Meet me in St. Louis

I've been to the St. Louis Arch before but it was 15 years ago.  We stopped in St. Louis because I knew Richard and the kids would love it.  Here are our pics. 

Who knew Savannah was strong enough to hold the arch up with her two hands!

We took a boat tour ride on the river. 

It was hot, we were hungry, and Louis was fussy. 

But here are our pics anyhow:

Walking towards the boat.

 Passing the arch floating down the Mississippi River.

Right below and inside the arch is a huge museum.  Here is a picture I took in there with Richard and Louis

I was there with the family; just did't make it in any of the pictures.

Thank you for a lovely pit-stop St.Louis.... Until we meet again!

Ruby Falls Chatanooga, TN

If you ever happen to be passing through Chatanooga, TN then Ruby Falls is a must.  Unless taking an elevator more than 1100 straight into a mountain sounds a little unsettling.  Ruby falls is a 145 foot waterfall  that is completely breathtaking to see. But like I said you walk into a glass elevator and see the rock you pass as you go straight down inside the middle of Lookout Mountain. 

We had no idea what we were about to do before we got on the elevator.  A local just told us it was a must see and so with no questions asked we did it.   After we got to the bottom and the tour guide told us how far we had gone down I almost had a panic attack. Lol.  After  you get off the elevator there is about a half mile walk to the waterfall.  It was such a cool tour with awesome cave formations to view along the way. 

You can see Savannah looking over to me at the top of the lookout in the first picture.

Inside the cave

 Making our way through the cave towards Ruby Falls

The cool formations have been named if they look like an obect.. for instance this looks like the hind end of a donkey.  (glad they named it donkey)  hahaha.

The opening to the waterfall

The Waterfall

Here is video of the waterfall. They have wired it down there so there is a light and music show.

It was so incredibly "Grand"

Nashville, TN was a must! I told Richard I wanted to spend at least 3 days in Nashville.  My idea of stopping at The Grand Ole Opry was a fantastic one.  :)  Enjoy pics where country music got it's start. 

Looking out from the stage.

Girls giving their acceptance speech! 

That night Casey James, our favorite American Idol contestant from season 9, was performing at the Grand Ole Opry. Savannah and I secretly really wanted to see him perform but figured we wouldn't be able to get tickets last minute.  And really, Richard wouldn't want to see me drooling over him. You might recognize him from this picture...

But we got something totally bigger that we weren't expecting.  Later on that night at dinner a mile from the Opry, Savannah spots a familiar face eating at the bar...  

 Complete with autograph and picture. Richard took her to meet him and he was really nice.  Totally made our trip to Nashville.

Bowling with Cousin Marshall

Valerie Loves to bowl!

I'm pretty sure Marshall does too! 

Savannah does as long as she isn't gutter balling it.  Looks like she is using some help keeping her bowling ball out of the gutters.

 hmmmm, Valerie uses it too.

Apparantly bowling makes you hungry for greasy fatning food!

I told Marshall he didn't have to smile for any of these pictures.  He could make all the silly faces he wanted to; and I was the best aunt ever!!!.....for the next 5 minutes anyway.

Did I mention Marshall hates smiling for the cameras and loves making silly faces instead.  This is all proof!

Grandma and Grandpa Fisher with their 6 grandkids.  

They always make it a fun time when we come home to visit.  For some reason they are obsessed about getting pictures every time with all the grandkids.... and every time there is a baby in their diaper, one picking their nose, one is usually crying, and Marshall is pulling his silly faces!  EVERY TIME!