Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving dinner with the family:

 

Sunday Dinner

Last month we invited Grandma and Grandpa over on a pretty summer evening for dinner. I love Sunday dinners with family. We used to do Sunday dinners more often when my step siblings were still living at home. Now we might go out to eat on a Sunday, but usually my mom and Carl go out of town (at least in the summer) so I just do something on my own.  But, last month there was a rare Sunday where we could all get together and enjoy an evening with family.

Grandpa got a new Cardinals shirt for Father's Day. Go Cards!

Carl barbequed and all the food was excellent as usual. 

Have I mentioned before that I love our backyard and our view of the woods? Ah, this neighborhood, it makes me never want to leave. So pretty. 

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:

Father's Day 2013

This year my dad was out of town on Father's Day (in Cancun) so I spent the day hanging out with the rest of my family. At lunch I went to my grandparents house for a potluck style lunch and spent some time visiting. Then, later in the evening I went out to eat with my stepdad, Carl, stepbrother, Dane, and my mom. We went to a few of our fave St. Louis restaurants- Pho Grand and The Gelateria. I am already craving Pho Grand again!

 

Saturday Fun

We've had a lot of rain in the St. Louis area lately, but thankfully, Saturday afternoon was nice, so my family and I headed to one of our local bar/grills for some outdoor dining.

 

After lunch we headed over to a local antique/gift/doll gallery shop.  My mom and Carl came across the shop when they were biking on the trails in the morning. My mom knew it was a shop I would like so she told me that I had to see it.  

And she was right! This place was amazing and had so much stuff! 7000 sq ft filled with dolls, doll house items, antique toys, paper dolls, ornaments, and other antique furniture/miscellaneous items. 

These Wizard of Oz glass ornaments were so cute and I really wanted them, but did not want to pay the somewhat hefty price.

There was so much to see that I could have easily looked around for hours!

And the dollhouses.....wowza. I loved all of the miniature furniture and dolls. So cool! I didn't have time to look through it all, but I really want to go back again. 

 

I will admit that some of the old dolls were a little creepy, but the majority of the toys were really cool.  There were also some really neat gifts and ornaments, so I will probably go back again for holiday decorations (hopefully the shop will be around awhile-we were the only people there while we were shopping which is not the best sign). 

The shop is in a really pretty part of town that I don't often drive through. It's funny that I live in a somewhat small town (24,000 people or so) and there are still shops/restaurants that I haven't heard of or visited. But, I love these pleasant surprises!