First Arch Visit

Fitz's on the Loop

Jake and a funny clown at the street market.


Museum that is underground at the Arch


At the base of the Arch



Well... technically it's not our first visit to the arch, but it is our first one as residents of the St. Louis area. Tim, Krysta's boyfriend came to town for the weekend so on Saturday we headed over to Fitz's on the Loop for an early dinner and some root beer. Then we met up with Krysta & Tim at the arch... we took the metro link and they drove. It was an hour wait to go up into the arch so we decided just to walk around the little free museum and go back at a later date with Elijah & Mason the next time they come for a visit. Natalie spent the weekend in New Albany, IN for a youth lectureship and got to be with her best friend Kaily Steele. Unfortunately, the camera she took was dead so there are no pictures to post from that.

Planet Fun

Every day I have been unpacking boxes, helping the girls figure out what they should keep, what they shouldn't keep, entertaining Jake, etc. etc. Needless to say, it has gotten old. I feel like I'm kind of at a stand still until we get empty boxes broken down and out into the garage which I did some of that last night just to feel like I accomplished something. But before that, I decided there would be no unpacking yesterday and we would find a place for Jake so he could run around and get some energy off. With it raining, we opted for an indoor playground and went to Planet Fun...which has all kinds of climbing and crawling tubes and some arcade games. Jake had a blast just running and playing while the girls and I played games...mostly skee ball. Also, taking silly pictures which Jake wanted nothing to do with.

This excites me!!

We discovered that about 10-15 minutes away from our house, we have a Target Greatland. We have a couple of Target's closer than that, but if you know me and how much I enjoy Target... you know that this makes me happy. ;) And even better... not too far from it is a Mimi's Cafe. Mmmmmm!!!!

An evening at a Cardinals Game

Last night we headed to downtown St. Louis to take in a Cardinals game. We parked and then rode the train which took us right to the ballpark. Busch Stadium is nice...but some of us are partial to the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. Krysta even sported her Josh Hamilton Reds t-shirt (who now plays for the Texas Rangers) to the game. We overheard several remarks about the Cincinnati Reds in passing but nothing too bad. It was actually a good game and in the end the Cards pulled it out with a victory over the Padres. The kids seemed to enjoy it...except for Natalie who is not a big fan of baseball and still having a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings. Hopefully, in time, things for her will get better. Here are a few pics. from the game and one of the kids waiting for the train.





Enjoying the game






Krysta not impressed with Jake's t-shirt

Maggie back to school

Maggie's first day of 4th grade started yesterday. Bless her little heart. Actually, she was very excited after buying her school supplies and going to her open house. She had a good first day and said that the playground is "amazing". When she got home from school, it wasn't too long before Uncle JJ & Aunt Angie, Elijah and Mason came pulling in for a quick visit on their way to Nashville. The kids are looking forward to living closer to their Missouri cousins.

For those feeling left out (Kimmylouwho)

Natalie made a 3 day trip down south to Lexington to stay with her friend Kaylan Butler and Ellie Swisher before our move to St. Louis. I guess I didn't mention that in my last post...slight oversight on my part. Natalie had a great time with her friends and a HUGE thank you to Kim & Teddy for letting them stay with them and run them where they wanted to go. And just a reminder to Kim... St. Louis is WEST, not South. Just in case you ever come for a visit. ;)

We're Here...

Just a quick update on our move...
The morning of our move, we woke up to a poster in our front yard wishing us luck from our neighbors. The guys got there on time to start loading the truck which ended up taking longer than we expected. But, in all fairness, for two guys doing all the work, it was quite amazing to see what all they do and carry out. And let me just add... we have SO MUCH JUNK!!! Hopefully we will be able to clean out as we unpack and get rid of a lot of it. We ended up not getting away from our house until 9 p.m. which put us at our hotel at 2 a.m. Then, we had to be up early to get the dog to a kennel for a few days, walk through our house here and close on it at 10 a.m. Whew!! We were so tired. But, we are now in our house and all I see are boxes everywhere. We have lost space in some areas (mainly the master bedroom and closet) but have extra space in other areas so we'll have to try and figure out where we will be putting things in this house. On a sidenote: On our way here, we made a very quick pit stop in Louisville and got to see my best friend Sandy and her boys who happen to be there visiting her family. We are thankful we got here safely and now will be busy getting settled.

One last post before packing up...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The packers (no, not from Green Bay) will be here tomorrow so I thought I would share what we have been doing our last few days here. Trips to Kings Island and Boomerang Bay, sleepovers, sleepovers, sleepovers, Jake's tball games, getting our Skyline chili fix, a few girls nights out for Michelle, and just trying to soak up whatever time we can get in with our friends before we leave. If all goes as planned, we will be heading to St. Louis on Monday, the 14th. I will post something as soon as we are up and running there and I get a second or two. Until then...

Bittersweet 4th of July!

This is happening all too quickly!! We are under 10 days on the countdown!! Today was a 4th of July/Going Away potluck given to us by our dear friends from church. I suppose it was fitting that we had to change the location from outdoor to indoor at the last minute to our clubhouse, due to rain we had all morning. Someone said, "This party isn't just because we are going to miss you, but because we will miss the clubhouse too." We have definitely gotten lots of use out of our clubhouse. There was lots of good food, yummy desserts, but most of all more time to be with one another. A HUGE thanks to all who were involved in getting it put together, contributing to our gift, and for being there for us. We are so thankful for the friendships we have made in our 6 1/2 years here and for the examples you have been to our children. Happy 4th!!