Strawberries, Spices and Suckers in Soulard!

When we first moved back to the midwest from New Jersey, we ALWAYS went to Soulard's Market for our fresh fruit and veggies. As the boys came along one by one though, it became harder and harder to go as it is usually very crowded and honestly just a hard place to navigate, especially with three little boys. Well, my dad (mom too!) brought up going and of course I jumped on that bandwagon! Aunt Jackie and Uncle Steve came along as well (as this was Uncle Steve's first trip there!)

Here is our group! (You may be noticing Flat Stanley, the little paper boy Jack is holding...Dan's cousin, from NJ, asked that we show Flat Stanley the midwest...tomorrow he gets to visit Dan's office for some medical attention as Luke ripped poor Flat Stanley into two pieces while shopping at Soulard...thanks to Papa for finding a vendor with tape for a quick repair!)
I absolutely LOVE this place! They have TONS of vendors selling fresh veggies, fruits, bakery items and a FABULOUS spice shop! The flowers are beautiful too! I bought myself a dozen roses for $5, honestly, can you beat that???

Here are the boys (and Flat Stanley) eating their apples I had just bought, posed in front of the florist there! It smelled wonderful! (A second before this picture was snapped Jack had Stanley on Luke's head, which explains Luke's left hand position!)
We always like to get there early as it really gets busy in the late mornings, especially on a Saturday! We navigated easily at first, but then as it started getting more crowded and after we had been there about 2 hours, Luke was getting a bit fussy! Thanks to Papa for saving the day and getting the boys (especially Luke!) some candy from a vendor there!

Here is Luke with his sucker that Papa bought him! Thanks Papa!!!
Like any good open air market, Soulard has street musicians. Uncle Steve gave Jack some money to put in his tip jar and the banjo player asked Jack if he wanted to play. Of course, Jack was a bit nervous at first, but then stepped up and strummed that banjo while the guy sang a great song! If you ever run into Uncle Steve ask him to do a rendition...he does a great job!
After just about 2 hours there, our trip to the market had come to an end! The boys, I think, overall did a good job! Luckily there were lots of sites to see including a pet store and some chicks for sale...they were TOO CUTE!!! We will definitely make another trip in the near future!!! Look at Luke being such a great helper and carrying my flowers while Aunt Jackie pulls our cart! What a great team!
Thanks to Aunt Jackie, Uncle Steve, Nana and Papa for the invite and the help once we were there! Next time we'll have to make sure Dan is off so he can go too!!!