Attended a Winter Party with my coworkers on Friday night. 
I wanted to look different than I normally do so I straightened my hair, put on my contacts and dressed up. Dress code was anything from jeans to dressy. 90% of people wore jeans but I like dressing up and thought the green fit in with the Irish theme of the party. Or that's what I told myself to justify dressing up. :)
As you may recall, Blake asked for a blog for Christmas and he now has one. Check it out at http://potofgold7.spaces.live.com and be sure to leave COMMENTS because he loves those.
And he insisted on taking pictures with gold coins. 
Let's have a contest - whose child is the weirdest? Oh, it's mine. I win! That was over before it started.
Just so I can see Casey faint and fall on the floor, I'm going to accept her tag AND tag other people!
8 things I did today:
1) had bad stomach cramps and couldn't get Blake ready for school like usual but he managed without me
2) made a list of the kids days out of school for the rest of this year and started making plans for those days
3) helped Payton buy tickets to see the Sweeney Todd musical tomorrow night
4) spent 3 hours writing the last installment of the St. Louis trip report
6) made chocolate fondue to dip bananas and strawberries in
7) bought birthday cards for January birthdays
8) researched future trips
8 favorite restaurants:
1) Bella Luna
2) Sabor
3) Pirahna's
4) Sonic (does that count? I eat there a LOT.)
5) Abuelo's
6) Ocean Rock
7) hibachi grill restaurants in general
8) Panda Express
8 shows that I watch:
1) Oprah
2) The Office
3) Intervention
4) Best Week Ever
5) Project Runway
6) American Idol
7) Kathy Griffin: Life on the D List
8) Saturday Night Live
8 things I wish for:
1) Blake to get more manageable and be happier in general
2) Payton's typical teenage school drama to subside as she enters high school
3) Another trip to Disney World within the next 18 months
4) My work levels to stay sane
5) Andy to make sure he's in a job he's enjoying
6) Lose about 7 pounds
7) Time at home alone occasionally
8) Getaway with Andy at least once a year
8 things I look forward to:
1) Traveling to Florence, Italy, someday
2) Dan opening his restaurant
3) Our next trip to the beach with the whole family
4) The temperatures being warm again
5) More daylight
6) Running again
7) Finishing the organization of the house
8) Being a grandparent many years from now
And, so I tag:
Marcy
Kami
Amanda
Grace
Misty
Carrie
Christy
Blake
Before I get started, did y'all happen to notice that somebody from the City Museum commented on the previous trip report? I love the Internet! Maybe this post will get the mayor to comment. Lord knows I've spent hours telling the Internet about their city - it's the least they could do!
Day 3 (and our last full day) was on Sunday, December 28. We'd done everything I wanted to do pretty much so the group decided that we'd first head to the Old Courthouse which was within a block or two of our hotel.
Standing in front of the Old Courthouse w/the Arch in the background
The Old Courthouse was the site of the Dred Scott case which basically was the catalyst for the Civil War to begin. If you quizzed me on history alone, you would put me on a short bus so I enjoy visiting historical sites to help me learn. I know almost nothing about history unless I see it in person and have something tangible to help me grasp it.
A court room very similar to the one the case was tried in but not the exact one. The exact one had to be redone when a construction weakness was found so this is as close as we can get.
The park ranger guy who was working in the room opened up the ropes and let us go up to the judge's desk.
And he was such a peach, he volunteered to take a picture of all of us.
This is a picture of a picture of the tombstone
While I was learning myself about the Dred Scott case, the rest of the gang had a mock trial. Lest you wonder why I am such a silly nut, you need look no farther than my mother who told quite a wild tale during her time as a witness on the stand. Unfortunately, Blake was the judge so he declared a guilty verdict before hearing any evidence.
I loved all of the details of the courthouse so I'll just let the remainder of the courthouse pics speak for themselves.
My mom and Andy were very interested in going on a tour of Anheuser-Busch which I wouldn't have thought to do with kids but Andy had been a few times (including as a kid) and said it was good for all ages. Back in the cab we go and we arrived at the brewery.
This tour was quite possibly the best free thing I've ever done. I would have paid to do the same tour. Great tour guides, beautiful campus, learned some things and...free beer!
Pics from our tour
Inside the Clydesdales' stable. I want to live there!
Every herd of Clydesdales has two dalmations. There's one sitting in the hay here.
En route to another building (and approximately the place where I slipped and Payton caught me and kept me from falling down. Thanks Payton!).
The beer process!
Inside the buildings where the beer is made. Why does it have to be so pretty to make beer in a can?
More outside shots as we walked between buildings
And at the end of tour, we got the much anticipated free beer....two free beers each actually (we only had 1 but 2 is generous!). My mom and I were excited to see that they had some kind of pomegranate raspberry available that we'd seen on the tour. It was yummy. Almost like a sparkling juice. They also provide unlimited pop as well as pretzels to snack on. It was lovely!
I believe at this point we headed for a late lunch/early dinner and then took some time to rest at the hotel before the night. Payton and Andy had tickets to see a LUDO concert in the Delmar Loop area and my mom, Blake and I were going to go the area with them and walk around a bit as well.
There was one type of transportation we hadn't used yet that I wanted to - their subway system. My mom didn't seem keen on navigating the subway system at night but I was comfortable with it and wanted to give it a try.
Waiting for our train to arrive
En route
We got off at our stop and started walking toward The Pageant where the concert was being held. This concert was a special Christmas edition and look who was there to serve cookies to people in line...Kami the Elf!
Kami has been a huge LUDO fan for years and her step-mom is the aunt of the lead singer. After I booked the trip, she let me know about the concert so I got tickets for Payton and Andy who are fans. Then Kami decided to drive to St. Louis to be a groupie...I mean...to help out. :)
Her sister, Kristin, also drove with her. 
The girls with their step-brother, Shane, as the reindeer. Shane is cousins with the lead singer.
Payton and Andy in line (hard to see Payton because she's behind somebody else)
Once they were in the building, my mom, Blake and I walked to the next building to go to Pinup Bowl which is the cutest little bowling alley I've ever seen. Just 6 lanes and they serve lots of types of martinis. I didn't have any this night but loved having the option.
My mom opted out of bowling so Blake and I got our shoes on and picked out our bowling balls. Most alleys we've been to in the past had the option to turn bumpers on for whatever bowler you programmed it for. This alley either required them up for the whole lane or down. I decided to keep them down. Then Blake decided he wouldn't roll the bowl kid-style, he would throw it with his fingers in the holes.
The excitement! The joy!
After a couple of frames, he started getting a better feel for throwing it and OMG, he got a spare!
He ended up with a final score of 35 which could have easily been doubled if he'd been able to throw a bit harder. Many of his gutter balls started off on a good path but just lost momentum. I was so proud of him but of course he declared himself the worst bowler ever.
I didn't want to push it by playing more than 1 game (Blake has meltdowns easily when he's tired and frustrated and lord knows we'd done a lot this day) so we headed out with promises of Ben and Jerry's ice cream where Blake got his favorite - lemonade sorbet! Every 7 year old boy's favorite I'm sure. :)
After some more wandering and failing to find wifi yet again, the three of us walked back toward our subway station. We froze. We walked a long time. We finally made it back to our hotel.
We had an early train to catch back to KC the next morning so we spent the remaining time packing. Payton and Andy came back before midnight and reported having a great time and even found a couple new bands they liked from hearing the opening acts.
As I got up the next morning, I took this last picture which is probably my favorite of the trip.
Our train back home was slightly different than the one coming. It had two levels and didn't have the power outlets like the previous one which meant Blake was much harder to deal with since he didn't have a DVD to watch. This ride back was also quicker because we didn't have delays. Arrived in KC, got our car, lunch at Fritz's and then finally back to my parent's house.
We had a great trip to St. Louis even though it was relatively small and short compared to others we've taken. We got to do so many new things and just have fun together for a few days. I'm so glad my mom got to go too - she's the one who instilled the love of travel in me in the first place. :)
Speaking of, we have a 4 day weekend coming up in February when the kids are out of school. Suggestions where we should go?
