springfield, mo

Brian had a 4 day weekend (more like 3 1/2, but that's the Army for you).  So that meant one thing.  Well, maybe more than one thing.  But it DID mean that we'd be going on an adventure!  So we decided to take a day trip out to Springfield.  I got some last minute advice from a couple former locals on what to see and do.  Brian and I got the car packed up the night before- which NEVER happens, so we were pretty much ready to hit the road once the littles woke up.  First we headed to the historic district, perused a farmers market, and took in the architecture that all old downtowns in a America have.

And that was when Fletcher spotted a train yard down an alleyway.  And so of course we gave into spending a chunk of time looking at train cars.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  My husband is 12.  He not ONLY pointed out this sign, but INSISTED I take a picture.  We're also super responsible parents and let our littles stand up on a train car.  At least it wasn't connected to a moving train or anything, right?  Fletcher loved it and we had to DRAG him away.  The day was heating up to be a scorcher, so we ducked into a coffee shop to cool down.  Fletcher was pleased that he could watch the trains come and go through the back window of the coffee shop.

It's out of focus, but the sign below the menu said "Decaffeinated coffee is kind of like kissing your sister." Ha!  We had a good chuckle at that one.  After we cooled down, it was mama's turn to spend a chunk of time at Red Velvet, which was right next door.  It's a great vintage shop, carefully curated, and full of fun things to see.  They had the most lovely little collection of darling little girl dresses. 

I did get one treasure- a sweet capelet that I won't be wearing anytime soon in this heat!  After my little shopping trip, it was Brian's turn.  We found out there was a classic car show last weekend, so we headed that way.  We all started melting pretty much instantly.  Poor Brian.  He was trying to look at all the cool old cars, and the rest of us were a whiny, sweaty mess.  Fletcher perked up when he laid eyes on "Mater." 

But then the littles hunkered down in a patch of shade and refused to get up.  So we did one last mini-lap on the way back to our car.  It was hot, hot, HOT.  And somewhere on those fairgrounds I lost one of my favorite turquoise necklaces.  Sad.  We all needed a cool-down and something to eat, so we headed to Aviary for a late lunch.  Such a great recommendation from Rachel!  They have really delicious crepes, and there were so many fun things for the littles to look and marvel at.  I wish I had taken in my camera, but you can see a glimpse below from our instagrams, bottom right.

We had lots more we wanted to see and check out, but the littles were toast at this point.  So we packed it in, and drove past the Pythian Castle, as promised to Fletcher.  He has a thing for castles, apparently.

We all had fun despite the heat, and I'm looking forward to spending a little more time there again.  It's a fun little city that seems to have lots of little gems sprinkled through it.  We spent the rest of the weekend in the pool, trying to beat this heat! 

How was your Memorial Day weekend?