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.

You never know what you'll find....

My phone decided it no longer wanted to be a phone, but an inanimate object that would neither charge nor power up. When this occurs, one of two things can happen: 1) You fall in to a tail-spin of panic, depression and over-eating because you no longer have a phone and your communication to the outside world is shut off; or 2) your dad graciously lets you borrow his old phone until you get a new one. Fortunately, I fall into the 2 option. When you get your dad's old phone, you also get his contacts, alarms (6 am dad? NO!), and pictures.

I found some really great pictures; some I'd never even seen before, and they showcase my family's personality just beautifully. Oh my gosh, there was this one really crazy one that-- actually instead of telling you, let me show you:

You know it's going to be good when the first picture is of Andrew in a gorilla suit:

Just my dad....

 

......taking a picture with a statue of Mark Twain, like a boss.

This was in Colorado, last summer:

I wasn't there for this, but I think Andrew is yelling: "We're on top of a Mountain!!!!"

I found this very sweet photo of my parent's

Right next to a photo of this: 

The word 'poop' out of painter tape, compliments of Andrew. 

Speaking of Andrew, my little smooshy face,  I saw this: 

He is using the sign to let people know that apparently, the party is NOT at my parents house, 

but in his pants.

I think this picture represents every male who is forced, by his wife/girlfriend/mother/sister,  to go to IKEA:

IKEA should consider opening a bar at some point.

I found sweet pictures like this one of me and my brothers...

Obviously I didn't get the "wear a plaid, button up shirt" memo,

and mistakenly showed up to dinner in black.

Then I found pictures like this: 

My mom and her dog, Scout, each in their own Snuggie. 

I found a video of my dad dancing to his birthday song where my mom and I tried (and failed) to harmonize at the end:

Here's a picture of our friend, Carrie, at her 40th surprise birthday party...

My mom and I totally made that sweet sign.

I am trying to put a batman mask on Scout in this picture...

He's very photogenic. 

Speaking of my parent's animals; here is a picture of Penny, the gray cat, snuggling up to a taxidermied bobcat.....

Is that a bobcat snuggling with a gray cat? NOPE. Chuck Testa!

(If you have no idea who Chuck Testa is, you need to google him and watch his video right now)

And finally, I leave you with: 

An unexplainable picture of Christian and I wearing sombreros while I'm (what I can only assume) playing air guitar.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting......

Since my sister-in-law is due to push a human being out of her lady parts any day now, I wanted to have some special time with our 6 year old niece before her little brother got here and stole the show.  Let me just say: The kid can party! To be fair, she comes by it honestly....

 

My life's motto.

 
We started the day off at my 7th grade girls basketball game. Did we win? Oh sweet sweet reader. You are so funny. So gentle. So naive. The answer is NO. No we did not. Don't ask me the score, I won't tell you. I will not tell you the score! I will not tell you that the other team scored 56 points and I will definitely not tell you that we only scored 6 points (you read that correctly).  whistley was NOT happy! This is a conversation that might have happened between our players:  

We decided some Mexican food (translation: margarita) was the only cure to our bad losin' basketball blues (say that ten times fast) and the fam went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant. After a much needed food gorging, we realized we were on a roll and thought: "Hey! Why not keep feeling good and go see The Muppets?" Have you seen the Muppets yet? Go. Now. So worth it. Kermit speaks to your soul:

Welcome back, gang. Welcome back.

Still on a singing and dancing high from the Muppet movie, we came home and got the real party started. Homemade hot chocolate, junk food, staying up late, and candy for dinner included. Then we played THE GAME TO END ALL GAMES

                                                     
I promise you, one day I will explain my passion for Disney with you. I want to give my obsession the attention it deserves, and gather all my pictures, stuffed animals, plates, dolls, pins, clothing items, movies, etc. in one area to take a proper family picture with them.

You can imagine my suprise/shock/elation/almost cried/happiness when I learned there was a 'Disneyland Adventures' video game for the Xbox 360 Kinect. We immediately went and got it. Luckily for the 6 year old, Alli, I played on Friday night because she is a GAME HOG and I will punch a child.

Here is a picture of Chris trying to direct her through the park (psh, I could do this with my eyes closed).....

This picture tells me 7 things:
1. I still need to put my clothes and suitcase away from our St. Louis trip last weekend.
2. I should probably finish my Christmas decorating sometime before December 25th.

3. I have yet to send my Grandma the painting I made her.
4. There are 6 pairs of ladies size 8 shoes by the front door which means they are all mine.
5. My toes are very shiny and a little strange looking
6. These file folders have been sitting on the fireplace for over a month now and would probably like a more permanent home.
7. Chris needs to take this crate of books back to school already (geez! The guy is a walking mess! Oh - the walking mess is me? You're probably right)!

Uhhh....I gotta go guys, my house needs me. Maybe I could recruit Alli into doing some chores for me.

WAIT! What am I saying? Who needs to clean their house when CLEARLY painting a picture of cats sitting in a tree is a MUCH better choice:

MEEE-OW!