Art in the Park

Art in the Park is finally back!  For some reason it didn't come together last year and Scott and I had enjoyed it 2 years ago.  So, we decided that we were going to head over to Francis Park and enjoy the Sunday afternoon. 



Art in the Park is a once a year event in Francis Park that has over 50 vendors showing off artwork and jewelry.  There were a few food boothes from restaurants from around the neighborhood, as well as live music. 

Since Scott had to work most of the day, Zipf, Scott's parents and myself enjoyed a nice afternoon of checking out art, jewelry and old cars.  Scott's mom even found a new necklace.  There was a few artists there that Scott and I like however, they didn't have any new pictures. 

It was nice running into old neighbors and friends that I hadn't seen since the school pinic. We did sign up for St. Gabriel's Alumni events and the St. Louis Hills Neighborhood Association events.

Great Balloon Race

Saturaday was the 39th Balloon Race in Forest Park.  I love that I'm making this an annual tradition.  Kristin and I had a nice lunch at City Coffeehouse and Creperie, the best crepes I have ever had.  I'm so happy that Kristin introduced me to this new place and can't wait to take Scott there!

We then headed off to the Park to get a decent parking spot and seats for the race.  We managed to get front row seats and hung out for a while before it was time to walk around and see the balloons up close.  On our walk we found the Energizer Bunny hanging out in the VIP section.



Then we waited a bit longer as the skydivers started the show.  Then it was time for the Bunny to blow up.



It was a little different this year since we were pretty close to the Bunny balloon and were able to watch it inflate.  Since it was really windy the Energizer Bunny did not officially start the race.  But once the first balloon was up the others quickly followed.  I still love trying to guess which one will go next.

[caption id="attachment_1499" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="First Balloon"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1500" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="And the race is on"][/caption]

There were about 70 balloons that took off and about 4 or 5 that didn't make it out of the Park.

The sky looked amazing watching them all as we left Forest Park.  I can't wait till next year and hope Scott gets to go.  But I know he was busy working and had a very productive day!

Rams Home Opener 2011

I finally made it to a home opener of a St. Louis team!  I wish it was the Cardinals, but the Rams will do for now.  Zipf was able to score us some free tickets to the game.  Not only were they free tickets but they were great seats and, oh yea, we had field passes for before the game started!



We picked up Zipf and Michelle and headed down a little early to tailgate with Michelle parents.  Little did we know that they had friends who have an RV just for tailgating.  They were parked in the lot were Zipf knew the owner and so we parked for free, another bonus!  The RV was parked next to Eagle One.

[caption id="attachment_1478" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Eagle One"][/caption]

A tricked out RV that Eagles fans drive all across the country going to Eagles games and give tours.  It was pretty amazing to see.  They even had player autographs on the inside.  It had 7 flat screen TV all around it, a surround system and a plaque on the side showing all the stadiums that they have been to and stars for the different times and playoff games.

Scott and I decided to head inside the Dome a little early to watch pre-game warm-ups and take advantage of the field passes.  It was awesome to be feet away from the players on the field.  We were able to watch Michael Vick warm up Jeremy Maclin for the Eagles and then head down to the Rams end and watch Bradford warm up.

[caption id="attachment_1479" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="J Mac in the endzone"][/caption]

Al Harris was just feet from us taking snaps.  Amendola was playing catch with Bradford right in front of us as well.  I thought he was much bigger on TV, but he is really not that big for a receiver.

[caption id="attachment_1480" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Amendola!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1481" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pregame pep talk"][/caption]





[caption id="attachment_1483" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="pre-game snaps"][/caption]

We watched at the Eagles left the field and head back to the locker room and then we had to leave the field as they were getting ready for the National Anthem.

We made it up to what we thought were our seats and sat there for the most moving National Anthem that I have ever sat through.  Since it was 9/11 they had St. Louis Police, Fire and EMS personal on the field holding the field size flag, as well as the Eagles and Rams players.  The Anthem was sung by a Naval Officier and it moved me to tears just listening to it and watching the pictures on the big screens.



Then it was time for the actual game.  The Rams started out strong.  Steven Jackson's first touch was a 50 yard run for a touch down and then he was out for the rest of the game.  The Rams looked decent for a while but there were too many injuries to key Rams players.  Then Michael Vick took over and the Rams defense couldn't contain the offense.

The Rams went on the lose the game.  But it was a great day!  I love live football and opening day was even better!  Plus I was able to see another Bradford game and watch Michael Vick's amazing talent.

[caption id="attachment_1477" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="relaxing next to Eagle One"][/caption]

Remembering September 11, 2001

It has been 10 years since terrorist hijacked 4 planes and our country was changed.  I remember exactly where I was when I found out and when I saw the first images.  I was at UTSA, sitting in College Algebra class and made my way to Finance.  Right before class started people started talking about what had happened.  Our teacher tried to start teaching class, but people kept going in and out.  He was not going to teach anything so he dismissed class.  Then as I walked down the hall, I saw people gathered around a tiny TV and there was the image of the first plane flying into the tower.

I just stood there, shocked.  I couldn't believe what I had just seen.  I then went outside and met up with a few of my classmates and we were talking about the events.  I even remember a classmate talking about how he was certain that bin Laden had something to do with it.  It's funny how I remember those details.

It was very weird driving home down 1604 with no planes flying over head.  There was always planes flying over our house and it was dead silent, creepy.  I was home with my dad and we watch as the second tower fell to the ground.  We both sat in silence.

[caption id="attachment_1486" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Flags on Art Hill, one for each victim of 9/11"][/caption]

A day we will never forget.

Mathew Plays Soccer

It was bound to happen, Mathew finally had his first soccer game.  He had stuck going to everyone else's games since he was born and now it was his turn for everyone to watch him play. 

[caption id="attachment_1470" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Action Shot"][/caption]

Scott and I made sure we showed up to watch him show off his skills.  The kid didn't let us down.  He had a few break aways and almost scored.  Then the 4th quarter came up and he had to play goalie, just like his dad. 



[caption id="attachment_1471" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="And the save!"][/caption]

He was the only goalie that did not allow a goal!  He played awesome.  Can't wait to watch more soccer!

Relaxing week

Coming off a very busy weekend I was expecting to have a long, never ending work week.  However, this week flew by!  Tuesday night since Scott side project is on pause we made dinner and then we out to Creve Cour  Park and walked the around the lake.  We ended up getting a later start and walked the back half in the dark but that's ok, it's helped get ride of my day long headache.  We finished season 5 of Dexter this week as well!

Wednesday night I met Scott at the car repair shop and dropped off is car and then instead of driving all the way home in traffic we stopped at Joey B's for a quick bite to eat and avoided rush hour traffic!  Once we got home we watched Lincoln Lawyer, finally.

By Thursday night we thought we were going to get the car back so I left work early, but since it wasn't ready we were home by 5:15 and decided to take a nice walk through the neighborhood.  We got dinner ready and then got ready for football!  I'm so happy that football is back!  It seems like the off season is just way too long and with the lock out this year it was even  longer.  In the first game back, the Packers reminded us all why they are the Champs!  Go Pack Go!

And now it's Friday!  Quiet possibly the longest day of the week.  It was painful to get to 5 today.  Maybe it's because we have a serious mold issue at work and my boss doesn't think there is a problem.  Or because my office smelt like bleach all day.  Or because it was a co-worker's last day and we really don't want to see her leave.

I'm just excited because it's the weekend and my husband doesn't have to work on Saturday!

Labor Day Weekend

What a busy weekend!  It all started on Friday when it was my day to leave work early, at 4.  We have a rotating schedule of every Friday someone gets to leave early and it was a great way to start my weekend.  Once Scott got home we headed over to Jenner and Andrew's house for breakfast for dinner.  It's my preferred way to eat breakfast!  We were able to see how big Henry has gotten.  It always amazes me with how quickly newborns grow.

Saturday was the hottest day of the weekend.  We ran errands in the morning and Scott worked a little (at home).  And then it was off to the Highlander for the first Nebraska game of the season.  Oh, how I've missed college football and am so happy that it is back.  I love going to Nebraska watch parties as well, it's like walking into a bar in Omaha.  I left right before the game even started to go get my hair cut and was followed back to the bar by a huge rain cloud.  But that cloud didn't stop Nebraska from winning the first game!  Later than night we decided to stay home and make some homemade pizza and watch more football.  I'm going to love Saturday's this fall.

Sunday was the busiest day of the weekend.  We had so much planned for the day I wasn't sure if we would get it all in since we didnt' get an early start like I had hoped.  Our first stop was St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church's Greek Festival.  It has been an annual event for us to get some gryos and pastries.  While we were eating we enjoying some people watching and educating people on the days events around St. Louis.



Our next stop was the Hill.  The Gateway Cup was in it's second day of racing around St. Louis.  The first day is around Francis Park, Tour de Hills, then the Hill and then Benton Park for the third day.  We stopped in to see my cousin Debbie and she said we could sit on her front porch to watch the race.  We took her up on the offer and got some great pictures of the race.  We did head over to start of the race to watch the finish of category 3 and the start of category 4 races.

[caption id="attachment_1454" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cat 3 going down Edwards"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1455" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="In front of St. Ambrose"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1456" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Start of Cat 4 race"][/caption]

Then it was down to the Landing to listen to some Blues.  The Muddy Blues Festival was concluding on Sunday and it has not let us down.  It was the third year for us to go down and listen to great local bands play.  Every year we find a new band and end up downloading their music.  This year it was Mississippi Fever.  They were the first band that we heard when we got down there and they put on a great concert, people were dancing and singing along.  We talked to an older couple who heard a band the night before at a local bar and said we had to check out the bar on the weekends.

[caption id="attachment_1449" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mississippi Fever"][/caption]



On Monday we decided that we needed more counter space in the kitchen.  So we spent some time rearranging the microwave and it's like we have a brand new kitchen!  And we can both be cooking without completely killing each other for counter space!  Zipf and I went and did a little shopping out at the Mills and found a couple deals.  However, our mission to find Rams shirts to wear to the home opener was a killer.  It seemed like everyone had Mizzou shirts instead  and we ended up getting a shirt online.

Zipf ended up staying for dinner and Kristin came out, as well.  We fired up the BBQ and Scott made an awesome dinner of pork steaks, corn, twice baked potatos, homemade bread and Kristin's Greek salad.  It was a great meal with great company.  A wonderful way to end a great weekend!