Christmas Vacation

Snapshots from our Christmas vacation in St. Louis with Mike's cousin Brynne and his wife Lisa, their kids Matt, Audrey and Allison. We had such a wonderful time, and the S's were the most gracious of hosts! Check out all of the fun things we did!

Are you ready for some football?

Brynne was able to get club level seats to the Rams vs. 49'ers game on Christmas Eve afternoon.

It was a very different experience to watch a game inside - certainly didn't miss the drunks that attend the Bill's games!

The Rams lost the game - bummer! Thanks for the Primo seats, Brynne!

On Christmas day we caravanned to Grafton IL to the Pere Marquette State Park.


We hiked up the Dogwood Trail to McAdams Peak, where we had a snowball fight and took the family picture below. The Illinois River is in the background.

Christmas Evening at the Pere Marquette Lodge

Allie, Audrey, Matt, Brynne and Lisa cozy up in the lodge.

Mike and Austin warm up near the huge fireplace.

The boys enjoyed challenging each other to a giant game of chess.

Up the Arch - Emma's Dream Realized!

Ever since we brought home a National Parks matching game for the kids 4 years ago, Emma has wanted to visit the St. Louis Arch.

Known as the Gateway to the West, the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is better known as the St. Louis Arch or the Gateway Arch.

A view of the St. Louis historical Old Courthouse from the top of the Gateway Arch.

The ride to the top of the Arch takes only 4 minutes, but it seems alot longer with 5 people sitting in this tiny "pod". A train of 8 cars make the trip together.



As the train of pods navigates the increasing arc of the Arch, the pod stays level a bit, and then tips a tiny bit before "kachinking" and evening out again. On the way up you can look out of the car through the tiny windows and see all of the guts of the arch - bolts, scaffolding and (just in case!) a stairwell.




Mike and the kids looked dwarfed next to the giant base of the Arch.

Once at the top of the Arch, the area is about the size of the inside of an airplane. In order to look out the windows, you have to lean against a wall and it feels like you're going to fall since the base of the Arch is actually behind you.

This is looking out the windows at the top of the Arch. The base of the Arch is actually behind you at this point. Our car is in the parking lot below. Notice how tiny the people are!

A view of our mini-van (on the right) from the top of the Arch.

A view up and down the Mississippi River.