4th of July

My family came to St. Louis to visit for the 4th of July, and we had a blast! We went to the Cardinals vs. Mets game on Wednesday and got to watch a victory, which is always fun. Especially after a 45 minute rain delay...thank goodness we found dip 'n dots to keep us occupied.

On the 4th we had an all-American barbecue at our house, complete with homemade ice cream! My parents brought their ice cream maker and a recipe we used to make all the time when we were growing up. It tasted exactly like I remembered it. Then we headed downtown to watch the fireworks under the arch. The website suggested taking the Metro (public transportation) since Fair St. Louis was also going on at the same time. We were feeling very "metropolitan," so we took the website's advice. It was a fun and easy ride downtown.

Now, in case you haven't heard, St. Louis is ranked as one of the top 10 places to watch fireworks on the 4th. I know! I couldn't believe it, either! And they were incredible! The last time we went downtown on the 4th, I was so busy trying to take a good picture of it that I missed most of the show. This time I decided just to watch, and it was totally worth it. Once the fireworks were over, we headed to the Metro link stop and found a line going all the way down the block and around the corner. Since there was a lot happening downtown that evening (Cardinals vs. Cubs,
Fair St. Louis, the fireworks), we decided to walk to another station that we thought would be less crowded. A mile and a half later, we found another extremly long line that was barely moving. Next we found a bus that was going to our train stop, and since we weren't sure how long the trains would run that night, we decided to try our luck on the bus. Little did we know that public buses make tons of stops along the way to pick people up and drop them off (it's not a direct trip, by any means.) Over an hour after getting on the bus, we FINALLY found our car and headed home. Needless to say, I don't think I'll take the Metro again any time soon. But it was a fun adventure and made me feel so blessed to have my own car that takes me wherever I need to go at any time.

The rest of the weekend was filled with golf for the boys and lots of shopping for the girls. My mom and sister and I even drove to Lake of the Ozarks to visit the Coach outlet...so fun! We were so glad to have family around and to be able to spend time with them. As my dad said, "Hanging out with your family, good food, and baseball...what more could you want?!?" The only thing I'd add to that list is shopping...