Road Trip, Day 14, St. Louis and Kansas City

Today was kind of a roller coaster day. The kind of day where things are crazy at first, we ran out of diapers and Liz had a blowout and stuff like that. Things were happy and sad and hot and cold.
We went and saw the Gateway Arch, which was neat. We could tell it was going to be a hot day right from the start. After Lizzie blew out of her diaper and we realized we were out of diapers, we put her in a swimmy diaper. It would have to work until we found our favorite store, walmart. So went to the Arch in St. Louis, having great discussions about Louis and Clark and Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase. It was all great educational stuff. The awesome thing about the ages of our children is that they are in the "love of learning" phase where this stuff is all really cool. And since Jesse and I are older and are in that phase again, we think it is cool too.
After a couple of hours at the Arch, we got into the car and finally started west. We drove through Missouri and we stopped at mile marker 112. Ahhh, mile marker 112. The place where Jesse's dear brother and his wonderful wife were killed in a car accident. We pulled over and I tied a piece of Jessica's fabric to the pole. (Jessica was the one who taught me how to quilt) How is it that something can reopen a wound and yet heal at the same time? I dont know.
Back in the car and off to Kansas City. After so many days of being in the car, I really thought we would be sick of it by this point but, it is quite the opposite. The car is our home and we are used to being in it. No one gives a fuss or complains, they just pile in and ask about what things were are going to do. I will say it again, I love seeing America this way.
In Kansas City, we did the thing Jesse has been aching for; we went to a ball game. We were fashionably late and got to the gate as the national anthem was being sung. The workers at the gate paused and took off their hats. I was touched by the reverence they showed to our country's anthem. They didn't let anyone in or asked anyone if they had liquids in their bag (you have to buy their water for $4), they just stood with their hands over their hearts. After the anthem was done, they let us in. We found our seats over the bull pen and had an enjoyable time watching America's pastime. There is nothing like going to a baseball game. It is so relaxed. We eat peanuts and the kids get filthy with ice cream and nachos(Paige taking the cake in that regards). We sit out in the 100 degree heat and no one cares that they are sweating so badly that it looks like they wet themselves. We are watching baseball and the home team is doing well. That is all that matters. We spend the same amount of money on hot dogs, popcorn, and soda that we could have spent on a nice steak dinner. That is not important because we are watching baseball and there was just back to back home runs. We all talk to each other and people share their opinions on politics and sports... its all the same. We stand up with our arms around each other during the 7th inning stretch and sing "take me out to the ball game". The game can last 2 hours or 6 and no one cares. We are there basking in America. It is baseball and it is great!