Well, actually two things checked off their list now that I think about it. The first one being that they were finally able to go to the Arch. They had been asking to do this for a few years. There really wasn't a reason we hadn't done it. We had just not made it down there with them. I call it their "zoo trip". When Brian was growing up he would ask periodically to go to the zoo, but it was always either too hot or too cold, etc. So he ended up not ever going to the zoo until he was in college! It was just one of those things that had really good intentions but just never worked out. Same as the Arch for the boys.
Then at the beginning of Christmas break, Elliott declared that his friends at school were even making fun of him because he had never been to the Arch. Not sure how exaggerated that statement was, but I thought maybe I should take them while we had some days off. It would give us something to do for relatively cheap.
So one day after Christmas we headed downtown. About halfway there, the boys started asking if we could take the Metrolink. Enter the second bucket list item. I said no at first, but then thought "why not". So we made our way to the nearest station with parking, fought with the ticket vending machine (I felt pretty good that we finally got our tickets after about 5 tries and then sat down in the train only to see a sign that they were changing things a little beginning in January - so I'm sure it will take me that many times for the next ride, too), found the heaters on the platform and waited for the train.
They loved it. At least the ride there. When we were done at the Arch they were a little agitated that we had to get back on the Metrolink to get back home. But the ride home was far more educational as we met a homeless man and heard all kinds of colorful conversations. It definitely sparked a little more compassion in them. They used to think there was no such thing as people being homeless. I guess that is a difficult thing to imagine when you and everyone around you has never really "needed" anything, especially a place to sleep at night. Definitely an eye opener for them - and me.
Once we got to the Arch the clouds had cleared a lot, and it was a really pretty day. We had to stand in line outside for 20 minutes or so to get through security, which surprised me because I thought it wouldn't be all that busy. I was a little worried that we wouldn't make it to the top with so many people there, but it ended up being way less crowded than it seemed once we got inside and pretty much got on the next tram to the top.
We made it! Nobody liked the ride up that much, but it was definitely worth it.
View of downtown
630 feet up!
Which apparently equals 395 feet higher than the Superman ride at Six Flags, according to the boys' math.
By now you may be wondering why there are no pictures of Ethan at the top. Once we got up there, he decided that he liked it MUCH better on the ground. I don't know where he would get that from?! He was very brave and stayed up there for a while so that Elliott could enjoy it, but he really would have preferred to leave on the same tram we came up on. And he definitely wanted no pictures to remind himself of being there!
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