Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis!

We spent our 4th of July weekend in the St. Louis area with my long-time best friend Heidi and her family. We had a wonderful time! Our adventure began on the car ride there. I was so impressed by the interesting town names in Missouri... there was Mexico, Missouri, Lebanon, Missouri, Cuba, Missouri and Nevada, Missouri.

The most impressive town had to be Lebanon. They seemed to be the shopping mecca of the mid-west. Exciting shopping destinations such as: (and I'm not joking!)

~ Knife Country
~ Cheese Outlet
~ Factory 2nd's Walnut Bowls
~ World's Largest Antique Mall
~ World's Largest Gift and Candy Store

... really, I am not kidding. These are real places! I asked Curtis how they know that they are the "world's largest" antique mall and gift/candy store. I expected that would be a lot of research to make that claim. Curt was pretty sure that they just make the claim and feel pretty confident no one is going to contest it. he's probably right...

Well, after we actually arrived at Heidi's, we had time to visit for a bit then we were off to a Grizzlies baseball game. They are a semi-pro team that plays in a small town outside of St.L. We made the drive, parked, got to our seats and as we sat down, this happened...

and this is what we looked like...

for an HOUR!

The rain finally stopped and they were able to start the game. It was fun but only lasted 7 innings. Here is a couple of pictures of their mascot Izzy the bear. After the game, they had a grand fireworks show that lasted about 96 seconds. We were all a tad disappointed. (no pictures of the grand display)

The morning of the fourth we went to a neat parade in downtown St. Louis. The weather could not have been more beautiful and the kids loved every minute of it. That night we had a great meal prepared by Heidi and her hubby Andy and Andy played bartender and made us some sweet martini's! Mmmmmmmm! Thanks, Andy!

Saturday was another nice day together. Heidi and I got to do what we do best together, (except for gabbing and making each other laugh) shopping!! While we ran around for a couple of hours the men took the 5 kiddos to the park. Afterwards, Heidi shared her jewelry-making expertise with me and helped me make Lauragale a beaded necklace and earrings...


That night we made it to a fireworks display in Lebanon. (no, Lebanon, ILLINOIS this time!!) It was very nice and Andy even surprised Heidi and I and brought Cosmo's for us to drink while we waited for the fireworks to start! Mmmmmmm! Thanks, Andy!!


Here we are, having a nice time...

Here is Noah, in the van, playing his DS because he doesn't like the "pooms"...

Here we are, enjoying our Cosmo's... yummy!

Here we are, enjoying our Cosmo's, butt with Andy's BUTT in the picture because Curtis thought it would be funny... NICE!

We headed back home on Sunday and even that car ride was exciting! I wasn't able to get any photo's (darn!) but we saw about 15 skydivers landing in a field all at one time close to the Oklahoma line and a little bit after that, we ran into the Jonas Brothers tour bus!! Ok, we didn't literally run into them, but we passed them on the highway. Lauragale was soooo excited! She yelled, "OMG (oh my gosh!) it's the Jo-Bro's!!!" Really? She is only 7... yikes! We also stopped at the former "world's largest" McDonald's in Vinita. It is the one that goes over the highway like a greasy overpass... you know the one... Now I DID get a picture of that...

(It was a little bright that day!)





Like how Noah is glued to the window in amazement??

All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better trip. It was especially fun getting to spend time with Heidi and her family and just catch up. We don't get to see each other very often and I miss her. Curt and I want to make the trip an annual event. Maybe not always on the 4th of July, but at least once a year!!

Love you Heidi, Andy, Zachary, Ashton and Alexander! You guys are awesome hosts!

Breaking and Entering

Well, the kids and I had a great day of swimming today! First swimming lessons in the morning then an oh-so-fun playdate with Katie and her kids at her in-law's pool.

Of course, Katie and I can never keep anything simple and easy, there always has to be an element of excitement and surprise to keep us on our toes. "How could a simple play-date at the pool go so wrong?", you ask... well, it can!

But in the midst of chaos, God has a sense of humor!

Timeline of Events:

10:35 am: Katie and kids arrive at said pool.

10:40 am: Katie unlocks back door and enters house to let kids go wee-wee.

10:45 am: Me and the kiddos arrive.

10:49 am: Katie receives cell phone call from mother-in-law but has bad connection and can't hear a darn thing.

11:20 am: While relaxing in the sun and chatting, Katie and I notice strange man walking through the yard and approaching us.

11:21 am: I realize that this is not a strange man... it is a police officer!

11:22 am: Realize this is not just ANY police officer, this is my brother-in-law!!

11:22 am: "Fancy meeting you here! I was called to this address because the security alarm had been tripped." my b-n-l tells us.

11:23 am: NICE!!!!! We set off the alarm and made the police come out to check on it.

11:24 am: NICE!!!!! The police office dispatched to the call was my BROTHER-IN-LAW!! YEAH!!!!!!!

OK, would that have been just lovely if K and I were just chattin' it up by the pool while our little munchkins were swimming and a police office came by to check on a security alarm breech and realized that neither one of us lived there, the real owners were out-of-town and we couldn't even verify the houses address??? Can you say "MUG SHOTS"?

What is even more ironic? My b-n-l didn't even work that area! He was given the call because they were short-handed today! Isn't that nice that our little careless shenanigans caused a hard-working police officer to get sidetracked with us while he could have been arresting drug-dealers or REAL burglars!!! (Thanks Chris!)

Isn't God cool? I guess He is when you try to see Him in the small stuff... Things could have been very difficult for us just because of a tiny mistake... but God not only protected us, He gave us a story to remember as well!!

P.S. I think our brush with the law was a little embarrassing to Noah...

Bass Pro Shop

Today we were watching my friends girls, and to keep everyone happy, we decided to take a trip to Bass Pro Shops. We lucked out too! It just happened to be Kid's Day... really, we don't plan these things, we just luck out!!

When we arrived, we were coerced into climbing a make-shift rock wall out in the parking lot. Noah was the first to offer himself up as a sacrifice and I shamed Curtis into as well. They strapped Noah all in (right after we signed a release saying it was not the National Guards fault if he falls to the ground), he gets about two steps up and decides he is done! His favorite part was letting go and softly falling to his feet from the handy pulley system.

Curtis went next and had to go barefoot just like Noah. (Croc's and cowboy boots are not the most appropriate footwear for rock climbing!) He made it to the top in no time!

After that we went inside to "ride" four-wheelers, "drive" party barges and try on random camouflage attire. Here is the group with their camo hats on...

We also had to stop for a "photo-op" with the skeet-shooting mannequin...


... and let's not forget the STYLIN' gun safe that Curt want's to get... It is a Limited Edition with a portrait of John Wayne spray-painted on it... Did I mention it cost's $7,000?? Yes, $7,000. (ok, I don't think he wants it that bad... just in case you were thinking of getting it for him for Christmas.)

After the fun indoors we went back out to find a B.A. firetruck complete with water rescue equipment, jaws of life and chocolate lab...

... and sweet bikers who fingerprinted our kids and let them take pictures on their Harley's.

Could we have had more fun? Don't answer that...

My friend

Hey out there! Not much going on today, that is why I love Mondays. It is my catch-up day. Laundry, phone calls, e-mail and most of all, Noah gets to lay around the house in his Spider-Man underwear as long as he wants! Really, for those of you who know him well, you know that is his favorite "activity"! I enjoy letting him do it too. I get a kick out of watching him roam around in his tighty-whitey's grazing in the refrigerator and playing all the Wii Sports games over and over until he is champion at them all!

The real reason I wanted to post today is to brag on my friend Malisa. I was just looking at her Picture of the Day blog called "Pictures and Pieces" and I am always blown away at her creativity and talent in photography. After loosing her husband suddenly back in August and now picking up the pieces and raising three adorable girls by herself, she is courageous enough to follow her dreams in photography and work on improving herself and her craft daily!

Please take a moment to enjoy her art... you can find the link to her blog under the "My Friends Blogs" menu down the page on the left... "Pictures and Pieces". Keep up the great work Malisa and remember how much we love you!