My mom came during Finals week and it was so wonderful! Any med school wives trying to figure out a time for their moms to come should look into a finals week, just saying. We stayed busy cooking and baking up a storm, making curtains and a quilt for Mariah's room and finally finishing the wreath that was supposed to be for Valentines day. Luckily it goes great in Mariah's room. Of course when I say "we" I mean my mom because she did most of it. My mom even watched Mariah so Tanner and I could go to a game night and a Birthday party. Basically she spoiled us.
 |
| The Quilt! My mom did such a great job! |
Early Monday morning we headed for St Louis. Tanner somehow managed to pack our jogging stroller, my mom's luggage, and all of our stuff for the next two days in teeny-tiny little Hiva (thats our trusty, 2-door Chevy Cavalier's name.) Tanner is a packer extraordinaire! We decided a trip to St Louis would be the best with some of our great friends: The Hills, Robertsons and Sagers.
We stopped at a little doughnut shop outside of St Louis and consumed enough sugar and trans fats to last us a year. But it was worth it.
We then went to the Science Museum (not sure if thats what it was called...), anyways there was a lot of scientific stuff and it was free! Thats our kind of fun! Mariah tried her hand at Paleontology but I don't think she enjoyed it too much...
However, she may have a future in Geology, just as long as the rocks are shiny and pretty.
After the Museum we had lunch at a restaurant called Blueberry Hill owned by Chuck Berry. Mariah was a little dear and slept through the whole meal so we could really enjoy it. She woke up with just enough time to have some delicious Macaroni and Cheese. Once again, no pictures. Just imagine it with me.
We then went to the arch and rode the little teeny tram to the top. The view was great, but I think a couple improvements could have been made. For one thing, the ride to the top and back down would have been much more exhilarating if it was turned into a roller coaster...don't know why they didn't think of that. But they had a cool little museum about Lewis and Clark under the arch so that was fun; not quite roller coaster fun, but it was informative.
We then checked into our hotel and went swimming. Mariah wasn't too fond of the pool; she cried the whole time we were in it. But she did enjoy the hot tub...not too sure if the American Academy of Pediatrics would approve, but she was happy.
We then put the exhausted baby to bed and she immediately fell asleep, which never happens. That night we played some games in the Hills' room and got to see a different side of everyone (reverse charades will do that). And I don't mean to brag but we are such big party animals we even had to be told by hotel staff to quiet down. Whoops...
We woke up bright and early to take my mom to the airport, that was my least favorite part of the trip. After that we headed to the St. Louis temple while Mariah stayed with the Hills and Robertsons. The temple was closed for cleaning so we got to clean! Well technically most of our cleaning consisted of hauling chairs and tables, but it was neat to see how great it felt even in the cafeteria. The temple is a wonderful place.
The rest of Tuesday was spent at the St Louis Zoo which, once again, was free. I'm a little bit of an animal nerd so this was my favorite part of the trip by far. I have never seen zoo animals as active as these were. I don't know whether it was the warmer weather but the hippos were practicing their underwater WWE, the elephants were racing around and even trumpeting, and a cougar was pacing and jumping up on the fence. And then there was a gorilla who tried to attack Marshall and baby Max through the glass. They weren't even teasing him, just looking. I wasn't a fan of that part, after watching Rise of Planet of the Apes I have had a deep mistrust of Gorillas. This just solidified it even more.
Mariah's favorite part was probably the birds. She really paid attention to the Bald Eagle. It was pretty cute. Halfway through the day she crashed and got a really good nap in.
That night Tanner, Mariah and I went to a Blues Hockey game. I felt a little out of place because the whole stadium was decked out in Blues apparel. They were playing the San Jose something or others and I did not see one of their fans. Mariah loved all the flashing lights and would politely clap when everyone else did. I knew she was wondering why everyone was applauding her, but she didn't mind.
Mariah and I were having a grand ol' time until we realized that Hockey is not for the faint of heart... there are three halfs (or thirds? Tanner's slowly teaching me.) Each half/third is 20 minutes long and there are 20 minute breaks in between these halfs/thirds. That means a lot of sitting and watching. Yawn...so we left after the second half/third.
Mariah conked out on the way back to the car and slept the whole way to the hotel.
She looked so peaceful and adorable that I had Tanner take a picture. Little did we know that she was gearing up for a long night.
We booked a hotel through Priceline that was downtown right by the arch on the 28th floor. It was pretty beautiful. But by eleven that night, Mariah was making us think that driving the three hour drive to Kirksville may have been less painful than pacing the floor with a crying baby. She finally crashed about the time we would have arrived in Kirksville. So much for staying another night to get some extra sleep.
Here's the little diva the next morning, catching up on her missed sleep. The one benefit of her long night is that she slept most of the way home. What a little dear.
The view on our hotel balcony. Pretty fancy shmancy for us poor folks.
