Monday, May 14, 2012

Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House

We had a visitor! It was very exciting!  So exciting that it really shouldn't have taken me a month and a half to blog about it, but better late than never... My sister, Amy, came to see us in March. We had lots of fun just having her around, but, of course, we fit in a couple adventures as well.

Amy, Ethan and I spent a morning at the Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House. It's a been awhile since I've been to the Butterfly House, so I'm glad Amy wanted to go.


We watched a short movie and checked out some insects of the non-butterfly variety before heading into the butterfly conservatory.

There are butterflies everywhere, but they are so hard to get pictures of. In March they release extra Blue Morpho butterflies, so we saw lots of beautiful blue butterflies, even if we don't have great pictures to prove it.


Ethan was a good sport. He posed for lots of pictures and stood very still so a butterfly might land on him. We had to settle for taking a picture next to a butterfly instead.

I didn't post most of the pictures, but Ethan started to look the same in all of them, so we changed things up with a little silliness.


The Butterfly House is located in Faust Park, which is also home to the Faust Park Carousel. This is one of the few places we pay to ride the carousel (but maybe that's because it use to be cheaper?).


We're so glad Aunt Amy came to see us. And since we went to the Botanical Gardens while she was here, too, I ended up buying a membership (covers both the Butterfly House and the Botanical Gardens) and we should be visiting the Butterfly House again soon.

Sharing the Love

A couple weekends ago, Casey and I used a Groupon I bought for a St. Louis Fun Trolley Tour.

It was fun. We didn't see much we haven't seen before, but we learned lots of fun information. It makes me kind of proud to be from St. Louis (not that I was unproud before, after all, I blog about the place). Our tour guide was great, just sharing his love of St Louis with people from all over the world.

Speaking of love, St Louisans do love free. One tidbit of information from our tour was that St. Louis is second only to Washington DC in free attractions. Maybe that's why St. Louis was named the top city for cheapskates. I think that's considered a high honor when it means you boast one of the highest number of museums and libraries per capita.

Love My St. Louis!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery

Happy Pi Day! I actually don't like math. I'm terrible at it! But I really, really like pie! So if I can use March 14th, or 3.14, as an excuse to eat lots of pie, I'm all for it!

In honor of 3.14, I thought I'd share an adventure to the home of some famous, Oprah approved pie.

The Blue Owl is located in Historic Kimmswick.The town hosts a couple festivals during the year, but all year you can enjoy some Blue Owl goodness. Just check the hours before you go because they're only open during the middle of the day. They serve homemade-style food. I recommend the White Chicken Chilli. They are most known though for what comes out of their bakery.

The Levee High Carmel Peacon Apple Pie has been featured on the Today Show, The Oprah Magazine and The Food Network. It really looks amazing! The crust tastes amazing, too! The inside is just okay, in my opinion, but the best part of any pie is the crust anyway.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

This and That

My kids are on spring break this week. This makes me very excited because it means it's finally spring and we're going to have fun! I'm not such a fan of winter. I want one good snowman making snowfall, then I'm ready to get back to fun which usually involves parks, the zoo, and warm weather. We've made our snowmen...

and now it's time to blog about some odds and ends from this winter so we can once again have some warm Saint Louis fun!
We did go to The Loop for the Ice Carnival back in January as mentioned in my last post. The Loop always reminds me that I am not young or chic anymore, though I was probably never chic. I am a mom of three young kids, which I'd much rather be anyway. I do plan on making a trip to The Loop with my young, chic sisters, but unless I'm taking my kids to eat at Fitz's, there's no point in taking them there, Ice Carnival or not.

Speaking of Fitz's, most of the businesses had ice sculptures on display.

The kids enjoyed watching a block of ice turn into Peter Pan.

There was some entertainment on the streets.

The Ice Slides were a big hit.

The kids could also collect chocolate coins.

It wasn't a bad trip to The Loop, just one that's easier with one kid or older kids. We still had some fun though.

In eating news, Casey and I checked out Bogart's Smokehouse after seeing it on St. Louis Magazine's best new restaurant list. I think I would love that magazine, but for now I'm just reading it in doctor offices. Located in Soulard, it's set up and tastes a lot like Pappy's (I think the chef is from Pappy's). We still like Pappy's better, but it was fun and worth the trip.

Casey and I also went to the Iron Barley, made famous by Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, with Casey's parents and grandmother.

I'll just call this place interesting, though my husband's family really liked it.
Here's a picture of my Monte Criso hotdog as featured on TV. Though I don't need to have it again, I now think all hotdogs should be served with strawberry preserves.

Friday, January 13, 2012

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.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

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

Best Place We Ate

Best New Holiday Traditions



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

Best Must See At Least Once

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.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

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.