Meet me in St. Louis

We traveled to St. Louis last weekend. The usual gang went, except we swapped Christian, who was in a wedding, for Andrew! We drove the 3 1/2 hours to St. Louis, and headed straight for the ball field. I have never been to a St. Louis game, and the new stadium is amazing. Look at this view:

 The arch! I have never been inside but my family members have and they said it's worth going in.

Fortunately, we were in the shade and didn't have the sun beating down on us. 

It was one of those "no weather" weather days. Where you're just as comfortable wearing a light jacket or t-shirt without fear of freezing or sweating to death. There is something about a clear blue sky, and 72 degree day that just puts everyone in a good mood (Our humid summers and cold winters are jealous, California!):

 I put this picture on my dad's facebook and titled it: "Dad's favorite child." 

It was not disputed, rude!

The outfield was detailed to perfection to look like the arch:

 Doesn't the infield make you want to run the bases? The grounds crew worked tirelessly before the game, making sure there wasn't a single unwanted bump or speck of dirt out of place.

 We were all super excited for the game to start. 

Have I mentioned Chris and I aren't even Cardinals fans? Washington Nationals, all the way baby!

 

 I always love getting candid shots of these two:

 Sweet beard, Chris! You're very manly.

 In our house 'No shave November' starts at the end of August.

After the game we met up with our friend from College, Nolan, and his girlfriend, Morgan. 

Chris is laughing because Nolan was purposely, and awkwardly, posing with his hand on his leg.

Morgan and I bonded over the fact that we love to run every picture (unapologetically) through the instagram app, giving us cooler looking pictures:

Although now that I'm looking at this, I can't tell if has been instagrammed?

Good pic anyways, Morgan!

 Mom didn't want her picture taken whether it was instagrammed or not.

 

The next day I think we all felt tired, like Andrew:

But my dad gave us a Captain Morgan style wake-up call and we were up and at 'em in no time.

 Considering I ate this beautiful Junk yard dog the night before, at the ball park,  topped onions, relish, ketchup and mustard......

Yes, I LOVE onions and I am unashamed.

 I figured, I should eat a wholesome and healthy breakfast......

 Just kidding. I didn't even eat the omelet:

 Hello chocolate donut.

H2O

I finally feel like I've recovered completely from our whirl-wind of a family vacation! Geez, it only took me a month--yes, it totally was that epic!  How so, you ask? Let me show you:

Every morning, at the crack of 9 AM, my mom would head to the beach, and snag us a good spot under a shady cabana. The leaves made the best sound in the breeze, perfect for a mid-morning snooze.

Andrew may look like he's people watching, but he's actually sound asleep. 

The kid can sleep anywhere, anytime and in any position. Frankly, as an insomniac, I find it rather annoying.

The ocean!

 It was just as expected: warm and salty (that's what she said). 

 As you know we are avid lake goers and have quite a bit of skill when it comes to 'floating.' Obviously floating in the sea is different than OUR lake, but the concept is the same .

The only bummer, about the water, was a huge storm had come through the week before and brought tons and tons of seaweed with it. We were fighting the spongy, prickly, bushy algae all week. At one point, I heard my mom yell: "GET OFF ME SIGMUND!!" Confused by the lack of anyone near us, I said: "Who the heck is Sigmund?" Mom continued to yell while picking seaweed off her shoulder: "Sigmund the Sea Monster!" The seaweed was then known as Sigmund the remainder of the trip.

Having only been to the Pacific Ocean, I loved the clear water, seaweed and all. 

We usually started the day off at the beach, and when the tides started bringing Sigmund the Sea Monster our way, we headed to the resort pool that was complete with a convenient swim-up bar (Now we're talking!). Many a good times were had in this pool:

Me and the guys, at the bar. They are posing as "dragons"--don't ask.

The swim up bar was really cool and all, but something became WILDLY apparent to me when I didn't see anyone leaving the pool ALL day while consuming copious amounts of alcohol (I think you know where I'm going with this): We all were swimming in a pool of stranger's pee that happened to be mixed with a little chlorine.

To be honest, I got really grossed out by this thought the first day...

......then I got another margarita,  peed in the pool, and got over it.

Countdown to Paradise, or not:

Hotel Paradisus

 You may not know this, but we are leaving the country in 2 days for Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Yup, we're going on a vacation with the fam. This vacation has been in the works for awhile now, we got a travel agent and everything.

 **Side note: Our agent's first name was Don, short for Donahue (Don-a-hew), but for some reason my dad got it in his mind that it was pronounced Don-a-hoe. So every time he'd communicate with the agent he'd tell me: "I talked to the Don-a-hoe guy today and he said..." It amused me greatly that someone would be name Don-a-hoe.**

We booked the trip in March, and have been counting down the days ever since. Now that it's so close, I wrote a to-do list, on my trusted dry erase board, of things to get done:

I can say with satisfaction that most of the laundry is done: 

It was a lot worse than this...

The rooms are mostly clean: 

 I still have to tackle this beast of a master bedroom:

Wish me luck.....

I even cleaned the kitchen:

....which Chris immediately messed up when he decided to cook potatoes. 

 I finished the Doggy Do's and Don'ts for Molly, who is puppy/house sitting for us (Hi Molly, thanks!): 

The pups have no idea what's about to happen to them.

There is just one *teensy*weensie*tiny*little thing that I have yet to get before we leave the country in TWO days. What is it? I'll give you a clue: It's a small blue book that is required for entries and exits between countries. If you guessed a passport, you're correct.

Chris, of course, didn't have to change his name after we got married; or get a new passport which involved getting a new picture, sending in $110, and the necessary paperwork. 

Nope, Mr. Happy pants just has to pull it out of the drawer and show up to the airport on time:

Hi, Honey! Your smile seems a little smug to me!

If I seem slightly bitter it's because I've been waking up at 2:30AM for the past 3 weeks due to stress. I rarely let things get to me, or get me freaked out and stressed out so much I can't sleep. But about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago I got a letter in the mail saying the marriage license I sent in was not certified.

So Chris went and got an 'official-certified-oh dear God please let this work or we can't go to the Dominican Republic' marriage certificate, and we over-nighted it back to the passport jerks and waited....and waited...and waited. I called and paid Seventy-two bucks to have my paperwork expedited, THEN I called every single day to find out when I could expect my passport I tried to impress upon them that we were leaving in less than two weeks and I REALLY needed that passport.

Finally, in an act of desperation, I called the great state of Missouri's senator, Roy Blunt, and was disappointed to discover I wouldn't actually be talking to him but his office workers. However, they assured me with the upmost confidence I would receive my passport.  I spent last week nursing an ulcer, drinking one to many glasses of wine and waking up at 2:30AM on the dot every. single. night.

Then, Friday morning,  I received the most blessed news: I had a tracking number.
I tracked the number, and learned my passport was already in Joplin- set to arrive tomorrow:

If you thought Saturday was windy, it was probably me breathing the biggest sigh relief EVER breathed. And guess what? Last night, I had the BEST night sleep EVER slept; and I probably looked like this: