Springfield trip

Daddy had a client conference in Springfield, Missouri, on Wednesday and Thursday, June 10-11th. We all piled into the car and made a big road trip out of it (it was an 8-hour drive). We arrived in Springfield late Tuesday night and woke up bright and early to have breakfast and play at the Discovery Center while Daddy worked. Jane Gray and Charlie explored every single exhibit and enjoyed them all! Charlie especially liked the laboratory where they had alligator and shark's jaws, the bubble machine, and the energy/electricity exhibits (which allowed him to light up a lightbulb and made his hair stand up on its ends); he also enjoyed the pretend doctor's office because he wants to be a "Superhero Doctor" when he grows up. Jane Gray loved the shadow maker, the spinning chair, the puppet show theater, and the optical illusions. After the Discovery Center, we picked up Daddy for lunch at the Bass Pro Shop. The children had so much fun looking at all of the turtles, ducks, fish and stuffed animals. Charlie announced at lunch that he didn't love dinosaurs anymore; he loved leopards (we sat under a stuffed leopard at lunch). After lunch, we swam in the hotel pool and then took naps before heading to Richard and Katie (Kennington) Vance's house for pizza. The children loved playing with Cole (6) and Caroline (4); they didn't want to leave! The next day, we played at a water fountain park and then picked up Daddy for a long lunch at the Animal Safari. The Animal Safari was our favorite! Jane Gray and Charlie were scared, at first, to feed the animals (particularly the "Crazy Eyed" emus who greeted us at the gate). But, they settled down and really enjoyed seeing and petting the animals, especially the deer, emus, antelopes, llamas (Jane Gray's favorite), zebras, bison, and water buffalo (though Charlie claimed his favorite were the caged tigers and hyenas). We had a wonderful time in Springfield, and Charlie even announced that he wanted to move to there! That's not going to happen, but Springfield was a very fun place to visit!