Change of plans

My original plan had been to go to Indianapolis Children's Museum, one of the best in the country and then head to St. Louis.  Sunday night I decided to check to make sure they were open, and sure enough, they were closed on Mondays.  So, we needed to make a quick change of plans.  Abby suggested the Louisville Sluggler Museum and Factory, which was on the way to St. Louis.  This turned out to be a great, little stop off.  The tour of the factory was a short, informative 30 minute tour.  It was a good day to be there because they were making the major league pink bats that they use on Mother's Day.  We saw some of the bats for the Boston Red Sox players that we had seen at our game.  That was kind of cool, and we are planning to watch a game on Mother's Day to see those pink bats. 

We were trying to find the place, looking around at the numbers on the buildings.  Then, I pointed to the kids saying maybe it was the one with the big bat.  Hard to miss.

They had a batting cage there, which was great fun!  The kids did well hitting the ball.  I had fun!  There is nothing quite like the feel of a ball coming off the sweet spot of a bat for a good hit.  Made all of us want to play some ball!

Matthew was disappointed that he was not the 6 years old that you are required to hit in the cages.  But, they had a pipsqueak area, where he wailed on some of the balls.  The other kids wanted their turn, so I guess he didn't miss out too much.

On to a casino in St. Louis in the middle of a tornado warning.  When we got to the hotel, we turned on the TV to see that one of the biggest tornadoes on record had just hit somewhere in the St. Louis area.  So, what do we do?  We head out about 10 blocks in the rain and storms to find a good place to eat.  Alex, our concerned child, was pretty nervous that we were going to get hit by a tornado.  We actually saw the destruction as we headed out of St. Louis.  It was pretty dramatic!  Houses were destroyed, trees ripped out of the ground, road signs were crunched.  Glad it missed us!

Some brotherly love at the hotel.  I definitely have to catch moments of these.  I'll try to forget the fighting, but I think it might be etched on my brain since it happens way more often.