*Happy Labor Day!*

I know labor day isn't until Monday but...I...for one...will not be around a computer to wish you all a good one! I will be down at Lake Thunderhead in MO doing anything but labor! ;) I'm looking forward to a relaxing, fun weekend w/ Nick & my family. I wish you all a relaxing & fun weekend as well! And, if you have to work...then I will drink one...or two... for you! You can count on me!! :D TTFN!

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Nick!

No really...it was Nick! And Grant...& Lucas...& Kris! ;) Why, you ask, would they be in the sky! Well, they decided to try out skydiving yesterday! I went along to take pictures & video of them floating on down!

We drove down to Skydive Iowa in Brooklyn yesterday morning. It was a beautiful day! We got there early which was a good thing because the place was busy! There were people still waiting to go up at 1:30 when we left & they had been there since 10:00!

There really isn't much to it. They just take a group over by the plane for about 5 minutes & explain the basics. They then have everyone lie on their stomachs & practice the position their bodies have to be in. Then, your ready to gear up & go!

Lucas & his dad Kris were the first to go up. They circle around a bit to get to the altitude they need to be at. (About 1,000 feet!) Then, out you go! They had to dive tandem, of course, since it was their first time. The instructors would let them steer & they could do twirls around & around. (I would probably lose my lunch if I did that!) Anyways, Lucas & Kris landed safely so it was Nick & Grant's turn! (BTW, Grant is Nick's Best Man! What a way to bond!)

(Nick & Grant waiting their turn & trying out the kickass goggles!)

(Here comes Lucas!)

(They look like their on cloud nine...I guess really, they were!!)

Grant's never been in a plane before so I give him mad props for jumping out of one! (I had a gangster moment right there! :)

Nick had the same instructor as Lucas & I guess they did some back flips once they got out of the plane! Holy crap! That would be quite a rush!!

(Nick landing! Thank you Lord! LOL)

They all had an AWESOME time & want to do it again soon! I'm actually thinking about trying it out but it all depends on if I want to spend $199.00 to jump out of plane! Doesn't sound right does it!?!

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Since I haven't posted anything from last week here is a summary of my night @ Chuck-E-Cheese's!**

Last week, I had the pleasure of taking my "nephew" Ashton & "niece" Lexie to Chuck-E-Cheese's for Ashton's birthday!! (Ok, they are technically not my relatives but they are one of my best friends kids so close enough.)

Since Nick & I were in St Louis for Ashton's actually b-day party we decided to take him out for some fun! We picked them up & headed to see Chuck-E where we met up w/ my sister Anna, her boyfriend Brandon & friends Willy & Ashley, & one of my brothers, Brandon. Ashton & Lexie were SO-> excited for the rides & games that they barely ate any pizza & we even skipped out on the cake! It was pretty exhausting chasing after Lexie! She's like a monkey!! Ashton just ran around like he owned the place so I really didn't have to worry about him. I think Nick & Brandon had the most fun! They are 22 going on 6! :D

It was a fun...& tiering...night for all!

(Ashton shaking his groove thang!)

(My pretty girl!)

(They are so-> mature!)

(Quick suggestion...don't try & get kids to pose for a picture at Chuck-E-Cheese...it's pretty pointless! :)

(I think Lexie has a crush!)

~HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOO!~

I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNTIE...AGAIN!!

Nick & I just heard the awesome news last night that his sister is pregnant for the 2nd time!! So exciting!! I LOVE babies!! They already have a little cutie-pa-tutie who turned 2 a couple weeks ago & have been trying for a 2nd for a few months now! Since they already have their little boy I hope she can pop out a little girl so that she won't be outnumbered!! LOL

Hearing great news like this just makes me realize how much I want kids of my own! I can't WAIT to start a family after Nick & I get hitched! (We're getting married in October of next year, 10/10/09.) I want to go for it right away but Nick wants to wait a bit. He is younger then me so I can understand why he is prolonging it. Hopefully, I can talk him into trying the year after we are married. We have awesome families who, I know, will help us out a lot! They are always there for us so we will have plenty of babysitters! :D

It's kinda fun because my mom is a twin & there are two sets of twins on my dad's side so I'm curious to see if any of my 3 siblings or I have twins! I guess only time will tell! ;)

Meet Me In St Louis!

Well, Nick & I just got back from a trip to St Louis, MO! We decided to take a mini trip to celebrate our 6 year anniversary & engagement! (We got engaged on May 21st & our 6 year dating anniversary was on July 10th.) We had an AWESOME time! I didn't want to come home!

We drove down on Thur afternoon & stayed the night at a Super 8 in Euerka, MO. It was kind of run down but clean so I didn't mind! We just hung out & watched the Olympics! (Go Shawn Johnson!)

Fri morning we headed down the street to Six Flags! We had a pretty good time but I was kind of disappointed. The park was pretty small & half the attractions & stores weren't even open for the first part of the day! I guess they were short handed or something but come on! Anywho, it ended up down pouring for a good 30 minutes to an hour in the afternoon so we walked around the shops & had a caricature drawn of us! Flippin hilarious!! :D It doesn't much look like us...especially Nick...but it was all in fun!




Fri night we headed towards our hotel, the Crowne Plaza, & the Gateway Arch! One word...WOW! I couldn't stop looking & taking pictures of it! It's so simple yet so amazing! I seriously took 70 pictures of just the Arch in the whole 2 days we were in the area!! Anyway, we checked out the pool on the roof of the hotel & the observation deck facing the Arch! Two words...HOLY WOW! The view was breathtaking! (Again, I went picture crazy!)







We then got all dressed up & ate at the hotels restaurant, The Union Grill. The food was yummy & the service was great! After dinner, we headed down to the bar for some adult beverages. It was really nice just chillaxin!

On Sat morning we had breakfast at The Union Grill...once again, yummy...went swimming for a bit...& took more pictures! (The water was freezing even though it was nice out! Dang you Nick for pulling me in!! LOL!)



After our dip we drove down to the Budweiser Brewery! Fun times! They have FREE one hour tours that take you around the brewery & the stables where they have their famous Clydesdales...SO beautiful! Your last stop is the hospitality room where you get FREE beer! And they don't give you no dinky little cup! You get 10 whole oz of refreshing goodness...times 2! :D That's right folks! Not only do you get 1 10 oz glass you also get a second! (I feel like an infomercial!!) It was a really good time!

Sat evening we walked to the Arch & checked out the Museum of Westward Expansion which is under the Arch & stopped by the gift shop. We wanted to ride up to the top of it but didn't have time because we had reservations for a Skyline Dinner Cruise on a river boat!




We departed at 7:30 on the Becky Thatcher which took us south on the Mississippi & then back up. We had a delish dinner of salad, prime rib, potatoes, veggies, & cheesecake...oh yes...cheesecake! Nick also got us a bottle of bubbly to enjoy while we sat atop the river boat & checked on the St Louis skyline! Awwwwwww! How romantical!! We got back about 9:30 & decided to hang out at the base of the Arch. I loved it! There were huge spotlights on the Arch & all the buildings were lit up. It was quite a site! We just sat around & people watched! It was honestly my favorite part of the trip!

Sun morning we slept in a little longer then planned...oops! We were tired so what do ya do!?! Anywho, we headed back over to the Arch for our ride to the top! It was kinda freaky considering the "pod" you take to the top only fits 5 people & is smaller then my car! It's kind of rough on the ride up & takes about 4 minutes. The top is pretty squished too but the view is spectacular! Three words...HOLY FREAKIN WOW!! Talk about high! I got some real good pictures from WAY up there!

(It was our last day...we were sad...Boo Hoo!! )

After our journey back down we ate lunch at the Gateway Arch Cafe & checked out the gift shop which didn't have much.

We were then on a hunt for a specific St Louis Cardinals hat that Nick had seen at Six Flags but didn't get because we figured it would be cheaper elsewhere. The problem was...that we couldn't find it elsewhere. We thought that the Gateway Arch Cafe gift shop would probably have Cardinals stuff but they didn't. So, we drove down to Busch Stadium because someone had told us that there was a souvenir shop that was opened there...wrong. So, we decided to search for the mall, Union Sation. We figured it would probably be difficult to find but it really wasn't. Nick got his hat, I got a few pictures, & then we were ready to head home!

The ride home was pretty uneventful. Just miles & miles of fields w/ a town here & there. It was good to see our kitties & sleep in our own bed!

Thanks for a GREAT weekend St Louis! We will be back!! :D