Although it caused me a little stress, the kids loved it!!
The City Museum is full of things to climb, slide, and explore. There are caves, tunnels, mazes, and slides everywhere. When you enter a hole, you're never quite sure where you will come out. And since some of the holes appear too small for this Mama to navigate, it was a little unnerving to watch my kids disappear down a hole without knowing where they might end up.
Not surprising, this little gal was my most adventurous one when it came to slipping down an unknown rabbit hole.
And this was the one who most wanted to try out the fast slides.
Briggs was more cautious than his sisters, but did his fair share of exploring and sliding. He liked it best when Zach or I would go with him or when he knew that we would be waiting on the other side of the tunnel when he came out. He did find a few tunnels that became familiar and he did those over and over again with his sisters in tow.
The skateless skate park was a big hit with all 3 kids. The girls loved the warped walls and these rope swings. Briggs found a little tunnel maze in this area that he kept wanting to do with Zach or I over and over again.
This little train was the absolute highlight for Briggs. He rode it no less than 7 times.
We spent over 5 hours playing and exploring the City Museum. It was a great start to our St. Louis week-end adventure.
We followed up our play time with dinner at Bailey's Range downtown. It advertises burgers and shakes. And that is exactly what it serves. Very good burgers and shakes.
I love how my kids can entertain themselves while waiting for their food.
Our hotel room might have been one of the true highlights of our trip. We stayed at a Holiday Inn out by the airport where we got a good discount through Zach's work. Our room had the added bonus of a kid's suite complete with bunk beds and a little kid size table. We also had a great view of the airport where we could watch airplanes taxiing along the runway, the interstate where we could see cars and trucks and semis, AND a good view of the Metrolink track where we could watch trains coming and going from the airport. I mean, seriously?! Does it get any better than that???
The girls loved the bunkbeds. Briggs loved the view.
The hotel also had a yummy free continental breakfast and a swimming pool. Score! The girls enjoyed a little swimming time the next morning.
We all slept well after our day of adventure at the City Museum. After our big hotel breakfast and a little swimming, we decided to spend the rest of our second day at the Magic House Children's Museum.
We were too full from our big, late breakfast to have a true lunch, so we took the edge off with some smoothies before enjoying our afternoon of Magic House fun.
The Magic House is always a favorite for the kids, but when we found out they were having a special Thomas exhibit this month, it became a must-do.
The girls always list the climber as a favorite. Even after all the adventurous climbing and exploring the day before, they still enjoyed this much tamer version.
The bubble room is always a hit and the village is always a highlight. Adelie listed her favorite activities as the climber and fishing in the village. Staley really enjoyed the math area this time.
And Briggs? Well...I probably don't even need to write down what his favorite area was.
We filled our entire afternoon until the museum closed down, and no one was quite ready to leave. But we enjoyed a yummy dinner at Pi, drove downtown to see the arch all lit up at night, and then went back to our awesome hotel for a good night of sleep.
We slept in a little on Sunday, enjoyed a hearty hotel breakfast, packed up, and then headed out to enjoy a beautiful day at the St. Louis zoo.
We met up with my friend, Jenny, and her family for the morning to enjoy some zoo fun together.
We spent the morning with them looking at animals, visiting, and ended our time together with a carousel ride.
After our friends had to leave, we spent the rest of the day at the zoo. We visited some of our favorite animals. We rode the carousel again, played at the Children's Zoo, pet some sting rays and sharks, watched the sea lion show, and snacked on big pretzels.
And, of course, we took a couple of rides around the zoo on the zoo train.
We left as the zoo was getting ready to close, played briefly at Turtle Park, and then stopped at Fountains on Locust for a yummy dinner (and the World's Smallest Hot Fudge Sundaes) before heading for home.
What a fun family week-end get-away we had!
