A Trip to the Magic House

William and I traveled out to SOCO (that means South County) to the house that I grew up in from age 7 until I left for college. A little over a year ago my little brother and his wife bought it from my parents because they were building their dream home. I'm really glad it stayed in the family. It's nice to go over and still walk into the room where I slept for over 11 years of my life. I can walk in there and see my bookshelves filled with Legos and Transformers. I can see my Star Wars Wallpaper and my funky blue carpet. It has all changed now, but just walking in the room makes the memories come back.

Anyway. I digress. Me and William headed to my little brother's house to pick up Maya and take her to the zoo. My little brother and his wife have been going through a LOT lately and Lori had just had emergency surgery the day before (although I will tell you that even with surgery that girl was keeping her hair appointment the next day. She was going to make Aaron carry her in there if necessary). So we thought we'd give them a break and do something fun with Maya.

Well, Maya wasn't so sure she wanted to go with us =).

Although they hadn't been giving her all the details, kids are perceptive and know when things are amiss. She felt it, and didn't want to leave her mommy and daddy's side. She cried and threw a fit, but eventually she got in my car. William sat next to me with big eyes and asked "Why is she acting like that?" I said "I don't know, why do you act like that sometimes??"

As we pulled out of the driveway, Maya is crying and says "I...I....I don't want to go to the zoo." I say "Well sweetie where do you want to go?" "I want to go to the Magic House." Well I'm a sucker for Maya and so is William truth be told. And so the three of us headed to the Magic House.

Let me say, if you don't live in St. Louis and have never been to the Magic House, you are missing out. It's fun for adults too. I took my friend Melanie there and we couldn't stop laughing and being goofs. It really brings out the kid in you. There is a three story spiral slide that is so fun.

Needless to say we had a blast. As soon as we said we would go to the magic house, Maya was fine. The two of them painted pictures, went down the slide a million times (or at least 30), fished with magnetic poles, played pretend in the treehouse restaurant, and learned all about different science concepts without knowing they were learning.

William does really good with Maya. He is sweet and gentle and protective of her. And she loves him to. She calls him silly Willie.

Of course we followed up our Magic House trip with McDonald's. William and me are suckers for McDonald's too. Ask Lawrence, it drives him nuts. I can't help myself. A number 2 with a Coke. I love fountain Cokes. So we ate and I watched the two of them play in the McDonald's playroom. And I was a kid again. Going down the slide, having wars between the Lego men and the Decepticons, having the Autobots save the day, and laying in bed in the summers with my clock radio under my pillow and listening to the Cardinals games as I fell to sleep.


You never get those days back. But having a kid lets you relive those days a little bit. It's weird how certain smells or sights bring back the most vivid memories. Even pulling up in Aaron and Lori's driveway to drop off Maya brings back memories of pulling into that driveway thousands of times after late nights with friends and just laughing, as well as driving up with my eyes full of tears. I remember when I said goodbye to my best friend Paul Roggow when he moved back to Nebraska and I pulled into that driveway and sat there listening to the radio and Everybody Hurts by REM came on. I just sat and cried. I'm not good with change. I like things to stay the same. But the older I get, the more reality seeps in that everyday brings change. That you have to enjoy what you have and not get lost in the memories. But I still like to take walks down memory lane. There are lots of good people on that path that made me who I am today. And I think of them often and I look at William and I hope we are creating the same types of memories. The good ones. The ones that make you look back and smile and laugh and cry and want to be a kid again. I hope that happens. I hope he looks back and can smile someday.....