Visiting St Louis: Part 1

After a wonderful trip to visit my parents at the cottage, Charlotte and I flew from Baltimore to St Louis to spend a few weeks with Paul's family and our friends there. Paul arrived from London the same day we landed, so it was nice to get to see him as well :) He (unfortunately) had to attend professional meetings located over an hour outside St Louis during the week, and also was required to stay at a hotel there during that time. So we really only got to see him on the weekends. 

The evening we arrived, I ran in the "Glo Run" with several of Paul's cousins and aunts/uncles in Forest Park! It was a 5K run, and we met up with everyone ahead of time to snack and get our glow sticks, etc ready to go. The run takes place after dark, with multiple "glowing" tunnels along the course. I found out as we were departing for the race that I was the only one who was planning to actually run the course -- everyone else in our group was walking -- but I stuck with my plan to run since I'd been training to be able to run that distance for the previous few weeks. It was a lot of fun! After I finished, I enjoyed the music and watched the finish line for the rest of the family to finish up. We went to Imo's Pizza afterwards to socialize a bit more.

Rebecca, Uncle John, Michael, and Joe

That weekend, Paul and I celebrated the 10th anniversary of our first date (!!) by returning to Ted Drewes, where he took me back in 2005. Time really does fly. It rained a lot on Saturday morning, which was a different kind of rain than we see in England -- it was an intense, soaking rain with a little thunder (vs. light drizzle that is more common where we live). We also went to mass with his family down at the Old Cathedral, where Charlotte got SUPER excited to see the Arch in person. She kept asking, "I touch it? Touch it?" and got really pumped up when we told her she could. She was less than excited when we told her we had to leave! We also got Charlotte in the pool at the Hennekes' house -- she wasn't a huge fan this time, I think because the water was a little chilly.

Watching the rain with Grammy

"Touching" the arch

But I don't want to leave.

Swimming with Daddy

We had a great rest of the week, eating dinner out with friends and also out with Grandpa Paul one night. Charlotte took a couple minutes to warm up but then had a great interaction with him. Maybe she remembers their weekly Friday lunch dates last year with Paul?

Charlotte and her "Pa Pa Paul"

Love this one :)

The rest of that week was a big mix of secret goings-on to prep for our surprise 40th anniversary party for Paul's parents. They were throwing a party for the family, which we then co-opted into a party for them. Charlotte and I ran a few errands under the guise of going to the library and/or parks. Katie did the lion's share of the planning and the party was a lot of fun! Paul's parents were nearly surprised (Paul's dad stumbled upon the dress forms with Renee's wedding dress when emptying a trash can in our room about an hour before the party.) We had a great time having them cut a re-creation of their wedding cake and singing "Happy Anniversary" to them! It was also fantastic to have Chris and Colleen visit that second weekend as well.

Passed out with upside down sunglasses on an errand run.

Charlotte loved spending time just hanging out with family! In particular, she frequently begged anyone who would listen to make her "go fast" in the Cozy Coupe and to read books with her.

Aunt Katie pushing Charlotte in the car. Sunglasses obviously necessary.

Reading books alongside Grammy

And we can't leave out the many fun evenings we spent with our friends the Kendricks and the Ellerbusches! Charlotte is STILL talking about the bounce house at "Zoe and Elliot's." She loved it so much!! I loved watching Charlotte get to socialize with more kids her age than she's used to as well.

Down the slide... head first as usual.