More Cakes!

Sorry it has been a while. We have been on a family vacation to Gulf Shores since my last post. Who knows when I will get that post completed. (I am going to write about our Mexico trip from June any day now...)

However, we have been cake hunting! Whenever we have a down day, I usually suggest hunting. The boys seem to like it as much as I do. Gwyn has noticed that she is not in all the pictures, and wonders where she is. Well, she is at school. We get much more ground covered when we don't have to be home by 1:00 for naps. (Although I do love a good nap. Or even an okay nap.)

Here is what we have found in the past 3 weeks. (We were in Alabama one week, so is it the past 2 weeks?)

So a friend Jess works at Wash U. There is a cake on campus, so she invited the boys and me to lunch and a cake sighting. It was so fun. She had a map with the path to the cake highlighted. The boys had to figure out how to get there. (Thankfully, we stepped in when needed. Left? Right? Who cares? Ummm.... I do.) Afterward, we did lunch on campus. Not as much fun for the boys, but I liked talking to Jess. I don't get a lot of adults to talk to during lunch time. After that we drove around looking for as many as we could get before it was time to get Gwyn from school.

Francis Field

Chase Park Plaza

MLK Statue in Fountain Park

Chuck-A-Burger

Mercantile Library - The boys LOVED this library. It has artifacts from St. Louis history, and many models of trains and boats from the area. We had to hang out for a while. They put their interest on display for this picture!

University of Missouri St. Louis - Colin did not want to be in the picture, and I didn't realize how blurry the picture was until we got home.

A few days later, we went on another hunt. This time we brought Gwyn since she felt left out. Our goal was 6 cakes, but we only hit 4. We did get one that was not on my list - Babler State Park. Colin likes to find the cakes at each location on his own. (Sometimes they are inside or hidden.) I said we could go for a hunt for the park (I followed the signs.) and the cake! He loved that idea. I loved that Gwyn wanted her horse in the pictures. Here are the cakes from that trip.

August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area

Spirit of St. Louis Airport

 

Babler State Park - The kids loved this park, and we spent some time here looking around. This is where they want to camp the next time we get the tent out!

Kemp Auto Museum

A friend knows we are collecting cakes, and has one by her house. So we went with her and her kids to that park one day! (Minus Gwyn.)

Fort Zumwalt Park - This has a fort from the War of 1812!

Another day we headed to Six Flags (again, minus Gwyn. We had to stay through nap time! She is a terror without a nap! Don't judge us!) On the way we stopped for an extra cake. We tried to find more along the highway, but didn't have our cake map with us. So it was only 2 for that day.

Manchester City Hall

Six Flags St. Louis

My mom (DTG) took the boys to Chicago for this past weekend. (Gwyn and I went for a girls' weekend last month.) There are so many cakes downtown, but we drove by these two as we picked them up from the bus station and went to dinner.

Scottrade Center (I still call it Kiel Center.)

Lammert Building

We got these last two pictures yesterday, but we already got 11 more today! So another post will be soon! (Or in three weeks. Who knows?)

A Trip to the Zoo (And 3 more cakes!)

To end our awesome 4th of July weekend, we went to the zoo. We haven't been in months, and the weather was still bearable. Why not?

To start off, we got a picture with the elephant and the zoo cake. (#26.) And if you have not noticed, Gwyn has been wearing her crown. On her eye brows. Just go with it. The trip included some new exhibits, like the Andean bears and the painted dogs. Otherwise it was a typical zoo trip, so I will just show you the pictures.

Cake #26 - Saint Louis Zoo

At the entrance to The River's Edge.

A new exhibit - Andean Bears

Another new exhibit - Painted Dogs

We got to see two elephants playing the water. They were dunking each other and rolling around. It was fun. The boys liked that one pooped in the water. A lot.

The giraffes were inside. I love these old cages, with the chains to pull to open doors.

According to Gwyn, one of the best parts of the zoo are the misters. I have about 6 pictures of her in them. She has this face in all of them. She also sounded like a bird running around squealing.

The other great part of the zoo? The train.

And waving... like a queen.

The boys were less enthusiastic.

But, the elephant enclosure that is next to the train is now open as well! There were five elephants, including the new baby. I am convinced Rahja was saying hello to all of us. He raised his trunk when we came by, and lowered it when the train left.

While at the zoo, we could see a cake at the World's Fair Pavilion. So we had to get that picture. And then Turtle Park is right there. We had to get them! (Mostly I was just happy to include Kevin in the hunt, but he didn't care. Not even a little.)

 

#27 - World's Fair Pavilion

#28 - Turtle Park

4th of July Weekend

This weekend was amazing. I loved it. I got to spend time with my husband and kids, and we did so many fun things. It started Thursday evening when we set up the tent. With the weather getting down to 59 over night, it was too nice of a night to pass up. (We camped out in the backyard last summer, but Gwyn never stayed out there.) Since we were all going to sleep outside for the first time, we bought a new tent. This sleeps 6 adults, and is something we can hopefully use for years. The goal is to eventually go camping for real in a park, but for now, we just want to make sure the kids can sleep outside without freaking out.

After the tent was up, we made Smores, which the kids loved. I think they had 3 or 4 each. Then we got ready for bed, and played a few games in the tent.

Kevin photobombing the tent picture.

The pool is in the firepit location. We improvised.

This girl loves Smores.

 

We caught a few fireflies before bedtime.

Arrangement #1 of several throughout the night.

 

As for sleeping, Gwyn would not. Stop. Talking. The sleeping bags had to be moved several times so kids could sleep by parents, or something. At about 10:45, and 20 minutes of sleep (apparently, I was the only one kept up by Gwyn talking) Gwyn said she needed to go to the bathroom. I told her if we went in, I was staying in. She jumped at that, especially when I said we could share my bed, and told me that she wanted to sleep by me. I stupidly thought I could sleep, not knowing that Gwyn wanted to keep her feet on me all night, and push me. Adorable? Yes, Annoying? Yes.

The next morning she woke up, saw daddy, and started crying that she didn't get to sleep by him. Kid logic is confusing.

The next day was filled with swimming, cooking, and building a tree house. I am never very festive for the 4th of July. I wanted to make fun food for the kids. So today was making red, white and blue rice krispie treats.(Hey, I have 3 kids. It needed to be super-easy.) The kids helped, and had fun. So did I.

For dinner we went to the McGuire's, and then headed to fireworks at Old St. Charles. I never really want to go to fireworks. I don't want to deal with the crowds and the heat. But the weather was AMAZING. It was almost chilly that evening! I had no excuses, and I was excited about it. I even made sure we were all wearing red, white and blue. Kevin found the best parking spot, which no one had parked in since there was a cable blocking it. Our little car was perfect for the spot! The walk was short to the riverfront from there.

The cable is blocking more than it looks like from this angle. McGuire Win.

It was great. We had some blankets to claim our spot. The boys played with other kids while we waited for it to get dark. Gwyn and Kevin walked around, and bought the smallest funnel cake ever. I waited at the blankets conquering the Maze Ball with mad skillz. We even shared our rice krispie treats with people next to us. (They also gave us a blue ball the guy had won at a game, which the boys played with for an hour.)

Kevin tackling the Maze Ball, and Gwyn practicing wearing her headphones.

Colin and Kevin are the two sitting on the hill, but they were playing. They must have known I was going to take a picture and turned grumpy just to ruin it.

 The fireworks were great. There is another community that does fireworks at BMAC, which is a few miles away. Sometimes you could see both firework shows at the same time .BMAC's were just barely over the tree line. Here are my fire work pictures, since no one knows what they look like.

Not the best picture, but you can see BMAC's fireworks at the bottom.

Afterward, the drive home was simple. All 3 kids wanted to sleep in the tent again, so I spelt outside while Kevin got the bed. (He had been working on the tree house all day, and slept out there last night. Gwyn told me "I will be quiet tonight." She was.Great night to a great day.

The next day was the same: tree house building and baking. We made more rice krispies, this time with sprinkles, and a couple dipped in white chocolate. But we also made red, white, and blue strawberries. It was another simple recipe that I found with the boys. They were fun to make, and so delicious. I may have to make them every year. And on Bastille Day. Just to have another reason to make them. And just for more fun, we made home-made lemonade.

We had friends over Saturday night and had planned to shoot off fireworks of our own. Thursday night we had walked to the stand up the road about bought a bunch. The boys wanted to invite our 6 surrounding neighbors. Instead of walking door to door right before, they decided to write out invitations. Those were delivered Friday morning.So our fireworks show had 16 extra people.

These are really from the St. Charles fireworks show, but who really reads captions?

On Sunday we headed to the zoo, but that is another blog post. To be continued...

More Cakes

We did it again. We grabbed two cousins (Emily and Rachel) and went out on another hunt. This time we headed to the Loop and Forest Park. There are 6 cakes in the Loop, and 11 cakes just within the park, not including those just right outside the park. I didn't know if we would get them all, but I knew there were a bunch to find!

As it turns out, by the time we got to the park the kids were hungry and spent. I don't get it. All they do is get in and out of an air-conditioned car and take pictures. How are they tired and crabby? But as tired at they got, they did say it was fun. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but sometimes I had to wait in the car since there was no where to park and I didn't want a ticket! I will say starting early really helps when finding somewhere to park the car, but that only last for about an hour or so. The worst part was clipping G in and out of her car seat. I feel like we could have been much faster in our dashes between cakes if she wasn't in a car seat.

We ended the day in Dogtown with lunch at Seamus McDaniel's. Then the kids complained that it was too cold, and kept going outside.

Now they are outside playing in the pool and with the hose! Emily and Rachel brought huge marshmallows and brownies for snacks. Sounds like kid heaven.

Holocaust Museum & Learning Center - This was on the way to the Loop. The girls did not know we had this museum, and Emily knows a lot about WWII, so she explained it to the boys.

University City Lion Gates - This was tricky to find since it was hidden by plants and on the other side of the street. But the kids had fun, and Kevin liked how you could write on it with chalk.

COCA - Center of Creative Arts - I didn't know where this was located until this hunt. Also, those bicycles in the background must be the most uncomfortable bikes ever. 

Vintage Vinyl - This was the first part of my trying to convince the girls to go to the Loop when they can drive. I loved going there in high school. I even told them the easy way to drive there.

St. Louis Walk of Fame - I like our Walk of Fame. This was across the street, so the kids went alone. This is also when I learned that Rachel doesn't know how to cross the street.

Blueberry Hill - I get the reason there is a cake here. I just never liked this place. The booths are uncomfortable and the food was not good.

Tivoli Movie Theatre - This was remodeled in 1995. Before then, it was known for its midnight showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show. I couldn't go until I was 16. People would dress up and sing along and bring props. It was a big thing. When they remodeled (when I was 15!) they stopped doing it. I still wish I could have gone! But they do show old movies at midnight still. I have seen The Princess Bride and Monty Python and The Holy Grail here. I like theaters like this!

Moonrise Hotel - I still have not stayed here, but I have friends who have, and several more who like the bar on the roof. You can see the "SUN" sign in the background. The boys liked that there were signs indicating how far apart the planets would be if they were smaller. The last one (Neptune) was at the start of the Loop.

Regional Arts Commission - This place is responsible for the cakes. Sounds like this location was rigged...

Ruth Porter Park on the St. Vincent Greenway - There was NO WHERE to park here, so the kids were on their own for the picture. I love this one though! It is so honest. Colin was excited to be on Rachel's back, and Gwyn was walking to the splashground nearby.  This was the last one before we entered Forest Park.

Missouri History Museum - Can you tell there was no parking here, either? I love this picture as well! This was also when the complaining about the heat and the need for water began. At this point, they also perfected how to cross the street together.

Grand Basin / Fair Saint Louis - I forgot that they would be setting up for Fair St. Louis. (The Arch grounds are being updated, so the fireworks are in the park for 2 years.) Luckily, we could park. However, there were 2 bees buzzing around this cake, and no one wanted to climb on it. I had to promise that lunch wasn't far away at this point. (It was only 10:30!)

Saint Louis Art Museum - This is between the statue of St. Louis and the Grand Basin. You can't see anything with the giant tents for the fair! At this point, I also had to tell my kids that they could not climb the cakes since there were too many arguments.

St. Louis Arena - I remember going to this arena to watch the Blues and the Ambush (soccer) when I was younger. I loved this place. The seats and floor would shake when the crowd was loud (which reminds me why it was replaced) and I would look for the cats that were there to catch mice. Supposedly, this cake is where center ice would have been. This was the one I wanted all day, and it is located just outside the park.

Dogtown - I didn't really know exactly where Dogtown was before this. I knew the general area, but I don't think I have ever been there.

At the end, I want to find more! Do you know there is one at the statue of MLK? I didn't know we had one! I am ready for a day of it, with more cakes! I want my hubby to be there, though. He was missed today.

The good news is that these cakes are here until the end of the year, so if we have a boring Sunday in October with nothing to do, we can look for cakes. Or maybe when the Kerr's are in town?