Legoland

I had a coupon to Legoland pinned to the fridge for a few weeks and today Allison asked if we could go. The coupon was for free kid admission with adult admission purchase. It's a very pricey outing ($18 per person), but I haven't been so I thought it would be a fun way to spend the morning. Nathan has taken Allison in the past and they really enjoyed. He assured me that the outing wouldn't take more than a couple of hours.

He was incorrect.

Allison and I were the only people there when we arrived (at 9:30am) and throughout the day, maybe 10 kids joined us (with times where once again we were the only people). It was great because it feels like a small facility and I can't imagine being there when it's busy. There are several stations set up, along with a 4D movie theatre, and 2 rides. We did everything at least twice because we were there for 4.5 hours! And Allison wanted to stay longer!

Legoland highlights"
-the karaoke area which reminded me how absolutely tone deaf I am (thank goodness no one else was there to hear me sing Dolly's "9 to 5"
-the sit on ride where you had to use a toy gun and shoot things like ogres to save the King and Queen and each rider gets a score
-the pizza making station
-the playground with a turning wheel where Allison did repeated handstands and gave all the other mother's watching heart attacks
-the 4D movie theatre when snow fell from the ceiling

We spent our time building and chatting and when we needed a break we headed to the cafe for the lunches I packed for us. I would definitely go back.

 

 

 

 

 We were proud to display our Lego designs on the hall of fame wall.

 

When we got home, I needed a break from child's play so Allison went to her room to play a game on her tablet. As I was cleaning, I noticed how quiet it was. I found her like this. She hasn't taken an afternoon nap in months but I had a feeling she would sneak away for a rest.

Drawing

 I was getting ready today and just stopped to watch Allison draw at the kitchen table. It was just a sweet moment that I wanted to catch.

PV Patrol

 Allison and I were sitting on the front porch after I picked her up from school today when a police car pulled over another car. This is a common occurrence because we're off a main street so people often pull in front of our house as a safe place to pullover. Today however, I could tell there were several (6+) in the car, and the driver, after getting a ticket proceeded to get out of the car, and talk with the officers/talk on the phone. This lasted for about 20 minutes (with no one else getting out of the car), then two more police cars arrived (from nearby Shawnee) to join the 3 police cars already there. Eventually a woman got out and was arrested following a full pat down. Allison was very interested and since it wasn't hostile (except for when the police pulled away and the driver gave the police "the finger"), I let her watch.

Church Decorations

Today we stayed after church to help decorate the sanctuary for our upcoming Lessons and Carols Christmas service. Allison was really excited to help out and was a big helper when it came to decorating the tree.

 

Warm Weather

The weather was so nice while we were in St. Louis so we were able to have some outdoor adventures while some businesses were closed on Thanksgiving, and while many locations were busy on Black Friday.

Our first adventure was the Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville, MO. To get to the top of the mound, there was a large staircase. Allison made it all the way to the top without stopping. The views from the top were great.

 

We visited the gateway arch but weren't able to get close to it because there was construction in the park where it's located.

We had plans to visit Tim Hortons while we were in St. Louis (there are 3) but they were all closed from the holiday. Instead we found a coffee place near the sculpture park downtown and let Allison play while we enjoyed our coffee, then a picnic in the garden. Allison was really excited when she found water, then a camera/screen that she could perform in front of.

 

 

City Museum

Our second day in St. Louis was spent at the City Museum. The City Museum is in an old warehouse, it's 4 stories high and is advertised as a museum for adults. It was the oddest and most interesting tourist place I've ever visited. There were weird things in the dozens of rooms, like caves you could climb and crawl through, rebar that had been re-purposed into tubes that you could climb three stories from one level to the next. There were outdoor slides with converted airplanes and school buses and ball pits filled for adults. There were nets near the ceiling so people could climb above you in the same floor. There were skate board half pipes converted into slides, giant pencils to climb on, ropes to swing on, a hamster wheel to run it, a circus act to watch, a train to ride, a vault to go into, and I COULD GO ON!

I didn't take my camera in because I knew I would have to do a lot of climbing, so these pictures are from the internet.

I liked the museum and found it really interesting but it made me very claustrophobic. The tunnels were never ending, maze like, and very narrow. At one point Allison took off from me and Nathan had to go in and find her because I couldn't make myself go in the black tunnels. Allison was crying in a corner when Nathan finally found her and I'm sure that memory will scar her.

The cave area had tunnels that were so narrow, people were 'army crawling' through them. People arrived in knee and elbow pads! There were no marked exits and with how many people were in that place, it would have been a disaster if there was a fire.

Allison really liked it, and we had to convince her to leave one room to go to the next because there was so much to explore in each room.