The Butterfly House a Park and a Carousel

For another activity during our staycation, we went to the Butterfly House in West St. Louis County. The Butterfly House is exactly what the name says. It's an enclosed ecosystem housing thousands of butterflies. You can see it on the left in this picture.


Inside, they have some exhibits about all kinds of bugs, and then you enter the conservatory where all of the butterflies are. Thomas enjoyed looking at all of the butterflies and bugs. Aubree had him saying, "eww" when he saw bugs. I had him saying, "cool" by the end.

Once we passed through two sets of doors (to ensure the butterflies don't escape), we were surrounded by butterflies of all types. We got a couple of good pictures, but they don't do the place justice. It's really hard to get pictures of moving butterflies. It was really gorgeous and we had a lot of fun.







After we left the Butterfly House, we went across the parking lot to a carousel.
After the carousel, we walked over to the playground. It was a nice playground with lots of kids for Thomas to play with.

A trip to the pool

Thomas loves swimming, and quite frankly so do Michael and I. So we decided that we needed to go to the pool during our stay at home vacation. I called up the out door pool by my house to find out their hours only to find out they were only open on weekends now. I was bummed, it was Friday... and I was going to have to wait until Saturday.

I mean who makes up these rules. Just because school has started for some of the kids it doesn't mean that the rest of the world doesn't want to go swimming!! I mean there have to be lots of other people with younger kids or just plain ol' adults that want to go swimming during the day. That's not fair to cater your hours around the k-12 age!!

Alright, I'm done venting...

But, we had lots of fun. So much fun that I didn't get any pictures till we got out of the pool which I deeply regret. But, they are so precious that I have to post them by themselves.

Bonk on Head

Thomas woke up this morning with a big ol' bonk on his head. I couldn't get over how huge it was. It was like a horn coming out of his head!! Wow. It didn't seem to bother him, but when I was asking him about he kept pushing on it with his finger and saying, "Owee."Check out that side view of his horn!!!Dang!! I can't get over that bump. I hope it gets better soon.

Thomas' first lie

Me: Thomas finish your lunch. Eat a couple more bites of your sandwich please.
Thomas: No lunch!
Me: Thomas you need to eat some more lunch.
Thomas: Mommy out. Get down.
Me: You can't get down till you eat some more Thomas.

-A minute later.-

Thomas: Mommy, I poop. I stink. Change my diaper.
Me: Michael, Thomas is trying to tell you something. {snicker... I don't want to change another poopy diaper today.}

Michael: What's up Thomas?
Thomas: I poop, I stink. Change diaper.

-Michael gets Thomas out to change his diaper. -

I hear Michael from the back room say. "He's not poopy, just a little wet."


Dang kid lied to get out of eating his lunch. He knows that if he tells us he's poopy we'll drop everything and change him immediately. He's too smart, and VERY naughty!!!

Meramec Caverns

Today's activity for our staycation was Meramec Caverns. This place was amazing. First, we went on a boat ride on the Meramec river. This was okay. The funnest part was Thomas wanting to put his hands in the water. Also, those life jackets were pretty cute. Henry wasn't very keen on his, though.

After the boat ride, we went into the caves. Before the tour started, Thomas wanted to take a few pictures. He had a little trouble aiming the camera, but he sure figured out how to push the button. I'll spare you all the pictures, but here's an example.

He was able to take a good one of Aubree.
There were no strollers allowed in the caves, so Henry and I got to spend some quality time nice and close.
But, before we can start the tour, we need some nourishment for the long trek through the middle of the Earth.
Once we're done, time to get going. Just watch your head.


Thomas was such a good boy. He didn't touch anything he wasn't supposed to touch.




Henry enjoyed part of the cave, but he actually missed most of it. He fell asleep in the BabyBjorn. I enjoyed having him with me through the caves. There were some steep stairs and inclines in the cave, and can I just say that Henry is chunky.



At the end of the tour, there was a large cavern with enormous formations. There is a light show that honestly seemed like more of a joke than anything. The formation was really impressive, but this show just made me laugh. Here is a small sample. The real kicker is how this show is done. They play the music, and instead of some computer program or something to control the lights, the tour guide stands at a control board at the side of the room switching the lights on and off rapidly and in sync with the music. The switches were loud and a constant clicking noise accompanied the music. It was pretty wild.



After we left the cave, we grabbed some dinner and ice cream at the on site cafe. Before the food came out, Thomas had a package of fruit snacks. All at once. We tried to get him to show us, but he's too polite. This is as good as it gets.

Finally, we got some ice cream. I was enjoying my ice cream, but was stolen.


I tried to get it back, but not without a lot of protest.