November 29, 2021-Christmas in Michigan

(click for today's pictures)

Bentley woke us up at 5 this morning. Robby said that she really did have to potty because she pulled him to the grass as soon as they got outside. We knew that she really had to go because she was trying her best to get out of the camper and off of my bed. After she pottied, everyone went back to sleep for a good long while. 

It was a very restful night even though we can hear trains going by near us. Right now this campground is less than 1/4 full. They must just be using two or three rows since we are all piled in here together. Now, it seems like there are a whole bunch of different people here now than there were last night. Currently, we have huge class As on all sides of us. It makes our camper look little for sure!

Once we did get up and start stirring, quite a few kiddos took Bentley to the "playground." I use the quotation marks because it isn't really a playground-it is just 2 swings and a slide. Then when they returned we all headed to the car. Robby had Bentley in the camper-but she knew we were leaving. She walked out the camper door twice and tried to head to the car. Once she had her treat though, she didn't mind being left for a bit though.

Our first stop this morning was the St. Louis Science Center. This had been on my list for a little bit, and today we were able to mark it off. Now, Whitman loved the place. He was in heaven and could have stayed there all day long. We knew he would enjoy it-and we even looked at buying a membership (it is free, but does have some perks. The real perk would have been free admission to one of the science museums at home. However, that seems to be not a thing right now.)

We walked through every room and exhibit that we could go through. The most interesting thing to me was the different types of soil from each state. The soil from Arkansas was called Stuttgart soil and was from there. There were lots of hands on things to do which everyone really seemed to enjoy. 

When we finished the museum, we headed to Fitz for some lunch. The portions were huge and a bit pricey, but it was really good. We walked a block or two on our way back to the car-the weather is pleasant today. It is probably a bit colder than yesterday, but the sun is out so that does make a big difference. 

On our drive back to the campsite, we drove right past an ikea. We didn't stop then because we needed to get back to Bentley. However, we did put it on our day's plan. Back at the camper, we gathered pajamas and any other dirty clothes and did a quick load of laundry. The other day laundry costs us 2.50-today, it was 6. Oh well. You only live once and sure don't want to live in stinky clothes.

We did the laundry and watched a movie. Then it was time to take a few shoppers to IKEA. You know we couldn't miss a new Ikea. Reagan, Graham, Campbell and Keaton went with us to the store. It was just about 15 minutes away. 

And what do people who are traveling for another few days with limited space buy at Ikea? Well, they buy lint brushes (lots), potty brushes (8-for the camper-use for a trip and then throw away), dish brushes (50 cents so I can't not buy 2 each time), plastic bowls (I only have 2 in the house), and 2 shelves (for over Whitman's bed-and not too small-5 foot each.) Whoops! I was trying to not buy any big things!

We hurried on through the store-we never seem to be able to take our time. We then headed back to the camper. We ate our suppers-lunch leftovers for Reagan, chicken spaghetti for Keaton and Campbell, grilled cheeses for Anderson and Whitman, also a grilled swiss cheese for Graham, a roll up for Robby, and Thanksgiving sausage cornbread for me. 

We then headed off to Ted Drewes for some ice cream. No St. Louis stop is complete without Ted Drewes custard. It was incredibly fun tonight since half of the parking lot was turned into a tree lot. I have never been to a Christmas tree lot before. 

They also had a gift shop that we had not seen before so of course I found a stick for the camper. Then it was custard time-m and m, oreo, oreo marshmallow, turtle, and chocolate and peanut butter were all of our choices. As we were standing there eating our custard, a man who was walking by asked his wife if she wanted to drive by candy cane lane on the way home.

Well, Robby and I looked at each other-we wanted to go...and go we did. Robby did some research and Candy Cane Lane was a street right behind Ted Drewes. The whole street was all lit up and were raising money for charity. Then just a few blocks over was Angel Avenue another Christmas decorated street. We had Christmas music playing, and it all was pretty perfect.

When we came back to the camper, the beds were already ready so it didn't take long for folks to get into bed. Currently, we are half way through our movie and are about to stop it for me to take my shower. Then it will be bedtime. Tomorrow is a travel day-a short one, but who knows where we will end up and what we will see.

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