DAY 7:  On Saturday we had a family gathering at Rob's dad's house.  It was nice to see everyone.  The kids had a lot of fun playing in the boats on grandpa's pond.



DAY 8:  We were very sad to say good-bye to grandpa, but promised to visit him again soon.  Then we were on the road.  We spent most of the day driving and ended up staying the night in Saint Louis.

DAY 9:  We got on the road early this morning and went to visit the Gateway Arch and the Museum of Westward Expansion.  The Arch is really quite impressive;  way taller when standing next to it than it appears while driving by.  Then we drove to our condo on the lake in Branson.  We had time before it got too dark to walk down by the lake and head into town for dinner.  There is one photo below of the kids on the balcony overlooking the lake....that is the view from the condo.






The talking exhibits at the Museum of Westward Expansion looked so realistic...this one is explorer William Clark.