Missouri and Home Again

On the way home, we visited my grandmother in southwest Missouri. The family farm was built in 1905.

 

Here we are with my lovely grandmother.

 

We got a few more hours of road behind us and stopped at a hotel. The kids LOVE hotels and swimming at hotels.

 

Sophia loves hotels too, especially pulling tissues out of the tissue box and unwinding toilet paper at hotels.

 

The Gateway Arch, in St. Louis. What a beautiful city. I loved driving around downtown St. Louis.

 

Here is Clara, with her crown. :)

 

 

The tram ride up was the best part!! Sophia's face says it all: "Up until this point, I wasn't sure what was happening in my life. Now I REALLY do not know what is happening in my life." Then she noticed an empty seat (there were five seats on the tram) and insisted on sitting by herself. What a silly, independent girl!

 

View of the Mississippi River:

 

Taking in St. Louis:

 

The red buds in Illinois were gorgeous on the way home!

 

What all the online resources failed to tell me, about the best way to entertain a 15-month old on a long road trip, was that you really should just do the driving yourself, and let her amazing dad play with her in the car. That's the best entertainment ever!