The biggest boat

Initially, I was worried we wouldn't get to see the bridge in action at all. Luckily, we caught it going up and down multiple times during the day. This was the most exciting. We were walking back to the car and the bridge went up. Way, way up.

Of course, we needed to see what was coming. Or John did at least. The rest of us were not as captivated by this point. It really was very impressive. The bridge went way, way up and let through this giant barge.
It was so big, it was unbelievable.

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On the trek back to the car, we walked quite a distance along the lake front. We had been walking most of the morning and I was tired. The kids were tired and starting to squabble. Someone drove by with their windows down and music blasting. The 80's tune "Girls just Wanna Have Fun" was playing. All of a sudden, Gemma was dancing. She dropped my hand on the and stopped walking in order to focus all her attention on the dance. She threw her hands in the air and kicked her leg out to one side.

"Mom!!! Listen!!! It is a party! You need to dance!! she yelled at me.

So pronounced was her reaction, the people in the car slowed down to yell out that they thought she was pretty awesome. They danced for a heartbeat with her from the car window before moving on.

At the same time, there were other pedestrians walking the sidewalks coming towards us from another direction.

When Gemma's dance party started, they were just about even with us and had to stop and wait as Gemma's dance party took up the width of the sidewalk. The people on the sidewalk took it in stride and as I hustled her slightly to the side to make room, the boogied on by.

"You can't NOT dance at a dance party!" they laughed as they were finally able to pass us.

And just like that the dance party was over and everything went back to normal. Except for my face because it had a huge smile. These kids. These kids bring joy in ways you could never have predicted and at the times you least expect it.

Canal park group picture

It seems like if you have a sparkly lake and a lighthouse behind you, you should take a picture. Usually, I pick the best ones, but let me tell you, there weren't many to pick from on the trip!

More bridges

After the aquarium, we walked to get some pizza. It can be hard to find pizza in St. Louis, so we were delighted to find an old Chicago pizza restaurant within walking distance. We admired the bridge as we walked. After lunch, we decided to take a closer look at the bridge and we were able to walk over the bridge and back as well as check out Canal Park.

Our kids were troopers. They ate their body weight in pizza and were ready to go again. We didn't bring the stroller with us, so Gemma did a lot of walking. Mom and dad did a lot of carrying as well. We were very impressed with all the kids and their stamina!

More aquarium

Our other favorite from the aquarium was this albino painted turtle. He was so cute!

There was a fascinating map of the Great Lakes and ocean with temperature information. Lake Superior is a chilly 42 degrees!

Aquarium

I'm still plugging away at July. We had so much fun on our trip, I'm committed to getting it all down here. Even if it is almost October.

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The aquarium was fun. They had a interested otter habitat and some impressively giant fish tanks. The real star was a huge model of the Great Lakes system, including the lock and dam system. Kids could see all the 5 lakes and their size comparatively as well as their depth. You could grab a little plastic boat and start in Lake Superior and travel all the way to the ocean through the lock and dam system. William in particular was In love. He couldn't get enough. John and I would stop to read a brief sign and turn around to find William long gone. This is always where we would find him. After the first 10-12 times of losing him, I quit worrying. He was ALWAYS back here again. Gemma, Amelia and John also liked this area a lot too. Just not as much as William!

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Gemma is humble. Or honest.

Boats under the bridge

Here is the boat going under the bridge. Fist warning, there is a loud boat horn in the video, so if you have your volume way up, it is going to be LOUD.