Saturday, April 22, 2017

Incredible Pizza Company, South County




Location: 5254 South Lindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63126

Amenities: buffet, game room, attractions (go karts, bumper cars, bowling, roller coaster, laser tag, tilt-a-while, and 3D movie ride)

Website: https://incrediblepizza.com/st-louis/

America's Incredible Pizza Company in south county (located in the strip mall next to Ronnie's Theater) is now owned and operated by corporate management. As a result of this change in management, they made 1.4 million dollars worth of improvements. Bloggers were invited to enjoy a free buffet to come in and check out the changes made. I had not been to Incredible Pizza before (or Hammers, as it was formerly called), so I don't have past experience to compare our visit to.

We ate lunch at the buffet first. There are 4 different dining rooms, with TVs showing kid shows. The buffet had many types of pizza, deserts- including cookies, soft serve ice cream, slushies, cupcakes, bread pudding, monkey bread, and more. There was also a taco bar which had seasoned beef, shredded chicken, and spicy chicken dip with fritos for dipping. They had some pasta, a great salad bar, and hot dogs as well. The pizza wasn't as bad as I expected, and they did offer to cook us a fresh pizza. The soda area did not have lids for the cups, but the staff was able to find me lids after I asked. There are tons of high chairs for families with younger kids.








They have a special area for toddlers called Tiny Town and it's next to the prize counter.


Inside Tiny Town they have a playground similar to what you'd see at McDonald's, a couple ride on games, and some smaller arcade games. 







The Fairgrounds is the regular game and attraction room. As far as attractions go they offer laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, roller coaster, XD theatre, mini-bowling, and Lost in Space (a tilt-a-whirl ride). Mixed in throughout the room are various other arcade games. All the games use the game card, which debits the cost of the game and collects all your tickets. It's difficult to know how many tickets you have though until you go up to the prize counter to redeem them. Not as fun as when you could carry around a huge cup full of tickets to redeem. My 2.5-year-old picked out a little plastic horse, a ball, and a small mermaid doll for her 219 tickets. Thankfully the lady at the prize counter was very patient with the little ones picking out their prizes!


















The roller coaster spins like Pandemonium at Six Flags. It was really fun! She did the bumper cars and we rode the go-karts as well. Everything was really fun and she said it was the best day of her life! The food is just eh but for unlimited food at $8.99 per person, I'll eat it.

Monday, April 10, 2017

Wildlife Rescue Center, Ballwin



Location: 1128 New Ballwin Road | Ballwin, MO 63021  (636) 394-1880

ANIMAL CARE
SEASONAL HOURS

April through October:
Monday-Sunday 9am-7pm

November through March:
Monday - Friday 9am-5pm
Saturday & Sunday 9am-3pm


Website: http://www.mowildlife.org/

The Wildlife Rescue Center treats over 2,500 wild animals every year. Most of the animals admitted for rehabilitation have been injured or orphaned by human activity. The Center is able to provide its services of rescue, rehabilitation, and release thanks to the support of our compassionate community. Through nature inspired education programs, the Center promotes environmental awareness and encourages the protection of our delicate ecosystems. I went there recently for their Spring Tails event. These were the highlights:
  • Peek behind-the-scenes at the largest of a wildlife rehabilitation center in the St. Louis region
  • Try your hand at crafts using garden-grown dyes and play games all about wild moms
  • Take a photo with our one-of-a-kind, naturally-inspired Ambassador Cottontail
  • Participate in a Natural Treasures Hunt on our trail and follow clues to amazing nature finds
  • Have an up-close critter encounter with a professional pet rabbit and learn from volunteers and staff that care for orphaned and injured native wild animals
  • Get the word on birds with educators from Wild Bird Rehabilitation
  • Learn about proper care of ducks and chickens with the Longmeadow Rescue Ranch Barn Buddies






 The pet rabbit



 Gift Shop



 Getting ready to go on the audio tour of their hospital


 Follow the numbers on the floor as the audio tour takes you through the numbered stations




 Turtles!



 Baby squirrels





 A worker told us that squirrels are the meanest animals they treat. Even worse than raccoons and coyotes. Vicious!


This activity was fun and educational. They taught us how rabbits make nests. They dig a hole in the ground, fill it with fur, and put the babies in there and cover them up with grass. They kids enjoyed making nests for the fake baby rabbits.


 They had timed tours on the nature trail. The kids really enjoyed this activity. The employee had laminated cards hidden all along the trail next to wooden eggs. She would pull the card out and read the clue. The kids had to guess what the clue was about and then search for it along the trail.


 The kids soon figured out that the next clue was at the answer to the previous clue and started searching for the eggs cause some of the clues were hard! One of them was trying to find a groundhog burrow. One was finding a squirrel nest. One was finding coyote scat (ew!) We learned that their scat (poo) almost always has hair in it because they eat the entire animal. We had to find deer hoof marks and we learned that they spread out when they are running and are closer together when they are walking.


 We had to look for turtles in the lake



 Groundhog burrow


 Scat



 Kiefer Creek


 Nest


This place does birthday parties, camps, and special events in addition to their regular daily hours. I highly recommend giving them a visit!