St. Louis Zoo - Day #3

On Tuesday we got up early and headed out to the zoo.  Our plan was to get there by 8 and enjoy a few free things, but we got there a little later than expected and didn't want to rush to do the free things so instead we just bought the bands that allowed us to have a lot of fun.  I think the older kids would all agree that the 4D Motion simulator was their favorite thing.  I personally was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face, but I also have to admit that it doesn't take much to humor me. :)  Kate LOVED the train ride so we made sure to go on that twice!  This is such a nice zoo and would definitely recommend checking it out if you're in the area.

We hit the children's zoo almost first.  There were some really cool things to see and do in this part of the zoo...pet animals, watch a show, explore...

I loved these jelly fish!

Petting some rabbits

This is the most adorable little baby elephant ever!

By purchasing our bands we were able to go pet the stingrays.  The below picture shows their first reaction to touching the stingrays.  They were slimier than we thought they'd be but it was so cool!

Our first train ride.  Nice way to rest the tired feet for a while.

Watching the penguins.

St. Louis #2

On the second day, we decided to go to the City Museum due to the chance of rain for the day.  Yes, they did get a bunch of rain that day.  Kind of wish I could have bottled it all up and brought it up here. :)
This place is a little overwhelming, but we all still had a great time.  Kate wasn't quite old enough to enjoy it very much, but there were plenty of things she could do also.  Everyone agreed that the rooftop was their favorite.  I think that was due to the fact that it was more spread out and not as claustrophobic. :)

Kurtis & the older three really liked the giant slide!

You do have to watch out for the bump at the bottom.  I heard a lot of groans from people as I waited at the bottom. :)

This was as close as Kate would come to the slide.  There was much more for her to explore while the others were having fun.

Waiting patiently in line :)

The view of St. Louis from the rooftop.

Getting ready to go down the long slide - see pics below

Jaren going down...below they are climbing back up overtop the slide

This was Kate's favorite part of the City Museum.  She was drenched.  Thankfully I had extra clothes just in case so we were able to change her before we went to explore the inside.

Enjoying the rooftop ferris wheel.  Kurtis & Erica also rode on it.

Climbing the roof

These were fun tops for you to ride in.

It's hard to see, but Kurtis & Bethany are almost to the very top.

Climbing through the caves inside.

They had a children's area for kids 6 and under.  Erica was a good sport and rode the train with Kate.

They also have a cool craft area where you can make almost anything.  Here the kids are having fun with clay.  They were bummed when we wouldn't let the take their creations home.

St. Louis - Day #1

We took the kids to St. Louis for a few days of fun and just a chance to spend time together.  We all had a great time!
We drove down early on the first day and went to Six Flags.  We didn't even get to the waterpark or a whole other section of the park because it is so large to accomplish with 4 younger children. :)  The kids all did great and we only traumatized Kate a few times by making her go on rides that she hated...she is not the adventurous type!  She would have been content sitting in her stroller the entire day.  She did like most of the rides that we took her on once they started/ended.  Her favorite was the ferris wheel.  All of them loved Thunder River, the log ride & the scrambler (not the exact names).

Thunder River was our second ride of the day...everyone got a little wet, but I got drenched both times we went on it! :)

Now it was dad's turn to get soaking wet on the log ride

We bought a big drink to share that had free refills all day.  The kids thought that was great since we could pick a variety of pops, lemonade & powerade to fill it with.

Kate had waited patiently to ride on the train and she loved it!

Above & below are a couple other rides the kids enjoyed while Kurtis was off riding the huge roller coasters that we are all too chicken to ride.

Don't let Kate's smile fool you...this was before the carousel started.  I ended up singing the abc's with her to keep her mind off the ride.

More Thunder River pictures that are out of order...Kate sat by me and did not like getting wet. 

 

All in all it was a great day.  We were there until it closed and could have gone back the next day!