Perhaps it's simply because I'm getting older or maybe it's because I'm being conscious of documenting our monthly happenings, but Time seems to definitely by moving faster than I can keep up! How is it that March came and went quicker than I could blink?!? It was a fun month for sure, what with Lissie's birthday happenings and Spring Break thrown in the mix. It wasn't dull in the least!
Most of Lissie's birthday festivities have been documented in a previous post. It was a wonderfully low-key weekend filled with all of her favorite things. The only downfall was when, at the end of the evening, she noticed that little brother purposefully destroyed her awesome Lego village she had been working on and she ended her first night of being 8 crying the most tears she has ever cried before (and so did X after being punished probably a little too harshly with no TV for the remainder of Lent and a spanking). But, alas, such apparently is the life of having a little sibling (something that Justin nor I really had experience with), and it was a lesson for all of us!
The big gift, though, for the month of March was yet another road trip. This time it was a Spring Break trip to St. Louis! Justin and I hadn't been in ages (and not together), and after a little crowd-sourcing on social media and talking to friends who have been recently, we decided to check it out. Who knew how family-friendly STL is??? So many free(!) and neat places to go to, and other awesome places that were must-dos according to friends. We stayed in one of our favorite hotel chains (when we don't want to use up our timeshare points), The Drury. Who can beat their breakfast, popcorn, indoor/outdoor pool, and kickback happy hour?
On our way to St. Louis, we stopped by Metropolis to help out Superman.
We got to St. Louis in time for evening Mass at the beautiful Basilica of St. Louis.
The grandest church they have been to by far. They were amazed!
After Mass and browsing the church for a while, we went back to our hotel for dinner/drinks and our first of many nights at the pool/hot tub!
Every night I was warm in the hot tub while they froze in the indoor/outdoor pool.
Our first full day was spent at the zoo. Their zoo beats our zoo (and all we've been to) by a long shot - primarily because it was free(!) but also because of all of the incredible animals we could see!
After the zoo, we decided to check out the nearby Turtle Playground on a recommendation from a friend - a must-do since Xavier loves turtles, but fun was had by all of us!
After we were all turtled-out, we decided to splurge on some treats at Crown Candy Kitchen. Even at 3 in the afternoon, there was a long wait for a table, so we decided on a to-go order of shakes, sundaes, and some chili just for the sake of it. Yum!
Our next day was spent at the City Museum, which the kids were excited about because they had heard of the ten-story slide. I was not as enthused by that as I was with the Beatnik Bob's cafe inside, complete with local brews and vintage arcade games. The City Museum is not so much "museum" as it is an amazingly orchestrated children's playhouse. It.was.spectacular. Even I was impressed with all of its glory, and I didn't even want to partake in many of the tunnels, hidden passageways, and slides! The roof wasn't open, but the outdoor section they did have available was impressive enough. Even today, the kids still talk about this place daily. In order to get them out the door, I had to promise them that we would come back. One day. Haha.
We stayed there most of the day - so much so that we totally forgot to eat lunch and ended up eating a super late (3:00!) lunch at Dewey's Pizza. Yet another win, thanks to recommendations from friends!
Our last day was spent heading to the Arch, of course! This was a memorable experience, if nothing else but because it was where X managed to get himself lost (totally his fault - Justin told him to stop, but he kept moving. Next thing we hear a child wailing, and I think "that stinks for that kid" only to realize that I recognized the wail and found Xavier bawling to a park ranger. What irritated me, though, about this was that the ranger gave him a special badge to get him to stop crying, which essentially rewarded his lack of listening skills!). The Arch was pretty neat, and it offered some pretty cool views of the city.
Reunited with my "lost" boy.
The imp managed to get a prize for his lack of listening.
Afterwards, we had lunch at Fitz's Soda Shop. They had projected an hour-long wait, but we managed to quickly score awesome seats at the bar - up-close to all of the float-making action and the bottle factory. Best last meal in St. Louis!
After a yummy lunch, we split two floats (they were able to do separate cups), but we really could've just split one- they were ginormously delicious!
Afterwards, I wanted to check out the Science Center before heading homeward, but the kids begged for one last trip to Turtle Playground - and the idea of letting them run off all that sugar was pretty appealing. So, alas, that's our trip to STL in a nutshell!
Oh, and let's not forget that I've turned into my mother's daughter. Not only did we go to the Basilica that first day, but we also took quick visits to some other religious happenings as well: the old St. Louis Cathedral (where we happened upon daily Mass and decided to stay), and Our Lady of Snows where they had a replica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Lourdes.
The kids loved every moment of our time in St. Louis, and I know we'll be back again. The zoo and the City Museum are definitely on our must-do-again list, but I also want to check out the Magic House and a few other places as well. It's definitely a quick getaway with lots of fun for the family, and I can't wait to go back!
To round out our March, here are a few pics of other fun happenings:
Matching spring dresses! I hope she'll always think I have good style to want to wear the same clothes, haha.
Spring: the season of outdoor fun!
Introduced them to Ticket to Ride.
First picnic of the season - this one at Cheekwood in Bloom. We have since had probably a dozen more, haha.
Nashville Zoo fun with friends!
Arrington Vineyard picnic!
L cooked a tasty chicken parmesan.
X grilled some yummy chicken kabobs.
April is definitely much more low-key - at least in the fact that for the first month this year, we don't have a road trip in store! But, as the kids know, there's still no end to all of the fun family times to be had.
