I took tons and tons and TONS of photos during our trip to St. Louis this past weekend. The trip was planned as a surprise for my Dad’s 60th birthday, with my family and my brother visiting my parent’s historic 1912 house. We were all smiles, packed into the truck, headed for my Dad’s work…
Red held Nonna’s hand as we snuck through the parking lot to surprise my dad!
The next day, we celebrated Dad’s birthday. His big gift was flying lessons! He had a bunch of hours logged as a passenger in a plane, but this was his first time behind the wheel. I bought him a silly set of goggles and a white scarf so he could be just like an old bi-plane pilot for a photo. He actually flew in a cessna, and my brother got to ride along.
This Fourth of July brought Red’s first parade, and while I won’t bore you with photos of the floats (I took tons), I will show you how excited Red was to see the cars, trucks, boats and floats! Hubs was equally as excited to share in Red’s delight.
The parade walkers handed out lots and lots of candy, and Red was spoiled rotten. He had his first roll of smarties, 3 suckers and was on a pure sugar high by the time we were done… (at least we got scads of wildflower seeds, too!)
At the St. Louis zoo (free admission) we rode the train all the way around and Red was so happy to see all the animals as we drove past the pens and then got to sit on the engine after the ride was over!
Lastly, I want to share a family shot – you saw my Mom and Dad with Red on Wednesday, but Hubs and I got in on one, too. I lugged my tripod over 554 miles to take this shot! I have plans to compile all these shots together into a photo-story, but editing them is going to take a while!
What is the most recent photo you have of your entire family?
What a great gift for your dad! I know I love when someone thinks about a gift before they give it, and in this case you all did that and a great surprise for him!
Mitch
I love all of your family pictures! It sounds like you had an amazing time on your trip! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
What a wonderful family photo! Those are so important and not so easy to always get. Our last family photo was a year or so ago when my boys became Navy officers.
That family picture is awesome!!;)
Your family picture is great,To be honest i can not remember the last family photo,bad i know but i hate having my picture taken lol.Sounds like you had a great trip.
All that lugging was totally worth it – the family shot came out amazing!!!
What a great birthday surprise! Looks like so much fun. Can’t go wrong with packet of seeds!
Looks like such a fun and festive day! Last time we took a family picture was probably Christmas time?
What a great trip and fun surprise! It looks like you all had a great time in St Louis! And the seeds… how neat is that?!?
Looks like a great trip. Wonderful time with great pictures to remember it.
Awesome pics! It looks like he hit the candy jackpot too!! So much fun!
Aw, I remember going to the St. Louis zoo when I was little. How fun! I think the most recent photo we have was a family selfie we took on the 4th of July! Embrace the camera! 🙂
Oh how fun! The most recent family photos were last year or the year before. Ugh. I need to get more pics of them.
I totally did this with my whole family last year! Thanks for the costume ideas 🙂
What a lovely surprise for your Dad, it looks like everyone had a fantastic time. I Haven’t had a picture taken with the entire family in a few years…we’re long overdue.
How sweet!! I love your photos! The last family photo we have is either a candid shot or the one from the amusement park (that was 1.5 years ago, though). We need to have more of these made 🙂
love his face with that lollipop. it’s the little things in life, right
Those flight goggles are cracking me up! What a fun time!
We just got family pics at the end of June, everyone from the dif. states met up in Florida. It was nice. Your pics look great, and the flying was a great gift!
I never knew about cow appreciation day! Maybe I can join in next year! Thanks for sharing!
How fun! We have family in St. Louis and it’s always a blast to see them and visit such a cool city.
That would be cute to go there and see that. I don’t know if I could go dress up like a cow though LOL
So glad you enjoyed your trip to St. Louis! Our last family photo with my siblings was on Memorial Day. It was the first time in 20 years that all six of us kids were in one photo.
What a fun trip to St Louis! It is always great to get the family together and capture a photostory
What a great list! Thanks for putting this together. I love Chick Fil A.
What an awesome birthday gift. Your dad’s a lucky man. And the rest of the photos sharing your family’s trip are great too! Thanks for sharing!
I love the family pic! So glad you had a fun time.
I bet that was a great birthday surprise! And that is such a great family picture! We had family pictures taken last fall, and plan on getting them done each fall. 🙂
Now that’s an awesome birthday gift, I bet he loved that! Great family pics!
What a great surprise for your dad! It is great that you could all get there to celebrate!
So many smiles and happy faces. It seems that your surprise was a big hit.
Wow what a great ideas about it and i am glad with it,. Thanks for share great knowledge about christmas. ideas for christmas gifts
what fun cosutumes. I love the ChickFilA does this, we love to eat there
It’s definitely been awhile sine we got a full family shot. What a sweet birthday gift!!
Wow, it looks like you had an absolute blast! I want to go to St Louis one day!
I have not took a photos with the entire family truly in years. We got a good picture with my daughter, my mom and my 100 year old grandma that pleased me. First parade how exciting! Flying lessons for grandpa, now that is so cool!
Looks like a fun trip to St Louis!! Happy Birthday to your dad!!
What a great family photo! It’s been a long time since I got a pic with our whole family.
That looks like a fun bday! Mine is the 14th excited! And the family photo is beautiful!
That family shot at the end was perfect!!! I love that you did all that for your dad, and how fun that you outfitted him for his first flight. 🙂
Perfect photo! It’s been a while since I got a shot of the whole family. I need to.
Looks like you guys had a really great time! Our last family photo was quite some time ago… Maybe we should get on that one!
This is great. I hope I can get a great photo of my family and extended family this year. We have a few, but someone is always missing.
Those are super cute! Last year I used makeup to turn myself into a cow and it was so much fun.
wow, what a fun weekend!! love the family picture, i never get one of all of us!
So cute! I clearly don’t spend enough time at Chick Fil A! I keep hearing about so many cool things that happen there.
Love the cow costumes! Looks like you and your family had a great weekend! 🙂
You know, I don’t think I have ever eaten at a Chick-Fil-A. We don’t have one near us and when we travel I see them, but have never stopped.
Awesome! Looks like the entire family had a blast! Love the pictures!
I always found annual memberships to pay off too. I’m glad your kids are loving that so much. Boo that you weren’t told it was a regional performance of the show.
I applaud you for being able to dress up like a cow and still smile at the camera. I would’ve dressed up, but I would’ve hid from the camera!
You guys are the cutest cows I’ve ever seen. Seriously – you are too funny!
Looks like you have been having a great time.I love how you all dressed in the cow outfits,really cute.
How have I never heard of Cow Appreciation Day!? I will certainly be participating next year. We love, love Chick-Fil-A. Looks like you are having an awesome summer.
I love the photo of you guys in your cow costumes! I haven’t gotten nearly as much done this summer as I would like – the days I have “free” I tend to get some housework done. Totally boring, I know.
Wow, I would not have been happy if I attended a show that was misrepresented that way! Your cow costumes are adorable!
Awww looks like you’re doing a great job on checking off your summer bucket list!! We’ve made it to the pool and for a scenic bike ride so far lol LOVE the cow costumes!
I love your cow costumes. We are headed to a goat farm in a couple week right before school starts! 🙂
Love your Chick Fil a outift. I love to see how different everyone’s costumes are for Free chicken day!
You’re having such fun this summer! I love your cow costumes! It snuck up on me so we just did the print out from the CFA site to get our meals!
I adore that you dressed as cows- it makes a simple trip for food so much more fun! The dinosaurs look amazing as well!
Looks like you had a great family weekend. So cute that you dressed up for Cow Appreciation Day!!
Wow! What fun you had! We need to still visit the beach this summer, that is something we want to do before summer is out!
What a fun weekend! (I’d totally rant about paying Broadway prices for a non-Broadway play!) We just got back from the beach (one of our bucket list items.) I also got my sunrise and sunset photos I wanted. 😉
Looks so fun! I wish we had Chik-Fil-Ahere too! Yummy!
Fun fun funnn! I would have to FORCE my husband to dress up like that, so you’re lucky that yours was willing. LOL!
My cousin was down in FL for appreciation day and they all dressed up. It was so cute. Looks like fun! I havent had a Chik since I moved out of the south.
Fun stuff. Love the cow outfits. The dinosaur exhibit looks cool.