St. Louis Magic House

The girls and I took an all-day trip to St. Louis where we left at 7 in the morning and didn't pull back into the driveway until 9 at night.  We crammed a lot into our day and I hope the two girls loved it as much as mommy did.

They've gone to the Magic House a couple of times but it's been years since our last trip and they have been begging to go back.  I really honestly thought they might be a bit too old for it but after almost five hours I was proven wrong.  They had an absolute blast and I'm so happy I let them lead the way and explore wherever they chose to go.

The Magic House is gigantic and it's pretty much impossible to get a good photo of the entire thing. 

Their favorite part of the Magic House is always the little village where you can explore and go into themed rooms and every time we've gone there's been new rooms added.  They probably spent the most time in the library because they're my little booknerds.  You can make your own library card and scan books out like a real librarian and they got such a kick out of that.

Another popular spot was the art area.  This is a new one for us but it was practically heaven for my two creative girls.  They have a craft bucket at home that isn't as popular as it used to be but they are still such big lovers of being creative.

Outside in the garden area they had a special summer beach exhibit.  We didn't go inside since the girls had tennis shoes on and the thought of them climbing back into my car with sandy feet made me cringe.  If I had known about it though I would have sent them with flip-flops and play clothes because it looked like a lot of fun.

After we left we made a beeline for IKEA.  We've never been to one before and we were excited to check it out and grab some supper.

I got the famous meatballs and they completely exceeded my expectations.  I can't wait to go back and have them again!

St. Louis Zoo

We live relatively close to St. Louis so it's a fun place to go for day trips.  Every year one grade from my daughter's school gets to spend the day there on a field trip and she was so excited that this year it was her turn.  We left at around 6:45 in the morning and came home around 8:30 that night so I think it's safe to say we had a full day!

I for some reason thought this trip always took place in the spring so we went ahead and went to the St. Louis Zoo over the summer.  I was worried they wouldn't be very interested in it since we had just been there a few months earlier but they had an absolute blast.  From now on we are only going in the fall, never the summer again.  We saw every single animal on full display because it was so cool that they tried to stay outside on the rare chance the sun came out.

The weather was in the mid-sixties but it was overcast and windy so I made sure we all had jackets with hoods on.  Good thing since it sprinkled on and off the whole time.  It never bothered us though since it kept the crowds down and we did so much walking that we stayed warm most of the time.

Goose's favorite animal is the red panda and we managed to catch it twice while it paced around below us.

Bug really wanted to see the zebras and the prairie dogs.  The prairie dog exhibit was empty but she did get to see several zebras.

Their daddy is obsessed with penguins and was disappointed he had to work so we took lots of pictures for him.  They were being absolute hams and swam around trying to splash anyone who got near them.  Bug loved it and I had to drag her out of there since it was freezing.

With the school armband we were able to ride the train all the way around the zoo, ride the carousal as many times as we wanted and have free admission to the Children's Zoo where the jellyfish and naked mole rats (two of my favorites!) live.

The school had to have the kids back at a certain time but since I drove separately we were able to stay longer and backtrack to see whatever we had missed.  They were in the middle of the Boo at the Zoo programs so there was quite a few Halloween scenes around the grounds.  I would have loved to see them all lit up but you have to pay to get into it and since I had already paid a giant bill for parking I didn't want to pay more.

*look at this adorable giant flytrap!*

After we left the zoo we drove up the street to the art museum, something they've been begging to visit for months now.  We didn't stay long enough to see much but they wanted to see the mummies and Van Gogh so we managed that and a few more.

Van Gogh is my favorite painter and I love seeing how much more beautiful his work is in person.  There are no words to describe how they make you feel.

Bug's favorite part was definitely the Egyptian section.  She's still telling people about the oldest statue in the museum.  This statue is over four thousand years old!

Seeing some of the most famous names in history makes me feel guilty that I only had about two hours to explore this huge museum.  One day we want to come back and spend the entire day roaming through all the halls.