Trip to the Top of the Arch

So I won't go to the top of the Arch anymore. I hate it. I don't hate the arch, I mean it is really cool to look at and I love standing at the bottom and looking up the side as the silver metal curves into the air. But I do hate going to the top of the Arch. I have for a while and I finally took a stand and said that I would no longer go up to the top with visitors to our fair city. The elevators freak me out- they are tiny and they shake like crazy on the way up. And once you get to the top, the arch sways. And not just sways a little, but A LOT. Once I was up there as a storm was moving in and I swear I had to put my hand up to the ceiling to balance myself so I wouldn't fall over.

So like I said...no more going up in the Arch for me.

However, the little man had never been up in the Arch. Therefore, my wonderful husband surprised him one day with a trip to the top. The two of them had their own little adventure. They wandered the museum at the base of the Arch and then got free tickets from two women who decided they were too scared to go to the top. And so up they went...


William was a little nervous, but Lawrence said that once he got up there he thought it was pretty cool.

I love when the two of them do stuff together without me. That sounds kind of weird, but it is just fun to watch them bond. I am definitely the more nurturing of the two of us and William comes to me for affection and cuddles and scrapes. So it is nice when the two of them bond and it doesn't involve bonding that comes from ganging up on me.

When William first moved in with us, I won't lie it was rough...and there was a while there where I wasn't sure Lawrence was going to hang in there. He really did try our patience to the breaking point day after day after day. The funny thing is that the two of them have a lot in common which is good and bad. They both have tempers, they both are stubborn as hell, and they both don't back down. On the positive side, they both have these silly/teasing sides, they both easily make friends, and they both have intense curiosity. I just like to watch the two of them interact. Lawrence is very parental with William. By that I mean that he demands respect and he gets it. William doesn't mess with Lawrence the way he messes with me. I guess I'm not tough enough. William pushes me in a way that Lawrence doesn't allow. But I think it is good for him to learn that there is a time for seriousness and a time for silliness. And I think William is finally starting to get that.

So my boys had an adventure. And they came home in a great mood. And they had these fun pictures to show for it!