A Last Minute Vacay, My New IPad, and Freebie Borders

I am SO not a Cardinals Fan (sorry to those of you who are) but I love St. Louis, MO.  It is not only full of cool sites to see, but there is so much history to this city.  I live in Kansas City (GO ROYALS!!!), so it is a quick and fairly easy getaway.  My sister planned to go last minute and asked me if I wanted to join them.  Since my plans to go on a vacay this summer did not happen, I said yes.  BOY was it a relaxing getaway and perfect timing too because I am pretty much back into school mode next week.  (Crazy, I know, but my district has a Summer Academy where we have the opportunity to take and teach professional development classes.  I opted to do both because I feel strongly that as teachers we are lifelong learners.)

We stayed at the Ameristar Hotel in St. Charles, MO which is on the outskirts of St. Louis.  I am so not into losing money, so you won't catch me gambling.  The pool and sun are another story!  This place is absolutely amazing.  I am including some screen capture pics from the Ameristar website as well as some of my own.  Click here to view the website.

Exterior view of the hotel

Outside pool where I spent most of my time
swimming, getting a tan, and reading!

Indoor pool

Here are some of my own pics from the hotel!

Window view

Another window view

TV area where I got some reading time!

Spending so many years teaching Westward Expansion, I am fascinated by the Gateway to the West and the St. Louis Arch.  These pictures are taken from my new IPad which I am still very much getting use to.  I have to say I was quite impressed with how they turned out. :)  The architecture behind this is sheer genius to me.  I am always in awe when I look at this amazing building.

I have been playing around with creating my own borders, frames, and backgrounds.  I know there is so much out there, but I am enjoying exploring my creative side.  I want to share some of these with you and see what you think.  I am fairly new to attaching documents to a blog.  I used Google Docs, but there might be a better way to do it.  Feel free to use them for personal use.  Click on the frame to download my creations.  I hope you enjoy the freebie! :)

I hope you enjoyed my pics from St. Louis.  If you are ever in Missouri, make sure you check out this great city and the Arch.  Then take about a 4 hour drive west and visit Kansas City which is the home of the recent All-Star game.  I heard we got good reviews from tourists. :)  Have you ever been to Kansas City and/or St. Louis?  If so, what places did you check out?

Being new with the IPad, I would love any helpful tips from more experienced users.  What cool things are you doing with your IPad?

Last, are any of you into creating your own borders and backgrounds?  Do you have any helpful tips for us newbies? :)

Thanks :)
Antoinette