Caking (and Photobombing) With Cousins (Cakes 35-40)

This was such a gorgeous day for finding cakes! We left home at about 8:15, and grabbed breakfast at Dunkin Donuts before heading out to Babler State Park. It was a long drive...we planned to meet up with Amy, Lori, Kate, Jack, and Emma at 9:30. Holly even fell asleep in the car on the way there!

Babler Park is really pretty. The area by the visitor's center was filled with butterfly-friendly flowers. That's where we found the cake!

We went inside to look around a little, and were very surprised and impressed with the kid-friendly things to explore! There were binoculars to use at an observation window.

Then we walked into an area with a big forest scene where mounted animals were posed. The kids had fun finding all of the wildlife in this mural. This glass was so clean that Jack and Emma kept smacking their heads on it by accident. Amy said that they were like birds!

There were some live animals to see, too!

We tried to use the microscopes, but we couldn't quite figure out how to get them to work. Never mind that, there were too many other things for us to explore. We weren't too worried about the microscopes.

This is where we found a rat snake and a king snake. Both were slithering all around!

In a nearby aquarium, there were frogs and fish!

A little history of the park:

On to the next cake! This one was at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield. This airport is celebrating it's 50th birthday this year.

This is my favorite photobombing picture of the day. Today we discovered that our three Downey cousins are quite the skilled photobombers!

I gave Kate, Jack, and Emma their cake shirts as we parked for the next cake. It was clear that I was going to forget them, otherwise! Emma hugged her shirt to her chest and said, "I love this!" So, I'm sewing her somre more stuff next! (Only mostly kidding!)

The Kemp Auto Museum is pretty swanky...people have weddings and parties here, apparently, in addition to just touring cars. Admission is $9 for adults, and $5 for children, and our interest level is not that high. So we kept moving along.

I took this picure because Chloe said, "Mom, take a picture of us pretending that we're talking about something." OK.

At the Butterfly House:

More terrific photobombing:

In the conservatory, we had a brochure about the different types of butterflies, and a laminated card with garden gnomes on it. Many different types of gnomes are hidden throughout the place, as part of the Gnome Quest. It sure is fun to find them! Holly loved this! She kept saying, "Look, Mom! Another Munchkin!" She found all of the different munchkins, and was very careful to match them up to the page.

I love the next picture because it's being "photobombed" by a Blue Morpho Butterfly in the bottom corner. It was really hard to get a good picture of these butterflies! There were so many of them flying all around, but they don't land for long at all, and never with their wings spread. 

Emma and Kate wanted to look at the butterflies some more. Chloe and Holly wanted to play on the playground outside. Lori and Jack waited for the Downey girls. So off we went to the playground!

And then a ride on the carousel! They've changed the front of this building since the last time I was here. It looks much more inviting now! I really do feel like this place deserves their own cake. It's a shame they didn't get one.

Finally it was time for lunch. We went to Bread Company, and everyone had a wonderful time talking, resting, and filling their bellies! Then we set out to find our final two cakes of the day, at the United Hebrew Congregation, and Bonhomme Old Stone Church. The United Hebrew Congregation is the first Jewish congregation established west of the Mississippi River.

The Bonhomme Old Stone Church is the second oldest Presbyterian Church west of the Mississippi River. It was established in 1816! We drove right by this cake. I was following Amy, and she passed by it, and then as we drove by, Holly started yelling, "CAKE! CAKE!!" No worries...everyone just turned around!

After a full day of cake seeking, it was time to say "goodbye." We're going to do this again next week, hopefully at Forest Park!

Holly and Chloe were both worn out from their busy day! Here's the scene from the backseat as I parked the car at home in our garage.

I had so many good pictures from today. If you'd like to see more, visit my Flickr page.