The Bulthuis Family!

About 2 weeks ago this beautiful family and I braved the chilly air and went to a park in Byron Center for some photos.  The kids did awesome the whole time and we were able to get some wonderful shots! 

Enjoy!

Let's go for a car ride!

Friday Oct. 3rd - Let's go for a car ride!

A few weeks back, I took a long weekend trip to St. Louis with my Mom and Dad to visit my sister-in-law and brother while my husband went hunting. That's right kids, you're never too old to go on a trip with Mom and Dad!!

After driving 6 hours Friday afternoon, we arrived shortly before dinner and had a delicious pulled pork and potato dinner my sister made (be jealous it was really good). We then hopped back into the car and went to visit a local brewery (anything for beer)! http://schlafly.com

SATURDAY Oct. 4th - HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!

We spent our Saturday (my brothers 29th birthday) exploring downtown St. Louis.

We first went to the Anheuser Busch plant and got to go on a small tour!

I was so excited to be able to see Budweiser Clydesdale's (not all but there were 3 there) along with the stables they stay in which is 51% of the original barn.

After having to be pulled away from the horses, we were taken to where the beer was brewed.  

It was extremely cool to see some of the areas and since we only did the free tour and they offer different “levels” of tour, I will be returning soon so see more of the brewery! 

We then made our way to the Arch!  

This was something we were all excited to visit but I was very firm that I was NOT going to go to the top…being claustrophobic and having an anxiety attack was not on the agenda that day. However, my brother was persistent and begged me to go up. So after only a few minutes of my brother and then my Dad "encouraging" me to face my fears we stood in line and waiting for what seemed like FOREVER!

When it was finally our turn, I couldn't help but snap a few photos of what I was riding up in.

Here is the door to our seats. I felt like I was waiting in line to ride the Tower of Terror!

Believe it or not, we were able to fit all 5 grown adults into this very small space.

(Almost) Everyone in the compartment! I sat in the center seat.

Once near the top, I was very glad I did it! It was quite welcoming :)

We were 630 feet in the air and you could feel the arch moving in the wind.

To the West - the Cardinals Stadium

And to the East, the muddy Mississippi River.

After visiting the arch, we walked around town and saw the Cardinals stadium (not from the air).  It was quite amazing and very beautiful around the stadium.  To end the evening, we went out for Josh's birthday dinner at a place called The Bridge.  The food was pretty good but nothing tops the Dairy Queen ice cream cake that awaited us at home - just sayin'.

Sunday Oct. 5th - Let's go for a LOOOONNNGG walk.

On Sunday we went to the St. Louis Zoo and Botanical gardens.  Here are some highlights from the zoo.  We were not able to visit the whole thing as we wanted to get to the gardens before they closed. What we did see was beautiful and the animals were very active! I look forward to going back to this zoo in the future!  Oh, did I mention this zoo is free??

At the Botanical gardens, they had stunning gardens ranging from a Japanese garden to a indoor jungle dome. We spend quite a bit of time in the Japanese garden with the coy fish. Can you guess which one was my favorite?

Aren't my parents too cute?

Parts of the English Garden:

The Jungle Dome:

I hope you enjoyed viewing my trip blog to St. Louis! It was very relaxing and extremely enjoyable!  I am excited to visit them again soon and hopefully bring my husband with me next time!

While I know this blog had nothing to do with Anne Marie Photography, please remember you can always send me an email for a quote or any questions! If you mention the St. Louis blog, you'll receive $15.00 off your sitting fee!


<3
AM