Another Free EVENT.......What???

Another one for the FREE section of our Family Blog.

We decided last weekend that it was 34 degrees out we were going to go do something. 

The Science museum is FREE to enter. We all got ready ate lunch before we went and headed out.

The Science center has paid parking but you can park at the Planetarium  in Forest Park they have

free parking. So we parked at the Planetarium 

and walked through.  

This is the Planetarium! It is very nice. They have one side about Mars, they had the rover full scale model. It was so Great they had lots of hands on for the kids. They got to test drive the rover through remote, and test lots of samples from Mars rocks. 

                           These guys were sitting outside the Planetarium looking for food!

They had a lot of  space facts, toys, articles, and fun items in the tunnel to the science museum!

  

This is the Willis Tower made out of Lego's it was so awesome!

This was very impressive, The Arch of Saint Louis made of Lego's! 

This is a must see!

This got to build their own Arch! They had fun. Yes I said the kids had fun at the Science Center!

Crazy I know!

The Science center was definitely busy but it was fun. They have many different hands on stations to teach kids all about science. 

For our homeschool science project they had to pick what their favorite station was there, research about it, and write about it. 

They were excited to do it! 

We will be going back very soon on a not so busy day! 

They also have a Build-A-Bear inside the Science Center! We have never been so we might surprise the kids next time we go! 

They also have an Omnimax Theater and was showing Stars Wars!

We did not watch it but the point of this is that their are many 

different things to do at the Science Center in Saint Louis. 

We all had fun and that is what is important: Family Time!

Guinea Pig, Hamster, or Lizard..... Decisions! Need Help!

For the last two month the kids have been asking about a pet.....

We have a dog but cannot have him at our current location so he is at a friends house and we all miss him very much.

                                                          WE LOVE YOU BUDDY!

 So my husband and I have discussed getting another pet. A smaller pet. He wants a lizard....yuck....I want something fuzzy. The kids want both! 

My six year old says "that every family needs a Guinea pig because that makes them a good family" I told her that "I did not have any when I was growing up" and her response as serious as can be "and look at your sisters and brothers they fight." Speechless!

I have not laughed so hard in a long time. 

I do not want to get both. So I have been researching the internet to see what would be more logical for us. So far I am still undecided so I thought I would take to the blog. 

Requirements:

We are a family of 6. So something that does not cost a lot to feed and maintain. We need something that can travel easily. We need something that will help teach the kids responsibilities. I still want something fuzzy, Lol, but not a requirement.

So Number #1: Guinea Pig

They are fuzzy, compared to all my research they are medium maintenance. They need hay and wood and exercise. They are awake most of the day! They live 5-8 years. They also bond with kids easily. That's what we need!

Start Up Cost is around $170 and $10 Monthly!

Number #2: Hamster
They are fuzzy, they are also medium maintenance. They need lots of exercise and also are great for 10 and younger. They live 3-5 years. They do not get very big. 

Start Up Costs is around $120 and anywhere from $10-$30 Monthly! That seems reasonable. 

Number #3: Leopard Gecko
They are scaly, they are nocturnal pets so they sleep a lot during day.  They live 10-15 years. 

Start up costs is around $300 and $60 a month (for live crickets healthier then the bottled one).

We go to Petco and PetSmart once a week to check out their selection! Every time we go everyone tries to scatter to a different area. 

I have two that want Hamsters, 2 that want Guinea pigs and 2 that want lizards.  

So this decision seems easy enough but everyone is still indecisive about which one we should get! 

Any Suggestions??? 

A Free Zoo.....Whaaaat?

Okay, so weird title I know but as soon as we found out the location of our apartment we started Googling all the awesome fun things that were either free or that cost little. 

First thing first you have to pay for parking this is a new concept to me. 

I have heard, seen and knew that it existed but never had to do it. I know the small town gal. So we found out that the zoo was free! What wait a Free zoo, okay a little bit of the farm animals and maybe a couple bigger animals. That is what I was expecting. 

My husband had a day off and we decided the venture out and try to find it. So we got an our handy dandy GPS and it shows this huge zoo. 

89 acre park. 

Okay so maybe you can see the first few animals for free then have to pay for the rest.   

So we get to the park and it costs $10 to park, of course, but their are several people parking along side of the road. 

So we followed the other people and went and parked along side the road. I know if everyone else is doing you should not either. I do teach my kids not to follow everyone else. 

The signs say no parking Monday through Friday 8-3 due to bus parking. Okay that is awesome you might have to walk a little bit but you do not have to pay to park. 

Cool.

 Excited about that. Yes it does not take much. Lol. 

The Saint Louis Zoo looks huge. So we go in and this lady stops us, great it isn't free, she asks if we have ever been here before and gave a map. Wait a FREE map! I am all sorts of excited. Free Zoo, Free Map. 

Awesome!

So we walked around the zoo for 3 hours and still did not see it all. We had to come back. They have over 700 animals at this Free zoo. I know I keep repeating about the Free zoo.

 

This Hippo scared my daughter and myself we were sitting on the ledge looking the other way then the hippo came up behind us and made us jump and everyone else laugh!

 We all absolutely loved all the different types of birds!!!

Seriously Camels!!!

 Kangaroos, were everywhere. Almost every time I go to the zoo all the animals are sleeping.

  

 Free does not usually happen anymore. A family of 6 on a budget so we have to be frugal. 

I would like to Thank the Saint Louis Zoo for all the wonderful animals they have and all the wonderfulness of enjoying it for FREE!

Some of the websites i used to research all this was: www.stlzoo.org,

www.explorestlouis.com, and the wonderful ladies at the Welcome Center they were a blessing and loved the kids when they were in there. 

https://www.visitmo.com/st-louis-official-missouri-welcome-center.aspx

About Us!

About Us!

This post is about my family and why I created a blog! My name is Sabrina Berkshire. I am married with four wonderful children. I was born and raised in Indiana But over this last year our family took a huge leap. We moved to Alabama!! Yeah!  Alabama from Indiana. Talk about a huge adjustment. 

I have never lived more than 20 miles from my mother. And now we are living over 900 miles away.

 BIG CHANGE! So of course everyone is upset because we are moving but had to for our family. 

I am from a big family. 

My mother had 8 kids, and those 8 kids multiplied and now I have 25 nieces and nephews and 4 great nieces and nephews. 

My Moms mother(Grandma) had 13 kids, and of course they multiplied, I have so many cousins that at family reunions we need acreage. Lol. I love all my family and I am so thankful for the internet and cell phones.

We might not be as close as I would like to be but everyone has their own lives. But we all get to see each others families and lives through Facebook. 

 I love that. 

Watching my cousins families grow and all their accomplishments. I love it. 

Now back to the the story about moving. 

Well we got to Alabama and I worked at cleaning condos and My Husband worked at a dialysis clinic. 

By the way seeing the ocean for the second time in my Life was amazing. Then working beside it almost every day was truly amazing. Went swimming almost everyday, laid and walked on the beach everyday oh I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

This was my 2nd day of work! (Working hard too!)

Well the place I was working for was not paying me for some of my work like they said they would, so I quit. 

Shortly after quitting my husband had to have knee surgery and with only being at his job for a short while he didn't have any paid vacation.

 So to make a long story short a month without income was not good. So my husband was contacted by a recruiter that was wanting him to become a traveling dialysis tech and the money descent. Lots of wonderful benefits. 

So we thought about it for a while threw the idea around with the kids and he was released to go back to work. He worked for a couple more weeks and then we took the plunge. We set off to become a traveling family.

Now, as a traveling family that means we are going to have to homeschool our kids or switch their schools every 13 weeks. That being said we decided to homeschool. I have no experience at homeschooling so this is interesting to me. So for our first adventure we were assigned to Saint Louis, Missouri. 

By the way I lived in a tiny town, that was like 2 miles long and 2 miles wide. EVERYBODY knew EVERYBODY. 

            Okay, A city that has so many towns inside of it. This should be interesting...