Pool Party!

My friend, Kati, got a pool this summer, and on 4th of July weekend she invited Stephanie and I over for a little party. We went swimming, grilled food, watched a movie (An American in Paris ,which I wrote about a few posts ago), and played board games. Most importantly, it was a day filled with quality friend time.

 

We had bomb pop drinks and enjoyed some junk food, because hey it's a barbeque. :-)

I think Kati's dogs, Penny and Sarge had a good time too!

4th of July Fun

This year on the 4th of July I went to the Muny with friends to see Nunsense. Since we didn't get to see fireworks on the 4th, we went to the JB Blast in St. Louis on July 5th to get our fireworks fix. It was a fun couple of days with friends.

 

Kati and Stephanie with ice cream from Snarfs in the Loop. 

 

 

 Kati and Stephanie before the fireworks show at the JB Blast. I love their bright sneakers!

There was live music (very far away) but we could still hear it from where we were sitting.

The fireworks show was impressive! 

Fireworks Fun

Last Tuesday (a couple days before the 4th) I got together with friends for an early 4th of July celebration. I went to my friend, Kati's mom's house for pizza and fireworks. We also squeezed in a viewing of SYTCD. :-)

Kati and Nick bought sparklers, roman candles, and several other fireworks. They even bought a few large fireworks which were quite a surprise during the finale! A few neighbors were grouchy about the noise, but most people enjoyed watching the fireworks too.

And a few videos of silly fireworks fun:

Memorial Day Weekend Part II

After Kati and I hiked around Ha Ha Tonka State Park, we settled in at our hotel and got ready for a lakeside dinner. We went to the Bagnell Dam area for dinner and enjoyed the beautiful view. Crazy enough, it was quite chilly our first night there, and we needed fleece jackets as we dined! Not typical temps for this time of year.

 

We called it an early night since we were exhausted from all the hiking around at the state park.

Saturday we woke up early and enjoyed the complimentary breakfast at our hotel before setting off for a full day of fun.

 

First, we went back to the Bagnell Dam area to stop at some touristy shops. Touristy shops included a stop for candy.

 

After the first round of shopping, we went to my favorite stop of the whole trip, Shawnee Bluff Winery. 

We went inside for free wine tasting, and of course I had to buy one glass (I mean it was a beautiful day and I needed a reason to sit outside and enjoy the view, right?). 

The winery also had some lodging, which is why they had this cute pool, complete with a wine bottle fountain. The deck area with seating offered a spectacular view of the water and honestly I could have hung out at this place all day.

 Kati enjoying the view:

 We did eventually have to leave because we had shopping on the agenda, so after a quick glass of wine we were off again. We spent about 4 hours shopping at the big outlet mall in the area and thankfully didn't do too much damage to our pocketbooks. I ended up buying 3 tops and one pair of shorts and all were good prices. 

Last, but not least was another lakeside dinner and a beautiful fireworks display. We went out to a lodge that was a bit of a drive, but we had heard they put on a good fireworks show. We enjoyed a drink and relaxed by the water.

Funny moment from the night: Our waitress was young and at one point she asked us where we were from. Conversation turned to school-where did you go/where are you going and Kati and I revealed our ages. The girl looked surprised and said, "Really? You look young!" So it was a funny combo of look young/but you are old. Haha, made us chuckle. 

Of course we had to try a crazy drink (this one was named after a piranha):

This was our third annual Memorial Day weekend trip and this might have been my favorite yet. It was a relaxing weekend that I needed and actually a nice break from rushing around a new city, like we usually do (Nashville and Kansas City in the past). 

As we get older and busier these trips may not happen anymore (at least a full weekend) but I'm thankful for these memories!

Memorial Day Weekend Part I: Ha Ha Tonka Castle

Memorial Day weekend I took a day off work and headed to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri with my friend, Kati. Normally when I go to Lake of the Ozarks I spend my time boating, but since we weren't going with boaters this time we made plans to hike, dine at the lake, and shop at the local outlet malls/tourist shops.

I took quite a few picture during the trip so I thought I'd break them up into a few posts.

The first day at the lake we headed to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. We didn't even stop at our hotel before going to the park. It was a gorgeous day and we wanted to take advantage of the weather.

 

Besides having several trails and beautiful views of the spring and lake, you also get to see the stone castle ruins. This makes for a beautiful mix of architecture and nature. The ruins are from an old hotel originally designed by a prominent Kansas City businessman. It is my understanding that this was going to be his house, but he died before the completion. The hotel was finished in the 1920s and it was destroyed by a fire in the 1940s. Thankfully, the state of Missouri purchased the grounds and castle in 1978 and made the area a state park (Wikipedia). 

 

 

The views of the lake and spring below the castle were gorgeous! There were quite a few great look out points near the castle ruins.

 We walked a few trails-a lake trail which took us down to a little dock, and another trail which took us to the old water tower and a cool cave area.

I was very impressed with this park and I'm looking forward to exploring it more someday!