Dear Henry

What made this trip different from all other trips.

We had two seders, three museums or "moo-seums" as Joe calls them, two zoos and lots and lots of fun with your Hannah, Aunt Jen and Uncle Dan. I miss the way you used to say "my Hannah," instead of "Cousin Hannah."

One other thing, or two other things that made it different from other trips, like the long trips we took so often with you and Jack to Minnesota and New Jersey, were Starbucks drive-throughs and XM. Mom was so happy when she saw the Starbucks drive-through. I was happy that I could listen to XM the whole way.





Joe was a real trooper He sat and was really well behaved - for 800 miles each way. Jack chilled out in back reading, playing his GameBoy and watching DVDs.



It was a little strange being in Aunt Jen's house. It is really beautiful, but it also has a lot of stuff from when we were growing up. I kept seeing things, like furniture and plates and cups that I hadn't seen in years and years. I like seeing things like that. Seeing people who I haven't seen in forever is cool too.

At the first seder Joe made a friend, even though he doesn't like girls. This is Elena. She was a real cutie.



Jack and Hannah asked the Four Questions. They were really good.



If you are in St. Louis, you have to go to the Gateway Arch. I once flew with Uncle Dan in his plane right next to the Arch. You can't do that anymore.

Jack called the Arch "the limping Washington Monument. Jack doesn't know how funny that really is.

You can go up in the arch. Of course I was thinking back to the time that you, me and Papa Teddy went up in the Washington Monument.







Here are the boys when we were waiting in line to get in. We do a lot of waiting in line. Parks, ballgames, you name it.



This picture of Joe reminds me of the one of you from the beach.





Here is everyone at the top. Mom didn't feel like going up.



We went to a baseball game on Monday night and saw a lot of rain. The game was cancelled so we sat around for a little while and then left. That was a bummer.





To lift everyone's spirits we went to get ice cream at this famous place called Ted Drewes. You know they say the ice cream cone was invented 100 years ago at the St. Louis World's Fair.

On Monday before all the rain we went to the St. Louis Zoo. Because Joe is such an animal freak we made plans to stop at the Columbus, Ohio zoo on the ride home. They had a great manatee exhibit and they let you touch snakes and feed these colorful birds named, Lorikeets.



They land on you and at one point Mom had them all over her back, shoulders and head. We all laughed. Thankfully none of the birds pooped on us.



Isn't Mom's smile great. That is one of my favorite things along with Jack's laugh and Joe's hugs. It is great when all those things are happening a lot. They are right now.