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As I mentioned the other day, one of the things we did this past weekend to ring in the summer was go to City Garden in downtown St. Louis. They have these cool chimes embedded in the ground and you can step or jump on them to make music. They sound beautiful and it is a lot of fun to watch all the kids (and adults) playing on them.
Last year Maya couldn’t make the chimes go on her own. Lorne had to hold her and really jump her up and down on each square to make any noise. This year she is able to do it on her own. She can’t get them to go every time but when she steps in just the right spot and hard enough she can get them to go. It was fun to watch her give it a try.
We all know that Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer. The past few years we have planned our little family vacation around this time of year so we’ve been welcoming in the summer else where. This year we were home for the big long weekend and didn’t really have any big plans. We decided the best way to kickoff our summer was to head out and do some of our favorite St. Louis activities.
Our weekend started with a trip to the Missouri Botanical Gardens, one of our favorite things to do, that included checking out the very cool Dinoquest exhibit and the Children’s Garden. Next to the zoo, the botanical gardens is always top on Maya’s list of things to do.
Sunday we decided swimming was in order since it was so hot. We headed to one of our favorite local Missouri state parks, Castlewood. We found a nice shady spot by the spring fed creek and settled in for a day of rock throwing, wading in the water and picnicking.
And we finished the weekend off with a trip to City Garden, this great little garden/park in the middle of downtown St. Louis. We loved it last year and I think it was an even bigger hit this year since Maya was able to do a lot more.
All in all it was a fabulous start to our summer. I’m really looking forward to all the fun things in store for us this summer.
Happy Summer everyone!!!!
The Missouri Botanical Gardens located in St. Louis is a truly beautiful and amazing place to visit. No matter what time of year you decide to visit the Gardens there is always something blooming and blossoming. Founded in 1859 the Missouri Botanical Gardens boosts the oldest, continuously running gardens in the nation. 79 acres of lush greenery, beautiful blooms, fish filled ponds and meandering walkways make the Botanical Gardens a draw to many in the St. Louis area and beyond.
We try to get to the Botanical Gardens every few months or so. This past weekend, since the weather here was absolutely gorgeous, we decided to take advantage of their free admission for St. Louis City and County residents on Saturday mornings. The tulips, azaleas, peonys and blossoming trees were all in bloom.
Every where we turned we were surrounded by bright colors, lovely scents and beauty. Maya loved stopping to smell all the different flowers and taking a few minutes to stop and feed the koi. We got a ton of beautiful pictures. It was a truly amazing way to spend our Saturday morning.
The Botanical Gardens is a great place for families. There is so much for kids to explore; pathways to wander down, ponds filled with fish to feed, and a wonderful children’s garden. My favorite part is that they label every flower, plant and tree with the name and information about conditions it needs to so you can find some new things that may work in your home garden. I highly recommend taking advantage of this wonderful treasure of St. Louis.
For St. Louis City and County residents the Gardens offers free admission on Wednesday and Saturday mornings before noon, otherwise admission is $4 dollars ($8 for those visitors from outside St. Louis County). There is also often special exhibits at the Gardens which requires an additional admission fee.
The Butterfly House here in St. Louis, MO is a great activity to do with your kids either on a cold day in the middle of winter when you just need to feel some warmth, or on a yucky, rainy day any time of the year.
The Butterfly House is operated by the Missouri Botanical Gardens and is located within Faust Park in Chesterfield (a western suburb of St. Louis). The Butterfly House is open year round and offers people an opportunity to see and experience almost 50 different variates of butterfly. It consists of a walk through a butterfly garden that allows you a chance to get up close and personal with the butterflies (they are known to land on you!), several different bug exhibits in the main lobby, a movie that teaches child (and adults) about the life of a butterfly starting out when it hatches as a caterpillar to when it takes flight as a butterfly. They also have a cute little gift shop.
The cost for the butterfly house is $6 per adult and $4 per child 3-12 years old (under 3 is free). This is the only down side to the Butterfly House. Although I think the facility is amazing and love that it offers you an opportunity to get so close with so many butterflies I think the cost is a bit high for what you get. I’ve been several times and just suck it up and pay the admission because both myself and Maya just love it there, but I think a fee of a couple dollars less would be more reasonable.
For the most part you can expect to spend about 1-1.5 hours at the Butterfly house. The little educational movie they show is about 15 mins long and you can spend as much time as you want walking through the butterfly garden. It is really hot and humid in there so usually 30-45 minutes is tops for us.
Maya just loves seeing all the butterflies, especially when they land on either us or our stuff (one landed on our camera last time we were there!). I would definitely recommend the Butterfly House to families looking for something a little different to do with their kids when the weather gets bad.
At the St. Louis Zoo
Going to the St. Louis Zoo is absolutely one of our favorite things to do. We go at least once a month, and sometimes have even been know to go once a week if the weather is right. The zoo is located in Forest Park and is very easy (and quick) to get to from pretty much anywhere in the St. Louis area. The most amazing thing about the St. Louis Zoo is that it is free to the public, no admission fee. There is, of course, a fee to park (although street parking is fairly easy to come by) and there are attractions within the zoo that have a fee including the; train, carosuel, children’s zoo, sea lion show and new sting ray exhibit. However, it is very easy to have a wonderful trip to the zoo for very little money.
The zoo does offer Zoo Memberships, we have one. The membership gives you a limited number of free parking passes, vouchers for the pay exhibits and rides within the zoo, discounts on merchandise and food, as well as a monthly zoo magazine subscription, access to member only programs and early openings. If you live in the area and use the zoo frequently I highly recommend the membership (think of it as a way of giving back to the zoo and getting a few perks out of it!).
Maya just adores going to the zoo. I’m sure she would go every day if she could. A trip to see the “malmals” is by far her favorite thing to do. We are lucky and live only about 5 minutes from the zoo so we can go quite often. Sometimes we’ll even just go over to walk around for an hour.
Pure joy!!
Maya loves all animals, and the zoo provides her with a great chance to visit with old and new favorites. The zoo isn’t huge, but does have a great selection of animals. Here are a few of her favorites that can be seen at the St. Louis Zoo.
Penguins
Sun Bear
Lemurs
Tiger cubs
Mom and baby elephants
Baby giraffe
Hippos
If you live in the St. Louis area I recommend adding the zoo to your regular routine. You just can’t beat it, especially since you can go for free (yes, I said free!!). If you are visiting St. Louis I highly recommend adding the zoo to your list of things not to miss. Young or old, it doesn’t matter, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
We go for the memories (hers and ours!)