A great vacation in blustering St. Louis

Do you love free stuff? I do! Free admission to the Zoo. Free admission to the Science Center. Reciprocal admission to the Magic House (with membership to the Children's Museum of Memphis). Free playplace at CooperElla Cafe (coffeeshop). We drove four hours north to St. Louis for five days of crazy fun with the kids, and most of our days were spent on free, albeit cold, activities.

The high on Thursday was 7. That's seven. I've NEVER lived a day that cold in my life. Bundling up myself is certainly a daunting task, but dressing and bundling five kids and myself before one of them starts undressing can intimidate even the most determined mother.

We went to the Zoo on Wednesday. It was 20 degrees outside. Fortunately, because Missouri is technically the "North," they built many of their exhibits indoors. We ran from building to building to see bears, penguins, giraffes, ostriches, kangaroos and baby wallabies, tiger cubs, primates (but not apes), and reptiles. The kids handled snake skins, crococidle skins and skulls, and a rattle from a rattlesnake. Tobias and Tyler even crawled up to the spider monkeys and played hand games with them through the glass.

Isn't it wonderful to hear your kids laugh?

Because we were the ONLY idiots brave enough to face the freeze, our kids had the freedom to run and scream and play without interfering with others. Chris and I relaxed and enjoyed their thrill.

We went to the Magic House on Tuesday and Friday. We still didn't explore the whole thing! My favorite room, "A little bit of magic," allowed all of our children to play without our immediate supervision. Both entrances were guarded by employees so they couldn't wander off. They played in sand, in water, on slides, on stairs, with balls and bells, with rubberband shapes, with baby toys, and with a strange PVC-and-rubber-flip-flop musical instrument.

Of course, the rest of the Magic House, designed for children of all ages, kept them entertained as well, with an entire floor dedicated to a mini-village complete with grocery store, electric company, post office, pond and river (through which you could watch your fish swim back to the pond), pizza parlor, library (with real books!), and bank (where kids can learn to write a check--what's that?!) They had Once Upon a Child, a room full of fairy tale play. Believe me, we had to drag them out of there! They had an awesome musical instrument made out of a wooden ramp, down which the kids could roll a ball. As it dropped from step to step, it hit hidden xylophones and rang out the tune of Ode to Joy. The thing spanned an entire wall!

We love the Magic House. The four-hour drive was worth it for that alone. Admission is not free, but we have a membership to the Children's Museum of Memphis, and they accepted that membership on a reciprocal basis.

The Science House has dinosaurs on exhibit this season, but we spent so much time in the construction zone (building an Arch, of all things!) and the Discovery Room (specifically for youngsters) that we didn't have time to see the Dinosaurs. Sad times. We intended to go back on Friday afternoon, but when we saw snow set in, we determined it would be best to begin our drive home. The Science Center has free admission, but the Discovery Room, IMAX, and Planetarium, of course, cost extra. They also accept the Children's Museum reciprocal membership.

I won't review the restaurants here because I don't want to bore you, but I will tell you to steer clear of ZuZu's Handmade Mexican Restaurant--canned nacho cheese dip and canned black beans only begin to describe why.

We stayed at the Cheshire Lodge on Clayton Rd. in a huge suite that fit our family perfectly. It had an English feel with ornate decorations and a 10-foot-tall grizzly bear, which held David's attention every morning during our continental breakfast. Frankly, this hotel is known to be a romantic getaway... but it was fun for our family, too.

One last thing we did--we visited an indoor water park, as it's called. The kids really enjoyed the Richmond Heights Community Center (which is a fitness facility strangely adjacent to the library), but the water was really, really cold. So cold, in fact, that the kids started to complain and shiver, so we left after an hour. This was NOT free, so I was not happy about it. But in the locker room here is where I learned from a native St. Louisian (?) that it hadn't been this cold in St. Louis for ten years.

Brrrr.

But lots of fun. I'm glad we were able to go.