When Our British Buddy Visits
Whew! I.am.pooped! What a week! So the last time I posted was an uncharacteristic short and sweet post, but, alas, this one is a doozey because I'm going to try and recap the last four days in one post. So! Here it goes!
My roomie from when I lived in England arrived Tuesday night and just left this afternoon. We had a wonderful visit -- her first EVER to the US! -- but boy, I am pooped! 30 is exhausting people!
Here's a snap from in 2011 when Mike and I got engaged in London! I actually went back in 2012 for the Google Teacher Academy and saw her again then but didn't get a pic of the both of us. Drats.
Anyways, Grier got in Tuesday night and Mike was working (boo) so we decided to meet up with him while he was working for dinner at Michael's in the city. I didn't snap any pics (shocker, right?!) but Grier tried toasted ravioli for the first time and LOVED them! Win win! The kids were relatively good so that was a bonus. We went home, got the kids bathed and in bed, and spent the next few hours catching up...while Grier sipped tea. Good thing Mike has a substantial tea collection for her to choose from :)
Wednesday Mike had to work again (boo) but not till 3pm, so we decided to hit up the Arch in the morning and then head over to the Hill for some Italian for lunch before heading to the Botanical Garden.
This was the kiddos first trip to the Arch too, so they were equally as excited as Grier. Fortunately it was not windy so the Arch wasn't swaying, but it still rocked me a bit to be in those teeny tiny elevators to the top...
Patrick didn't mind them. Not one bit.
The views were excellent and Grier (and the kids!) really enjoyed looking out from the top! We had a super clear day so we could see for 30 miles in each direction! It was oodles of fun.
We did walk to the Old Cathedral afterwards to show Grier before heading to Rigazzi's for lunch on the Hill. We again got some t-ravs for Grier and she loved them! She really was liking all of the food we've fed her thus far...commenting mostly on how big the American portions are!
After lunch Grier headed to the Botanical Garden by herself and we headed home to get the kids down for naps and Mike to head to work. Fortunately my aunt was out and about and picked Grier up around 4pm to bring her home -- she loved the Garden but was completely exhausted!
Ro showed off for a bit after nap walking around in her oh-so-adorable new Saltwater Sandals before dinner. We were going to go to PJs and get ice cream, but we all were just too exhausted! So instead my dad brought over IMOS (which she loved!!) and we chatted and watched the Cardinals game before getting the kiddos bathed and off to bed.
On Thursday we woke up and I threw Ro in some piggy tails for the first time and I about died. How freaking cute is she?!! Seriously. I can't handle it.
Anyways, I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and then once I got home from that we headed to my aunt's lake house. It was POURING rain which was threatening our lake/pool plans, but we powered through.
Yep. The rain followed us down -- but the kids didn't see to care, they were happy to play on Patrick's playmat. After a huge lunch Kate made with tater tots, burgers, her famous mac and cheese, and some watermelon and a nap for Ro, it cleared up and we headed to the pool...on the golf cart! Grier liked that.
The kids had a blast, per usual, in the pool and had it all to themselves. They were in heaven.
About 7pm after we got out from our pool dip and had a quick dinner we headed home -- and planned on stopping for ice cream but by the time we got back to STL we all were too exhausted so we decided to just go home and get the kids bathed and to bed.
Today we got up (early! GAH! What were we thinking?!!) and decided to hit up Grant's Farm, lunch, and ice cream (Grier was dying try frozen custard; she's never had it!) before taking Grier to the airport for her to head back to Canada to visit with her family before jetting back to the UK.
Once we got to Grant's Farm, which was crowded but not too bad considering we got there a smidgen after it opened and it was a gorgeous 75 degrees out, we took the tram to the main part and immediately Patrick wanted to feed the goats. Ahhh, his beloved pasttime.
Parents of the year Mike and I were hoping we'd luck out and Patrick would find another angry goat like the one from last October ^^^, but alas, we did not luck out.
What's crazy is he really does love the goats (heck, all animals!) so this was a funny little cornered action that happened with him before a goat started nipping at his ear. Yes, I might have been laughing in the background.
Grier sat this one out and just watched from outside the goat's pen...and Ro had the best seat in the house in the Tula on Mike's back. Lucky duck.
We then treated Grier and Patrick to snow cones...
Which Patrick loved but Grier did not. Actually after that we ended up cutting our trip short because she got so sick (my guess is from the syrupy snow cone she had) and we ended up heading back home so she could rest before her flight and the kids could eat lunch and take naps...so we ended up missing out on lunch and frozen custard -- guess she'll just have to come back again for that!
Despite having a rough ending to her visit, we had a wonderful several days with her here and I hope she enjoyed STL and her first visit to the US as much as we enjoyed having her! I do hope she comes back again and our paths cross again soon!
My roomie from when I lived in England arrived Tuesday night and just left this afternoon. We had a wonderful visit -- her first EVER to the US! -- but boy, I am pooped! 30 is exhausting people!
Here's a snap from in 2011 when Mike and I got engaged in London! I actually went back in 2012 for the Google Teacher Academy and saw her again then but didn't get a pic of the both of us. Drats.
Anyways, Grier got in Tuesday night and Mike was working (boo) so we decided to meet up with him while he was working for dinner at Michael's in the city. I didn't snap any pics (shocker, right?!) but Grier tried toasted ravioli for the first time and LOVED them! Win win! The kids were relatively good so that was a bonus. We went home, got the kids bathed and in bed, and spent the next few hours catching up...while Grier sipped tea. Good thing Mike has a substantial tea collection for her to choose from :)
Wednesday Mike had to work again (boo) but not till 3pm, so we decided to hit up the Arch in the morning and then head over to the Hill for some Italian for lunch before heading to the Botanical Garden.
This was the kiddos first trip to the Arch too, so they were equally as excited as Grier. Fortunately it was not windy so the Arch wasn't swaying, but it still rocked me a bit to be in those teeny tiny elevators to the top...
Patrick didn't mind them. Not one bit.
We did walk to the Old Cathedral afterwards to show Grier before heading to Rigazzi's for lunch on the Hill. We again got some t-ravs for Grier and she loved them! She really was liking all of the food we've fed her thus far...commenting mostly on how big the American portions are!
After lunch Grier headed to the Botanical Garden by herself and we headed home to get the kids down for naps and Mike to head to work. Fortunately my aunt was out and about and picked Grier up around 4pm to bring her home -- she loved the Garden but was completely exhausted!
Ro showed off for a bit after nap walking around in her oh-so-adorable new Saltwater Sandals before dinner. We were going to go to PJs and get ice cream, but we all were just too exhausted! So instead my dad brought over IMOS (which she loved!!) and we chatted and watched the Cardinals game before getting the kiddos bathed and off to bed.
On Thursday we woke up and I threw Ro in some piggy tails for the first time and I about died. How freaking cute is she?!! Seriously. I can't handle it.
Anyways, I had a doctor's appointment in the morning and then once I got home from that we headed to my aunt's lake house. It was POURING rain which was threatening our lake/pool plans, but we powered through.
Yep. The rain followed us down -- but the kids didn't see to care, they were happy to play on Patrick's playmat. After a huge lunch Kate made with tater tots, burgers, her famous mac and cheese, and some watermelon and a nap for Ro, it cleared up and we headed to the pool...on the golf cart! Grier liked that.
The kids had a blast, per usual, in the pool and had it all to themselves. They were in heaven.
About 7pm after we got out from our pool dip and had a quick dinner we headed home -- and planned on stopping for ice cream but by the time we got back to STL we all were too exhausted so we decided to just go home and get the kids bathed and to bed.
Today we got up (early! GAH! What were we thinking?!!) and decided to hit up Grant's Farm, lunch, and ice cream (Grier was dying try frozen custard; she's never had it!) before taking Grier to the airport for her to head back to Canada to visit with her family before jetting back to the UK.
Once we got to Grant's Farm, which was crowded but not too bad considering we got there a smidgen after it opened and it was a gorgeous 75 degrees out, we took the tram to the main part and immediately Patrick wanted to feed the goats. Ahhh, his beloved pasttime.
Parents of the year Mike and I were hoping we'd luck out and Patrick would find another angry goat like the one from last October ^^^, but alas, we did not luck out.
What's crazy is he really does love the goats (heck, all animals!) so this was a funny little cornered action that happened with him before a goat started nipping at his ear. Yes, I might have been laughing in the background.
Grier sat this one out and just watched from outside the goat's pen...and Ro had the best seat in the house in the Tula on Mike's back. Lucky duck.
We then treated Grier and Patrick to snow cones...
Which Patrick loved but Grier did not. Actually after that we ended up cutting our trip short because she got so sick (my guess is from the syrupy snow cone she had) and we ended up heading back home so she could rest before her flight and the kids could eat lunch and take naps...so we ended up missing out on lunch and frozen custard -- guess she'll just have to come back again for that!
Despite having a rough ending to her visit, we had a wonderful several days with her here and I hope she enjoyed STL and her first visit to the US as much as we enjoyed having her! I do hope she comes back again and our paths cross again soon!
