On Sunday we packed up the diaper bag, two strollers and LOTS of liquids (it was supposed to be hot) and headed towards the city. We got a bit lost on the way, but still managed free parking near art hill. Once inside, the kids had a great time looking at the animals:

They also got to play on a stag beetle outside the butterfly and insect house:

And last, but not least, take a ride on the 100 year old carousel in the middle of the zoo:

After spending 5 hours pushing two strollers and hanging out in the heat, we had still only seen about 1/3 of the zoo, but we were pretty tired so we decided to call it a day. Lewis was so tired, he actually fell asleep in the stroller on the way to the car!

After a brief nap for the kids, it was off to Aunt Kara and Uncle Zac’s to visit with an old family friend, Marv Herlitska who was in town from Denver. Marv and my dad have known each other since my dad’s first job out of college. This is Marv:

It was also my first chance to photograph my niece and nephew, Alyssa and Connor. As it turns out they are both extremely photogenic and I got some GREAT shots:

I even managed to get a shot of all four kids together (actually, I got several, but I think this is my favorite because Lewis is really hammin’ it up):

All in all it was a crazy, yet fun day! We look forward to many more…

The following day, the movers came and loaded it all into a 26 ft truck. I ABSOLUTELY cannot believe that our “stuff” FILLED at 26 ft truck, but it did!

Trey and our neighbor Bob very much enjoyed watching Rich, Aaron and Jody work:

Saturday morning we loaded up the cars with what few possessions we had left, the children, the dog and the cat and hit the road. But, not before saying goodbye to all of our best friends and neighbors. It was quite a painful experience for both of us.
By the time we got on the road it was afternoon which made for a very long day of drive which was hampered by several periods of rain the last of which was absolutely terrifying. But, nonetheless, we all made it to Cookeville, TN, in one piece. After a bit of sleep we hit the road again for a much less eventful second day of driving arriving in St. Louis about 5PM on Sunday.
Since then, and because we have no furniture yet, we have just been puttering around an almost empty house trying to get our bearings and wondering what the hell happened in the last week! Tonight, I did take a few pics of our new digs:

All in all, I think we are holding up quite well…Missing our friends, but excited for the future. Hopefully the blog posts won’t be so infrequent now that we are actually here!

The Strawberry Patch
Stitches
Skater Boys
July 4th
Beach Trip

Hope you enjoy them,
Trey