Last Day in St. Louis (for 2009 at least!)

AJ was a completely different little girl today; you could tell that she felt a lot better! P, DL, AJ, dad, and I all went to the Science Center, near the St. Louis Zoo (which is an amazing zoo - but they don't have dolphins). Although A was a little too young for most of the things there, she seemed to have a really good time and so did the rest of us.

Because I'm weird, I thought it was pretty amazing to see "live" dinosaur fossils - aka fossils of a triceratops and other dinosaurs that were not just casts. I've never seen actual fossils of dinosaurs and I've always wanted to, so that right there made me like the Science Center a lot.
They also had a mummy of a 7 or 8 month old boy from about 2,000 years ago - another thing that really interested me.
There were a bunch of other cool things (earthquake stuff, aviation information, architectural items, ect) but those two were probably my favorite. I'm hoping that sometime this spring we'll be able to come down and go again because they also have what looked like a really awesome playground outside. It's so fun with Abby because she loves to look at everything and will probably be in the climbing stage pretty shortly.

St. Louis has a vast array of places people are able to go and do, many of them free. I believe their zoo is ranked #3 in the nation and it's free, the Science Center was free, they also have the City Museum which isn't free but your family can very easily spend the whole day playing and discovering there. Then there is Grants Farm and Grants Trail (both free), the Anheuser Brewery (free tours with two free beer samples at the end), and the tallest national monument, the Arch (which is not free, but the museum under it is). So if you're looking for a pretty fun and affordable family vacation with lots of activities, St. Louis is a pretty good spot.

Tomorrow, pops and I are heading back home bright and early to MN, where I'm sure the lack of snow in MO will surely be made up for. One of my cousins reported 13" of build-up in their yard; I'm rather excited to see all of it!

I'm going to miss my sis, her hubby, and the baby quite a lot, but P has already planned a trip up with AJ in January, so only about three weeks before I get to see them again - yay! Our family is pretty close and I'm very lucky to be able to see my sister and niece quite often for living 10 hours away.

I hope everyone had/has a safe drive back home from all of the Christmas festivities and don't forget to rest up as New Years is right around the corner :)