This past week we took a family vacation to visit family and friends in St. Louis. I had about two weeks in between the end of my chemo treatments and the beginning of my radiation treatments (which start this week), so we had a pretty tight window of time to get away. Of course, family vacations with three kids four and under are not necessarily relaxing. It takes a lot of energy to keep up with the kids, and it can be quite a logistical challenge to spend long hours in cars and airplanes (we flew to St. Louis and drove my mom's old mini-van back home). But it was such a blessing to spend the time with Matt, Lydia, Hudson and Samuel.
We stayed at my mom’s house and spent a lot of time with my sister Katie, her husband Chris, and their kids Ella, J-Rod, and Lilly. The cousins had a wonderful time together. We had fun doing a lot of St. Louis things like going to the zoo, eating Imo’s Pizza, walking around Kirkwood and getting snow cones, going to Trinity Church (PCA), swimming, having a BBQ, having a playdate with some wonderful friends, and of course I cannot forget my annual dentist appointment!
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| Hudson and a giant horse statue... |
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| Hudson and Samuel in their matching outfits... |
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Lydia and Hudson petting a goat at the St. Louis Zoo...
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| Hudson's sidewalk chalk self-portrait... |
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| The view of the arch on the way out of St. Louis... |
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On our drive home we stopped in Chattanooga and stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo, an old Southern Railroad train station that has been converted into a hotel and conference center. In addition to having several trains to explore and eat in, they have some that have been converted into fully-functional hotel rooms, so we stayed in one of those train car rooms for a night. This was especially fun for Hudson because he LOVES trains! We were also able to have dinner with my Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Niel Nielson who live on Lookout Mountain, so it was great to get a chance to talk and spend a little time with them as well.
