Travels with Ch - Days 5 & 6

Baby K was not well, so Thursday, I struck off for the St. Louis Science Center with Ch & Li. Li is a born builder and always heads straight for the blocks and toys that connect. Ch preferred the computer games but had to fight his way through the adults to have an opportunity to work on the computers.







They were joined by some other children and all worked cooperatively to build a soft block model of the arch. This one stood longer than any of the others I have seen.




The whole Center, which is free BTW, is geared to children in various stages of development. The older ones can read the instructions and reasoning to get the real story. Best of all, were the volunteers which are occasionally positioned at various areas to assist the children. They encourage and challenge the children who would ordinarily race through the different areas.

Well, maybe best of all are the Science Shows. Energetic young adults share experiments and ideas with the children. We saw presentations on Peeps, Hot & Cold, and, as an added bonus, a demonstration by the summer camp cup speed stacking kids. These were located right by the dinosaurs which, fortunately for us, no longer roar.





We spent 7 hours at the Museum and had two tired little boys that night.

The next day Gordo took the boys to the City Museum (which was not free, but "worth every penny") and gave us two tired boys again.

Maybe next time we will go to Purina Farms.

Travels with Ch - Day 4

After I did some work in the garden of the House Next Door (Those roses are not going anywhere for anyone!), I took Ch to the Arch. We drove all over town looking for a parking space, but there were non e to be found. Then, luckily, we stumbled on a metered space that was free, but the sign warned there was no parking from 4-6. Not enough time, we thought. I had almost given up when we spied parking specifically for the Arch. I guess the people attending the Cardinals game had not found it.

We had a nice walk through a lovely park to access the Arch. Stopped for a photo which shows the bridge we crossed into Illinois while we were searching for parking. The Mississippi is flooded upstream but not presenting problems here.

We traveled to the top of the Arch in small cars which hold 5 small people comfortably. Not too many people in Missouri are small.

The cars travel to the top of the Arch rather like a Ferris wheel gets around a circle. Our car had no ventilation on the trip up, we fared better on the trip down.

The view from the top is awesome. The day was fairly clear but the windows were hazy from the viewing habits of our predecessors. Don't suppose they get frequent outside washing either.

We had a nice view of the stadium where the Cardinals were playing. Missourians take their baseball seriously and most of the town wears red on game days.

Wordless Wednesday- Floating Art

St. Louis, Missouri

Wordless Wenesday

The Carriage Ride

Thursday evening, 27 December 2007, was a fairytale trip. Ten members of our family climbed into a white, horse-drawn carriage for a ride through the "Winter Wonderland" light display in Tillis Park, St Louis, Missouri. The girls sang Christmas carols as we clip-clopped throughout the park, exclaiming at all the displays of lighting wizardry laid out before us. We had bundled up in all the warm clothes we had brought, snuggled together under the blankets provided in the carriage, and still shivered beneath it all. The cars gave the right of way to the persistent draft horse pulling our carriage. We were thankful we were not in the bumper to bumper traffic inching through the park.



Photos were difficult because the carriage ride was somewhat jostling for cameras using low lights, but I got this image of one of my favorite displays, a wreath over the bridge. There was another really cool display of a fisherman in a boat landing a big fish. The lake, and river flowing into it, were combinations of blue and white "moving" lights that gave the beautiful effect of a flowing river.

The only improvement we could have made on the evening would have been a nice snowfall. Nevertheless, we rallied in the cold and returned to our digs to share popcorn, hot chocolate, and tales of our carriage ride.

The Magic House

The Magic House is an actual, renovated, 5500 square foot, 1901 Victorian mansion in St. Louis, Missouri. It was formerly owned by the Edwards family, of A.G. Edwards investment fame. A Children's Museum, it is a not-for-profit organization. It is one of the nicest children's museums I have seen, and very child-friendly. Not just child-friendly in "yes, you can touch." It is child-friendly in "yes, you can touch and not expect things to fall apart when you do."


The museum claims to have 400,000 visitors annually and I do think almost all of them were there today. We stood in line on the porch for about 20 minutes, waiting for entry. The museum opened at 12:30 and we arrived at 2:00. Only 50 people were admitted every 15 minutes. Even though crowded, the house reverberated with the joyous sounds of children and discovery.


There were 5 children and 4 adults in our group. Since one child was a carry-on, the 4 adults split up to be one-on-one with the other four children. Each child was allowed to run and explore his / her own interests at his/her own pace. It worked well, but the adults were exhausted when the children were still scurrying about.


The four floors of the Magic House are dedicated to the wonders of science, art, and music. An Electrostatic Generator stands your hair on end with millions of volts of harmless static electricity. "Recollections," an interactive video exhibit, allows movements to be transformed into works of art. The "Shadow Wall" freezes your shadow on a phosphorescent green wall so you can step back and see it. Balls in Motion, a Magnet Room, Air Power, Fitness exploration, the Sound Room, and the Observation Station, are a few of the opportunites we explored.

No doubt about it, St. Louis wins the children's museum competition....hands down!

Turtle Playground

Nestled in between the freeway and rows of vintage brick homes lies Turtle Playground, on the south side of Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri.

Three giant turtles, four small ones, and a cache of hatching turtle eggs were designed by St. Louis artist, Robert Cassilly. They were cast in amazing detail from concrete and named after members of the founding benefactor's family.

Two serpents silently await their opportunities at one end of the small park. One surrounds the hatching eggs, while the other attempts to take a bite out of the Hwy 40 overpass.

Meanwhile, visitors can take a seat on the serpents' backs for a minute's rest or assist a small child to walk the length of their backs.

Just a short walk away, adjacent to Turtle Playground, is an area with playground equipment and open space for running and letting off steam. A variety of trees promises bright spring growth and cool summer shade, but this time of year we enjoy the winter leaves.

Having missed what must have been a spectacular show of autumn color, we elect to play in the brown leaves that cover the ground. It somehow frees the inner child in all of us to pick up as many leaves as we can hold, toss them into the air, and watch them twirl as they fall to the ground once again. We stomp and run and delight in the crunch of dried leaves, knowing they will return to the earth to replenish life.

Autumn is my favorite time of year, especially in an area that provides true seasonal changes.