Bring on the Cowboys

August 24-26, 2012

Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas

Lauren and I saw cheap plane tickets to Dallas and away we went.  We are really good at not making many plans and just showing up.  Dallas was a city we should of prepared a little more for.  The activities we did have planned were a blast, there was just some in between time.

Here's how we spent our time.

Friday:  We toured the Cowboys Stadium including running on the field, cheerleaders locker room, and press room.  We ate lunch and realized we needed a rental car if we were going to do anything.  That's when we got a tiny pink car.  Don't be jealous!  We headed to a Rangers game that evening where we just watched people.  Before I knew it the game was over and the fireworks show had begun!

Saturday:  I got up and ran 4 miles around the stadiums followed by a day in Fort Worth.  We headed to Sundance Square for a lunch that took a couple of hours--our choice.  We sat on the patio and just talked and talked about who knows what.  We stopped by a cupcake shop (oops--not vegan) and then the famous Water Gardens.  Within downtown is a peaceful area with waterfalls.

That evening was the BIG event.  We were going to the Fort Worth Stockyards to see a rodeo.  We walked around and found a bull we could "test" out.  The rodeo didn't disappointment and afterwards we found another arena for bull riding only!

Sunday:  We got up to head down to downtown Dallas.  We toured JFK's Memorial, 6th Street Museum, and a very old neighborhood with mansions.

Giddy-up, I'm ready for another trip!

Friends Weekend

August 17 and 18, 2012

I have always prayed to have more girlfriends when I moved to St. Louis and I have been blessed.

Friday, August 17th:  My friend Cinnamon and I went to eat sushi and just hang out.  The time went by so fast catching up, but we enjoyed the weather and company!  Afterwards, I met up with Amanda and we went to get yogurt.

Saturday, August 18th:  My friend Morgan was in town with her daughter Ayla.  I haven't gotten to meet Ayla yet so I couldn't wait for breakfast.  Ayla was so cute and she loved me instantly!  She never cried and I got to hold her the whole time!  (I'm sad I didn't get a picture on my camera).

That evening Keith and I had a double date with Marianne and her husband Greg.  The weather has been so great that we sat outside Barcelona in Clayton for over 3 hours.  They were able to talk about TV shows and music.  I just sat there and smiled!

I did get my hair done that afternoon.  I love it!  I don't think I'd ever be able to curl it like this again.

Finally...My First Cards Game of 2012

August 15, 2012

It is about time!  I finally had the opportunity to go to my first Cards game of the year.  Last year I tried to go to as many games as possible and I'm not sure what is happening this year.  My connections of "free" tickets seem to be lost right now.

My employees have been doing such a great job and working extremely hard so we took the evening off for a game.  It was a great night, shared with great employees!

We celebrated with a WIN at the end of the evening!  I'll be back to the stadium soon!

I Love My Boys

August 10-12, 2012

If you remember a few posts back, the boys are moving and it's closer to St. Louis.  What's that mean for me....PARTY!

This was "moving" weekend so I got the boys again.  I'm not sure they were as eager to see me at first, but within a few minutes they were up for a weekend of FUN!

Friday evening we stopped for McDonalds before walking up the street for yogurt.  YUMMY!  That was our new favorite treat.  (They have a vegan flavor!)

Saturday we woke up bright and early for a fun day OUTSIDE!  We headed to Bread Co to get our breakfast before having a picnic at Creve Coeur Lake.  It was Dragon Boat racing and they had so much fun stuff for kids to do.

The boys got to play in the lake, get free bike helmets, arts and crafts, and bounce around on bouncy obstacle courses.  They were in heaven.  After three hours we had a quick lunch followed by four hours in the Kirkwood Pool.  We met Keith and his family for swimming, jumping, diving, and lazy river time!  That evening we were ALL exhausted, but we still walked to our favorite place for yogurt after Mexican!

The boys were ready to leave on Sunday morning.  They didn't even want to eat lunch.  All they could think of was a huge dirt pile outside their house.  I'll be excited for them to come back again, SOON!

Beignets. Coffee.Beignets.Coffee.Matching Outfits

July 25-29, 2012

Can you guess where and what I have going on?

This year family vacation was in New Orleans!  Bring on the jazz and Cajun foods!

Wednesday, July 25th we flew into New Orleans and found our way downtown.  It just so happened to be that the President was also in New Orleans for the day.  After walking up and down streets we found out that he was going to be eating dinner at the House of Blues.  This took up a huge part of the day as we got a 3 second glance at the President, but what an experience.  We always seem to be in the right place at the right time and we found our way to the front of the crowd.

Thursday, July 26:  We headed on a Katrina City Tour where our guy Sylvester was the entertainment on the tour.  He took us to city parks, cemeteries, farmers markets and back again.  Of course we stopped by Cafe Du Monde where we visited daily for our dose of beignets and coffee. By the last day, I was done with beignets.  It's probably a good thing also!

Friday, July 27:  Today we got up early to catch a bus to Laura Plantation where we learned about a wealthy family that landed tons of acres to produce sugar cane.  Once again Sylvester was our guy!

Saturday, July 28th:  Our final full day in New Orleans and we had a Steamboat Cruise with Louisanan cuisine. 

We walked all over the town, found the locals favorite restaurants, rode trolly cars, and listened to some good jazz.

Once again an amazing time with an amazing family!

Family Weekend in the 'Lou

July 20-22nd

Aunt Cassie gave me a call a few weeks earlier and wanted to have a birthday celebration for my Grandma in St. Louis.  Another couple of calls and we had a crew coming!  It's always great to see family, but I was worried--what are we going to do?  We found ways to entertain ourselves!

Here's the crew:  Dad, Mom, Zack, Grandma, Aunt Cassie and Brian, Kenzie, Aunt Chance, Regan, and Carter.

Friday after work we met up at Mike Shannon's before the Cubs/Cardinal game.  Keith and I ended up going to Forest Park where Keith got to my Grandma.  Saturday, we ate lunch at a one of a kind restaurant before heading to shopping.   Keith met up with us for a Cunetto's dinner and evening at the Arch. 

Thanks for coming to visit and Happy Birthday Grandma!

Triathlon

July 15, 2012

Before you get any ideas, this post isn't about me.  I'm so proud of Keith for accomplishing his goal since he's been so dedicated to practicing.  The New Town Triathlon was supposed to be the first triathlon, but Keith got excited and already completed another one earlier in the summer.  This was the first time I got to watch start to finish! 

Way to go Keith!