Last Weekend: Butterflies and Budweiser

Woke up Sunday morning and it was a bit dull looking outside. First time we have seen bad weather since we've been out here. So in light of the dull weather we decided to do the Budweiser Brewery Tour.

We spent the morning walking around the working brewery and Calleigh was more than anxious to meet Mr Busch.

At the end of the tour Mummy and Daddy enjoyed some more free beer and were delighted to see the sun had decided to come out after all.

Next stop was the Butterfly House in Faust Park. I had been here before on my birthday but due to the crippling heat on that day, neglected to take any photos. This time however we got some lovely shots of Calleigh enjoying the tropical garden of butterflies.

Daddy was even lucky enough to have one sit on his leg.

However the day does not end there. Mummy decided it would be a good idea to end the day with a gentle walk amongst the trees. So we headed on down to Rockwoods and began the trail. It was good at first, we did all the things the booklet told us to do, found an old stone wall and looked for old fossils. It was only then i read out cross the stepping stones and climb up the steps.

As you can see we decided we could do it, so we took Calleigh out of the pushchair and dragged it up the steep steps. It was only a little later on down the trail that I realised we should of just turned back there. But no, we carried on.

We fought against rocky paths, overgrown trees, narrow paths with death drops, rickety old bridges, more steps, steep hills and buzzing mosquito's before we finally got to the top and was rewarded with a beautiful view. Although at one point I feared that Paul was going to shove me off it for making him endure this.

After this and a few more rocky bits we were happy to see the return of some good old tarmac as we made our way back down to earth.

Finally back at the bottom sweaty, knackered and relieved Daddy said "We should do that again some time".

We have had a brilliant couple of weeks out here in St Louis but today is our last day.

We fly back to England tomorrow and as much as I'm going to miss it here I can't wait to get back home.

See you soon England xx

Last Weekend: Grant's Farm

It was our last weekend here in St Louis so we tried to cram as much as we could into it.

On Saturday we went to Grant's Farm, a Farm owned by Anheuser Busch.

We boarded the tram which took us around the farm grounds and deer park. We saw lots of Deer and Cows from all over the world and even saw some Buffalo up close (Daddy likes Buffalo, they remind him of Red Dead Redmption). 

After we got off the tram there were a lot more interesting animals to look at. Calleigh's favourite was the camel she got up close and personal with.

Then Mummy and Daddy went to claim their free beers and we sat down in a nice German looking courtyard and enjoyed the sun and the bud, whilst Calleigh enjoyed some banana Yogurt.

After we got back to the hotel we were all pretty hot so decided on a little cool off in the pool. Calleigh seemed a lot better this time, maybe because Daddy decided to come in too (shes definitely a Daddy's girl).

Right now It's time for Calleigh and I to hit the mall and find Daddy some birthday presents. What we did on Sunday will be coming soon..

More on our trip to St Louis

Crawling Is Only Half The Battle

So as you can see Calleigh is now crawling around. She loves it and so do I, It's nice to just sit and watch her crawling around and being into everything.

She can also now pull herself up onto things now which is less pleasing for me as she can't get herself back down without falling backwards and banging her head, so we have had a few bumps and bruises.

Nothing is safe now. As I have been writing this she has pulled herself up my legs and has pulled the charger cable out of my laptop. Little monkey!!

The Birthday Blog

So yesterday was my 23rd birthday and it was very strange to spend it away from my twin sister and my mum. But we definitely made it a good one.

Calleigh and Daddy brought me tea and presents in the morning before Daddy had to go to work.

Instead of spending the day alone in the hotel I had arranged to go out with Leslie (one of Paul's colleagues wife). She took me and Calleigh to a Butterfly House where we could walk through a greenhouse garden filled with hundreds and hundred of exotic butterfly's and plants. It was really beautiful and Calleigh loved watching them fly past her head. I really wished I could of got a picture but it was so hot in there I really couldn't be bothered. Maybe next time. There was also a chance to feed the cockroaches if you wanted to but somehow that did not sound like something I wanted to do, or will ever want to do.

Daddy came home from work early and handed me a yummy slice of carrot cake and we arranged to go down to Castlewood State Park and have a picnic by the river. However because we couldn't be bothered to make sandwiches we stopped off at subway on the way down and let them do it for us.

Yummy!!

After we finished eating we walked down to the river and Calleigh enjoyed kicking her feet about in the sand.



That night we had planned to go and see the new Batman movie in the theatre across from our hotel but Calleigh was in a bit of a mood so we thought it would be better to head down to Hard Rock Cafe instead. It was definitely the right choice. Hard Rock Cafe was actually inside the Union Station along with a beautiful indoor pond full of fish. So we got to feed the fishes before having a nice cold beer whilst enjoying the Rock Memorabilia.



Say Fiiiiiiiiiissssssshhhhhhhh

It was truly a great birthday! Thank you to my lovely husband for making it happen.

Today is the average post birthday blues day. Only made better by watching Calleigh making friends with herself in the mirror.

"Why Calleigh you're looking beautiful today"

"Shut up and kiss me you fool"

More on our trip to St Louis



Calleigh By The Mississippi

It's been a very very hot week here in St Louis and is looking to be the same all through next week as well. Aside from the weather Calleigh and I have had a quiet week. As Daddy has to work all day there's not much for us to do but  I think next week we are going to drop him off at work which gives us the freedom to go a little further from the hotel. I did however find a Starbucks just down the road from the hotel which made me very happy.

On Friday night there was a concert on next to our hotel so we walked down to check it out and Calleigh got to touch a firetruck.

Yesterday all three of us took a drive into downtown St Louis. We stopped off at the science centre first to fill our brains with knowledge before heading off to see the Gateway Arch.

There was a game on at Busch Stadium and it was quite busy so we parked up and decided to go on foot. Seemed a good idea at the time. We walked downhill towards through the historic riverfront (all cobbled paths) and to the Mississippi River.

Unfortunately after a long walk beside the river we were gutted to discover there was nowhere for us to get back up to our car apart from steps. And so began the epic challenge to get us all up in one piece.

Finally back home we took a well earned rest before heading back out to drive around Rockwoods. This time, as well as more Deer, we saw a Raccoon going through a trashcan, some Beavers and a Falcon or Hawk chasing some Crows.

What we did on my Birthday

St Louis- The First 3 Days

It's our third day here at St Louis and it is hot, hot, hot. It's been in the mid 90's everyday so far and is yet to get hotter in the week. Calleigh seems to be doing OK in the heat, she's a little grumpier than usual but has not been effected by the time difference and is sleeping as normal.

On Friday we started the day with breakfast at iHop and just did a bit of travelling around to find out where we want to go and what we want to see. We drove around a few state parks and I even had my first successful drive in an automatic car (my last attempt didn't go so well).

In the afternoon we took Calleigh down to the pool in the hotel for her first little swim. The water was a bit cold but she didn't seem to mind too much, we were only in for a few minutes. She enjoyed splashing mummy the most.

On Saturday we went around the malls and did a bit of shopping, well I did a bit of shopping, Calleigh just shouted at others shoppers and Daddy just followed Mummy around.

We then went to the Rockwoods Reservation and planned which trails we were going to do. Neither Daddy nor I are massive walking fans so we decided on the smaller walks which we will do later in the week once we get some bug spray. As we were making our way out a beaver ran across the road in front of us causing Daddy to slam on the breaks, which is also when we found out that we hadn't secured Calleigh's car seat down properly and it flew into the back of Daddy's seat. I forgot to take my seat belt off as I tried to run out to Calleigh's aid. Once we pulled her up out of the foot well she just looked at us and laughed.. what a crazy child.

Today we went to the Zoo. Calleigh enjoyed seeing the reptiles, monkeys, lions, bears, birds, stingrays and penguins before falling asleep and missing the rest. She loved every minute off the zoo and enjoyed looking at the unusual creatures. Although I think she was more impressed at having her photo taken as every time the camera was in front of her she gave the cheesiest grin ever. What a poser.

Calleigh by the Mississippi

First Trip To The States

My lovely husband has been working quite a lot in the states and Calleigh and I finally got the chance to join him on one of his trips.

So yesterday morning we swooped Calleigh out of bed far too early and took her to Birmingham airport to catch our flight. We didn't have long to wait and Calleigh was even greeted by a Marilyn Monroe look a like at boarding (The one that was on Come Dine With Me), unfortunately we were quite late boarding so I didn't manage to get a photo.

We were so nervous about how Calleigh would be on the flight and we both found ourselves expecting the worst. So when we finally took off and Calleigh fell asleep the minute the plane left the ground we were quite surprised. Both flights went smoothly and we landed at St. Louis Lambert airport around 4:30pm local time.

The best thing about travelling with Paul through work is that accommodation is already paid for. Unfortunately the hotel was pretty booked up so we ended up with the presidential suite. I swear when i walked in i almost fainted. I have never stayed in such an amazing room.

I'm sure we are going to make the most out of our stay. Even if Paul has to work in the days, Calleigh and I will fill our days with all sorts of fun activities.

We are here for another 3 weeks so I will keep you all updated on Calleigh's first holiday.

But for now we are going to go and explore some more.

More on our trip