Where in the world...

So we made it to St. Louis yesterday after a surprisingly easy drive. The kids were content and quiet and we only had to make two bathroom stops (okay, maybe three).

We are staying in my family's house a.k.a "the big house". The house has been in our family for at least 60 years and it is the central location for most family gatherings. The big house, at one time, housed my grandparents, their four children, my grandmother's older sister and her nine children. The walls still echo with the distant sounds of generations of Brown children. I love seeing my girls run up and down the same ornately carved stairs that I did before them and my mother did before that.
We spent the day visiting the zoo and the Science Center here in St. Louis. I have to say that we left Mississippi thinking that going up north had to be cooler that staying down south. We were WRONG! It was at least 95 degrees today with humidity so thick it was like walking at the bottom of pool! After passing a few pens with nothing in them (we decided that animals are much smarter than people and they were hiding in any shady nook they could find) we finally got to see some animals. We started in the Insectarium which was heaven for my seven year old bug enthusiast. There was a huge variety of creepy crawlers and a great butterfly house. There were hundreds of butterflies that fluttered around our heads. The girls even got to see a butterfly coming out of a cocoon! We really only made it through about half of the zoo (it was just too hot, except for the penguin house, which was FREEZING), but we got to see lots if things.

Giant horned beetle

Bijou making friends

Watching leaf cutter ants

There' s a butterfly coming out of there!

Studying the map to plot out our next excursion.

Little monkey in the butterfly house.

Hippos are very graceful underwater.

snakes

lizards

flamingos

Chimp-sicle!

We got to the Science Center too late to spend a lot of time there, but we did get see a few things. Maybe we will try to make it back before we hit the road again.

The highway beneath our feet

Checking to see who's speeding!

The effects of earthquakes on a several different types of foundations.

Touch sensitive animated floor - this was Zion's favorite part of the day.

Triceratops for my dino-loving Bijou!