Days 4 and 5 in St. Louis

We have made it home safely from St. Louis! On New Year's Eve, we enjoyed the Science Center, eating dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant on the Hill, swimming, and watching a movie together before we rang in the new year. We had grand plans of visiting the art museum this morning, but opted to sleep in and head back home after breakfast instead.

The kids LOVED St. Louis Center Science. Loved it. In fact, I think even though it had the least amount of things to see, we spent the most time here out of any of the attractions that we visited. Go figure. ;)

Dinosaur exhibit. They did have a real triceratops skull on display.

Daniel absolutely LOVED this sand table - you were able to sculpt different topographies.

Another fan favorite - watching these balls drop to form a normal probability distribution. The whole family was utterly entranced and watched several iterations.

Lots of optical illusions, including this one with a mirror that made it seem as though you were flying.

Building.

There was a large exhibit on Mars, so of course we had to get some astronaut ice cream.

We finally manged to drag the kids away when it was getting close to dinnertime. We ventured up to "The Hill" for some yummy Italian food and it did not disappoint.

Not one, but two appetizers - toasted ravioli (featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives) and garlic cheese bread.

Annika and I had cheese ravioli and Daniel cheese pizza, but Will opted for the stuffed grape leaves (also a featured recipe). So yummy and I am still full a day later!

First order of business on the evening of New Year's Eve was to go swimming. We had the place totally to ourselves.

Next order of business - The Right Stuff movie! The kids were interested in space travel after the Science Center, so we opted to see this 3 hour and 15 minute movie. It was a bit more "adult" than I remember, and Daniel asked a LOT of questions ;), but it was just as good as I remembered.

We celebrated with sparkling grape juice at midnight!

Happy New Year!! Will bought us "crackers," which are party favors that you open and provide you with hats and a small toy. We also celebrated by each eating a candy bar, because why not. ;)

This morning, we opted to head back home after breakfast. We have been having "reading time" every day, which is a positively delightful time where all four of us read for pleasure. Even Daniel has found something that he enjoys - the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books! Following that, we've been enjoying audio books, including some of Judy Blume's work. 

We made it home!! Daniel immediately wanted to cuddle with the cats. And play Minecraft. ;) 

We had lots of time to talk in the car about New Year's Resolutions. Here they are: 

Annika - Learn how to cook. 

Daniel - Practice learning how to solve problems so that he can be a lawyer someday. 

Amy and Will - Purposefully/intentionally exercise every.single.day. 

Happy New Year!! We hope that 2016 is the best year yet for you!