So here is the situation, it’s a typical St. Louis summer day. This means the temperature and humidity climb to a heat index over 100 degrees, every local pool feels like bath water and you have spent the last three days watching re-runs on T.V.  You are about to go crazy from boredom, and to top it all off you have a group of kids running around the house must be entertained. A nightmare, right? So what do you do?

Answer: Chesterfield Sports Fusion.

“There was a need in Chesterfield for family entertainment, 
 especially indoor activities that could be enjoyed year round,” owner Greg Hoffman said.

Hoffman, along with two high school classmates, opened Chesterfield Sports Fusion March 2009 with this idea. The group wanted to create a place with a fun atmosphere where people of all ages could have a great time. Hoffman also wanted to give his own kids some place besides the mall to hang out at during the nighttime.

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The idea resulted in a warehouse of fun and it is pretty easy to see why kids and even teens would choose Chesterfield Sports Fusion over the mall.  The place has a boatload of activities to choose from; 18 holes of mini golf, the largest laser tag arena in St. Louis and a rock climbing wall are some of the most popular attractions.  There is also a dodge ball court, a “jump shot” basketball game, a 40 game arcade and an inflatable obstacle course named “The Grind.” 

Because of this variety of activity, Chesterfield Sports Fusion stands out from other indoor play places located in Chesterfield Valley like SkyZone, Pump It Up and Bounce-U.

“We are not one
 dimensional and we provide a variety of fun options that can be enjoyed by 
everyone, not just kids under six.  Those facilities are almost exclusively
 for birthday parties and we are open the general public most of the time,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman is also proud to say that Chesterfield Sports Fusion is locally owned and has a “vested interest in providing an 
entertainment venue that is of value to the community” they live in.  Unlike
 the chain places, the owners are actually there and run the business as only 
owners can do. I saw this while I stopped by to snap some photos.  As soon as I walked in the door, I was met by all three owners who were there working and overseeing a day camp.

The one thing to be wary of about Chesterfield Sports Fusion is the pricing.  It is not a one-price-fits-all deal.  Each different element of the place has a different cost.  Guests pay a set amount of cash and then receive a “card” that they swipe at each element. Luckily the card allows parents to set a limit to just how much they want their kids to spend.

For more information visit http://chesterfieldsportsfusion.com. There is a lot going on at Chesterfield Sports Fusion and the easiest way to figure out what might interest you is to just check out their site. Learn about kids camps, pricing deals and party options.

Tweens bugging out about the dark side of the moon, but this time it
has nothing to do with Dorothy and Toto. (photo from Studio Riteum)

If you could be a fly on the wall during any historic event which would you pick? If you picked the wall of the Abbey Road studios in the late 60's I don't know what to tell you, but if you said the Apollo 11 mission than your wish is granted, sort of.

On Friday, March 6 Fly Me to the Moon opens at the Saint Louis Science Center's Omnimax® Theater, a tale of two tween flies who find themselves aboard the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon. There aren't a lot of kid-friendly options in the theaters right now, but Fly Me to the Moon is animated tale being shown on the larger-than-life screen is rated G.

Friday night's screening also ushers in the first of the Science Center's "First Fridays" events. A night for families, or a fun and unique date night, the museum will be offering activities in their major exhibition areas, giving away a 15" flat-panel television and they have shifted their telescope viewings to be held on the first Friday of every month.

What: First Fridays kick-off and Fly Me to the Moon opening night

Where: Saint Louis Science Center (5050 Oakland Ave)

When: Friday, March 6th (Fly Me to the Moon will play at 5pm and 7pm)

The Science Center admission is free; tickets for the show are $8 for adults and $7 for kids.

The Saint Louis Science Center's Senior VP, Brad Nuccio said, "The main focus of the evening may vary, but there will always be something for a family Friday night, a unique date night atmosphere, or a forum to discuss cutting-edge science topics."

March's First Friday lineup includes the premiere of Fly Me to the Moon, Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk and Dinosaurs Alive! in the Omnimax® as well as presentations throughout the museum. The Saint Louis Science Center will be open until 9:30pm on Friday evening for these events.

You can only take your kids to the Magic House or the City Museum so many times before you might have to start looking for something else to keep them occupied on the weekends. Fortunately for all you parents in St. Louis, you're in luck this Saturday, because it's time for the annual Baby Kid Expo.

Date: Saturday, March 7
Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: St. Charles Convention Center
Cost: Adults are $2, but kids and parking are FREE

If you have kids (or are about to), you'll find everything from diaper cakes to child photographers to kid's accessories at this huge family function. Besides the mile-long list of vendors, there are tons of fun activities to keep your little ones occupied. The diaper derby and the kids fashion show should be pretty fun to watch, and make sure you bring a sock so they can make their own sock puppet. If your kids are a little bit older, they can practice with the Rascals or compete in the Wii bowling and Guitar Hero contests. Throw in Fredbird and a few clowns, and you have yourselves a nice little Saturday right here in your own backyard.

FYI dads, they didn't forget about you; there is a Dad's Sports Lounge available for your entertainment, and it comes complete with couches and a flat screen TV.

Penguin March ~ Sunday at 1:30pm

We human folk might not be fans of the frigid temperatures outside, but it is just about right for penguins. The Zoo has been taking advantage of the toe-numbing temps with the March of the Penguins on Sundays at 1:30pm. This weekend is your last chance to walk amongst the Zoo's tuxedoed birds as they venture outside to play in front of the Penguin and Puffin Coast.

Mardi Gras Celebration ~ Sunday 12pm - 4pm (Parade at 3pm)

This Sunday there will also be a special Mardi Gras celebration for the family. The Zoo will have stations set up so kids can make their own masks, live music will be playing outside the Living World and a penguin themed Mardi Gras parade that everyone can take part in will start at 3pm. Prizes will be handed out after the parade for the best penguin float, the best "green" float and the float with the best Mardi Gras style. You can check out the rules and judging criteria as well as register for the parade on the Zoo's website. You could also register your float the day of between noon and 3pm by stopping by the Living World.

Getting an up close peek at the penguins isn't just for the kiddies. There are some great photo opportunities for the camera-clan. I was literally standing next to a penguin chilling next to a penguin like we were waiting for the bus or something when we went over the weekend. I highly recommend bundling up and heading over to see the march, it is a really cool experience.

In south St. Louis yesterday, a 1-year-old baby boy somehow fell out of a window. Granted, I don't know the exact circumstances in which this horrible accident took place, but I'm going to go ahead and say that this little guy's mom and dad need to brush up on their parenting skills.

Fortunately, even though he fell an estimated 15 feet onto the pavement below, the boy is expected to survive his head injuries. To everyone else, please don't leave your infants or toddlers around open windows, especially ones on the second floor.

There comes a point in every marriage when you are left home alone for a day or two while your spouse goes out of town on business. The first time can be a major bummer for the uninitiated, but after a few trips you quickly learn that when the spouse is away it really isn't that bad. Those out of town days aren't something to brood over; here is what you have in store for you:

• Chocolate Pie: The Dinner of Champions - when the hubs or wifey is in town dinner is somewhat of a production. Most nights you have to at least nuke a meal if not turn on the burners, whatever you do the meal is most likely warm. Business trip time means cold pizza and chocolate pie for dinner. I am talking take the entire pie out of the fridge and eat it with a fork. Added bonus: no one is there to ask you for a bite.


• That King-Sized Bed Feeling on a Queen-Sized Mattress - often overlooked, this could be one of the best things about spousal business trips. Kind of like being able to jump on the bed when you were little, but way better, having the entire bed to your self means not struggling over pillow placement or the amount of covers you get. You could literally roll yourself up in the covers without any complaints.


• Action or Chic-Flick Marathon Time - to go along with that chocolate pie, you also get full control of the remote, no compromises. It is the perfect time to take in all those blow-em-up or boy-meets-girl stories that you have been kind enough not to subject your significant other to on movie night. This also goes for gossip television and Manswers - have at 'em.

See, you will slowly learn that there is no reason to be all sad about your spouse leaving town. Its your chance to do all of the things you said you were going to do as an adult when you were five years old (see eating chocolate pie for dinner). Besides, if you miss them there is always a long phone call, junior high style, to tide you over until the big reunion at the airport.

Having a new baby is pretty overwhelming for most people, which is perhaps why it took this St. Louis couple a few months to catch on to what their dog was snacking on.

All David and Jennifer Zwart knew was that their 18-month-old daughter seemed to go through a lot of pacifiers. But when one seemed to disappear right in front of Lulu, the family's English Bulldog, they took her into the vet just to be sure.

The vet not only found that pacifier (of binkey, or bobo or whatever people call them these days), but he found 14 more in Lulu's stomach while he was operating on her to remove the pacifier in question. Moral of the story? Keep an eye on how much plastic and rubber your pet consumes.

At twelve years old I was sure that the first thing I would do when I grew was change my name. I hated it. "Melody," why couldn't I have been named something normal like the seven Jessicas who were in my class? My name was, in my opinion, very hippy-dippy. Obviously, I grew out of it, and with the exception of a few "Melanie" mix-ups I like that it is pretty memorable. When it comes to that middle name some people never grow in to it. Ask around and see how many people actually like their middle names though (don't worry, I'll wait)...

See what I mean? There are a lot of people that guard their middle name like it is a nuclear secret, and if they do tell you the disappointment in their voice is unmistakable. While parents will sit there for hours researching the personality characteristics they hope to endow their children with via their name selection, middle names are often the domain of the family. A lot of kids get stuck with grandparents first names as their middle name, they have passed down middle names, or sometimes the mother's maiden name becomes their middle name.

Names are a funny thing. Everyone knows of at least one parent that has played a cruel joke when picking out their baby's name (most of which have to do with the name Richard somewhere). So many people get all worked up about their middle name, but that is usually the name that carries the family history and the first name is sometimes just what was popular that year. If you think about it, first names give away your age because of the whole popular baby names trends but middle names give away a piece of your family story.

Yet another victory for the dog lover's camp in the cats versus dogs throw-down. If you need further proof that dogs are better than cats, look no further than Kennett, MO. It was in this small, Missouri town that Chocolate, a rescued lab pup, earned his keep when his fetching skills won enough money to cover his vet bills.

The victories for canine camp keep piling up. First, you have the fact that dog are more loyal and friendly than cats, and now you have proof that dogs are awesome enough to earn their keep? Add to this the fact that you could slap a sandwich board with paid advertisements on a dog during their walk, and the award for most fiscally responsible pet definitely has to go to dogs. This may be a devastating blow to feline champions everywhere.

I am convinced that people who were born anywhere between December 1st and February 1st get a completely bum deal when it comes to their brithday. Your birthday completely gets eclipsed by the holiday. If you're born in July love that and embrace that, because you get all the attention; as you are reveling in your birthday cakes and parties remember thos of us who are less fortunate - those of us whose birthdays get completely forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

When it comes to craptastic birthdays, I contend that January 1st has to be the worst. Sure you get all kind of media attention for being one of the first babies born in the new year, but come the next year most people (be warned: even your parents) loose interest in your birthday. This year, little Gavin of Oakville got the shaft. Dude, you are totally cute, and congrats on being born, but I have to level with ya little guy - you kinda got the crappy end of the stick when it comes to birthdays.

I once thought eating ice cream made with human boob milk was the most disgusting thing ever; I have, once again, been proven a fool. The ick factor doesn't peak with boob milk - people have been eating placenta pizzas and getting placenta injections to cure all kinds of ails.

Alien ambassador Tom Cruise told GQ magazine that he planned to eat baby Suri's placenta when she was born back in '06 and got plenty of furrowed brows for it, but who's the weirdo now? Japanese women are getting placental injections, a quick Google search yields a bevy of placental recipes, and you can even get placenta pills. Nah, even with everyone jumping on the placenta munching train he is still a weirdo.

What I can't quite understand is that a controversy even exists over this - it's just gross. You do know what a placenta is, all you placenta pizza makers, right? I'm not a baby Mama or anything and maybe that is why I am failing to understand, but why (oh why) would anyone ever want to do something like that? Shivers, gag - gotta go.

Now for the second order of business; when are you going to take down your Christmas tree and all of the rest of your seasonal decorations? I know it seems a bit soon to be worrying about when to start packing those boxes back up, but in all seriousness, how long is too long to leave the X-Mas decs up?

Traditionally, my family leaves up our elegantly decorated tree (and by elegant I mean that my parents still put up the Popsicle-stick reindeer that I made when I was four) until right after New Years Eve. We figure that it took a lot of time and effort to put up a house-full of decorations, so we're not in a hurry to take them down. Of course, that lax policy does have limitations. We're not going to be that family that has their tree shining through their front window on Valentines Day either.

But I do know people who take their de-decorating to a whole different extreme. The second Christmas is over, either at the end of the day or on the 26th, they race to get their house back to normal.

So what is your policy on how long to leave your Christmas decorations up? Is there an unspoken rule, like not wearing white after Labor Day, or is it purely based on personal preference?

The origins of the great pet debate are unknown, but the feud over whether cats or dogs make the better pet is ongoing. While I believe both have animals their relative merits, I am a bona fide dog person.

Personally, I like dogs because they are friendlier and less likely to eat their owners - plus I don't like the idea of owning a pet that potentially could be smarter than I am. Despite the fact that a recent poll showed more dog owners believe their pets understand them than cat owners do, I say cats probably understand, they just choose to ignore their owners - and that's just mean. Plus, there is a creepy intelligence in a cat's eyes (brrr... chills) that just doesn't sit right with me. Do you agree with me on the dig thing or on the side that thinks cats will save the world one day?

While most of the people we talked to preferred dogs, a few people in St. Louis like cats... not that there is anything wrong with that. To see what people had to say about why they prefer one furry friend over the other, click on [tab:trav_video].

A dinosaur named Sue is coming to the St. Louis Science Center and she is kind of a big deal. Sue is a humongous T-Rex that you could consider the Angelina Jolie of the prehistoric age: as she is getting a lot of attention, she is well traveled, and with 90% of her being intact she is the most complete T-Rex specimen in existence. As Stephanie Kuster, a paleontologist at Wash U, put it she is "the equivalent of a supermodel in the fossil world."

Since she was discovered in 1990 almost 3 million people have flooded museums around the nation to get a glimpse of exact replicas (or body doubles if you will) that were made by her owners - Chicago's Field Museum. Sue will be stomping into the Gateway City next month. The actual bones were purchased by the Field Museum for $8.4 million dollars, and their staff spent more than 30,000 hours to prepare her skeleton and make the exact replicas like the one that will be at the Science Center.

The exhibit, "A T-Rex Named Sue," opens January 17th at the Exploradome; tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for children and senior citizens. To celebrate Sue's arrival at the Science Center, the museum will will be showing Dinosaurs Alive! at the Omnimax Theater, hosting dinosaur digs, and the helping the kiddos make dino crafts. You can purchase tickets through the Science Center's site or by calling 314-289-4424.

While we all know that the government closes down for tons of cushy holidays besides those four, the other days are not named per say. So the mail doesn't run and no one answers the phone at the court building one Thursday in November because it is just considered a holiday... but the day off isn't officially called "Thanksgiving." Considering this, do you think Christmas should become Missouri's fifth officially named holiday?