Ups and Downs and Ups

I guess that going up in the Arch (and back down) on the first night of our trip was a sign of things to come.  Today was a day full of ups and downs...and ups!

Getting the kids up in the morning turned out to be the first challenge.  Though my meticulously planned schedule called for them to be up at 7:30, they begged and pleaded for an 8 wake-up instead, assuring me that we could still meet the goal of leaving the hotel by 9 a.m.  Last night they prevailed upon me to trust them, so I agreed.

This morning we pulled out of the hotel parking lot a little after 9:30 a.m. in search of our first stop. 

 

We have found one of the most interesting places to visit on our trips out west to be the City Museum in St. Louis.  (Thank you to Tim Bergdorf for telling us about this place five years ago!)  I find it amazing that a place like City Museum can still exist in our lawsuit-happy society.  Kids are encouraged to crawl through tiny holes, climb structures made of rebar, slide down multi-story slides, play on the roof, and generally have fun with discontinued industrial materials.  It's a blast!  Even I got into the fun!

Daniel going up...

Jon going down...

Of course, it wasn't long before one of our own suffered an injury.  Bethany slipped on some water and went down hard, putting a gash in her knee, scratches on her leg and hurting her hand.  City Museum can expect to hear from my lawyer!!

We left St. Louis around 2 p.m. and ate our first meal at Cain's in a mall food court.  It was tasty.  Daniel also took the time to spend his money from Grandma at a Willy Wonka candy vending machine.  (Thanks Grandma T.!)

We had high hopes for a supper at Ryan's, a buffet we used to love going to until the ones close to us in Ohio closed.  Our trusty GPS zeroed in on the address in Kansas City - but when we arrived, it was just an empty field.  That was a downer.

Despite my urge to throw the GPS out the window right then, we did the mature thing and pressed on.  We wanted to make the most of it and end the day on an up note.  We went to the Legends near Kansas City (another tip of the hat to Tim Bergdorf for recommending the legends!) where our family had its first meal at a Dave & Buster's.  The food variety and quality was nice, and the kids enjoyed playing on the games and winning tickets.  As Bethany said, "They're preparing us for casinoes, aren't they?"

Unfortunately, the downs weren't quite yet over.  Katie lost her swipe card, which still had a lot of plays on it.  (Grrr...)  Daniel saved the day by sharing his card with her, so some tears were avoided.

Following dinner, we explored the Legends, seeing the fountain, the T. Rex Restaurant, and enjoying our first time at Cold Stone Creamery.  We made it to our stop at Topeka, Kansas, where we await a good night's sleep and tomorrow's journey up to Longmont in the Rockies to see Adam and Patti and Addison and Megan.