During each summer, we keep a summer bucket list with all the fun things that we plan to do. You can find that post here.
The list is a GREAT way to plan our time and remember all the cool things we did. The kids always help me come up with things that they want to do. It gets hung in the kitchen where we can reference it daily. But before we even got our 2019 summer bucket list started, we had a nice little day in St Louis for Memorial Day.
MAY is a dumpster fire for me. We NEEDED to do something fun since it had been non-stop for us since the beginning of May and school was finally out. We needed to celebrate.
It just so happened that our best friends invited us to a birthday party in St. Louis for their son on Saturday. The party was at a sports center with laser tag, a trampoline park, a ninja warrior course, and an arcade. The sports center was crazy fun and everyone enjoyed it immensely.
Since we were going to be in St. Louis, Shawn decided to check on stub hub and see what kind of Cardinal tickets were available for the game that night. The last time we went to a Cardinal game altogether, Rory was 1.
He started out with tickets that were $39 each but decided to hold out until he found five bleacher seats for $13 each. We thought that was a good deal so we snatched them up and took our country crew downtown.
We tried to get a bite to eat in between the party and the game at Ball Park Village but the wait was 60 minutes. We knew that we would be eaten alive by our kids (can you relate?) if we waited, so we ventured down the street to see what we could find that didn’t have a wait. Which is exactly how we ended up taking our kids to Hooters for the first time. I’ll accept our Parents of the Year award whenever it is ready.
And with their bellies full, we meandered back through Kiener Plaza to take a look at the fountains before we had to head to the ballpark.
And this is where we hit our sweet spot, folks. There was a little splash pad area with fountains that shoot up at different heights in a dazzling array.
At first, they were mesmerized by the patterns that the water made. Then some other kids came over and started walking over the fountains, jumping away with delight when the water shot up.
You know the rest. My kids joined the game. Someone slipped and fell and they all were drenched from head to toe in a matter of minutes. We were celebrating, right?
This is why, in the middle of downtown St. Louis, this was taken. It is a good thing I do not embarrass easily.
And because I like a challenge I laughed in the face of a splash pad and sopping wet kids. I dried various parts of clothing on the beautiful marble benches, reclothed semi-naked kids, and walked tall.
And even managed this picture after.
My kids try their best but they can’t break me.
We made it to the game, armed with a crap ton of snacks, and even got the giveaway for the night. We enjoyed the game, played in the Cardinal Kids Korner, and noshed on cotton candy.
All in all, mission accomplished. We had a great day out to celebrate the beginning of summer.
The fact that one of our kids ended up “nekked as a jaybird” doesn’t shock or sadden me at all. One day, when things have settled, the kids want to hang out with their friends, and we are considered old and boring, we will look back and be thankful that we had any chaos at all.
Love,
Stef