Weekend in Review #9

This post is about my long weekend that was the one before last (September 16-20).  Things got crazy and I'm just not able to go back.  I'm not sure how much I'll remember, but better to write some things down about that awesome weekend than nothing at all... right?


I got off work on September 15th and picked up Dan and Simon and we headed out to celebrate.  Dan got a new job offer and it was about time.  We went to Flying Saucer for dinner and it was delightful.  We had beer, good food and Simon was adorable as always.

Friday I picked up my sister with Simon and we went to lunch at King and I.  We haven't been in awhile and it was so so good.  Afterwards we headed back to her house and we painted the highchair and then Simon and I headed back home.  I can't remember if we did anything that night or not.

This kid loves playing with the dog kennels

Saturday, I don't remember much either, we spent the day at home and I think I did some shopping maybe...


Sunday after Simon's nap both of us left and met my mom and we went to pick up my brother.  He came into town for a visit that coincided with Simon's birthday party.  We had lunch at Crushed Red and then took a trip to the party store.  We hung out at my mom's for awhile while Simon played and we watched some old home videos and then we headed back home.


Monday was a vacation day for me.  We dropped Simon off at the sitters and then Dan and I had breakfast at Breakfast and Burger.  I liked my meal.  Afterwards we stopped by the library to get a couple of books for Dan.  Then I dropped him off and went by the party store to order balloons.  Then I headed over to my mom's and picked up my brother and sister so we could help Lindsey get a new phone.  Afterwards we picked up Dan and checked out 4 Hands.  Then we went over to Flying Saucer and had (late) lunch.  We dropped them back off at mom's and then went and picked up Simon and had a nice quiet evening at home.


Tuesday aka SIMON'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!  I got up with him and we ate breakfast and took monthly photos... which was a big PITA, but oh well they are done now.  Then I put Simon down for a nap.  I got a few things done around the house (this statement goes for pretty much any day for the last couple of weeks... party prep yo)  After he woke up my mom, Lindsey and Keith came to pick us up.  We spent Simon's birthday at the zoo.  We saw the polar bear actually swimming.  We touched some stingrays and sharks.  One stingray even swam up and splashed Simon... he didn't like that so much.  We had lunch and then saw the sea lions.  Then we got to go behind the scenes at the primate house and feed grapes to lemurs.  Lindsey told us all about all the animals.  It's like getting all this behind the scenes knowledge.  Then we checked out the orangutans and gorillas and chimps.  We rode the train and finished at the children's zoo.  It was super hot that day, but so fun to spend it all together.

Love this photo from the children's zoo

Do I really have to wear this hat?

Uncle Keith helping out

Lunch!

Phil statue is usually surrounded by people, we were able to grab a photo

Baby Ginger

Train Ride

Playing in the children's zoo

Weekend in Review - #8

Last weekend was a short, measly 2 day weekend... the good news is that the next 5 weekends are all longer than 2 days so that's pretty awesome.


Last week I was sick... ugh, I called into work both Wednesday and Thursday and decided to go to work on Friday.  I had mostly a head cold where it is hard to concentrate because your head feels so full... ugh.  The unfortunate thing is that head cold moved south to my throat over the weekend... now it's Tuesday and I don't have much of a voice and a nice, lovely cough... luckily I sound worse than I feel.  I just hope this cold gets kicked in the butt soon because I have a lot to look forward to in the next week.


Friday night after work I picked up Simon and we headed home.  We decided to go out for some dinner and tried Tap Haus on Telegraph.  I had passed by it a couple of months ago and since Dan likes beer I had been wanting to try it.  We brought Simon along (I read online that it was kid friendly, but really it's more of a bar, like they didn't have highchairs, they were sweet to Simon but highchairs would be nice).  The good: they have a great beer selection with like 40 taps including half local beers.  I had an UCBC Schnickelfritz and a Strawberry Blonde.  The not so good: The food wasn't great, they have a small menu, we got the pretzels with beer cheese (good cheese, the pretzels were cut up and fried - they tasted like funnel cake to me), fries with a curry ketchup (guess I don't really care for curry) and horseradish aioli (don't really care for horseradish either) and the wings (the best of the bunch).  I'm not sure if I'd go back there or not, but I did like the feel of the place, so maybe just for drinks.  After that we stopped by Schnucks and headed home.  We watched TV and I made some cookies from a mix.


Saturday I woke up feeling not great.  I got up with Simon and we played and then made breakfast.  I made French toast... I think Simon enjoyed it.  He went down for a nap and so did I.  We got up and Dan made a fancy lunch (salmon with fancy rice and pasta salad).  Then he went down for an afternoon nap... and again, so did I.  When Simon got up from his nap we took a little trip to Bed Bath and Beyond (I really needed new oven mitts) and then we went to Watson Trails Park because I've been wanting to try out a new swing - Expression Swing.  Simon really loved it and it was fun, but the park was crowded.  We walked around a bit since that's a park I went to often as a kid/teenager and I wanted to see what had changed.  We headed back home and had a low key night involving Qdoba for Dan, BK for me and watching That 70's Show (Dan has been watching it on a loop lately)

Nice surprise when I was expecting him to bring home fast food

Fun swing

Sunday was my morning to sleep in (woohoo) although Dan always ends up waking me up anyway which is super annoying.  The big part of Sunday was we went to Target and bought so much, but I was able to save like $40 on my bill via Cartwheel, deal, and gift cards I had from previous deals.  I'm always proud of myself with those kind of savings.  We spend the afternoon being lazy.

Selfie with Simon

Weekend in Review - #7

I've been looking forward to this weekend for awhile... not because I had anything planned (because I didn't) but because it was a 4-day weekend and I needed it!  Sometimes when you anticipate something you can get disappointed, but since I was only looking forward to being off for 4 days this weekend well exceeded my expectations and was a wonderful weekend.


Thursday I worked, but after work I headed to the zoo to go to the Employee Appreciation Zoo-B-Que as my sister's plus one.  They put on such a great party for their employees.  All the attractions were open and they had great food from Kenrick's, beer and wine, and other activities.  Plus the weather was perfect.  We even both rode the mechanical bull - and didn't last very long.  I have a beautiful bruise on my leg from it as well.

I like otters, so I'm riding an otter, even though I'm bigger than the silly otter

Friday I got to sleep in a bit and then got up.  Hung out with Simon and then he took a nap.  After his nap we headed down to Ste. Genevieve to go to the Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary.  They have 4 tigers and a lion.  The animal's back stories are super sad, but they have a happy home now.  We were the only ones on the tour which made it pretty conversational.  It was nice to learn about the tigers and get to see them up close... even if they were being pretty lazy.

See the tiger we bought Simon at the tiger place?

After our visit there we went to Crown Valley Brewery and Distillery and had some lunch.  The beer was tasty (I had a peach wheat and blackberry cider) but the food was just ok.  Then we headed back home.  The rest of the night was just casual.


On Saturday morning I got up with Simon and we headed over to meet my mom.  We went out to breakfast (Bread Company) and then I helped her move her love seat out to the curb.  Then I headed back home in time to get Simon down for his morning nap.  After his nap we all got ready and headed to the pool.  Susan and her kids were there and also Amy and Tanner and Amanda, Lou and Vail.  The pool was nice - a bit chilly, but it was fun being there all together.  We headed back home and Dan put Simon down for a nap while I went and grabbed lunch.  We ate lunch together and then I went back over to my mom's and we got a pedicure together.

I headed back home and we all headed over to Amanda and Lou's for dinner.  The kids are so cute together interacting.  Simon would get pretty upset when we'd let Vail play with his toys.  We had yummy food and had a great night.


Sunday was a more laid back day than jam packed Saturday.  The only thing we really did was go to the grocery store.  Dan smoked pork and made candied bacon.  We ate late, because that's Dan's M-O.  We watched some TV together.

Monday was also a more laid back day.  After Simon's morning nap we went to Amanda and Lou's parish picnic.  It was really hot, so we only stayed for about an hour, but it was nice to see everyone again and we shared some fried fish.

Goofball

This weekend we stayed busy and it was nice.  It was great to spend so much time with Simon, although he has a cold right now with a really runny nose.  Sleep has not been going well the past couple of nights... hopefully he gets better poor dude.  

Weekend in Review #6

Just realized I never recapped last weekend so before my long weekend begins I'll try to remember what happened last weekend.


I worked last Friday and then picked Simon up from the sitter.  We headed home and I think the night was mostly just casual and nothing very exciting happened.


Saturday the first part of the day was pretty normal.  I got to sleep in a bit and then we did our normal thing.  After Simon's afternoon nap we went over to my aunt and uncle's house where they were celebrating my Grandpa's birthday.  We hung out with family and everyone enjoy Simon (because how could you not?!?)


After we wrapped up that we headed home.  Simon ate dinner and we ordered pizza.  We watched a movie together... the second Maze Runner movie.  Dan picked it and it was a pretty annoying pick since it's the second in the series and I did not see the first movie so that was hard to follow.  Then it's are of at least a trilogy so it doesn't even really end at the end of the movie not to mention just a lot going on there...  Dan did Dan very well and got up to go to bed with 30 minutes left of the movie.


Sunday I got up with Simon and then we headed over to my mom's house for awhile.  We picked her up and went to breakfast at Bread Company.  Simon enjoyed that!  Then we went to Home Depot to get something for a project and headed back to her house.  We tried to put Simon down for a nap and that didn't go over well at all... Mom and I worked on a project and Simon ended up playing in the walker.

Simon's selfie game has stepped up

We cleaned up and Laclede Gas ended up digging up her yard for now the third time... We checked out the hole and then headed back home for Simon's afternoon nap.  Dan was planning on dinner so we hung out for awhile and Simon went down for his nap.  I ran to the grocery store.  Dan cooked dinner (chicken, mashed potatoes and corn).  I made a small cake.

Hole!

Simon next to the pile of dirt... this may be one of the first time his feet touched grass... he wasn't so sure about it...

Love this picture!

Good times!

Weekend in Review - #5

Yay for three day weekends!


I got off work on Thursday and Dan picked up Simon from the sitters so I could stop by a couple of stores.  I was looking for multi-colored balloons for a craft project.  I stopped by Party City b/c I KNEW they'd have balloons, only to find that they cost $8 a bag... um, not paying that much, so I checked Dollar General, and they were out... oh well.  Dan went on a trip with his brother-in-law and left Thursday night (gone until late Saturday morning).  Simon and I played around until it was bedtime.  Then I made some dinner and sat with the cats.


Friday morning I got up with Simon and we played and ate breakfast.  Then he went down for his morning nap.  Around 11 Lindsey came over and Simon got up from his nap.  We got ready and finally headed to the pool.  We went to Chrondelet YMCA to their outdoor aquatic park.  It was really nice - the pool was nice, the weather was warm and it wasn't too crowded since all those pesky kids are back in school.  We stayed for a few hours.  Simon really did seem to enjoy the pool.  We took him on a floaty and let him splash around.  I'm glad he got to experience the water and I'm thinking in the spring we'll sign him up for swim lessons.

Simon was over pictures

couldn't even get him to look up - but wanted a pic in the floaty

Such a cutie

And in a hat!

After the pool we ordered some sushi and stopped by the Dollar Store quickly so I could see if they had balloons - which they did!  We picked up the sushi and headed back home.  I put Simon down for his afternoon nap and ate delicious delicious sushi.  Lindsey headed home and I waited for Simon to wake up.  We of course played and my mom came over after work.  We hung out with Simon, she put him to bed and then we watched some Olympics and I made a frozen pizza.  It was a nice relaxing night.


Saturday morning I got up with Simon and did the normal - play, eat breakfast, play some more. (play = chasing him around as he continuously goes after the same things he shouldn't haha).  I put him down for a nap and was going to take a nap myself, but Dan ended up coming home so I didn't.  Eventually Simon got up and he was happy to see Dan.  He ate lunch and I got ready to go out.


Susan and I went out to celebrate her birthday.  We did a painting class, had dinner at Circle 7 Ranch (by dinner I mean drinks and apps) and then saw Bad Moms.  It was a fun day! 

Stole it from Susan's IG

Finished painting (and a Simon leg)

Sunday we had no plans, Dan got up with Simon so I was able to sleep in for awhile.  We did the normal things - feed Simon, play, naps, etc.  That afternoon Dan grilled some brats and we had beans and slaw - so yummy (oh, Dan also cooked breakfast this morning, so he was rocking it).  Simon went to bed and I started working on the wreath craft project, but ran out of balloons.  Overall a really nice weekend!

Hanging out on the deck with the nice weather

Weekend in Review - #4

Another weekend in the books!


I had a five day work week so I worked on Friday.  After work I picked up Simon from the sitters for the first time in forever.  We headed home and played for awhile and then fed Simon some dinner.  We decided to go out for dinner so we loaded up the car and went to Quincy Street Bistro.  I enjoyed what I got but Dan wasn't happy with his.  Either way it was nice going out to dinner.  We went back to the house and put Simon to bed and Dan and I hung out for awhile before we headed to bed.


Saturday morning I got up with Simon and we spent some time playing and hanging out.  Most of the day was fairly boring... I did take a nap when Simon took his morning nap as well though.  That afternoon I did a major Target run.  It was slightly exhausting, but by watching deals, using Cartwheel and my Red Card I was able to save almost $60.  I was pretty proud of my shopping trip!

That evening we had some friends over.  Dan made some steak and potato kabobs and pork sizzlers and I heated up some beans and make some shells and cheese (super fancy over here).  We hung out outside and the weather was pretty nice.  Simon stayed up way too late, but he's a social guy and likes to be around people.  Everyone else ended up going out and I stayed back to watch Simon.

Found it at the store so had to try

Sunday morning I got to sleep in which was excellent.  Simon slept in for Dan too which was nice for him.  When I got up we got ready and went over to my mom's house.  We drove around for awhile and ended up getting a quick breakfast before trying to see an exhibit at Laumeier... but I guess they were without power so it was closed.  We then walked around Joann's and figured out a banner for Simon's birthday and some other random projects.  We grabbed some lunch and went back to mom's house.  We ate lunch and Simon went down for a nap while we worked on the banner.  I woke up him and we played over there for awhile (Lindsey got to see him) and then headed back home.  I did dishes and straightened up.  I finished the night watching the Olympics and cross-stitching.

Weekend in Review - #3

Last weekend was the ever exciting 3-day weekend.  Those are just so much better than measly 2 day weekends.


Thursday night I came home from work and played with Simon.  Dan ended up going to a concert so I had the house to myself which is always nice.  After Simon went to bed I did some cleaning, made myself dinner and watched TV.  I watched The Challenge finale, and wow, hardly seemed real.


Friday I got to sleep in a bit and then got up with Simon.  We ate some breakfast and played awhile.  Simon ended up going down for his nap.  When he got up from his nap Lindsey came over.  Originally our plan was to go to the pool, but it was so gray and off-and-on rainy that we ended up having lunch with my mom instead.  We went to Pieology and it was delicious.

He's always a happy camper when food is involved

Afterwards Lindsey and I took Simon to the splash pad/playground at a park near my house.  He LOVED it.  He wasn't too sure at first, but ended up having a lot of fun splashing in the fountain.  It was nice that there were no other kids there to contend with.  After the water we pushed him in the swing a bit and then headed home for his nap.  During his nap Lindsey and I got snow cones.

Lindsey and Simon checking out the water

Loved this fountain

Friday night Dan ended up going out with some friends so I again had the house to myself.  I ate leftover pizza and watched the Olympic opening ceremonies while cross stitching.  I went to bed fairly late.


Saturday morning I got up early with Simon and we ate some breakfast and played.  I put him down for his nap and got ready.  I had lunch plans with two of my high school friends - Beth and Amanda.  It was nice catching up with them.  Afterwards I came back home and hung out for awhile.  Then we got ready to go out that night.


We dropped Simon off with my dad and step-mom (they were really looking forward to babysitting!)  Dan, me and his cousin went to O'Fallon Brewery for some food and drinks.  Then we went over to the El Monstero concert at Riverport.  I was worried how hot it might be since it was August and the temperatures we've been having, but the weather was beyond beautiful.  They put on a great show!!  We left a bit early to beat the traffic though.  We picked up Simon and headed home.

Terrible picture, but I had one chance

The bring in a helicopter for The Wall

It's always a fun show to watch

Meanwhile Simon was playing with his grandparents

I got to sleep in on Sunday and when I got up we played a bit and then Simon took a nap.  Afterwards we had lunch and then all went up to Home Depot to get a few things.  Simon took an afternoon nap (and I may have too) and then when he got up we played, ate dinner and eventually he headed to bed.  We ordered pizza and I watched the Olympics while cross-stitching again.

Simon is obsessed with the dog's kennels... sigh

Happy boy!

Overall a pretty nice weekend.

Weekend in Review - #2

I missed last weekend... whoops!


Last week was a 5-day work week... I know I'm spoiled but 5-day weeks are the worst... ok, I'm just being dramatic, last week was fine and dandy.


Friday night after work I stopped by the grocery store for supplies for dinner.  I headed home and played with Simon, fed him dinner, played with him more and then he went to bed.  Dan decided to work on his car so I prepped what I needed to for dinner and finally Dan started the grill.  I hung out with him outside for awhile, but mostly I watched TV on the living room couch.


I hardly ever watch "my" TV on the upstairs couch b/c Dan is usually up there and he doesn't like what I want to watch  (Currently, The OC) so I normally go downstairs, but I took advantage of the time I had and enjoyed TV watching upstairs sprawled out on the couch.  Finally dinner was ready after 9.  We ate, talked a bit and then I headed to bed.

Burger, corn on the cob and asparagus

It was my night to get up with Simon, but I got to sleep in on Saturday morning.  Of course to him that means until 8:30 (even though I don't wake him up on his morning to sleep in....)  I got up and played with Simon and he went down for a nap.  During his nap I did dishes, washed and made bottles, showered and got ready.  Simon was up around 11 and I got him ready and we went over to my mom's house. 


We hung out over there for awhile and then went to lunch at The Barn next to Sappington House.  It was a cute little place, the food was good but more so than that Simon was stealing the show.  Everyone commenting on how cute and happy he is.  He was waving and interacting with other kids and people.  It was adorable.  Afterwards we drove around - first Lone Elk Park and then just all over.  Keith called while we were in the car and we talked to him for awhile.  It was really nice.


Then Simon and I headed back home.  We were going to go to the Smithton parade but Dan decided not to so instead we went to the grocery store for dinner items.  I put Simon to bed and then hung out outside with Dan.  We watched the guy sky dive from 25,000ft without a parachute into a giant net - it was pretty incredible.  I was getting bitten up so I went back inside.  We watched some TV and then I headed to bed.


On Sunday I got up with Simon around 7:30.  We played for a bit then I fed him breakfast and I washed dishes/bottles and started to make bread.  We played and Dan put Simon down for a nap.  I did the next step in my bread and then when Simon got up we got ready and went to Grant's Farm.

Happy boy in the morning - I came in to find him sitting up in his crib playing with the Leapfrog Dog we keep in there for nighttime music

It was somewhat crowded, but I've seen worse so in that regard it wasn't too terrible, it was just really hot/humid.  We saw a lot of animals and Simon really enjoyed watching Dan feed the adult goats.  We had a good time, but Simon was having a hard time sitting still on the train ride.  Dan and I got our free beer sample and then we left, got some food and headed home. 

Train ride

Simon found the goats pretty funny

Dan feeding the camel

Simon wasn't digging nap time, but ended up going to bed early.  I finished up my bread.  I spent the evening starting on a project for Simon's room and then watching TV and cross-stitching.


The bread I made was super good, as soon as I read about the recipe I knew I had to make it and it did NOT disappoint.  So so tasty!


Overall a pretty nice weekend!

Weekend in Review - #1

First a couple of notes (not that you care... but I wanted to address it):

1. Yes, I've done "Weekend in Review" posts before and labeling this #1 in the title, but wanted to start numbering them and going back and counting what I've done previously just seems like a waste of time - so I'm starting with #1 now.
2. Again, I know I was doing these in the past and stopped... but I wanted to start doing it again, nothing about this weekend was particularly special or exciting as a reason to start with THIS WEEKEND in particular... but gotta start somewhere!

Last week was my long, 5-day workweek and those always feel long, but I made it through and was so happy for the weekend... although I did come home pretty tired!


That afternoon came home and played with Simon, then fed him dinner.  I also did a fair amount of cleaning - bathroom, kitchen, dusting, and some decluttering.  I played more with Simon and he ended up going to bed pretty early around 6:30.  By 7 I was just able to relax and unwind.  Dan ordered a pizza (Feraro's) and I took a shower.  Caleb ended up coming over and we watched some Billy on the Street until I decided to clean up and head to bed at a reasonable hour. 


Saturday morning was my morning to get up with Simon.  We got up around 7:30 and played for awhile and then I fed him breakfast and we played some more.  Simon went down for a nap and ended up going down for a nap as well.  When I woke up we played with Simon and then I went out and got lunch (Fazoli's for Dan and Lion's Choice for me).  I got back and fed Simon lunch and ate my lunch.  Hung out for awhile and then Simon went down for his nap.  I did laundry and cross-stitched while he was sleeping.  He got up around 3 and we played together and I started to get ready to go to Susan's party.


We were ready to leave by 5 and headed up to Susan's.  We stopped at Rockler along the way so Dan could buy some wood... or something.  We got to Susan's and hung out there... there were so many kids and once Simon settled in I think he really enjoyed watching all the kids and people.  We stayed until about 8 (Simon is such a trooper b/c he's normally in bed before 7) and then headed home.  Simon went right to bed (not always the case) and I stayed up awhile watching TV and then finally headed to bed.


I got to sleep in Sunday morning and then got up.  Ran out and grabbed breakfast and then hung out with Simon until it was time for his morning nap.  My mom and grandma picked me up and we headed out to the outlet mall for me to spend a coupon I had (I bought way too much but whatever).  Then we had lunch/brunch at Mimi's Café.  Afterwards we went to Ladue Nails and got manicures...well me and my grandma did.  Her first salon manicure!  It was a fun experience.  Then they dropped me off back at home around 3.

Getting manis (took FOREVER to get my old polish off)

Our nails

Around 4 we packed up the car and headed over to Amanda and Lou's for dinner (they cooked us a nice dinner of steak, potatoes, breaded green beans and Red Lobster biscuits).  Then we headed over to Dan's grandparent's house to celebrate his grandpa's birthday.  They had homemade ice cream with toppings.  The kids played and Simon especially loved the tractor.  He again was such a trooper and lasted until 8 (although he was pretty cranky on the way home.)  We got home and I put Simon to bed and then took a shower.  I stayed up for awhile watching TV and went to bed.  The weekends are always too short, but we did a lot and had fun!

Grandpa showing the kids his new model plane

Simon loving the tractor

Crazy kids!