meet me in st louis

This past weekend Braeden, Jacob, and I drove down to St. Louis, MO to visit our friend Charissa. We were basically only there for one day, since Friday night and Sunday morning were travel days, but we did so much stuff that it felt like we were there for at least 5. The drive was a little less than 5 hours, and Braeden was a champ and drove all the way there and back (also we took his car and it was a stick shift and neither Jacob nor I know how to drive stick... Well, I learned once like 2 years ago when I visited Jen and had to drive her car back to Utah with her, but I haven't driven since). We stayed with Charissa at her parent's house and they were super great. Her mom even made us pancakes before we left on our adventures Saturday morning. Win.

Saturday morning, while Charissa was at work, we went to The Arch. Why? Because you have to go to The Arch when you're in St. Louis. Peer pressure. Also, it was pretty cool. And giant. Both.

The view from The Arch. It was waaaaaay taller that it looked: 630 feet tall, to be exact. Also 630 feet wide. Coincidence? I think not.

Me at the top. No big deal.

Jacob measuring his shoulders to see if he could hide the sign under his shirt. We decided that if he had one of those suits from the 80s with the crazy shoulder pads he could've totally pulled it off. So close!

After that we went to City Museum, which is like a giant artsy playground for adults and kids alike. (Don't be fooled: it is much cooler than the website and my own pictures make it out to be. Trust me.) I am in love with it. Braeden and I decided that we are definitely going back with more friends, even if it takes us like a year to co-ordinate our schedules. It will happen. These pictures do not even remotely begin to capture its awesomeness, but they might give you a slight peek...

Dramatic sponge throwing at the camera!

This was possibly my favorite (can I really say that? It was all my favorite!) feature of City Museum. It was on the roof and tall and touret-esque and lovely. I think I liked it so much because I could picture it in my backyard being awesome. I want one. So. Bad.

They had these wire-type tunnel tubes all over the place, in the ceiling and outside connecting things together. I crawled through one. Actually, through several. It killed my knees but was totally worth it. Totally. (Though next time I will be nerdy and wear knee pads. It's already been decided.)

Braeden in the giant ball pit! It has been one of my dreams for years now to have my own ball pit in my house and these plastic inflatable balls are WAY better than those hard plastic ones from the McDonald's play pit. It will happen. It will!

Jacob may or may not have (but definitely did) throw that ball at my face. I suppose I deserved it though since I threw it at him first...

Braeden co-piloted us off the edge of the building. It was slightly terrifying. Also, pretend.

After City Museum we picked up Charissa from work and went to dinner at an all-you-can-eat sushi place. The food was great, but the service was terrible. Worth it? Maybe. Next time we decided we'd sit closer to the sushi chefs so we wouldn't be forgotten. Also that we would save up our money and go for the third-tier option so we could order things like Dragon and Rainbow roll, not just California-roll-type sushi. Though that was delicious too.

We finished off the night at a haunted house. Now, I am not a big fan of haunted houses. Fact: I had never actually been to a professional haunted house before Saturday night. But you know what? It was actually kinda fun. The place we went was super big and we were probably inside for like 40 minutes. Also the line was super long, but it was ok because they had people walking around all dressed in costume and scaring people so it was entertaining. There was this group of girls in front of us who were really dramatic and over-the-top with their reactions so it was pretty funny to watch all the actors mess with them. But also sometimes annoying. I wasn't scared by the haunted house, and only slightly grossed out sometimes, but I was definitely startled several times, mostly by people making loud noises when they jumped out at us. Just like good boys do, Jacob went first and Braeden went last, with Charissa and I in between them. That's how you can tell that they are manly men. Or something. It was a good time.

All in all the weekend was super fun! I am really glad that Jacob invited us and that we were able to go. I highly recommend St. Louis in general, and our particular activities specifically. If you come out to visit me, we will road trip there and do these things. And that's a promise.