trip post #6

Friday, October 14

On our last day in St. Louis, my mom had a big surprise outting planned for us! Unfortunately, she caught a cold right at the end of our trip, and didn't feel up to a full day of activity. Her plan was to visit Johnson Shut-ins State Park; there are beautiful waterfalls there. Maybe another trip...she was so excited, I was sad to see her plans go bust.

We still made a short day out together for a picnic at Babler State Park, which was much closer. Mom packed a basket full of delicious foods, and we found the perfect spot tucked away from the wind.

After eating, we played some games and had some good time together. Here are the Venables...

And me in my new STL hat...

My poor sick mama, soaking up the sun...

First, we played three good rounds of washers! Such a fun game! We played me/Chris against mom/Randy...we won one, they won one, and then mom and Randy clinched the tie breaker! Dang!!

My washer form...

Mom's washer form...

Randy's washer form...

Chris' washer form...

Then Chris and Randy decided to play some frisbee...they pulled out all the stops to entertain us girls! I'm sure they were sore the next day, as neither one is as young as they used to be :)

As the boys played, I started snapping random shots of mom...at first she didn't realize...

Then I got the "stop taking pictures of me" death glare...

Then she just gave in!

It was a very relaxed, wonderful day...so glad we got to spend it together!!!

Saturday, October 15th

We got on the road in the morning and began the 13 hour journey back to Texas...along the way, my hubby was so kind as to stop off in Springfield, MO. I follow a girl named Elsie Larson through the blog world, and have for years. She is in the sidebar, and has the quirkiest, coolest blog. She and her sister opened a store called Red Velvet in Springfield, and I have always wanted to stop and see it. So the timing was perfect and we stopped!!!

I felt a little bizarre, almost like I was meeting a celebrity!! I didn't want to come off as some stalker, or weirdo, but I know a whole lot about both Elsie and Emma, just from being loyal blog readers. I was torn...should I just shop the store and act like I wasn't a "fan", or should I gush and ask to have my photo taken with them both???

Sadly, my shy side won :)

Their store was adorable...vintage clothing and handmade things.

This is a print of one of Elsie's original paintings...I was excited to own it!

I also bought this adorable necklace with a camera charm!! Chris ended up with three cute vintage ties from their men's section.

We checked out and I was still torn!! I felt so awkward!!! Basically made feeble small talk and then we left. Booo! Now I wish I had sucked it up and just told them how much I loved their blogs and that it was so cool to finally meet them in person. And a photo! I wish I had a photo. Oh well. Maybe another time...

The rest of the journey home was looooong, as we ran into horrible dead-stopped traffic. We sat and sat. Our trip turned into 15 hours and that was a very long day. Thank you to my hubby for doing the driving and getting us home safely!!!!!

St. Louis, we enjoyed you in 2011!!!! Love and hugs to all my family and friends...