Last Friday, we packed up the van and headed to St. Louis, Missouri for Steve's wedding to Valerie. The whole family was going to converge on the area for the big evening! We left home about 8:30 am with a cooler packed with lunch, and made it to O'Fallon by about 1:30 pm. Dave got the girls and I settled at the hotel, while he went to pick up my Dad at the airport. I texted Steve to let him know we were there...little did I know his apartment was right by the hotel, so he and Zachary stopped over before he had to go get ready for the wedding. We had a nice visit! I then got the girls and myself ready. It was nice to be able to relax for a few hours before heading to the wedding.
Steve and Valerie both have been married before and between them have 4 children. They chose to get married in a simple ceremony with about 30 family members at a beautiful winery. We arrived while they were taking pictures around a lake with two beautiful swans. We left them alone and headed into the cafe, where the rest of the family was. There was a cocktail/appetizer period, which was good because we were famished! The minister showed up and after he spoke with Valerie and Steve for a few minutes, the wedding party (Valerie with her sister by her side and her three girls and Steve with my Dad by his side and Zachary) and Steve and Valerie assembled for the vows and rings. Such a simple ceremony! It was done and over in five minutes. For the record....Dave and I kissed longer than they did LOL! Then they all went down to a patio and took more pictures of the new family, the wedding party, the extended family, the kids, the new grandchildren....etc. The kids were getting antsy by then and soon it was time to eat dinner. VERY good! I even decided to try a glass of wine....and gave Dave a very specific task...to get me a wine I would like...fruity and sweet and not full of that icky alcohol taste. The glass he brought me was AWESOME! It was the first entire glass of wine that I ever drank and it was very good. I would have had more but did not want to be ill since I am not a drinker by nature at all. Dave bought me a bottle of it too, how sweet! We brought that home. Well, the kids just played all night, the families mingled and it was a lovely time. It was supposed to e real hot, but earlier rain had kept the temps down. It was a bit humid, and the mosquito's came out, but that could not detract from how wonderful of an evening it was! The winery was situated in some rolling hills and in the back had rows and rows of flowers. The front had a few levels of patios that served as outdoor eating or banquet areas set among a rock stream and overlooking the vineyard. very pretty! We returned to the hotel about 10:30 pm ready for showers and sleep! The girls were excited to sleep on a pullout couch in the suite we were staying in, so it did take a few minutes for them to quiet down, but once they did they were OUT! We slept very good!
Saturday morning, Steve and Valerie and Dad met us at 9:45, and we followed them to Valerie's parent's house for a brunch with all of our immediate families. It was VERY nice! We sat and talked while the kids all ran around. They took a trek to a creek, where Abbi fell in and got all wet (so much for her white shorts lol) and found some interesting rocks. The new cousins were just so happy to all be together! When they came back from the creek they played games for a good while, WITHOUT FIGHTING! After we left there, we headed to Valerie's sister's house for swimming. The kids were in the pool forever! Beautiful house,wonderful hospitality! Valerie's parents met us later for dinner...her Dad made BBQ pork steaks and her mom made scalloped potatoes and gosh it was yummy! Around 7 pm we helped clean up then Dad and us headed over to Steve and Valerie's house for a bit. The kids all played for a bit and we just sat and relaxed before returning to the hotels around 10 pm. We stopped for flurries at DQ on the way back!
Sunday morning, we met everyone at Cracker Barrel for brunch before heading home. We all hated saying goodbye to our new family, but it was time. The Zwissler clan headed to downtown St. Louis to visit THE ARCH. I knew the girls would find it cool. Libbi had been as a baby about a month or so old, and even rode to the top of the arch in the arms of a student of mine (I didn't see my child for 3 hours that day lol). There were TONS of people there.....the evening before there had been a Sheryl Crow concert there and it was the ALLSTAR Baseball game weekend (the actual game is Tuesday). I was not sure we would make it to the top of the arch in time to leave at a decent hour...but turns out that was not a problem. The girls were a bit leery of riding to the top in the little tram pod. There was one they could try out int eh main lobby, which they did. I thought all would be fine, but as we were put in the spot to get on the tram, Libbi had a meltdown and was scared to death. She would not believe me when I told her it would not go upside down or fast. The doors opened to get in the pods and she grabbed the hand rail and would not let go. I almost thought we would just not be able to go, but a tour guide came up and told her he would go in the pod with us if she would go ahead and get on. She looked at me, then him and decided to try. She was scared, but the guy talked to her and we assured her it would not go fast or upside down. Quickly, she decided it was great fun, and we of course got to the top way too soon for her liking! Upon looking out the windows, the girls were tickled at being able to see so much. It was storming at this point in time, so they found it cool that clouds were close enough to touch if the windows were not there. The ball stadium was all lit up, the river was on the other side, and all the tall buildings. The girls could not get enough looking! After a bit up there, it was time for the ride down. As we stood in line to get in the tram, we heard a huge crack and a boom....lightning had hit VERY close! Abbi jumped into my arms but was fine quickly as I explained we were inside and safe. The ride down was smooth! When we got back down in the lobby area, we saw it was raining really hard. We were not prepared fro rain...no umbrella or anything. The parking area was probably a half mile or so away and we did not want to be drenched for our drive home to Memphis. We decided to go through the little museum there and the girls were given these little explorer books to complete. It became and educational event and the girls loved learning about the presidential peace coins, the tools Indians, explorers and cowboys used and so forth. Once they got their books graded, they were given badges and we decided it was raining less and to make a go for the car. We did get wet, but not drenched. By then it was time to turn the van towards home and only stop for dinner in Sikeston at Lambert's. Just a famous place where they throw the rolls at you to eat. The girls LOVED it and each were able to catch a roll! We left there around 7:45 pm.
We made it home around 10:15 pm and it was sure good to be there again! We unpacked the car in record time and the girls went right to bed and sleep.
It was an awesome trip! We are so blessed my brother chose Valerie, she is beautiful and amazing and just a great person! Her daughters (Sidney, 13 and Alison/Megan, 9) are wonderful and Steve gets along with them well.
The one sad part of the trip is that my sister's car broke down on their trip down and they were unable to attend the wedding weekend. We really missed having them there!
We woke this morning to a blessing....RAIN! Actually it was stormy all morning (from maybe 5 am until 1 am) and I for one took advantage of sleeping in and enjoying the darkness and dreariness. Dave of course had to go back to work.
There are just three weeks until I have to return to work. Just when I get in a nice routine it will be over until next June.
I hope to have some pictures posted very soon!
NIGHT!
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