2022 :: week 31

July 31

Sunday morning we got up and headed to the St. Louis Airport Marriott which was hosting the 2022 MAMA Festival. The kids were slated to perform at 9:24am and 9:59am so we checked in and waited for their turns. "Friday Night Cafe" and "Struttin' Up Town" were Will's entries into the festival while Lauren played "America the Beautiful" and "All Things Bright and Beautiful." Thanks to the magic of the internet we were able listen to our ward's Sacrament Meeting while we drove to a nearby church (Maryland Heights Ward) where we could take the Sacrament. After Sacrament meeting I checked the MAMA website and found out that both kids received superior ratings and earned trophies in their respective cateogries, Pop/Jazz/Blues for Will and Hymns/Patriotic for Lauren. We went back to the hotel so the kids could get their hardware.

August 1

When we visited St. Louis during Spring Break this year the city was packed with people also on Spring Break. When I went to book tickets to go up the arch in March it was totally booked. This time of year it was easy to secure tickets, and late Monday morning we went to the top of the arch. When rereading an old blog post I found that on a previous visit to STL in 2014 Will said he didn't want to go up into the arch until he was at least nine, so it was good to know we honored that wish. It was fun to see the view from the top, but you are pretty limited in the amount of time you can stay at the top. We spent some time walking through the new museum under the arch. When I say new, I mean new to us. It was renovated and reopened since the last time we visited. After a pit stop at Chick-fil-A for lunch (that Miles totally and completely slept through) we went to the Magic House. The Magic House is a neat children's museum that offer's discounted admission at the end of the day. We spent 3-5pm there and that was about the perfect amount of time for our family.

August 2

It was incredibly hot during our visit. We're talking heat advisories every day, temps in the high 90s with oppressive humidity hot. We got up early to visit the zoo in an attempt to beat the heat. The St. Louis Zoo is pretty great. Exhibits aren't relatively close together, but are large enough you can reasonably hope the animals still have a lot of room to roam. We forgot to pack our stroller but assumed it wouldn't be a big deal because Miles rarely wants to use it anymore, especially when he is with other kids. Unfortunately he refused to walk and Anthony had to carry him almost every step of the way at the zoo. Zoo highlights were the brown bear, penguins, hippo, elephants and tortoises. That afternoon we picked up St. Louis staple Ted Drews and were not disappointed. Then we headed to a Cardinals game. Busch Stadium is the third baseball park we have visited in 2022 and first visit ever for all four kids. The Cardinals have one of the best teams in the National League and played a great game against a weak Chicago Cubs team. We had a great time at the game, despite sitting in the sweltering sun the first few innings. After the game we drove home, arriving around 2am. TJ and I concluded that we would never do that again. Regardless of the exhausting drive home we had a great trip.

August 3

We took Wednesday nice and slow. We were tired from all the traveling we had done over the previous two weeks. Anthony had to go to work, but the rest of us slept in a bit and got a slow start to the day. In the evening Lauren had her first soccer practice of the 2022 fall season. The Pink Thunder got new kits this season--including an alternative white jersey to wear at practice.

August 4

Thursday was fee day at Indian Woods. Kids were able to pick up their official schedules and locker assignment. We walked to each of Will's classes and helped him figure out how to open his locker--it was a little tricky. It is s a little surreal to me that my own child is going to the same middle I school I did so many years ago. Will is excited for his classes, he got his first choice electives--personal fitness and career explorations & money management. I'm excited for him and the growing he will do over the next two years. 

August 5

For the past two years I have been engaged in a battle with local bunnies (and squirrels and chipmunks) over my plants. Dana helped me plant these black-eyed Susans a few years ago, but this is the first time they have actually blossomed. Dana suggested I put cayenne pepper around them to repel the rabbits and it worked! 

August 6

We spent Saturday hanging out with the Hinton family. We scrapped plans to go to the Royals game after we learned that Liz had broken her leg while in Mississippi. Instead we had fun at our house visiting with Darren and Liz while the kids played. The Allreds joined us for smashburgers and then I took the girls to the pool at the end of the day. It was a nice low-key visit, perfect for the end of the summer.  Mikey and Miles are the same age and both pretty mischievous. I look forward to their friendship blooming over future visits.