The Jewel Box and The Saint Louis Art Musuem

We had a snow day in St. Louis yesterday and the kids are still out of school for it today (don't get too excited, you can still see the top of the grass through the snow). I remember my little sister praying every night for it to snow and for school to be cancelled (it's a lot harder to have school cancelled just because of snow where I grew up). Actually, she's now in college and I'm sure she still prays for snow days. Anyways, it was not my best mommy/snow day yesterday. I've been sick this week, my house needed cleaned, and I decided I don't like snow. I use to like snow. Now it just means no school, wet clothes and boots everywhere, icy roads and then dirty roads. However, I have an adventure to blog about from our wonderful Christmas break. Unlike yesterday, the weather was beautiful, everyone was in a good mood, and my kids were as close to angels as you could get. It really was one of those days that I thought, "This is just such a nice, fun day."

Our family really likes the Saint Louis Art Museum, but haven't been for a few years. The Museum does family activities on Sundays, but that day doesn't work for us, so I was excited to see they were doing some extended family activities during the week between Christmas and New Years. Casey was off work, but hunting, so Nanny joined us for our visit.

Since we were at Forest Park, we decided to stop by The Jewel Box first to see the poinsettias.

To be honest, I was expecting more poinsettias, but it was still nice. It cost a dollar a person for those over the age of five (it's free a couple mornings a week). Though I don't know if I'll ever go again, I don't feel bad for paying $3 for the one time I did go.

Maybe because there isn't a lot to do inside the Jewel Box, the kids agreed to pose for an absurd amount of pictures.

We then headed to the Art Museum to do a scavenger hunt. The museum was hosting one for kids, but I think you could come up with something on your own anytime and it would go over well. Though I was a little worried about my kids in an art museum, they were really good. They loved the scavenger hunt, the mummies, the guns, the swords and the armor. They might even have looked at a few pictures.
I didn't take any pictures inside, oops! I didn't know you were allowed to until we were done. This first picture reminds me that the museum has had a special exhibit of Monet's Water Lilies that I regret not taking advantage of. Admission into the art museum is always fee. Special exhibits do cost, but they are free on Fridays.

It was a fun trip!

I know I need to not complain about the weather or the snow we are having now. It is January! Tomorrow we are hopefully headed to the  Ice Carnival on The Loop. It probably needs to be cold so the ice sculptures don't melt, though I'm hoping we don't freeze. That will be another post.

Best of Saint Louis Adventures 2011

Exploring Saint Louis has been one of the most fun things we have done as a family. I'm so glad we've been able to experience all these different places. I just wanted to share a few of my favorite things we did this year. There are so many, it's hard to choose.

Kids Vote for Best Adventure

Johnson Shut-Ins

Best Place We Ate

Pappy's

Best New Holiday Traditions

Christmas in Historic Saint Charles

Fair Saint Louis - Independence Day Weekend

Best Museum

City Museum

Best of Forest Park

Everything! I have renewed appreciation for this place!

Shakespeare Festival in the Park is now a must every year!

Best Treat

We had some awesome desserts at Crown Candy and Ted Drewes, but I'm going to go with

Fitz's Rootbeer

Actually, I just prefer a bottle. I don't even like soda, but this could become an addiction.

Best Must See At Least Once

Balloon Glow

Best Team, Best Fans, Best City

You can't be a true Saint Louisian without being a Cardinals fan! 

The fun's not over, either. A few more things for the list...Alton, Ice Carnival, festival in Kimmswick, downtown, to name just a few.

Way of Lights

We did this great Christmas Activity three weeks ago, but things have been so busy since then, I haven't had time to blog about it. I have to at least blog about it before Christmas though. So even though I should be cleaning my house and getting ready for one awesome Christmas Eve dinner (and it better be awesome because I just spent A LOT of money on tenderloin), I'm going to throw some pictures in this blog post and wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows' Way of Lights is very popular in the St. Louis area. Why we had never gone, I don't know. They provide a free drive though Christmas light display centered on Christ's birth with over a million lights and a beautiful manger scene. My camera did not take beautiful  pictures of the manger scene though, so you'll have to settle for a Wise Men.

They also host several free Christmas activities. The kids enjoyed a puppet show, making a craft and checking out Christmas trees with storybook themes.

They also do camel rides and a laser show for a fee.

If you've never been, it's worth the drive over. Activities will be going on though January 1st. 

Christmas at Historic Main in St. Charles

Let the Christmas festivities begin!
I love Old Main Street in St. Charles! We use to go there on a regular basis, then we had children. Strollers and kids who touch everything aren't a good match for the shops on Historic Main Street. However, their Christmas activities lured us back. Though we didn't take them into any of the stores, the kids had a blast.

Historic Main Street in St. Charles allows you to stroll down the brick lined street hosting speciality shops and restaurants housed in building from 200 years ago.

During the holiday season, Historic Main hosts Christmas Traditions.  An "old-fashioned Christmas with storybook characters, Victorian Carolers, and Santas from around the world." Characters from Christmas pasts, stories and legends roam the streets, greet you in character and pass out character cards (similar to a baseball card) for the children to collect. Here is Hailey with a few of her cards at the beginning of our adventure (she ended up with about 25 out of 33).

Brenton receiving a card from the Ice Queen.

The kids with the Civil War Santa.

A visit with Santa Lucia.

All the characters do a small parade in the afternoon and a short show. I don't think either one is really necessary to attend. The parade is short and you have to be right next to the show to hear it, but the kids had fun with their cousins anyway. It might be a good place to finish collecting cards though.

We also saw roasted chestnuts (who knew they weren't just part of a song?)

and heard the carolers perform.

There are plenty of treats available to purchase...cookies, hot chocolate and icecream (and the weather was nice enough that people were actually eating icecream). We got our treats from the English Shop since Dad's grandmother is from England and he has a soft spot for Cadbury candy.

Historic Main is right next to the Missouri river with a nice trail and grassy area. The weather was beautiful the day after Thanksgiving, so we spent some time down by the river playing with our cousins as well.

Dad slept through this part. He did all the crazy hour Black Fridays shopping so he's forgiven.

The kids loved meeting all the characters and collecting the cards. The Santas, Tiny Tim and Clara from The Nutcrackers were some of their favorites. I think we'll definitely try to go again next year.

Taste of St. Louis

While we are getting ready to eat lots of good food in a couple days, I thought I'd finally do my Taste of St. Louis post from September. It only lasts a weekend, and since I didn't post about it immediately after, I figured it would have to be for future reference anyway.

Every September, Taste of St. Louis takes place downtown. Admission is free, and then you pay for the food you want to try. The food usually ranges in price from $2 to $7. They also have entertainment, an art and wine walk (liked looking at the art for sale, didn't try the wine), booths from various companies and an activity area for children. Casey and I went as a date and had lots of fun. We'll definitely go again, but we're still not going to bring our kids. Even with activities for children, my kids aren't to an age where it would be fun or cost effective to feed them this way.

Taste of St. Louis takes place at Soldier Memorial Park downtown.

Next to this beautiful building, which I think is City Hall (though I could be wrong, it's been a while).

Anyway, there are lots of white tents set up with little chalk boards with menu items and prices.

I had this delicious tenderloin sandwich from Pujols 5. My dad raised beef cattle so I appreciate good beef, and this was good.

And I tried someones famous lasagna.

Casey tried lots of barbecue (and there was lots of barbecue places to choose from).

It was lots of fun trying things from different restaurants. And it was nice to have such a variety of restaurants to pick from.

One thing to note -  No outside food or beverages are allowed. Not a problem, since you came to eat anyway. However, alcohol is the primary beverage for sale. Water has to be purchased and it was not cheap. The rules were only posted outside the event and I can't find them easily online, however, I do think you can bring in water bottles?

Fall

Well, well...It looks like I have kinda been a slacker! But here's what I've been looking at out my kitchen window.

It's been beautiful here and the weather has been almost as nice. Then there was all the World Series excitement. Did you see Game 6? Crazy?! But of course, the Cardinals won it all and everyone in all of Saint Louis is very happy! Especially this boy, who was Albert Pujols for Halloween.

So now that I'm feeling a little cold and a little less distracted by other things, I'll fill you in on our Saint Louis fall activities after the fact (I have a post I still need to do that is really after the fact, so this is nothing).

We headed to Bass Pro Shop for free Halloween pictures, crafts and s'mores. They have since started their Christmas festivities.

We also made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch with our Saint Louis cousins and Nanny (Papa was busy). There are so many pumpkin patches and farms here that have fall festivities. This year I was hoping to try somewhere new, but we kind of ran out of time and ended up at Stuckmeyers for the third or fourth year in a row. We always have a good time there though.

We like Stuckmeyers because admission is free. There are a few animals to see (which included the cutest little pig ever), tricycles to ride, a small maze, sandboxes to play in and a large playground to enjoy.

Ethan especially liked this green pumpkin. His favorite color.

They also have a couple activities you can pay for...pony rides, bouncy houses and a hayride to name a few. We always do the hayride. It's $3 a person for about a 15 minute ride. It has character cut outs  along the way that the kids love.

My favorite part of the the trip turned out to be food (I guess that's not surprising for coming from me). We bought kettle corn and then found these delicious carmel apples. After the apples were gone we dipped the popcorn in the carmel. It was all very yummy!

I already have plans to visit some fun places for the Christmas holidays. I'll try to be a little more timely about posting those adventures.