Spring Break 2008...WOOHOO!!!

We were on Spring Break last week and spent Friday-Tuesday in St. Louis. We had a great time and have lots of tales to tell.

We left Friday afternoon and had a rather uneventful trip. I love that DVD player! We ate supper at Steak and Shake and decided there that we would make a trip rule that we could not eat at the same place more than once. (Also known as the "only one meal at McDonald's" plan to parents) We arrived at our hotel after 9:00. We stayed at the Doubletree and really thought from the internet that it seemed like a good choice. It was gorgeous, and we were very out of place! The lobby was essentially one giant singles bar. It was party central the first night we were there. Emily and I went to get ice and I had to pass up several elevators of drunken joy before I got a G-rated one! It took the kids forever to settle down. They would not stop jumping on the beds. We finally had to split them up...Emily slept with me and the boys were together. I was so tired and beginning to feel a little sick, so I was sure I would sleep well. WRONG. The only pillows they had were feather pillows, which I am allergic to, so all night long I fought swollen eyes and difficult breathing, plus loud college kids in the hall, PLUS Miss Emily griding her teeth all night. Everyone else slept like angels...but not me!

The kids woke up WAY TOO EARLY Saturday morning and we went to Hardee's. We don't have Hardee's in Memphis, so this was a treat. Tyler devoured his butter biscuit and said, "They should call this Softee's, not Hardee's!" We left there and headed to the Magic House. This is the best children's museum we have ever been to. We spent a few hours there until we were famished. Tyler loved the Lewis and Clark Village and didn't want to leave. We left for a while and ate lunch (Burger King) and did a little shopping before heading back to the Magic House. We did a few more things for a second go-around and picked up our art work that had been drying.

We went back to the hotel and the kids and Brent swam while I read. Everyone got cleaned up and we went and ate at Chipotles. We don't have that, either. It was great. The chicken soft tacos were a little hot for Tyler's taste, but Emily loved the quesadillas.

THEN, if we weren't worn out enough, we went to a mall until they closed. You would think the kids would be ready for bed, but NO WAY. They did sleep together again, but still were too silly. They are at the age that everything they do and say to each other is hilarious and potty humor reigns supreme!!! I slept better with some Tylenol Cold and my own pillow from the car!

Sunday morning was fabulous, as the kids slept until 9:00ish. We ate in the room and headed to the Zoo. St. Louis has a wonderful zoo. It is free, except for a few extra things, like the Children's Zoo. It was cold, but most of the animals were out and about. That afternoon, we left in tears. Webkinz.com said that the gift shop at the zoo carried Webkinz, but they did not. Tyler was heartbroken. We went back to the Galleria so he could look for Webkinz there. He bought one at Limited Too, which I think is hilarious. We went to a place called Noodles for dinner that was really good then to Dairy Queen. I am telling you, we ate the whole time!



Monday was supposed to be our do-little day. Historically, the Patterson kids have emotional break-downs on the 3rd day of all trips, so we plan very little on those days. Little did we know, it would be me that fell apart. We went to the outlet mall, which was not good. So many closed stores and just looked like it was ready to shut down. I felt horrible with this cold and aches I've had forever, and I just started crying on a bench. The kids thought I had lost it! We left there and surrendered to the meal at Mickey D's. After that, we went back to the hotel and I slept a couple of hours. It was wonderful. I felt MUCH better after that and we went to eat dinner at Incredible Pizza. It was so much fun. Emily is HORRIBLE at skee-ball...almost took the lights out several times. She and Brent won the go-kart race and I won Putt-putt. The kids were literally dancing in the parking lot as we left!

Tuesday, we really had our act together and were all ready and packed up before 9:00. We checked out of our hotel and headed to the City Museum. I cannnot even begin to describe this place if you've never been there. Think 3 stories of pure artistic craziness, plus a circus, a shoelace factory, a skateless skate park, caves, tunnels, an art city, you name it, they had it. It was amazing. I think we could have spent a week there. I fell and sprained my ankle like a big dork in one of the caves and spend the latter part of the day sitting on a bench. We left after many hours of running and playing and exploring and were sure the kids would sleep the whole trip home. We were wrong...Oh well.

It was a wonderful trip full of great memories. I am so proud of my marriage and my family and I cherish these times so much.