The Magic Touch

Amelia has had a gift card from the Magic House burning a hole in her pocket since her birthday 4 months ago (Thanks Dan, Erin and Elise).  I promised her I would take her during Cycle Break and I waited until nearly the last day of break to do so.  When I think of the Magic House, I remember the narrow, crowded hallways from my childhood and was not enjoying the thought of navigating an energetic four year old and a stroller through the building.  I was there not too long ago, but I often forget how much it has changed and grown since my visits as a child.

We got there at a reasonable 10:30 AM and enjoyed all the areas that open early.  The place was neither narrow nor crowded.  It was great fun, in fact.  Really, one of the best places around St. Louis I think for the 4 year old set.

They have a great little Reduce, Reuse, Recycle exhibit going on now and I am pretty sure Amelia could have spent the entire time in that area.  She played with old (reused) toys and dressed up in old clothes, sorted recyclables, composted, "drove" a Smart car, and a few other things.

Henry, on the other hand, pretty much hung out in one spot with another little baby that looked remarkably like him.

You may be able to see Amelia's face imprint in the red pins below.  I remember this fondly as a child and Amelia certainly enjoyed it too.  We kept coming back for more each time we passed by it.

The sand area has been popular with Amelia in the past, but apparently it is old news now.  She did not even stop to check it out.  Henry enjoyed it though and even tried to take a taste or two.

The big hit for Henry was definitely the water area.  How nice that they have built in baby seats at the water table.  Unfortunately, the seats are set up to allow any overflowing water to land directly on the lap of the occupant.  Needless to say, Henry spent the right of his time at the Magic House pants free.

We never come close to seeing and doing all there is to do on our visits which is part of what makes it such a great place to come back to time and time again.  This was our first time seeing the renovated upstairs and Amelia LOVED the Mystery Solving area that included a secret passageway through the fireplace AND the opportunity to crawl through the ductwork and look for various clues.

This was also our first trip to the Oval Office, courtroom, and congress.  I sort of thought she might be bored with all of this, and although she doesn't look overly enthused here--she loved it!

I finally let Henry out to crawl around in the Construction area and once I got him away from the pea gravel, it was great!  This was the last part we were able to explore after our nearly 3.5 hour trip.  Henry had had enough, but Amelia could have continued for hours. 

I left there super impressed, as usual, and I STILL haven't seen all of it.  The outside area garden area looked great, but we never made it out there.  Luckily we still have money on the gift card and it's still burning a hole.  As soon as I can find someone to take Henry for the day, we will head back down and pick up where we left off!