Fourth of July

Even though we had been in Missouri for less than a week and Scott had to be at work the next day, we decided to take a break from unpacking on the Fourth of July and go check out the sights & sounds downtown.

One thing we've loved the most about St. Louis so far has been the parks. The city (and the little cities in the suburbs where we live) work hard to keep the parks clean and safe and beautiful. There are zillions of little parks all over the place and also some pretty amazing big ones. Our first taste was the Jefferson Expansion Memorial park, also known as the home of the Gateway Arch.

Tree-lined paths...the shade sure was a nice break from the heat.

"Okay, Dad, let's go! I'm ready to see all the things!"

"Hmm. On second thought, I think I'll just take a nap."

We feel pretty cool to live in a city with a metro system. We've visited several big cities that have them, but St. Louis is the first place where we can ride like locals. It's not a very big system, but there's something about zipping around in underground trains that just makes Trax in Utah seem like chump change. We're lucky that we've got two stops within a 20-minute walk from our house--it makes getting downtown for big events super easy.

The arch viewed from the metro station

Hard to see, but that's the Mississippi seen from the
Metro. It was my first time seeing the river since we
got here!

Luke is a metro-riding champ. Makes it even more fun
that his fare is free :)

This is our closest metro stop. There are these weirdly
beautiful light sculptures hanging on both sides of
the platform that Luke loves to watch. 

St. Louis puts on quite the show for the Fourth. "Fair St. Louis" means 4 days of concerts, air shows, food, carnival rides, and fireworks, all under the arch. (Well, not totally under the arch--we kept hoping that the stunt pilots at the air show would fly through the arch, but despite getting close, none of them ever did.) The biggest show of all was the fireworks on the night of the Fourth.

We were a little apprehensive about taking Luke to see his first fireworks, but he LOVED them! He stared and stared and smiled his head off once they were done.

The one time in his life when there's something more
interesting to ogle than the camera. 

This face KILLS me! He looks scared, but he wasn't
fussing at all.

"Ooh! So pretty!"

The show was pretty impressive--certainly the longest one I've ever seen. Even though it finished really late, we decided to wait around for a while afterward in the hopes that the crowd would die down. I guess it did, but there were approximately 1.1 zillion people all trying to ride the metro, so it was crazy crowded anyway. We did get to cut to the front of the line, though, because strollers have to use the handicapped entrance. :-) Luke had quite the hissy fit on the ride home, but it had been a long, hot day and it was super late so I can't say I blame him. We were glad to be home that night, but also glad we got to see such a spectacle!

Just chillin' with dad after the show

Hooray for St. Louis!