Operation St. Louis Surprise

This past weekend the hubster and I surprised the kids with a trip to St. Louis.  The best part of the surprise though was that we got Grandma in on the act.  Grandma met us there with my two nieces.  The older girls are BFF's and love getting together any chance they can.

We then headed to the St. Louis Science Center. It was very crowded but we still had a good time. The dinosaur exhibit on the lower level was our favorite part. We also watched "Under the Sea" at the Omnimax which was pretty neat, too!

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant, Tigin Pub & Restaurant. We made sure that kids were allowed, and the staff assured us it was all good as long as they were serving food. However, it was still quite awkward to walk four children ranging in age from 9 down to 3 through the restaurant. It definitely felt more pub like and there wasn't really any fare for the kids. The older two shared a burger and fries and the younger two shared the mini burger appetizer. I had a cheesesteak sandwich on a toasted hoagie with a horseradish mayo that was awesome! <---Sorry for the food porn, but it was good! Grandma then took the kids swimming while the hubster and I headed out for a bit. We headed across the river to Casino Queen, which boasts the loosest slots in the country. Apparently, others had already cashed in on that, because we didn't! LOL After that we headed back to the hotel pub for a few cocktails and then back to our room. Grandma and the kids had just returned from the pool and wanted to swim some more. So we got them ready for bed with the promise to wake up early and swim before we all had to head home. That worked and they all went to bed without a fight! However, getting up at 06:00 to swim was harder for me than them! LOL

After our swim, it was time for everyone to head home. We packed up and said our goodbyes. Mom and the nieces headed back to Indiana and we headed back to Kansas. However, we did make a pitstop in KC to go to Cabela's where the kids talked us into some homemade kettle corn. Yum!

What a fun weekend for everyone! I hope we can plan more surprises like this in the future!

With that said, though, it is Monday. Therefore, it is also weigh day and I'm up 3 pounds to 221. Back to protein shakes it is!

Hope you all have a great week!