Vacation through the lens of the boys' cameras

One last vacation post (I know, sorry). These are a few of the pictures that the boys took, in no particular order, with no narration.

Pictures of the week,July 31 to August 6

It was a great week for a family vacation! Here are the highlights:


Sunday, July 31, 2011

Enjoying time in the pool in Hannibal.


Monday, August 1, 2011

Ready to tour Cameron Cave.


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Posing with two friendly hippos at the Zoo.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Exploring the floors of the City Museum.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

In awe of the huge locomotives.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Happy 8th Birthday to our nephew and cousin John!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

There were another 300 ears of corn ready to be processed. So, we spent the morning doing just that! Ephraim was learning to cut the kernals off the cob and he did a great job!

Planning for Vacation

I am pleased to say that we budgeted for our vacation, diligently saved, paid for it all with cash and came home with a little extra to start our next vacation fund.

First, we just started saving money in an envelope for this trip. Then I started doing some research once we had our destination narrowed down. I began to figure out how much each place was going to cost us. I made a ziplock baggie for gas money, restaurants, admission fees (including parking & souvenirs) and our hotel.

For the hotel in Hannibal, we saved $ by using a Farm Bureau Discount code. For our St.Louis hotel, we saved $ by using a family discount code I'd gotten online. In St.Louis, our hotel had free breakfast (which is almost a given where ever you go), free snacks and free pop.

I had found a list online of all the restaurants in St.Louis and on which nights kids eat free. This would be useful to us for a couple of nights!

We also packed our own food to eat. You can save a ton this way, especially with a family of 6. And sometimes, the kids don't want to eat much or they'd rather have peanut butter and jelly anyway. I packed Pella Bologna (bought on sale early this summer), buns, bread, juice boxes, M&Ms, crackers, Pringles (don't normally buy them but they would be less likely to get crushed), pudding cups, etc. With two medium sized coolers and a grocery bag, we were able to get a lot of value with our food. Since it was so hot, we were more likely to eat our own food and not some greasy food from a fast food joint.

I budgeted for $4 gas, but thankfully it went down some. Also, our hotel was very close to most of our destinations. That makes a difference when you don't have to drive 30 -40 minutes to get somewhere.

We saved money at the zoo by parking on the street and getting there early to enjoy some of the activities that are not always free. It pays to do a bit of research before hand to find out about this.

We saved money at other destinations by using coupons. They were in the tourism guide, online, emailed from our hotel once we made reservations, etc. We got two kids in free to the Arch and Magic House. We were able to park for free at Union Station. We got a discount for touring two caves in Hannibal. I may be missing a few others, but you get the point. I never did total up how much we saved, but is probably significant. And several of our destinations were free: the Lock & Dam, Union Station, Anheuser Busch.

And we had enough money to purchase a few souvenirs. We got a couple of puzzles, decks of cards and a spoon for my spoon collection. And the kids got to pick out a few trinkets, too. There was a DVD or two that I wanted of the Arch and Lewis & Clark. But we didn't buy them from the gift shop. We came home and I bought them from Amazon.com for almost half price! The History Channel's DVD of the Gateway Arch is very interesting.

I guess that's all for my advice on Vacationing with 6 on a Budget. I can be done. And there's a sense of relief in knowing that you paid cash and didn't swipe your credit card everywhere. Hmmm. Now where should we go next year? We're still thinking someplace one state away. Not quite ready for a multi-state trip yet.

Museum of Transportation, Day 5

Upon leaving the Magic House, we had one more stop on our vacation itinerary. It was the Museum of Transportation. It was mostly train locomotives and a few classic cars that were in the movies.

Several of the trains were open for us to walk through and see.

Ephraim, Eden, Emmet & Eliza. Not sure why Eliza is in her "bossy posture".

These locomotives were huge.

There were a variety of train engines and railroad cars that are waiting to be restored.

A snow plow for the rails!

Uh-oh! Eliza at the controls!

And Eden in control over here!

And just when Seth thought we'd have to drive to Cheyenne WY to see a Big Boy Locomotive! Here is one now! It was HUGE!

And a snowblower for the rails!

Getting an inside look at a passenger car, bunkers, a kitchen, dining area, bathroom lounges, etc.

A tugboat on display at the entrance. Ephraim, Emmet and Eliza are with Seth on the top.

Underneath the tugboat!

From here, it was time to hit the road for home! We had intended on eating supper while we traveled, but we were a bit more hungry and made one more stop in Taylor, MO at a restaurant called 18-Wheeler. It really did have a semi truck and trailer in the restaurant. Pretty thrilling for the kids and the food was delicious too! Then it was time to get home. We arrived home by 9pm. It was a great vacation. The kids were perfect (okay, give or take a tantrum or two) but they really did very well for us. We made a lot of memories! St. Louis is a great, family-friendly, budget-friendly place to go.

Children's Museum, Day 5

Our last day of vacation :( We packed up our suitcases, went downstairs for a great breakfast and hit the highway for the Magic House Children's Museum. We had coupons for two free children's admissions! We were there right when they opened, so we had a prime parking spot. As soon as we got in, there are these huge musical instruments. It didn't take long for the noise decibels to rise!

Eliza & Eden.

A building table. This museum had it all, even a touch screen paint pad for the kids.

The Jack & the Beanstalk exhibit. A two story beanstalk for the kids to climb. Unfortunately, we had a bad experience on this during our stay. At one point, the kids were just entering and moving up. And then an older group of field trip kids inundated the beanstalk--literally mowing over Emmet, Eden & Eliza. All three of them started crying. And there is no way to rescue them from the side of the beanstalk, you have to start from the bottom.

Watching balls in the tubes.

And then they had a courtroom for the kids to play with. Unfortunately, the microphone WAS working. Emmet gets right in the judge's chair and proclaims in a gruff voice "ORDER IN THE COURT." It was funny!

Oh, dear. Eliza's in the witness stand.

Judge Eden.

Judge Eliza.

And then there was an Oval Office.

While talking here, you could see yourself on TV with a "Breaking News" segment.

Lucky for Eden, the phone was working!

Ephraim could be elected President in 2040.

A Legislative chamber. Once again, we had to drag the kids away from the working microphones.

Building a floor plan in the construction area.

The traveling exhibit was an Alice in Wonderland scene.

Peeking through the windows.

A piano that makes bubbles.

A whole hallway of math games.

A hospital for kids to take care of babies. Eden's favorite place. She wanted to take a baby home.

A nice picture of Seth playing with a water exhibit. Emmet walked away just as I got the camera out. I guess he's on to me.

Ephraim figuring out the water facets.

And then we found a dollhouse for Eden to play with. This was in a special section for 6 and under.

Ephraim using the pulleys to lift himself up!

A Lewis & Clark room. There was also a trail but you have to be 5 and up. So, Seth went with the boys while I tended to Eliza who was completely, most definitely upset about the age limit. She threw herself on the floor, started screaming "I WANT TO GO WITH THE BOYS!!!!!!!!!!" And would not be consoled, at all. I tried to wait nonchalantly for the boys at the end of the trail, but that was hard to do. Needless to say, by now it is 2pm and the kids have seen a lot of the museum, although not all of it, but it is time to go. Overstimulation? Yes.

A peek inside a window with the setup from the book "Goodnight Moon."

We really enjoyed our time here--there is so much to see! We enjoyed our picnic lunch outside in the gazebo. Definitely a good play place for the kids to learn and have fun! But, it's time to get on the road!