The Gunns Invade St. Louis 2012!

My dad has two sisters left of all of his siblings and they live in a little gated community on the water just outside of St. Louis. We try to visit them as often as we can, but it had been 4 years since we went last so we were long overdue for a visit. There is usually more of us that go, but only 10 of us could make the trip this time. We loaded up Wednesday morning and headed out!

My awesome packing job!

We always stop at Lamberts in Ozark, Missouri on the way for some good food and throwed rolls! Also, that is a good time for everyone to stretch their legs. Noah was doing good, but it took awhile to get our food so we had to do something drastic - Nathan brought the tv in from the car and let Noah watch it at the table so he would sit and we could eat. We kept the volume down and he was perfect from then on. We were getting some not-so-nice looks from other tables - but I ate a hot meal in peace and quiet so I really didn't care. The trip went smooth from there on out and we arrived at my Aunt Sharons house around 6:00. We played outside in the yard and went and checked her community park out and then it was time for baths and bed for everyone - it had been a long day!

Watching tv at Lamberts!

The next day we all went to the St. Louis Zoo. It was free and very nice! They had the coolest penguin exhibit! Noah liked seeing all the animals as usual, he loves to imitate any animal. Noah and my niece Eliza were asleep before we left the zoo parking lot so we stopped at Steak & Shake and everyone went in and ate and I had Nathan bring me out a burger so I could sit with them and let them sleep. We then went back to my aunts and she cooked us roast and mashed potatoes - it was so good!

Friday we went to Six Flags. It was only about 65 degrees and we hadn't planned on that weather so we had to go to Wal-Mart and get some warmer clothes off of the clearance rack. We made some pretty interesting outfits out of what we found. I found a pair of black yoga pants (or so I thought) and got them. Then when I was putting them on I saw they were tummy control pants - HA! Not sure this tummy can be controlled right now :) They were comfortable though. We went to White Castle (another tradition of ours) for lunch before we went to Six Flags. I love White Castle! Nathan doesn't really care for it, but he is always a trooper and goes there with a smile! We split into our two groups once we got into Six Flags, those that can ride rides and those that can't and went our separate ways. Me, Noah, my dad, my brother Eli, and his 3 kids went together to the little kid rides. I went to get Noah out for the first ride and he was asleep! So, I sat with him for about and hour and a half and once he woke up he was ready to go! He was just tall enough to ride the kid rides by himself! I was glad because I couldn't ride with him, but I was afraid he would want me to get on with him. I let him cousin Savannah take him on the rides and he loved it! He would just cheer and wave at me - he acted like such a big boy! I literally thanked God right there for that - those memories are awesome and honestly were more fun than me getting to ride any ride there!

Noah's 1st White Castle burger!

Riding rides like a big boy!

Nathan trying to win prizes for his boy!

Saturday the rest of my Dad's extended family came over for a cookout. We had steaks, chicken, hot dogs, bratwurst, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, and all the fixins! It was so good! The bigger kids swam, but I didn't want to get in the water with Noah - it was still too cold for me, so we went back to the park and played on the beach. It was a perfect day. The sun was out and the wind was blowing, so it wasn't too hot or cold.

We headed out the next day for home. We stopped a few times, but made it back around 7:00. We were anxious to get home because Nathan's brothers wife had her baby 3 weeks early while we were gone! We couldn't wait to meet him! We had a great time visiting old family and meeting new family all in the same vacation!

My new nephew Paxton Gage Stillwell! Noah wasn't so sure of him here...

But he warmed up to him :)