A St. Louis Birthday!!!

I know it has been a while since my last update and my birthday was well.... about a month ago now, but updates are better late than never. This mama has been soooo tired lately and really Eli has been taking more pictures this last month than me.

Well, Brian asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said, "I want to get away!!!! and go somewhere fun!" So we did. We planned a fun filled 2 and 1/2 day trip to St. Louis. Everything about it was wonderful (except the ceiling leak in our bathroom on the second night - but all worked well and we got a new room and a discount in the end). Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Brian and I planning the trip at Sunergos!

This was taken at a small local roastery/coffee shop we found. It was a very pleasant place to start our mornings.

This was taken at the St. Louis zoo - which is free!! and beautiful!!

Yikes! Snakes!

Otto's favorite - the giraffes!

The baby belly.

At the City Museum

Yes, this pregnant mama still likes to jump in the cage of balls and have fun with her little Eli!

Now I didn't venture down the 10 story slide here with Eli and Brian - for this very reason - you can catch up with the person in front of you. I just didn't want to get kicked on accident - that's why Brian was behind Eli. They had TONS of fun and did this again and again and again. I hope to join in next time.

Pappy's BBQ for dinner!!! We found this jewel online and knew we had to go!!! It was wonderful. The place is usually sold out of its food by 4 and the line is usually about an hour long. Well, on my b'day Brian called in about 2 pm and they still had food and there wasn't much of a line so we bee lined over there and got some tasty food. When Brian got up to order there were only 3 ribs left - just in time I guess. Then we went back to the City Museum for more fun.

This is in a cave at the City Museum.

Slides of all kinds!

Weeeee! Swinging at the indoor skate park - yep, there is even a skate park in this place.

Roasting marshmallows outside the Museum.

Once we got up to the arch Eli was pretty afraid. He thought it would fall on us.

Halloween!

Here are a few pictures from our Halloween Festivities this year. Our church service is on Sunday nights 6-8ish so that fell right when we would be trick-or-treating, so we did various other fun activities and I don't think Eli really noticed the difference. On Saturday night we met up with some of our neighbors for "Trunk-or-Treat" at a church down the road. It was a fun time. Otto did get REALLY afraid of a bloody masked boy, but we survived.

Then on Sunday night during the church service a few other moms and I organized some fun crafts and activities for the kids to do.

Walking over to the "Trunk-or-Treat" at the neighborhood church.

This is at Antioch, our church. All the kids dressed up - ADORABLE!

Pin the nose on the pumpkin! The older kids played "Pin the Thesis on the Door" in honor of Reformation Day - that activity was thought up and organized by the pastor's wife.

Shannon and I were amazed that we had all these 4 and under kids sitting still and munching on snacks.... shew.

I took this during "Musical Chairs." The older kids here were asking me to take pictures of them too - so here it is!

Celebrations!

Oh how I love birthdays and sweet friends! We all celebrated Stephanie's 24th birthday together the other day and it was a memorable time together. For those who don't know, Stephanie and her fiance Tim are good friends of ours. They met as baristas at Sunergos (awwwww...). Stephanie lives just down the street - where Tim will soon join her in February! They are just too cute...