(pictures are a collaborated effort by myself, Basil, and Sage)
So when it came to deciding where we wanted to take our road trip this year, we were considering either Duluth, MN or St. Louis, MO (we wanted to keep it within a 5-6 hour radius). Since the weather has been so unpredictably cold, we decided to save Duluth for some hot summer weekend. Good choice considering the cold, snowy weather just doesn't want to stop!
Here's what we had going on just before we left:
HAIL. The sky grew dark, Doug ran out to move his car to the garage and it beat down on the house!
Sunday morning we celebrated Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Beautiful.
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| all church pictures by Basil. |
Sunday afternoon we checked out the art museum in Forest Park. That's a statue of St. Louis. It was cold for the first couple days.
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| by Sage. |
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| by Sage. |
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| by Sage. |
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| by Sage. |
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We didn't go up into the Arch this time around. Next time! Someone we talked said it would be better that way anyhow.
There was some construction going on. By July they'll have some new improvements to the visitor center. |
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| We loved Fuzzy Tacos! |
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| One night we went to a Greek restaurant and Basil wanted to try Fried Octopus. So 4/6 of us gave it a try. |
Monday we hit up the science center and planetarium.
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| We were able to visit an exhibit on Apollo 13. So this is the actual command module. This visit was timely because right before we left home the boys just turned in research papers on topics related to the Space Race. |
Tuesday morning we visited the St. Louis zoo.
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| by Basil. |
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| by Basil. |
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| by Basil. |
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| by Basil. |
Tuesday afternoon we crossed the border into Illinois and drove up to Pere Marquette State Park.
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| eagle's nest. |
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Right in the park is a beautiful lodge and cabins built by the CCC in the 1930's. This visit was yet another
serendipitous learning connection. This year we have been studying American history. In the beginning of the year we started with the explorers, some of them being the French explorers and missionaries. Father Pere Marquette was an important explorer who embark on quite a journey that started in Canada and went down a good part of the Mississippi. Sage and I both read a biography about Father Marquette. |
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| In the main lodge. The kids played a couple games of mega chess. |
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| "Look it's the state of Illinois!" says Basil. |
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| Father Marquette. |
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| Dinner in the lodge. What a grandiose dining room. |
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Our cabin. Check out their "Spring Fling" sometime. It's a great deal!
Wednesday morning I took a hike by myself in the state park. I forgot the camera! We had a couple of kiddos with colds, so they all slept in.
After the state park we headed over to Hartford, Illinois which is home of the Lewis and Clark Historical Site. We've been reading about Lewis and Clark this past month. Connections between the books and hands-on experiences tickle my homeschooling mama happy bone! :)
This site is fantastic! I've never been to a site so dedicated and passionate about educating the public. As soon as we walked through the door, they were intent in giving up the very best interactive learning experience. It helped that we were touring amongst several school groups, so the site had all their experts on hand.
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| Keelboat that they mostly used for carrying cargo. They mostly pulled this along the river with ropes. |
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A lady was there with her Newfounland dog, the same breed the Lewis and Clark brought on their expedition. Their dog, Seaman, saw them through the entirety of the trip!
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| This lady was amazing! |
Anyhow, same story as last year. We planned to spend our last night in Springfield, Illinois to check out the Abraham Lincoln museum there. I hear it's definitely a must-see. But the kids were struggling with colds and just wanted to be home. I not only wanted to visit Mr. Lincoln but avoid the snow! I wanted to stay in the 60 degree weather as long as possible. We drove right into a snowstorm and it took us a while to get home. At 10pm we pulled up a drive-way covered in 7 inches of snow. So shoveling it was at 10pm. Memories!
One of these days, Mr. Lincoln, we'll pay you a visit!
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