Blessed Christmas

 The Light has come, for us...

Last St. Louis

I took the girls to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. I was there last year when I went with Husband to meetings, and wanted the girls to see it. We accidentally stopped at another church before we got there, (above) but I sure do love architectural elements and beautiful doors, so it was a good stop.

When we got to the Basilica, their doors were even more impressive. The inside is awe inspiring.  The whole inside 83,000 square feet is covered with more than 41.5 million tiny squares of mosaic glass. We took a tour with a lovely guide, but did not take many pictures as mass was starting when we finished. The picture below is from the ceiling of the entryway. You cannot imagined the beauty and artistry and pictures only hint at it.

After dropping L. off at the motel for a nap, (she was recovering from being sick on the weekend,) I took M. and W. to visit City Museum. Above-W. found a friendly reptile at the gates to the museum.

Inside is a fantasy space of mosaics, sculptures, climbing and crawling apparatus formed out of industrial discards, and endlessly creative and eye popping exotica. You can crawl into a tight tunnel hole, emerge in a cage hanging from the ceiling and continue on into a concrete grotto with giant dinosaurs and fishes. Go a little farther and you may emerge from the tunnel by climbing out of the mouth of a full-sized whale, while hearing the whoosh of water rushing down an adjoining tunnel. I like the reviews from Yelp. Read them for a better idea of what this place is all about.

 There are hidden slides, large slides, curvy slides, drop slides and the ultimate 10 story slide. (Really!)

 There are visual nods to antiquity, nature, and history.

Cast off materials from other buildings and manufacturing is used to build walls, ladders, walkways slides and tunnels.

Ten story slide, from the bottom. Yes, we climbed all the way up, then found that there were two slide choices. We took the fastest one and declined to trek up again. You can get pretty good momentum in a 10 story drop!

This loopy climb was made with a smooth piece of metal running up it. instead of ruining your knees by climbing forward, you reclined on the metal piece and pulled yourself up with your hands. Ingenious!

The largest pencil in the world. Not just a model. If you were a giant, you could really use this pencil as all the materials used were correct-actual wood, graphite and rubber. Here is a story about some of the museum highlights, including the worlds largest "tightie whities."

We wandered far upstairs to the 4th floor and discovered a tucked-away art area with a friendly gnome of an artist who wooed us in to cut animal snowflakes. She let us choose pre-folded pre-drawn snowflakes of her design, and regaled us with tales of Polish wolves while we snipped. We bought three of her books. Great souvenirs!

Since it was winter, the roof with the real school bus hanging over the edge wasn't open, and since it was wet and "cold" out (in the high 30's is cold in St. Louis-it was -9 at home!) the outside tree house was also closed. Still, we had fun and were worn out and not nearly done seeing everything inside after several hours of being there.

Finally, this is a description from Trip Advisor that covers it pretty well:
Owner description: Don’t take the name so literally. We're about fun. Not your white walls, walk around, and be quiet museum. If you want to climb around, get active with your kids or are a big kid at heart, we're the place. If you get freaked out easily, you might not want to come. We’re four floors filled with miles of tunnels, a full cave system, over 30 slides, a circus, an arts area, a large outdoor climbing space, Architectural Museum, a Cabin that serves adult beverages, a Museum of Mayhem, Mirth and Mystery, and a ton more. Also, there’s the roof with a Ferris Wheel and a bus hanging off its edge.

Getting Ready For Christmas

Making a few cookies and helping Grandma S. decorate the tree. A bit of shopping tonight with L. to finish up.

Old Courthouse, St. Louis

We stayed across the street from the Old Courthouse in St. Louis. This is where the Dred Scott decision was heard. Dred Scott, a slave, sued for his and his wife and children's freedom from slavery and helped spark the Civil War.

Part of the actual courtroom area, although the courthouse is changed from that time. There are many beautiful architectural details throughout.

Lots of iron work. The stair steps are see through although it is hard to see in these pictures.

We explored several floors and enjoyed the gift shop. W. bought a "spy glass" and map and used it for the rest of our visit to St. Louis.

We greatly enjoyed a lovely art display by Bryan Haynes  as a bonus to our Courthouse visit.

St. Louis Breakfast

The first morning we were in St. Louis, the girls and I went to my favorite diner for breakfast/lunch. Chili Mac's is a throwback place with lots of charm and great food at good prices. It really "hops" at mealtimes. It's just over one block from the Ballpark Hilton.

Crafty Girlfriend Weekend!!!!!!!

A couple of weeks ago, Friend Brenda and I had a crafting weekend get-away. We loaded up ourselves and our stuff and drove about an hour away to a craft retreat center. There were 14 women there for two nights and three days. The others were all working on scrapbooking, but Brenda and I did our own thing. She made stamped Christmas cards.

I spent the weekend cutting up old t-shirts into strips to make t-shirt yarn. I have been making crocheted rugs out of them. The green one above is for Daughter W.'s room. The grey and aqua and white one below is for Daughter L.'s room. They are completely customizable for color and size, and they feel so great on your feet! I have been using single crochet to do these, so they are easy and quick, although it takes a little muscle and perhaps a table to lay the larger ones on. After they get bigger, it is hard to manipulate them, so they are not as much of a "carry along" project. I found that when the grey one got unwieldy, if I put it on a table, I could work a row or two as I went by during the day.

We also read, napped, snacked, ate and talked. It was great!! Each person was responsible for helping with one meal. There were four on a team for each meal, and the food was great. Everyone brought snacks and goodies to share. Breakfasts were on our own, and you were completely free to stay up, go to bed, get up or stay in bed whenever you chose.

A red and blue rug is for a girlfriend who is teaching a home ec/sewing class to our M. and some friends this year. The red/blue and green rugs are approximately 28" x 38". That size used about 13-14 adult sized t-shirts. I find the t-shirts at thrift stores (Bag sales help me get them for 25 cents each sometimes! But $1 each is a pretty good price.) I am also starting to beg my friends for their old, unused shirts. I can donate any that I can't use.

St Louis!

We took an end-of-semester field trip to St. Louis last week. Husband goes every year a couple of times for national soybean board meetings. I went once with him last year and knew there was a lot of cool and interesting things to do, so this year we took the girls along.

Hubby was usually in meetings, but had a couple of hours one afternoon, so we all went up in the Arch. Really cool.

You can feel it sway in the wind a little, and the views are fantastic. The big girls and I stayed to do the museum and gift shops while Husband and W. headed back to the motel for some down time before his next meeting started.

 We stayed at the Ballpark Hilton, right next to Busch stadium and the Old Courthouse downtown.

Post Thanksgiving Post

The lists. 

The turkey, pre-cooking.

The homemade oatmeal pancakes. Surprise by Daughter A.

The entry way at Grandma and Grandpa's.

The supper visit.

The craft dog, Chai.