The end of summer is nigh.

 

We have had a wonderful summer vacation. Sometimes lazy, sometimes busy, but always daughters-centered. And with only one actual trip to anywhere but here. 

We ended up spending 6 days with Hubby's parents. Half in Missouri and half in Kansas--all in Ol' Blue the Odyssey, with a bit of my family and more of his extended intertwined. Newishly born twin first cousins once removed, a baker's dozen of regular cousins, uncles & aunts in-lawed, two grandmothers (Great for the girls!), and a partridge and a pear tree. 

And microbreweries. Can't neglect the many, many visits to local (wherever we were local to at the time) breweries. I consumed far too many wraps with bacon...

Included in our touristy stuff was a visit to downtown St. Charles, MO, and the Lewis and Clark Boat House and Nature Center. The artifacts, video clips and dioramas of their journey were fantastic, but the girls were most fascinated by the period costumes available for dress-up. I think it's a strong contender for a Halloween costume.

We also enjoyed a (short!) walk along the Katy Trail. This gang is way too enthralled by birds, flowers, photographs and finding the perfect walking stick to get very far.

 

I spy with my little eye, something... grumpy.

I have some major Daddy's girls on my hands.

We then headed to the Mount Pleasant Winery for a tour, tasting and al fresco picnic. 

The winery was originally established in 1859, and is privy to some amazingly beautiful views of green, rolling mid-western landscape!

Not that the shorter members of our party cared too much, but they tolerated the grown-up stuff well enough. With the help of some gourmet ginger-lemon gummi pandas for dessert...

I was amused by this picture Hubby took of Big Sister taking a picture of Grandma and Little Sister. Obviously.

 

Our St. Louis touring also included a half-day at Grant's Farm, which amazingly, I do not recollect having ever been to. As far as we can tell, all they hype boils down to a train ride, animal sightings, feeding goats, riding on a merry-go-round, and free samples of Budweiser products. Meh? Definitely didn't top the Magic House or Science Center, but the girls had a good time.

Little Sister (surprisingly!) really enjoyed feeding the goats a bottle of milk. She was especially amused when the milk was all gone and the goat attempted to eat her dress.

 Big Sister? Not so much. And this would be why....

Once a goat jumped into her face for the bottle, she was done. Hubby ended up carrying her for the (short) duration in the goat pen. In hindsight, perhaps we should have warned her to offer the bottle to the very first goat that took notice, and to keep her arms down by her sides. But I guess I missed that chapter on Petting Zoos in the What to Expect series... Bad Mommy.

 

She promptly recovered, I assure you.

 

This is..... wait, no, that's my weird stalkerazzi picture of the cute haircut I covet. So when I get brave, I can print out a head shot photograph of a complete stranger to bring into my hair dresser and tell her to emulate by chopping off severe lengths of my tresses. She won't think that's too weird, right?

Hubby discovered three, count 'em--three, pics of this lady and her hair on our camera; two back views & one side. This lady, if she ever discovers my blog, will be flattered. To a lady, there is no greater compliment paid than one on her hair or shoes. Stalkerazzi photos of either included.

So. What have you done on your summer vacation?