Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend (10/17) we took Henry to Boo at the Zoo, in Philadelphia. A tough act to follow after being at the St. Louis Zoo just days before, but we had a really great time. The weather this fall has been unbelievable, too! We met the Palsky's and the Chewning's at the zoo too and enjoyed the morning in our costumes looking at all the animals.

This year, Henry is "Henry the Octopus". I wasn't sure how he would handle his costume, but he acted like there wasn't a thing different - he just had 6 extra legs and a funny looking hat on. What a trooper - he got lots of "ewes and awws". I can't help to coo along with the strangers - the little guy just kills me. He's so darn cute.

A visit with Uncle Alex

Uncle Alex and Dani came up for the weekend to see the new place and visit with Henry. It was such a beautiful weekend and we were so happy to have them here! It took Henry about 3.2 seconds to warm up to Uncle Alex - after that, he was racing around the house at warp speed, cracking up. Uncle Alex must remind Henry of Grandpa Henry - they both act totally crazy and Henry can't get enough of it.

St. Louis Zoo - Part II

Day two at the zoo was another great day. We started at the penguin house and wrapped up the day with a train ride. We can't wait to come back next year!

At the penguin house we could get so close we could touch the little guys. We stayed as long as we could, until we couldn't take the colder any longer!

The Magic House

The fun continued in St. Louis. Debbie Stroot joined us for a fun day the Magic House. Henry was still a little young, but we still managed to have a great time. It took 4 of us to keep up with the little guy - he ran from station to station playing with everything he could reach.

Henry loved rolling around in the balls

I put Henry down the twisty slide - he got all flipped around and came out the other end dazed and confused.

Working on a car with grandpa

Grocery shopping with grandma

More slides

Little mouse houses

And the most electrifying experience at the magic house!!!

Henry was not liking this part!

St. Louis Zoo - Part I

It was the same as I remember when I was a kid - the St. Louis zoo is the best zoo in the country, hands down. I've been to several zoos across the country and nothing compares - not even San Diego's zoo. And to top it off, it's free! The zoo is so big, we could have easy went spent every day there - we broke it into two visits, a few hours each.

St Louis - Family time

While in family, we spent time with family. Henry was loving his cousins and all their toys! It was so awesome to see them all play together! Jake and Peyton had a little toy Ford truck - I wasn't sure how Henry would react to riding in it - but he LOVED it. He signed "more" every time he passed me and pressed every button he could find while riding. He was full of smiles and his cousin, Jake, was such a great driver at only 4 years old! And Peyton was a total riot, sitting expressionless in the back of the cab. When we put Henry in the driver seat he played with the buttons for an hour, then he figured out he could press the gas peddle. He drove backwards, looked startled, then did it again, and again, and again. He couldn't steer and push the gas at the same time since he's too short, so I had to chase him around making sure he didn't crash. We were both cracking up.

St. Louis - A day with the Gollener's

Grandma, GG, Henry and I flew to St. Louis on Saturday, 10/9 to visit the family in St. Louis. I hope to get Henry there at least once a year to see all his aunts, uncles, cousins and good friends. We had such an amazing trip - there's no place like the Midwest! I wanted to spend the five days while visiting St. Louis doing all the things I did when I was kid - St. Louis has some of the best attractions and they are free!

Our first day trip was to Grant's Farm - one of the only places you can take your kids AND drink free beer! We met Corey, her husband Kenny, and her daughters Lucy and Hannah. Corey and I were at Grant's Farm together in 1987 and loved the idea of taking our kids there, together. Henry and the girls had a blast - we rode the train through the "safari" and encountered lots of animals - a few were closer to the train than Henry preferred - he had a tight grasp on grandpa's shirt! Henry fed the goats bottles of milk. He was not a fan - the goats will do anything for the bottle and jumped all over him and used their horns to knock him over. We made a quick exit. Then we made our way to the beer garden and enjoyed some free beer and good food.

After the farm, we went to the Gollener's for a play date and dinner. The kids played great together! What a great time to spend the day with a a great childhood friend. Hopefully, our kids can look back on these pictures some day and laugh, together. (Who knows, maybe they'll be dating!!) hee hee.