Saturday

Before we left St. Louis we wanted to go to the top of the Arch. We didn't go last year because the kids were too young and too difficult to manage. But we thought we should do it this time since it would be the last year we could get both kids up there for free.

Luckily we got there right after the park opened so we didn't have to wait too long to get through security and we got our tickets for the tram without waiting in line. After we got our tickets we went over to the tram and waited about 10 minutes for the next ride up. They pretty much pack 5 people into these little cylinders. Nora sat on my lap so we could all get into one tram. The ride up is only 4 minutes long, but it was so humid in those little things. Corbin was terrified and held my hand and gripped Randall's shorts the whole way up. Nora just giggled the whole time. When we finally got to the top there were tons of people in the observation deck. They don't do a really good job of cycling people through.

The windows are about 16 inches long and 6 inches tall. So everyone was jockeying for space to see. On the eastern side you can see the Mississippi and Illinois, on the western side you can see St. Louis. The views were beautiful. Nora loved laying on the little platforms and looking out the window. Corbin hated it - he wanted nothing to do with it. So now we know which one is afraid of heights.

Then we crammed back into the little pods and took the 3 minute ride down. Corbin was squeezing my hand the whole time. And boy was he glad to be back on the ground when we got off. The first thing he said was "Go shopping Mommy?" We didn't go to the museum under the arch since we went last year and there is no way the kids would let us go at the pace needed to truly see everything. So we hit the gift shop, played a little in the park, and then headed back home.