, right

Rachel was scared at first, but thought it was hysterical when she wore it & we all acted scared!


Back at the hotel Saturday night. Rachel was taking a much needed nap, so Olivia went for a dip in the pool. I can tell I am getting old...why you ask? Well, because Olivia wanted to go from the hot tub to the pool, pool to the hot tub, and I finally said to her "you are either in or out" - Now maybe not the same context, but I know I have heard this come out of my Mom's & Grandma's mouth numerous times. So, I am getting old :) At any rate, the pool was very nice & refreshing. I took an underwater camera with us...just don't have that developed yet.

Sunday morning, we got quite a 5:20 wake-up call. The fire alarm was going off in the hotel. False Alarm - thankfully. It was deafening loud in our room. However, Rachel slept right through it. Thank goodness. But we were all up by 6:00 anyway.

I got the girls dressed & ready to go down to the pool. But there was a sign on the door - CLOSED FOR MAINTENANCE. So what do you do with 2 crying girls who were promised swimming???

worked out just as good...and they didn't end up smelling like chlorine

This was my Mother's Day morning!

Then we were off to Grant's Farm! That was a fun one too!

why my husband never seems to smile is beyond me...he really is a happy man!

2 out of 3 ain't bad. I took probably 5 pictures & this was the best one!

We loved the Carousel! I like how Olivia was looking, smiling, & waving in this one, but Rachel was screaming & grabbing me to get her off the horse!

Parrots - Olivia was concerned that she hadn't seen any parrots at the zoo. I as a general rule, dislike birds. So we didn't go through that exhibit.

more elephants - the girls loved them

Rachel getting eye-level with some of the ducks (not pictured)

the animals there are UP CLOSE & PERSONAL!!! This camel is literally right behind Olivia!

Jar & Rachel getting close to a llama/alpaca...not sure which.