Let Baseball Season Begin!

Baseball season officially began for AR and I yesterday. We drove down to Springfield to watch the St. Louis Cardinals (the red team as AR called them) and the Springfield Cardinals (the white team) battle it out at Hammons Field. The Springfield Birds did pretty well, keeping the lead for the majority of the first part of the game. We got there when the gates open and went straight to the dugout by first base. That's Kolten Wong there on first base. 

We were down there for only a few minutes when we saw one of AR's favorites, Matt Adams. In her little girl voice, she shouted his name. Matt turned around, saw her, waved, picked up a ball and came straight to her. She got him to sign the ball for her and they chatted for awhile. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the two of them but she was pumped, that was her main goal of the game-to get Matt to sign her ball that he threw her last year!

She also yelled at Greg Garcia who waved while he was taking BP. When he got out in the field, he ran a ball over to her and signed it too.

The players were great, listening to her stories, and taking pictures with her. FYI-Greg's wife, Hannah, is pretty awesome. I follow her on IG and I think she's just a great role model for AR and little girls out there. And Greg is awesome, too!

Kolten Wong came over and signed for AR and took a pic.

Matheny came over and here are two great stories.

AR asked him very politely, "Could you please sign my ball?"
Matheny: "Yes and you have very good manners."
Me beaming proudly!
Teenager beside us to Matheny: "Dude, we were at the game in Memphis last night-"
Matheny stops signing and looks up: "Did you just call me 'dude'?"
Kid shrugs and doesn't answer
Me: "Didn't you just hear him comment on her manners? You shouldn't call adults 'dude.'"
Matheny: "Yeah, you should take some lessons from her."
As though I didn't love Matheny already, he made me one proud momma right then!

After that was over, AR looked at him and asked, "Do you get marker on your hands a lot?"
Matheny smiles and nods: "Yeah, I do."
AR: "Me, too, at school."

Then along came Fredbird and her world was bursting with excitement!!! He signed her ball, too.

Next came Jacob Wilson! Haley met him a few years ago at spring training and loves him. AR met him last year at spring training and he was super sweet to her. AR was also excited because he was #4 just like she is in soccer.

We got a TON of autographs from the Springfield Cardinals players then made our way to our seats. Not a bad view, huh?

And oh hey, look who we found sitting in front of us! H came down with our friend Lisa but we didn't buy our tickets together. Funny that we ended up being so close!

It got a little chilly but this little chica refused to wear her coat, only her gloves and hat.

Another one of her favorite parts of the game... Take Me Out to the Ballgame!



While she may not have been cold, I was freezing so I pulled her on my lap and we got some silly pics out of it while I tried to steal her body heat.

And I talked to her into one non-silly one to commemorate the first day of baseball season for us!

A huge thank you to all the players, mascots, and coaches that made the day so special for my girl! We look forward to seeing everyone play and I'm sure we'll see you all soon! Now... GO CARDS!!!

AR's First Blues Game-LGB!!!

So I guess you could say I kind of have this internal bucket list in my head of things I want AR to do, try, visit, etc... Ever since the STL Blues did so well in the playoffs last spring, AR has been slightly interested in the Blues... while having no idea whatsover they do or what's going on. I decided I wanted to take her to a game this year and it's been on my to-do list for the last two months. I've searched ticket prices, checked dates, and seriously only like one game in March fit our schedule. I'd at least narrowed it down to a date but I hadn't bought tickets yet. Monday night, my co-worker Holly texted me and said Bob had tickets to the game on Tuesday and wanted to know if AR and I wanted to go. I'd been avoiding going on Tuesday nights because AR has gymnastics but when a Blues legend is offering tickets, I knew I couldn't pass.

We got to the game late thanks to traffic but when we found our seats, they were awesome!!! AR seriously just stood for the first 10 minute mesmerized by the fast pace. Every now and then, she'd look at me and yell, "Mommy, I saw the little round black thing!!!" She also picked up on the horn/Let's Go Blues cheer pretty quickly as well.

This was the view from our seats, not too bad, huh?

I'd bought her a short-sleeve Blues tutu dress for Christmas, it only cost $10 from Kohl's. The girl hasn't stopped wearing it so of course she had to wear it to the game. And the Blues sweater she's wearing? Got it from a store going out of business for $10, too!

In between the 1st and 2nd period, Mr. Bob came to visit us. Mr. Bob is Blues legend Bobby Plager, who played for them in the late '60s. Holly met him last year and became buddies with him. I've met him a handful of times and he's a great guy and I should mention totally hilarious! Thank you so much for the seats, Mr. Bob, AR's first Blues game was totally magical thanks to you!

He even signed her sweater and put a smiley face in the P so AR thought that was awesome.

The night was going great... until the other team scored and AR was not happy. She also wasn't a fan of the loud horn but otherwise, she loved it!

When Mr. Bob came to our seats, he was like Santa and brought us three bags of giveaways. Our Blues apparel doubled!!! AR was most excited about the pucks and thought Mr. Bob looked handsome in his picture from back when he played.

The pucks were even signed by Ryan Reaves! Overall, we had a great experience and were completely spoiled thanks to Bob. A huge shout out and thank you to Bob and Holly for thinking of AR and me! LGB!!!

The Great Ice Storm of 2017

Last weekend, they started calling for a huge ice storm to hit STL this weekend. Luckily, I'd already taken off work on Friday so when I picked AR up from school on Thursday, we went straight to the grocery store and headed home. There was a bit of a commotion in the park directly behind our house so it was an interesting way to start off our weekend but without going into detail, AR and I are fine and thank you to everyone that texted or called to check on us. After that, we hunkered down for the long haul, charging all devices, and expecting the worse.

Friday we woke up and nothing had started yet. Around mid-morning, the driveway started getting slick and we had finished watching our first movie. A friend of ours texted around 1 or 2, checking in on us and seeing if we needed anything. I told him we were all good but thanks for checking. A couple hours later, his girlfriend texted, asking if they could come over and hang out. So they came over with their dog, cooked dinner, salted our driveway, and watched AR's amazing dance show. Let me sidebar here and talk about this friendship. It was a completely unexpected one that has grown into more of a family bond than a friendship one. They have been a true blessing to us and just like God proved to me last year with the people he placed in our lives, they crossed our paths at a time that couldn't have been more perfect. We love J & D and we're going to miss them when they move in the next month(s). AR and I promise, J, that we'll take care of D until she leaves, too. We love you guys so much and are grateful for everything you've done for us! Just remember as AR says, we'll always be besties for life!

Saturday morning we woke up and the driveway, roads, sidewalks all looked completely fine. After being cooped up for 24+ hours, we decided to brave it. We headed to 7-11 then dropped a card off at the police station to thank them for their work at the park last Thursday. After that, we headed over to our friends' house to drop off a card which turned into a two-hour playdate and lunch at Chick-Fil-A. It was exactly what the girls needed!!! I even learned that if CFA isn't busy, they'll let the girls make their own ice cream cones. Plus, we all need to pause and check out my little one's outfit she's got going on here...ice skating dress, high heels, and pants... God, I love her fashion sense and creativity!

Sunday we were supposed to get the worse wave of ice but the temperature had warmed up so it was just a muddy mess. Monday AR was out of school for the holiday and this momma said we're getting out of the house! Unfortunately, all my other mom friends had to work but our swim lesson buddy's nanny, TT, who we also love, loaded up all four of the kids and met us at Monkey Joe's. 

This was our first time at Monkey Joe's. I'll be honest, I'd been avoiding it because I thought it was way too expensive. A couple weeks ago, I stopped in to buy a gift card for a birthday party and checked out their prices. Compared to the other inflatable place, it's really not that bad considering there's no time limit. I went ahead and purchased the 10 jump pass. It was 10 visits for $75 with no expiration date. With spring break coming up and the hot summer months, I figured that was a good purchase and something that Nanny can do with her out of the heat. There were also TONS of inflatables, lots of space, tons of places for parents to sit, and free wi-fi, that's always a win for me!

Today was a great way for all the kids to burn off that pent up energy, look at how red their faces are. Thanks TT for coming out to play with the kids!

AR ran into a friend from school so we stayed a little bit longer. This author momma took out her computer and got some formatting done for her upcoming release. It's not the most traditional place to write but hey, whatever works, right? This is definitely multi-tasking at it's finest!

So there you have it, we survived the great ice storm that never was! 

Ice Skating Fun!

Last spring AR went ice skating for the first time. It was pretty awful. She only lasted about ten minutes and cried pretty much the entire time. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when we went to see her friend in her ice skating show and AR has been begging to go again. I was reluctant but we had talked about it since the last time and she had a better attitude about it so I agreed. We were supposed to go Thursday night with one of my co-workers but I was dying and had to postpone it. AR was disappointed and although I wasn't feeling 100% on Friday, I couldn't let her down again so I sucked it up and we headed out to Lindenwood Ice Rink in Wentzville. For $18 we got two hours of skating, I predicted that we'd only stay about 20 minutes but we made it 1.5 hours!!! There were lots of teenagers there that were willing to take pictures for us so one took this pic of us and I texted our family and friends and said "pray for us!"

This was AR skating last spring. I think she did pretty well but she was upset because she kept falling to which we had a whole conversation about how everyone falls and if we fall just get back up. She also didn't like "marching" which is what the kids told her to do because that's how you learn.


Luckily today they had skate aides or scooters. AR insisted she didn't need one and that she was going to be able to skate and spin without any help. I love her confidence but I still snatched one up and it was a good idea because we both used it.

I was a little bit of a hunchback but hey, I needed it as much as her!

We could use it together, too. Sometimes, AR got on the other side and skated "backwards."

Look at her, she's a boss on that thing moving all over the ice in seconds! She really did look like a pro with it.



Here's me using it, my videographer could use a little more experience.



Us skating together!



The scooter really helped her confidence. She actually skated without the scooter quite often too.

Super proud of my girl!

Here she is skating with no help but close enough to the wall just in case.



She had a blast!!! She only had maybe 3 major falls and hopped up every time with no tears! The last time she fell, she started crying about something not even skate related and I knew it was time to go. She did awesome, I can't say how pleased I was with the entire experience.

She said she was going to do spins and she did!



Overall, it was just an awesome afternoon!

And to prove it wasn't all rainbows, here's a wipe out video!

Holidays in the Park~Six Flags 2016

The day before Christmas Eve, AR and I braved the drizzle and headed to Six Flags St. Louis. We bought 2017 season passes back in September and were able to use them for the rest of 2016 as well. We've been three times since we've bought them so we've already almost gotten our money's worth! I was on the fence about buying a season pass but for $210 we got two season passes, free parking, and a meal pass to split. So for our three visits, that's about $70 each time. When we went in June with our friends, we spent about $60 in drinks and admission and that didn't include parking because we rode with them and they are season pass holders. The nice thing about being a season pass holder is that we don't feel like we have to stay all day to get our money's worth. If we just want to go for a couple hours then cut out, we can and we'll probably do that a lot this coming summer when Hurricane Harbor is open. Anyway, back to our visit yesterday...

I really didn't know what to expect since it was wet but we actually had an awesome time! There was no wait for ANYTHING unlike all our other visits. First things first, we saw Santa then headed over to the ferris wheel. I really wanted to ride the ferris wheel at night to see all the lights but by the time it got dark, we were both ready to leave.

We missed all the shows but we got to see these Looney Toon characters when we first entered. They also had choir singers and they had gorgeous costumes. Later in the day when it was colder, they let us sneak into their building to warm up. Unlike the ride operators, they knew where EVERYTHING were located and were very sweet to AR.

The bonus of no lines? We rode Mine Train five times in a row!!! They didn't even make us get off, we just kept going and we were basically the only ones riding. I will tell you though, whew, that gust of wind coming up that last stretch took my breath away every time but it was awesome! We probably would've rode more but we had to go get lunch before they stopped serving it.

After the Mine Train, AR rode a few rides in Looney Toon town and we rode the big train, first seat of course. We had a cheeseburger and fries for lunch and we caught the carousel. Then it started to rain but luckily we had an umbrella. We stopped by the tree at the front of the entrance and I wanted to take a picture. This is AR telling me it's cold!

Overall, great experience, but I'd still like to go back next week before it closes to see all the lights at night!

Overall, it was one of those days that you don't really have much hope for, it was just something to get out of the house for a little bit, but it turned out to be AWESOME!!! And the fact that it was just my girl and me made it that much better. Plus I was "unplugged" for the most part because it was a holiday at work so I wasn't having to constantly check my phone was another bonus. We've got a lot of fun things planned for next week when she's out of school... movies, ice skating, playdates and this momma is just as excited as she is!

Anheuser-Busch Brewery Lights 2016

AR, Nanny, a couple of our friends, and I went to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery Lights on Thursday. It's the outdoor walking part of the brewery tour that's lit up in white and red lights. There was one area with the Lime-A-Ritas that was beach themed with big lawn chairs, a sand sculpture, and bright palm trees for decoration. There's no cost but they have extras that you can purchase like snacks, ice skating, local craft vendors are selling stuff, etc... We spent $4.50 the whole night for a hot chocolate and a s'mores kit. It was a great night to go because it wasn't too cold and since it was a weeknight, it really wasn't that crowded. Oh and everyone 21+ got five free samples! All were totally different and completely delicious.

The smoke billowing from the buildings just added to the cool ambiance.

There were TONS of cute photo opps throughout where a professional photographer took your pics but you could also take your own. The only place you couldn't take your own picture was inside the stables with the Clydesdale.

On Tuesday, Nanny flew into town and surprised us! It was nice that she was able to be with us because otherwise we wouldn't have gotten to do much holiday stuff with her since she's coming in town on the 20th. 

D and I were super excited for the Stella samples and they didn't disappoint! 

Minus us looking like demons, I love this pic!!! This backdrop is the whole reason I wanted to go here in the first place. 

See, lots and lots of pictures that my hambone was too excited for!

Awesome holiday memory made!!! I might even go back in a few weeks with some work friends!

#brewerylights #asquared

Sky Zone!!!

As most of you know, AR has been in gymnastics since she was fifteen months so my child LOVES jumping on trampolines, doing cartwheels, and we're now working on handstands! It's exciting and frightening all at once. Luckily, we have Sky Zone close by so we can do all the indoor jumping we want even outside of class!

Here's a little info about Sky Zone: We are dedicated to providing you with the pure joy that comes with flying. Sky Zone Fenton offers open jump, 3 sky slam courts, skyrobics fitness classes, foam zone, ultimate dodgeball, sky hoops, and challenge zone! If you can walk you can jump, Sky Zone Fenton is the ultimate family experience.

Here's a sweet offer they have right now too! 
$5 off open Jump or $50 off Birthday Party - Spend $20 and receive $5 off. Or Book your birthday party (Super Jump or Supreme Air packages only) and receive $50 off!
http://stlouiskids.com/coupon.php?regionid=75&bid=12306&dealid=2148 .@usfg

I won't lie, I kind of want to check out the fitness classes for myself! Either way, I'm sure you'll find us at Sky Zone a few times this winter season and even during the hot summer months!