We had initially planned to head down on Saturday for an evening at the Wild Lights event at the St. Louis Zoo. A rainy night put a damper (pun intended) on those plans, so we instead checked out Our Lady of the Snows drive through light display, ate dinner at Eckert's Country Restaurant, and then drove to our hotel.
We stayed at the kids new favorite St. Louis hotel by the airport. The kids room with bunkbeds is pretty great, but the excitement of watching planes take off and land and seeing the Metrolink train heading to and from the airport makes this the best. hotel. ever! Hours of entertainment for one certain member of the family.
The next day was an unseasonably warm December day. The rain stopped and we headed out for a fun day at the St. Louis Zoo.
The zoo train was closed for refurbishment. Briggs took the news heroically. I was very proud of him for the way he handled his disappointment without drama or tears. Although he had been talking about the train all morning, when he found out it was closed he just asked, "We can still ride the carousel, right?" And yes, we did.
We had one of our best zoo days ever. The weather was really nice, the zoo was pretty empty, and many of the animals were more active than usual.
Although we didn't get to see the zoo lights in all their glory at night, we got to enjoy all the decorations and photo ops around the zoo. By early afternoon, they were starting to turn on some of the lights so we got to experience a little of what we had missed the night before. It was a great way to spend the day.
We went to the Hi-Pointe Drive In for a quick late lunch/early dinner before heading back to the hotel to prepare for our evenings out.
We dropped Briggs and Zach off at Union Station for their ride on the Polar Express. Zach found the experience a bit underwhelming, but Briggs enjoyed it. He got a cookie and hot chocolate, a bell from Santa (although apparently he politely declined a picture with Santa), and most importantly, got to go on a fun 45 minute train ride. However, the highlight might have been riding the Metrolink train to the airport, riding escalators at the airport, and taking the hotel shuttle bus from the airport to our hotel. Apparently Briggs told Zach that was even better than the Polar Express.
While Briggs and Zach were riding the Polar Express, the girls and I headed to the Fox Theater to see Wicked.
The girls had been listening to the soundtrack obsessively for the past month, so I was so excited to give them the opportunity to see one of my favorite musicals in one of my favorite theaters.
The girls loved the play, although Staley found the crowded theater before the show and the insanely long bathroom line at intermission a bit overwhelming.
The girls also enjoyed munching on big oatmeal raison cookies and the world's best gummy bears as snacks during the play.
It was such a fun experience to share with my girls!!
After a good night of sleep and a big breakfast, we then headed to the Science Center to spend a few hours before leaving for home.
We stopped at the Hofbrauhaus St. Louis for lunch on our way out of town. It was a beautiful restaurant, but the food and service were a little underwhelming. I'm sure the atmosphere is more fun in the evenings then at 2:00 on a Monday afternoon.
It was a great little family get-away and a fun way to round out our Christmas celebrations.
