The Garden School Tattler

Now about the trip! Our trip to St. Louis was probably the nicest trip we've taken in a long time. It was peaceful on the bus, the kids were great, the little guys were happy as clams, and the big children excited about seeing new and exciting things. We passed snacks and drinks and books and toys and chatted and laughed. It was real R&R for a lot of us. I didn't see a lot of restlessness on the bus which was encouraging.

We stopped at the rest stop on the way and then took off for St. Louis making a record time of 3 hours. We saw the arch which everyone craned their neck to see as the bus traveled the spider web highways. We landed just outside the zoo at a really nice picnic area with a real bathroom. We had a quick lunch and then started off to the zoo.

We saw quite a bit. The zoo is planned around several circular paths designs. There is a cat section and a plains section and a bird house and a money house and a penguin zone and several other areas. The penguin zone was inside and outside. I thought Liz our most abbreviated dressed adult in her size 10 children's shorts and top was hilarious as she tried to shiver herself warm in the 30 degree temps!

The kids all loved to watch the penguins and then we saw the polar bears. It was not as hot at the zoo as we anticipated. It was actually rather nice with a good breeze. We hiked and hiked and at about 2:00 made a mad dash for the bus.

The children stayed together very well. John led the group and Edith was the the rear gate. We found enough bathrooms along the way, and we spaced food so that we were fairly sure everyone was fed and hydrated as possible. I think the comfort zone was in the A B range. The temperature stayed about 82 degrees and there was a nice breeze.

We each had a whole soda and then got on the bus to go home. We hit some traffic for about 30 minutes and then it was clear sailing back across Illinois and into Indiana.

Thanks to all the parents who came, and especially to Frances who was 77 on Friday.

Thanks to all the parents who so thoughtfully sent drinks and snacks.

It was Peyton's sister's birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to Rylee.

The trip back was uneventful. Miss Kelly will send some pictures later and we will post again.