We stayed in Clayton, which was different for me. Of the 4 years I lived in St. Louis, I can count on one hand the number of times I spent time in the Clayton area. We were pleased to see that there was a bar, CJ Muggs, 2 doors from our hotel, which we took full advantage of for the last hour and a half it was open. Then we continued the party in our suite (which Will insisted we get so that we could have the "party room"). In retrospect we definitely hit the drinks WAY too hard, but we've been looking forward to this trip for a long time- I was pumped to get back to St Louis and Will was excited to see his HS buddies- so we just got a bit ahead of ourselves.
Needless to say, I was NOT feeling well Friday morning. I just can't drink the way I used to! Will and the guys headed to Fitz's for pool and bar food and I headed to lunch with Todd, a college friend/former Fox employee. It was great to see him and catch up. It had been a loonnnggg time since we had hung out. I had been so excited to go to Llywelyn's for lunch...and I'm sure lunch would have been delicious, had I been able to eat it! I was feeling terrible! 2 bites and I was done. My beautiful Llyweln's chicken was tossed. Sad day.
The wedding was for Colin's brother Adam. It was in a pretty church right in the middle of Clayton and the reception was in Forest Park's Visitor Center, a cool venue to have a party.
Saturday morning we had brunch with Colin's family then said our goodbyes to the wedding crew. Lee, Will, and I switched to the Hilton downtown for the night. I made the guys walk around and see SLU's campus and the Central West End. I was really happy to hear that Will was impressed with St. Louis. He always gave me crap about going to school there and such but he had never spent any time there. I love when the Lou makes a good impression on people! We had dinner at Favazza's (quite possibly the best Italian food. In the world.) with my friend Megan from college, then hit up the new casino downtown, The Lumiere. Lee didn't do so hot, but Will and I both came out ahead, which is nice!
Sunday Lee headed back to Nashville and Will and I met up with my family. Mom, Dad, Molly, Ella, and Shaughn all drove down for the day to hang out. First of all, I haven't seen Shaughn since he was in the hospital after his accident. I was SHOCKED by his beard. It is out of control. And red. Wow. He looked like Forrest Gump when he was running cross country.
Ella is just starting to talk so it was fun to watch her interact with everyone- "Mommy, Papa, Sha, Mommy (no word for Grandma yet)". Now that she is putting it all together, I think she just likes to hear herself talk. She is so smart! At lunch (Llywelyn's- round 2. I was NOT leaving St Louis without eating a Steak and Cheese, for real!) she could point out who was who, and she also knows her anatomy really well. She can point to her cheeks, ankles, knees, ears, fingers. Such a smart little girl!
We took her to the Science Center and the zoo to play. She wasn't that impressed with the Science Center- I think she is not quite old enough to understand that leaving one fun exhibit will lead to another. She was really upset everytime we moved away from whatever it was we were playing with. Of course, one of the first exhibits she made a beeline for was the phone. She just loves phones!
She had a great time at the zoo. We ate some Dippin Dots and then walked through the River's Edge section. Everything she saw was a "puppy". Hippos? "Puppy". Elephants? "Puppy". Cheetahs? "Puppy". All the while she threw in a few roll calls to make sure everyone was accounted for- "Mommy, Papa, Sha,...".
After the zoo Will and I had to take off for the airport. It was so great to catch up with friends and to hang out with my family again in St. Louis. I miss that town!
Monday was Memorial Day, which was great! It is so nice to be able to sleep in a bit when you get back from a long weekend. We had breakfast with Jess and Ryan, some friends who recently moved to Wichita but were back in town for a wedding. Then we went up to Boulder to meet with Paul and Erica, who were also in town for the weekend. They were recently engaged so we talked a lot about their wedding plans. We spent the evening back in Denver, and went to see Baby Mama. I wasn't all that impressed. It's one of those movies where they show all the funny parts in the preview so there wasn't much left to laugh at. I was one tired puppy by the time we finally crashed Monday night.
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