King Batman

Hi Kids,

This is the Cheshire Inn where I stayed in St. Louis.  It looks like it should be in England!  There were lots of antiques inside and a HUGE Kodiak bear.  Fortunately, he was stuffed otherwise I wouldn't have stayed around to have my picture taken!  They were very nice to me here.  I got to sit on a throne.  And even wear a crown!

We went to the Missouri Botanic Gardens.  There were lots of flowers and other plants there.  This is me and Miss Mary in front of the Climatron where they grow all the tropical plants that need to stay warm.  They are getting ready for a Chinese Lantern Festival next month.  We got to see the workers making the lanterns.  They are REALLY big.  One of the dragons is longer than your classroom!  This picture is of one of the smaller dragons.  They will all have lights inside them and will be beautiful at night.  I think this one is beautiful now!

After we left St. Louis, we went to Branson.  Miss Elaine had to do some stuff with her book.  One of the women she wrote about used to live near here.  Her house was called Bonniebrook and we got to see it.  Her name was Rose O'Neill and she was an artist and a writer and a really great lady.  She is most famous for drawing some little cherub-like figures which she named Kewpies.  They were so popular that children wanted dolls like them -- and so she made Kewpie dolls.  Here's a drawing of some of her first Kewpies and that's me with a modern Kewpie doll.  Kewpies can be either boys or girls.  They like to do good deeds but often do them in mischievious ways.  Branson was our last stop before we came home.  It really felt good to get in my own bed!

Love,

Batman