Growlers & Beanies & Friends, Oh My! [Rhinegeist Wednesdays]

There's really no better way to celebrate a mid-week than a breather from the routine.

Tonight, that took the form of a trip to Rhinegeist with some of my favorites. I needed my fix of hilarious antics, spontaneous decisions and even some souvenirs.

It's a photo-kinda-story.

holy hipsters, i love this girl... haha

my best friend.

'don't you dare ruin my cougar [ale]!'

photogenically-deficient society (:

Oh, and there was the arrival of Becky!

two of the greatest friends ever.

Aaaaand, timeout.
In the midst of all our silliness, I didn't notice when Rob slipped away.. until he came back with a fresh drink and something else tucked in his back pocket for me....

this. just.... this!!

^ I've had my eye on a shirt from here for a while now... and Rob bought it for me tonight. He. Is. The BEST, ever. How I landed this guy is beyond me, but I'm keeping him, keeping the shirt and keeping my word to always stay grateful for having my best friend here in Ohio with me. Thank you, thank you, lumberjack!! ♥♥

 more spoils...

^ I wasn't the only one who walked tonight with some charms of RG; we snagged a growler, too. Chad chose the medicine jar size and Rob of course bought my amazing shirt (: When we go to RG, we go ... to RG. Haha.

beckyyyyy

We snagged one final shot of us all at RG before the night wound down. This... is how I wanted my Wednesday to go.

love 'em.



We're home now, after a diesel dance party on the way back and some light unwinding at the house. Kalyn lives about one whole mile from here, so I'm guessing she'll be home before this is even finished. Haha.

Good night, friends - have a wonderful rest of the week!

xo | cmd

Cicada Picnic | St. Louis

What a day! 

reading with sydni & tessa

We started off by swinging by the Sandven residence. They were having a picnic to celebrate the graduation of Joe's weather class. We couldn't stay long since we were headed to St. Louis, but it was nice to see them all and of course drop off our cornhole set for them to use for the day. Plus, Sydni got to see her daycare buddy Tessa, which is always fun; Tessa's adorable.

Our first order of business was eating, which we had planned to do on the greens at the arch in St. Louis. During the base tour we gave my parents, we ultimately ended up picnicing in a more secluded, peaceful manner at the lake on base.



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cicada shell

Today couldn't have been any better for a picnic, in terms of the weather. The only downside to picnicing out by the lake was that we were confronted by cicada shells just about every direction we turned. It wasn't a big deal for us; they are after all just shells, but Sydni didn't quite understand that she wasn't allowed to touch all of them, so that lent to more than just a few applications of hand sanitizer by Nana. We don't mind bugs :)

Off then it was to the arch!     

the arch | st. louis

We tried to coerce Mom to go up into the arch, but jokingly, because she's both claustrophobic and afraid of heights. It would've been a sight to see though, I'm sure. No big deal; we were all completely content to view it from ground level, and we took a tour of the museum beneath. With such limited time for a visit, we opted not to drag them all over the city in one trip. We'll come back :) 

stylish travels!

Tomorrow I join the praise band on stage and my parents will see our new church home!

xo | cmd

Last Day in the Vern



kobi

Today was our last day here in Mt. Vernon. I woke up today a little sad that we would be heading back to Illinois tomorrow, but not before we had another great day with the family.

I finally got to spend a little time with my cat, whose current residence is here in Mt. Vernon with my parents. This was originally a temporary arrangement, but after six month, my mom persuaded me to let her stay. She’s a sweetie, and while I miss her, I’m glad she’s fitting in here.

We of course had to go to the late service at Faith Baptist, my parents’ church, and the church in which I was a member at the time I was officially saved. [Amen!]. After the service, we did lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s and headed back home.

Dad & Joe loaded up to hit the golf course, while I stayed back with mom & Syd. We spent an afternoon enjoying the sunshine outside and watering the blooming gardens in the front yard. I suited Sydni up in some swim gear so she could play in the sprinkler. I was also amazed at how long a 2-yr-old can stay entertained with a bucket of water and some plastic cups. It makes me wish I was a kid again.



water fun!

When the men were finished golfing and back at the house, we all cleaned up and got ready for an early dinner. We’ve been very diligent over the past several months on praying before meals with Sydni. We pray as a family before bedtime, and I am here to proudly say that not only does she understand that it is something we all do together, but she will remind us if we for some reason forget. These are some of the things that, as a mother, I find more gratifying than anything else. Even though she’s entering into a new phase of toddlerhood [whining, clinging, bossing, claiming….], it’s things like this that I know that Joe and I as parents are managing to do right. The rest, well, we’re working on it. J

*Sigh.
Tomorrow morning we pack up and head back to Belleville. Oh Yippee.

*Bye again, Ohio!*

♥

xo | cmd

Base Picnic & Bible Study

Today started off with waffles. A day that starts off with waffles is rarely ever a bad day. Haha.

waffle time!

The boys headed out to meet up with Kyle, Lorne, & Nick to help one of their buddies move his things out of a storage unit. Sydni and I hung back to clean up, which we finished sooner than we thought. That meant some free time for jewelry!

Behold:

handmade fun:
dragonfly pendent for mama
simple purple droplet for sydni

Sydni & I headed to the Sandven’s and the lot of us trekked over to the Scott AFB picnic. We hadn’t been to a base picnic yet, so we weren’t sure what to expect. It was a free event, and the entire base was invited. This thing was huge, more like an outdoor festival with free food, swag, and hot, hot sun. We ate, we walked, and we played. Definitely not a bad day for a picnic. We took Eric over to the lake for some cool-down cornhole before we headed back home to get ready for Bible study.



local radio station promo inflatable | eric & joe trying out a picnic game




bengals cornhole



rick warren

Towerview has a couple’s bible study that takes place every other Friday at the pastor’s house. This was our first session; the topic series tonight was the first of three on Raising Your Kids Without Raising Your Blood Pressure. How appropriate! J Excluding us, the pastor and his wife, there were five other couples in attendance, all with at least one child. We watched a video lesson by Rick Warren on parenting, and had a group discussion following. I was thoroughly impressed with how it went, and with how warm and welcoming this group is. I have a feeling we’re going to fit in and stay here. We’ll see.

We plan on doing a little touring tomorrow! The Gateway Arch, in St. Louis is on our list, along with either the Anheuser-Busch brewery or Grant Farm. We’ll see what we fancy more when we wake up in the morning….

xo | cmd

Hello, Lake

It felt so good to sleep in with Joe and not lend a single thought to any unpacking or cleaning. Sydni somehow ended up snuggled between us, so the three of us indulged in the complete nothing that Saturday mornings should be. That’s the stuff perfect is made of.

When late morning rolled around and we finally got moving, we loaded up cooler, cornhole, and kid and headed to base to pick up Lorne [or Sheppy, for his last name Shepherd, as Syd calls him]. The four of us drove out to a secluded spot on the base next to a lake and an on-base campground. There we met up with the Sandvens and the Paulsons [Steve & Tiffany] for some fresh air, cornhole, volleyball, and exploring around the lake. I couldn’t have imagined better weather for it, and the company certainly wasn’t bad, either.

We rounded out the afternoon with dinner at the BX and some winding down back at the Sandvens.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow; Joe attended a church right down the street from our house and from what I hear, he thoroughly enjoyed it. I read the email that the pastor sent Joe after he attended, and I must say I was impressed. We’ll see how it is tomorrow!

xo | cmd