Family vacation: Day 5

Friday morning we packed up and got ready to head home.  Or at least that was the plan.  We never made it to the pool at the hotel so we thought if we got on the road early enough and the boys slept in the car, maybe we could go to a pool once we got home.  I took the boys a few weeks ago but swimming with Daddy is a rare treat for the boys.  Ahh, the best laid plans...

We were packing up to leave and made the mistake of putting the cereal on the floor, within Max's reach.  Yes, he did help himself.

This one was to just show how tiny the fridge was.  Very thankful that my husband "permitted" us to eat out nearly every meal.  "Cute" is not a word you want to describe your kitchen.

And, this was our accidental detour.  As we were driving along the interstate, we were taking about the things that we had planned to do but just didn't have time.  Dave was pointing out the arch to the boys as it came into view and then Luke started saying, "Mommy, that was where you wanted to go!"  No one else really wanted to go up in the arch, so it seemed silly.  But then Luke started saying he would go with me and we decided to detour.  We were all dressed in our comfy clothes and the car was packed with all of our stuff, but we figured out how to get there, got to the parking garage, and jumped out.  The stroller wasn't accessible since we weren't planning to stop anywhere on the way home so Max had to be held/carried.  And the signs all said that they are likely to sell out of tickets early in the day.  It was a few minutes after 11:00 and I was worried there wouldn't be any tickets until much later.  But, there was a booth just outside of the parking garage and she said she could sell us tickets for 11:40 but that we had to get to the arch (it was a bit of a walk) before the ticket time.

We took off on our walk.  On the way Luke managed create a person pileup and we ended up with a skinned knee and a hurting wrist.  After we got the knee bandaged up, Dave told me to take Luke and get going and that he and the other two boys would just hang out.  We had only bought tickets for Luke and me anyway.  About a minute after we walked away, Luke managed to fall too so now his knee was bleeding.  I was really regretting the decision to stop at the arch as it seemed like everyone was getting beat up by it!

There were four lines we had to stand in before we were on the tram to the top of the Arch.  First was security outside.  Luke made new friends, of course, in that line.  After the two injuries, it was exactly 11:40 when we got through security.  Then we had to stand in line inside to give them our tickets.  This was a short line and then we stood in the third line.  In this line they gave us all these plastic numbered tickets (Luke enjoyed playing with them, and having me take his picture).  Five people can ride in each car so this was our car assignment.  At the end of this line they take an overpriced photo of you and your party and release you into a little room with educational Arch info.  Luke enjoyed talking on the phone.  Ahem, listening on the phone to all the info about the building of the Arch.

Then came the fourth line, on these stairs.  You are called by the number on your plastic card and you stand on these stairs and watch a seven minute video about the Arch.  Then it's time to board the tram.  At this point I was really amazed at how good Luke was being.  He is a busy guy, but I think because it was just the two of us and I could focus all of my attention on him, he was really good.  At this point I was also VERY thankful that Seth, and somewhat Dave, had stayed behind.  I don't think Seth would've gotten into the tram and I don't think Dave would've enjoyed the closed in feeling.

It's tough to tell, but the doors are 4 feet tall and are encased in steel.  Watch your head!  Five people fit into the little car.  The doors close and you there's a little window.  However, the view is only of the stairs you would have to use should this ride malfunction.  Not sure why I thought we would be able to see out on the way up, but that was definitely not the case.  It's a four minute ride to the top - I was glad they told us that ahead of time, just so I knew it wouldn't go on forever.  You could feel it going up and then it would rock a little - over and over.  One of the passengers in our car wasn't real thrilled with the experience so I kept talking to Luke, hoping she wouldn't scare him.  Apparently, Luke doesn't scare easily.  Or didn't listen to her anymore than he usually listens to me!  He did tell me later (actually, at bedtime) that he didn't like the ride.  Made me wonder if he was thinking about it all day?

The viewing area is rather small.  It just wasn't at all what I expected.

The windows are really tiny.  There are 16 on either side.  Luke was too short to stand on the ground so I put him on the slanted wall and he could see just fine - and loved it!  He even let one of the employees know that, "We are IN the Arch!"  Thankfully, the employee just played along, "OH, that's where we are?"  Cute.

He was most excited about this helicopter on its little landing pad out in the water. 

A view of the stadium and some of the city from the top of the Arch.

After we finished looking around, maybe 15 minutes, we headed back down the stairs to stand and wait for the tram.  The ride down is only three minutes.  Gravity, I guess.

Little did we know that the helicopter was also providing the entertainment for Dave and Seth (and Max).  It was a sightseeing helicopter and the boys were sitting in the shade watching it take off and land - over and over.

Once we were all reunited we let the boys run for just a little while.

Two of my boys with the Arch.

One last Arch shot.  It's tough to see them, but the 16 tiny viewing windows are nearly in the center of the photo.  The windows are actually in the middle of the Arch, of course, but I was at an angle taking the picture.

And THEN it was time to come home.  Everyone was hungry and hot and I chose to bypass the first exit with anything good to eat and then it was more than an hour before we found another exit with anything worth eating.  Ugh.  But, that also meant that after we ate it was only a couple more hours until home. 

We got home around 8:30pm, after a quick trip to the store and car wash.  We got the boys in bed [I think Max was most excited to see his own bed, but Luke was a close second.], I sorted all the laundry and started a load of it (so I had something to wear on my Saturday adventure), unpacked a few things, and collapsed onto the couch.  Then at 9:30 the next morning I was up and ready to head to Ikea in Cincinnati with three of my favorite people on a girls only day trip!  The perfect ending to my vacation - although I'm not sure David, who stayed home and did all the rest of the laundry and dealt with grumpy post-vacation kiddos would agree!

Thank you for coming along for our 2011 vacation recap!