Hello again! I considered titling this post “There and Back Again” but decided against it, as Tolkien fans may consider that sacrilegious. ;) Anyway, I have some pictures to share with y’all! As I have mentioned in this post, every year our family likes to take a small trip somewhere in the dead of winter to ward off cabin fever and enjoy some time together. Although last weekend happened to be a few days after spring, we still called it our 2014 Merry Midwinter Getaway. Mom had a doctor appointment in St. Louis (a follow-up after her hip surgery), so we decided to turn it into a family overnight outing. That weekend turn out to be c-c-cold, so we packed our warmest winter clothing.

During every Noble road trip, we have a habit of stopping at various Walmarts along the way to buy various items that were either forgotten or would add some fun to the trip. These are things such as Swiss cake rolls, gum, swimsuits, gallons of water, antibacterial wipes, caffiene-loaded drinks, etc. But this time we added something new: a PEZ candy thingamajigger for Jonathan. Turns out, he never had one when he was little like the rest of us; therefore, he didn’t know what one was! He was pretty intrigued by the idea of loading candy into a slot and dispensing it whenever he pleased. Yes, he did share. ;)

Upon arriving in St. Louis, we first stopped at the zoo. Lovely times! All of the photo credit goes to Mom and Wesley, as they used their phones to take these….

The butterfly exhibit was Mom’s favorite.

I couldn’t resist including this one….a Bobcat in a black rhino exhibit. I think someone got seriously confused. ;p

Jonathan found Mom’s wheelchair to be quite comfortable.

This little lemur seemed very interested in Austin, hence the google-eyed stare.

There was a darling little English shop down the street from our hotel. After a nice breakfast the next morning, WC and I went over to investigate. You could find all things British…books, teacups, “real” loose tea, Dr. Who shirts…ahh! A British-lover’s dream! I thought of my British-loving friends and longed to buy them all a treasure.

During Mom’s appt. we kids hung out at the St. Louis botanical center. It was lovely to sit in the warm, misty air and enjoy the greenery around us.

As a grand finale to our trip, we went visited the arch. It was very cool. WC, Austin, and I rode to the top in a tiny little capsule. Here’s what it looked like getting out of the capsules at the top:

A breathtaking view indeed!

This one’s my favorite because you can see both sides of the arch looking downward in the center.

Well folks, thus concludes this post on our merry midwinter getaway.  Thanks a bunch for stopping by and come again soon! :)