Our vacation must-dos

A graciously early spring gave our family an opportunity this month: Vacation!

Our St. Louis must-dos:

· The Zoo, Magic House, Grant’s Farm

· Me: Drink out of a coffee cup each morning

· Hubby: Eat a good slice of pizza

· G: Go down the slide, 20 times

On the way to the Magic House we stopped in at Pudd’nhead Books on Big Bend Road, where we touch and browse books handpicked by independent bookstore owners.

G grabs an Elmo cooking book and flops on a miniature chaise sofa in the children’s area. This bookstore won’t hold every book in the publishing world, but they did own some good reads.

We carried this hardback out of the store with us and read it immediately in the car seat:

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey and Tom Lichtenheld. The colors and illustrations look striking in this book. Aha, one author worked as a graphic designer.

The soft cover book, Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jumping, Throwing, and More is a clear winner. Jack pretlutsky writes grand-slam verses about sports, and Chris Raschka creates energetic water-color like illustrations.

This book is branded as a Dragon Fly book , and at $8.00 the price is just right for me. So perfect, I search online for more books such as this and found the Random House website, which organizes books by age and theme. A keeper for someone in the teaching field, or a momma who is really into books.

 

The Magic House brings back my own memories of exploring and learning in this Victorian style house. We meet up with my good childhood friend and her daughter, and head to the toddler area.
Sand. Water. Slides. Cool walls kiddos can push in. This place could keep our little ones busy for hours!

We enjoyed a day at the Zoo, where we checked out many animals. Our favorite were the orangutans , which dined on lettuce while we watched. I would say the animals at the Zoo didn’t quite impress Grant. He gets to actually touch and feed the cows at Grandpa and Grandma’s house. It’s hard to beat that.. right? The Zoo was still fabulous and a highly recommended must see in St. Louis.

At Grant’s Farms, G sticks out his tongue for the first 30 minutes of our visit (a true Rudolphi trait, my family tells me) Family truly made our visit here a wonderful time, since we met up with cousins, aunts and uncles who were also vacationing in St. Louis. When brought up close to the Clydesdales, G forcefully shook his head no. His face read: “No, dad. I don’t wanna ride this horsey.”

To check off the pizza request, we dined on Delmar Street at Pi Pizza, where waiters slipped bowls of water under tables for dogs while their masters ordered deep dish, corn meal dusted pizza. Puppies create long moments of G admiration, meaning G actually sat in his chair for the meal. When this momma can eat a meal with both hands, it’s worth noting. And since the restaurant served local brews for a mathematically agreeable $3 point 14 cents, I think Daddy felt happy too.

During our vacation we stayed at Shaw Guest Suite, a fully furnished apartment in the trendy Tower Grove area of St. Louis. G’s little shoes pitter pattered on the hard wood floors, just like they do at our own house. The place felt like home. With bed time stories available on a bookshelf, I read the classic tale Billy Goat’s Gruff two times one evening.

By day two, G pointed excitedly at the red door with colorful flag posted in the grass which marked our dwelling for the week. The fountain park across the street gave G a fun afternoon of splashing in the hot sun.

We loved our vacation. An entire week with all three of us together = perfect.

What are some fun St. Louis activities your crew likes to do?

Lauren