We went to St. Louis and Nauvoo for Memorial Day weekend. Ben was the most excited kid I have ever seen. I couldn't say the word airplane until we were two seconds from walking out the door. He couldn't wait to ride an airplane and fly in the sky. Ben is an extremely active 2 year old and I was dreading the thought of a 3 hour flight with him confined in and airplane. So we bought a special Lightning McQueen bag and filled it with some new toys, coloring books, and treats (hallelujah for the dollar store!) for our in flight entertainment. He packed that thing all over out house in anticipation of the airplane ride.
There was a bonus surprise when we parked our car. We got to ride in a bus to the terminal. Ben was thrilled, but a little impatient with all the stops we had to make. Can't blame him. I was getting sick of it. When we got to the security checkpoint Ben had to take off his shoes. Who knew that was cause for a complete and total meltdown? Kicking, crying, screaming fit all the way through security. He is attached to his shoes. It was an ordeal. On the way home I told him his shoes were going through the car wash. Then he thought it was the coolest thing ever. He kept showing me how clean his shoes were. 
Ben wanted to ride in all of the airplanes. He kept pointing out the windows and saying, "Wide dat one, PWEESE!!!" Waiting your turn is really hard when you are two.
We rode the metro train to our hotel in St. Louis. Ben was in heaven. He loves trains. The stops were spaced out far enough that it wasn't too frustrating for him. We stayed in the coolest hotel in St. Louis. It was at Union Station, where all the trains used to come into St. Louis. It was gorgeous. It looked like a castle on the outside and a palace on the inside. So cool.
We went to the St. Louis arch while we were there. It was crazy! We rode all the way to the top in in these pods that felt like something from a sci-fi movie. They were crazy small. Five people mashed in through the doors that were only four feet tall and maybe three feet wide. I was really feeling bad for Grandpa Wayne. Once we got to the top we could look out the little tiny windows. I had to detach my brain from what I was actually doing, otherwise I am sure I couldn't have done it. The windows are tiny and you are 630 feet in the air and you have to lay on the "window sill" to see out. When you stop to think that you are essentially dangling 630 feet in the air will only a few feet of reinforced steel holding you and the other 100+ tourists up it is a little scary. But the view was spectacular!
I swear it pains this child to look at the camera!
See that door behind my boys with the nubmer 4 on it? That was where we entered the space pods to go to the top!
If you look really close you can see little shapes basking in the shadow of the arch!
Next, we rode on a Mississippi river boat. It was the coolest boat ever. So happy. The major bonus was that they had hot dogs! (I am obsessed with hot dogs lately.)
I think most grand kids have their grandmothers wrapped around their chubby fingers. But Benjamin really really has Grandma Gwenya's number. He doesn't even ask me for things if she is around. He just goes straight to the source. "Ma-ma pweese" is all it takes.
Mmmmmm. Hot dogs. Am I disgusting? No just pregnant.
How amazingly awful are these shorts? Come on, really? Wow. Definitely worth a paparazzi shot.
These last three pics are my favorite. Thank you thank you Daddy for taking them! I love them. The only way I could get Ben to smile was to tell him I was going to give him kisses, and he would scream, "No kisses!!" And then what would I do? Smother him with kisses. Such a great moment. Love that little boy!
