Anheuser-Busch Factory Tour in St. Louis

Day one: St. Louis Missouri
We didn't even check in to the hotel yet, Michael drove us straight to the factory for a tour.


Our first stop on the tour was the Clydesdales--beautiful horses who had the most grandiose stables outfitted by Tiffany chandeliers and windows.


Daddy thinks he is in heaven.

The original brew building


The Brew House has five levels of Brew Kettles in an impressive building that has maintained its historical charm.

They even had their own school.

The factory complex has grown through the years, despite the prohibition era.

Bottling Line

Bottles being turned over and filled inside the wide round openings--look for the blur

It was VERY loud on the factory floor!

Graceland

Memphis, Tennessee was one of our stops along our Spring Break Getaway. When in Memphis of course you have to visit Graceland and eat BBQ.

Graceland Mansion

Reception Room

Madelyn listened very intently to the Audio Guide

Music room in the basement

Pool table room

The racquetball court turned into a memorabilia room

The outfits Elvis was suppose to wear the night he died.

Presley family cemetery

Madelyn has left the building!!!!!!

Michael and his cars

We saw lots of older pictures of Elvis while touring the museum. So now every time Madelyn sees an older picture of a gentleman she thinks its Elvis. Yes we did see Elvis several places in Memphis--he even served us breakfast. Its a rumor, Elvis is actually alive.

My favorite--pink Cadillac

The Lisa Marie--Elvis's private 727 plane

After we left Graceland, Madelyn recapped her visit to my mom by saying, "We went to the King's house, but he wasn't home. I kept looking for the Queen and I couldn't find her and I saw lots of Poop." Yep that's right she spends the day in Graceland and all she can remember is seeing lots of Poop. The horse stables are on the back of the property and because it was too cold for the horses to be out, she was upset that she could see their poop, but not the actual horses.

The Memphis Queen took us on a river boat cruise on the Mississippi River. It was FREEZING cold along the river!!!!! Mudd Island is in the background, but was not open yet. It was in the movie The Firm.

On the boat docks

The Peabody Hotel has real ducks that live in their fountains. Everyday at 11 and 5 the ducks come down the elevator from their pent house suite for the breakfast/dinner and a swim in the lobby fountain. Don't you just love Madelyn's fake smile....

We ate la traditional Memphis BBQ lunch on Beale street at the City Cafe--yummy! I have to say that coleslaw on top of the BBQ sand which was pretty good.

Daughter Like Father

Noticing the house was really quiet, I called for Madelyn and no answer. Usually never a good sign. I called her again and she responded with "I'm in here". I turn the corner to find sitting and reading a magazine on the potty. She was wasn't using the potty, she said " I am just reading like like daddy does". That is Michael's daughter!

Rainbow Theme Snacks

Strawberry's, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Mandarin Oranges, Bananas, Honeydew, Blueberries and some clouds of marshmallows.


For the month of March, Madelyn's theme at School was All things Irish, including leprechauns that are found at the end of the rainbow. While they learned at school about weather, color prisms, and folklore, I wanted to use this teachable moment to remind Madelyn that all of God's creation are beautiful and have a purpose. Using Genesis 9:8-17 we learned that God keeps all of his promises.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now
establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with
every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the
wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature
on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut
off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the
earth."
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making
between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all
generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the
sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over
the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant
between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the
waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in
the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and
all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all
life on the earth."

I found a fun recipe for Rainbow cupcakes that made a colorful impression for her school snack. You follow the directions for a white cake mix and then you measure out the batter into small bowls, add food coloring to the desired color. Then spoon a little bit of the colored batter into each cupcake pan. It was super easy, although it left more dishes to clean up, Madelyn had a blast squeezing the food coloring and mixing the batter and watched how it transformed color. Her favorite part was licking the bowl (what was left) and checking the mirror to see what color her tongue turned. We topped the cupcakes with white frosting--yummy!!