We are home from our first out-of-state road trip as a family of four! We left for St. Louis at 3:30am on Friday morning and broke up the 10 hour drive in Joplin, MO at a chick fil a around 8:00 that morning. The kids woke up just before that so it was almost perfect timing! We stayed about an hour and dressed the kids, ate breakfast and let them play for a while. Ava quickly made friends with another little girl in the playground. Jeff told me he could hear her telling the little girl "I'm on vacation today....On my way to St. Louis." So funny! She cracked us up the entire trip. Vacation suits her well because she always wants to be on the go. As usual, the drive up was much easier than the drive back but overall the kids did great. Keegan was so worn out he slept a lot on the way home so that was a huge blessing. We had an absolutely amazing weekend and such a fun time with family! Part of the trip is a drive through the Ozarks which was so pretty.
We pulled up to our hotel downtown around 1:30 in the afternoon. All the maps estimated 10 hours but we didn't anticipate making that great of time so it was a pleasant surprise.
Lots of family began arriving soon after we did and we spent the afternoon and evening catching up. Here's Keegan meeting his Great-Grandpa Marvin for the first time.
Sweet Presley & Shay...They were instant buddies :-)
Aunt Lori brought fun toys for the kids and she kept Ava entertained for hours! They played animal finger puppets and Ava ran around the room "scaring" everybody with them.
Andrew gained points with his awesome Donald Duck impersonation.
Saturday morning we headed a few blocks over to the St. Louis City Museum. It was incredible. There was so much to see, do and explore. We are excited to go back when the kids are older to do a lot more climbing and exploring. They had so much fun!
The big kids had a lot of fun too!
We had a couple of hours to get ready for Ryan & Krista's wedding once we were back at the hotel. I dressed Ava after her snack and came out of the bathroom five minutes later to find her like this. She slept until we put her on the shuttle headed for the wedding venue.
The wedding was beautiful! Jeff's cousin Ryan met his sweet bride when they were paired up at a ballroom dancing class a couple of years ago. It was so fun to watch them!
And a couple of other little dancers enjoyed themselves on the dance floor. Ava and Aiden danced their little hearts out. So precious! Don't worry Mason, they are third cousins :-)
I think Ava would have stayed all night long. She was such a little lady.
Little man didn't have quite as much fun. He was so tired and we stayed until after 10. Daddy walked around with him during the ceremony (to the bride's relief I'm sure!) He would not have been so pleasant trying to sit quietly for thirty minutes. This little guy is always on the go!
Sharp dressed Man...
Sleepy little man...
Mommy's little man...
Grandpa & Grandma Jensen with Grandchildren & Spouses
And with great grandchildren...
Gramps & Ava
Family Pic
Sunday morning we met up with the Hutchisons and Ava met sweet cousin Emma for the first time. They were running around the hotel lobby together in no time!
It was a great visit and a fun trip. We were so glad to be a part of Ryan & Krista's special day. And how great to get to see so much family and pick up like no time had passed. How blessed we are by this wonderful group of people! We love you all and we hope to make it up again before too long!
