Trip to St. Louis 2014, Day 1 and 2

Last October, we took a trip to St. Louis to visit Dan's sister, Sr. Mary Elizabeth.  She is a cloistered nun in the Passionist convent located in Ellisville, a St. Louis suburb.

On the road in our rental van!

We stopped for a picnic lunch.

Boys burned off some energy.

 We got to our hotel in the late afternoon.  We stayed at the Drury Plaza Hotel, which is a great, family-owned chain of hotels.  When we checked in, they even gave us a discount on our room rate!  Our stay included an excellent hot breakfast, free popcorn and drinks all evening, and even a simple dinner were able to do twice.  We went swimming in the hotel pool every evening. 

The next day was our day to visit Sr. Mary Elizabeth, so after breakfast, we headed over to her convent. We had not been able to visit her since 2011, so everyone was excited to finally get there.  We really enjoyed our time with her.

Sr. Mary Elizabeth checked out Dominic's scar from when he got stitches in his forehead.

Joseph and I took a walk around the grounds.

In front of the convent.

Sr. Mary Elizabeth and Joseph

Catherine helped tell all the news.

The kids with Sr. Mary Elizabeth.

Dan and his sister.

Trip To St. Louis, Part 2

Sr. Mary Elizabeth gave the kids some saint items, which they loved.

I spent a lot of time outside during our full day of visiting at the convent.

Mostly because of this little guy.  He got very disruptive inside, but he was perfectly happy walking around outside, looking for and squealing at the many squirrels.

It was nice walking around the long driveway.

Occasionally, Anthony would let me take him back inside to get a drink or a snack.  Or to see Daddy.  Daddy took him outside a few times as well.

Look at that face!

The big boys had to blow off steam, too.

They kept getting sillier...

and sillier...

...and sillier.

Sr. Mary Elizabeth and Dan.  We had a lovely visit with her. 

Trip To St. Louis, Part 1

Two weeks ago on a Tuesday, we loaded up the car and took off for the St. Louis suburbs to visit Dan's sister, Sr. Mary Elizabeth, who is a cloistered nun.

On the way we stopped for a picnic lunch.  We thought that rest stop was never going to come! It was worth it, though, as the kids could be outside and run around, most importantly Anthony.  Notice he is not even in this picture.  He was already off running around, playing in the leaves.

We all stopped to observe this frog(or is it a toad?) in the tree.

Back in the car, we finished the drive (It took 7 seven hours) and settled into the hotel.  We went swimming and then went out to eat at Red Lobster.  The next morning we drove over to the convent.

Driving up the long driveway to the convent.  It felt like we went from summer in Kansas to fall in Missouri.  The trees were turning colors there and it was especially beautiful in eastern Missouri.

Daddy and the kids going in the front door of the convent.

Dan getting the key to the guest parlor in the turnstile.

Anthony tried to go in through the door to the cloister!

In the guest parlor, we say hello to Sr. Mary Elizabeth, who drew back the curtains and is unlocking the bars.

The girls give Sr. Mary Elizabeth hugs and all the many pictures and notes they made for her.

Settling in for a nice visit.

We were able to spend a full day and then a half day visiting with Sr. Mary Elizabeth.  Both days she graciously brought us a hot meal for lunch.  Currently she is the cook for the convent, so she made the meals as well.  (She's a good cook!)

Our Big Trip

Here they are, our four little kids eagerly peering over the wall at...
...Sr. Mary Elizabeth, Dan's sister. She is a cloistered nun in a Passionist convent outside of St. Louis. Which means she can't come visit us, so we go to visit her. When we go in the front door of the convent, there is a little entry and there we ring a doorbell. After a while we hear the voice of one of the sisters. We tell her who we are and she sends a key through a turnstile in the wall. It is all very mysterious (and very giggle-producing) and we never see the owner of the voice. We unlock the door to the guest parlor and go in. When Sr. Mary Elizabeth comes, first she draws back the curtains on her side of the bars (the ones on our side are open) and then, since we are family, she is able to unlock the bars and open them like you see here.

Then we have a half-day, followed by a whole day, then another morning of visiting with her, in between her duties and prayertimes. Right now her duties are in the kitchen as she is currently the cook. The whole time we were there she graciously and hospitably fed us our meals (except for our breakfast, which was complimentary at the hotel). Doesn't she look happy and joyful? She has been there for 14 years.

In the evening, Dan took Catherine and Joseph to the chapel for evening prayers. The twins were fast asleep at the time, tuckered out from all the activity.

Joseph got cranky, so Dan let him hold the camera, resulting in many pictures, some of which weren't too bad. Like this one, maybe skewed a little, but there is a nice silhouette of a nun on the other side of the altar! Good job, Joseph!

And when they are done, the curtains are closed and that is the end.

For now.