"Schools Out" Vacation - Part One - St. Charles

The boys in front of the Missouri River

As a way to celebrate the last day of school, we took a little trip to St. Louis with our friends. I have been to St. Louis many times and always have a great time there, and this trip was no exception. Because I have so many pictures to share I'm going to break this post into three parts. Part One - St. Charles.

Grayson, Ethan, Mac, Louis, Clark and Seaman the Dog

The first stop along our journey was a visit to St. Charles. It was a beautiful day to be outside and we ventured down to Frontier Park which is situated along the Missouri River. There the boys were mesmerized by a cottonwood tree. We also checked out part of the Katy trail and the Louis and Clark monument.

Cottonwood Tree

Then we walked along Main street and went into a few shops. I dragged everyone to one shop in particular, The English Shop, where I was in search of German Kinder Surprise Eggs. Last time I was in St. Charles I bought some of these eggs in this store. The eggs have a yummy chocolate shell and then on the inside of the shell is a toy surprise that has to be assembled. We were all disappointed to learn that Kinder Surprise Eggs can longer be sold in the US due to safety concerns. I guess we'll have to take a trip to Germany if we want to buy more of those. What The English Shop lacks in chocolate eggs, they make up for in beautiful teapots, teacups and tea. Those alone are worth a visit!

The kids in front of the English Shop

After poking our heads into a few stores, a beautiful sculptured piano caught Mac's eye. Of course we wandered in to take a peek. The gallery owner was very cordial and to our surprise, invited the kids to touch the one-of-a-kind, sculptural Mason and Hamlin (with $100,000 price tag) piano, even play it. I wanted to take a picture but didn't. So as I'm writing this post I googled the gallery and found a picture. Not only did I find a picture, I also learned that the kind, patient and modest gallery owner was actually the artist, George Denninger. Three of his other sculptured pianos are now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. I'm very impressed and wished I would have known this information while we were standing in his gallery talking to him, instead of after the fact.

This is George Denninger sculptured piano that the kids touched and played

We ended our afternoon in St. Charles, with what became our daily ritual, eating ice cream. Ah, life doesn't get much better than that!