Cross Country Day 6

We started out the day planning on going to the St Louis Zoo and the Gateway Arch. Both of these places were a half hour away and we would need two car trips to get there. Pops needed to try and fix the leveling system for the RV so I took the kids up to the pool and put some laundry in the laundromat. It was very hot and humid and I was pretty much miserable. By the time we got back I decided Andy needed a real nap in the bed because he was being mean. So that pushed the plans off until at least 4:30. With that time limit Nanni decided to stay home and do laundry so we only had to make one car trip. We also cut out the visit to the Arch. Pops and I took the kids to the zoo. We arrived at 5:00 and the zoo closed at 7:00. We were hauling and we made it to everything the kids wanted to see in time. It was sad that we couldn't linger at anything, but Gabi really wanted to see the flamingos and Evan really wanted to see the penguins and somehow we kept missing the turnoff for both. So we covered the whole zoo in search of flamingos of all things. Andy was hilarious. The first exhibit we came across was the sea lions. There were three sleeping on rocks and one doing laps around the pool. Everytime he was right in front of us he would come up out of the water and breathe. It was neat. The first time it startled Andy and he said "it not get us Mama, it not get us!" It took him a while to understand the animals could not get to us before he relaxed. He really enjoyed the monkeys and the tigers. We finally found the birds we were searching for after being distracted by the wedding taking place in the middle of the zoo. The bridesmaids were all wearing animal prints. Quite comical. Gabi thought we should have a picture of her with an elephant since she just played the part of the elephant's child. That exhibit was on the way out and it was time to close so Pops left us to return the stroller. The kids and I took the turn for the elephants at rivers edge. They were tired and hot ready to go but wanted to see the elephants. We walked at least a mile thru the "jungle" to finally reach elephants at the end of the path. The kids were convinced we were "stranded". If we had just taken a right instead of a left at the start of the trail we would have walked 50 ft to find elephants. You live and you learn. We met up with Pops and went back towards the RV and Nan to get some dinner. The only places one exit up from the campground were Steak N Shake and Denny's and Applebee's. After a quick vote we went back to Steak N Shake for a return visit. I think we have completed our Steak N Shake quota for the year! On to Kansas tomorrow.