End of Summer Playdate

School starts for the two older boys on Thursday.

 [Cue the angel choirs singing Hallelujah!]

So today, I took a couple of hours to go play with the boys.  The weather was perfect and the boys moods fantastic so it made for a great afternoon.

Our first stop was Citygarden.  What a great place this is, right in the heart of downtown St. Louis.

Right off the bat, the boys had to climb some bunnies.

 Then it was right off to the sculptures titled 2 Arcx x 4 and 230.5 Arcx.  The boys spent forever climbing on these.

There are so many little nooks with interesting art that you are encouraged to climb on...be free!  I was impressed when the boys first asked "Can we climb on this?" or passed up sculptures because they didn't think it would be right to climb on them.

 When we first arrived, Connor was very insistent that he did not want to get wet, so he wouldn't be playing in the water, thankyouverymuch.

Right.

He looked.

 Pretty soon he was jumping rock to rock.

 And then.

Each of the two pool areas has an attendant working to keep an eye on things. I was impressed with one attendant who questioned a group of young kids apparently there without an adult.  They ranged from about four to 10, with the ten year old seemingly in charge.  The attendant asked where they went to school, as many schools in town have started this week.  They muttered some answer that I couldn't understand, but he kept an eye on them, wanting to make sure that there were ok.

In the meantime, the boys spent lots of time playing in the water.

 Pinocchio is here.  The title of this piece is "Big White Gloves, Big Four Wheels."

 On to run through the Spray Plaza.

 After we left Citygarden, I decided to take the boys to the Sugar Shack in Kirkwood.  As true candy connoisseurs, I figured they would appreciate this.

As soon as the door opened and the smell of the gourmet cotton candy hit their noses, they both let out an awed "ohhhh."

Candy of all kinds fills glass jars on every side of the room.

 Old fashioned fountain drinks can be found here too.

The boys really surprised me when they each selected one small piece of candy--no arguments of any kind. What a treat!

All in all, it was a great afternoon.

Now to get ready for the first day of school!