KCKidsFun

In case you missed Part 1 of my Roadtrip wrap up…it was an I-70 tour de force.  We had LOTS of fun in Indianapolis and jumped on I-70 for the quick trip to Oxford, OH.  Oxford is home to Miami University, my alma mater…and I hadn’t been back in years.  Suffice it to say a LONG time.  (I wouldn’t want to date myself or anything!)  In fact, my husband had never visited the campus, so I was really looking forward to introducing him, our 9-year-old and his friend to Oxford. My 4-year-old daughter sat this one out and had some one-on-one time with Grandma and Grandpa.  Probably a blessing for all involved!!

We chose a quiet week to visit, it was that dead time that occurs between the end of summer classes and the beginning of the new school year.  So many memories came rushing back…I loved it!  I loved sharing my school with my son, too.  They saw my freshman dorm (Emerson Hall–it looked so SMALL!) and the house I lived in with 12 other girls my junior and senior years.  It couldn’t have been more than 1500 square feet.  Ridiculous.  Miami is such a beautiful campus–just ask George Clooney, who recently wrapped shooting “The Ides of March”– with some being filmed on the campus.  If you ever have a chance to visit, you should!

At about 1pm the following day, we headed west again for the 6 hour trip to St. Louis. (5 if you count the time change!)  We have lots of family in St. Louis, so there’s never a shortage of places to stay.  We headed straight for Fitz’s- where they bottle their own root beer.  It’s one of those places in a funky part of town, that we ALWAYS work into our trips to “the Lou” because kids just like it that much.

After staying the night with my sister and her family in Chesterfield, we visited an aunt and uncle.  And the piece de resistance for 9-year-olds:  they had a pool.  With a diving board.  Vacation nirvana!

The ending of our amazing getaway:  we saw the Cardinals take on the Cubs in the new Busch Stadium. Granted, it was well over 100 degrees at 7pm, but the game was nationally televised on ESPN and the place was rocking!  We had so much fun.  Even got to see a homerun.  No win for the redbirds, but loads of fun nonetheless.  Seems like baseball has been a common theme for us this summer, so it’s only fitting that we ended our I-70 roadtrip with a ball game!

Well, we made it!  Safe and sound at home in KC after 6 days on the road. Looks like we made it just in time to welcome the 104-degree day that awaits us tomorrow!

We had a terrific time and visited some really cool attractions.  Our first stop was Indianapolis, IN.  Indy is about an 8-hour drive east on I-70.  It’s an easy drive, with St. Louis making for an easy pit stop along the way.  We stayed at Caribbean Cove. I think it was a Holidome in a former life, and now resembles a Coco Key; complete with indoor water slides, big water dumping bucket and the whole nine yards.  The kids LOVED it. Aside from the ridiculous humidity in the water park, it was okay!  A fun kickoff to the weekend.

We visited the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, and this was far and away the best family museum I’ve ever seen.  It was simply amazing.  It was large, colorful, educational, hands-on and just plain fun!  We actually went back the next day because we didn’t get to see everything by closing time.  Within its four floors, there are science-themed exhibits, historical exhibits, a century-old carousel, a vintage toy display, and more.  There was a special Barbie-themed area, and I really enjoyed learning more about Anne Frank in the ‘historical’ section.  So much to see, touch, smell and explore.  Awesome! Best part?  Free parking and you can eat right there.  And the food was really good, and good for you!

We hit the Indianapolis Zoo, and went through rather quickly due to the heat.  We caught a 1030am dolphin show which was fantastic.  It was indoors, and the dolphin pool was enormous!  There were 3 trainers and 6 dolphins when we went, and they put on a great show for the hundreds in attendance. Plus…it felt great to sit indoors in the A/C! Definitely a highlight of the Zoo trip.  Also fun was the shark-petting tank. Have you ever heard of a dog shark? There were about 25 of them in a 2-foot-deep pool, and the kids couldn’t get their little hands in there fast enough!  We hit the polar bear/penguin/fish exhibits at the end.

I must say, as awesome as Indy’s Zoo was, the polar bear exhibit didn’t come close to what we now have in Kansas City!  Nikita is such an active young cub in an amazing environment…we are really fortunate!

Next stop…Oxford, Ohio!  Stay tuned.

I took my two kids, one nephew, one husband, 6 power bars and 24 Charms Blow Pops to St. Louis last week.  We had such a great time and really enjoyed our long weekend!  It was great to get away and we are fortunate enough to have lots of family and friends there.  We stayed in an inexpensive hotel one night (because that’s what vacation is all about; a place with an indoor pool and an elevator and electronic key cards!) and the next two nights we stayed with family.

We had a pretty packed weekend and didn’t have much down time.  We headed to St. Louis on Friday and met up for dinner with my brother and his darling new bride.  We ate at Fitz’s, a kid-friendly restaurant in University City– a fun, busy college-town kind of place.  Fitz’s makes root beer on site and serves a ridiculously big root beer float!  The kids had a great time. Saturday (the hottest, most humid day of the year to date) found us at the Zoo in Forest Park.  Naturally, we had to hit the zoo on the day the heat index hit 112!! I have to say–it was totally worth it.  Admission to the zoo is FREE, which is unbelievable for a zoo of this caliber. You do have to pay to see some of the shows/exhibits/train, but they are optional so you can get out for not a ton of money.

The highlight of the zoo was Stingray Cove–an exhibit with a limited run through September.  It was so cool!  The kids loved it. There was a 17000 gallon tank that was about 3 feet deep and full of stingrays and horseshoe crabs.  They were just zipping around the tank like it was a racetrack and we could all lay on our stomachs on the ledge, extend an arm into the water, and pet the rays as they zoomed by.  The kids couldn’t believe it!

The next day we went up to the top of the Gateway Arch.  Another incredible experience!  If you go, take a backpack with crayons, a book or some other entertainment–we had to wait nearly 90 minutes from the time we purchased our tickets until our appointed time to take the cars to the top. The views of the city were amazing!

Magic House St. Louis Children’s Museum was another terrific stop.  This was an amazing place and perfect for any age–from 2 to 92. There aren’t too many places like that; where everyone in the family agrees, “That was awesome!”  Magic House is full of exhibits and experiments, all with a science and discovery theme.  I learned that the Magic House was the home where A.G. Edwards (of the brokerage firm) raised his family in the early 1900’s and that he was the director of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis and planned much of it from that house!

Last stop on our weekend away– the famous Ted Drewes custard stand. You can’t visit St. Louis without eating a concrete from Ted Drewes!  When we pulled up to the stand, it appeared that we were one of about 100 people in line.  But that place is a well-oiled machine– we ordered and had concretes in hand within 5 minutes.

We had a wonderful weekend and it was the perfect end to our summer. Enjoy this last bit of summer, readers.  (We’d love to hear about your family adventures, too!  Feel free to leave a comment here or on our Facebook page.)