Awesome Awesome Awesome Weekend

This past weekend was great. Anthony and I had planned on taking Annabelle to St. Louis for the entire weekend. We wanted to visit the City Museum and the Zoo before we took her to see Randy Houser. Well last minute one of our hotels cancelled our reservation. We decided just to head down EARLY Saturday morning and fit in what we could.

We drove by the arch and took a few pictures and then we headed to the zoo. I cannot recommend the St. Louis zoo enough if you have kids. Annabelle had such an amazing time checking out all of the animals, and watching Anthony with her makes my heart swoon. He is such a great dad, and Annabelle is so very lucky to have him, and I am so very lucky to have him.

Our next stop after the zoo was Union, MO where our concert was going to be. They had a county fair going on, and it was so cute. We paid $20 each for Anthony and I to be able to enter and Anna was free. Anna was able to ride all of the carnival rides for free because they came with the admission price. There were not thousands and thousands of people everywhere since it was in such a small town. She had a great time, and so did I. She surprised me with not being scared on the rides!

To end the night we saw Randy Houser perform, when I contacted the fair about buying tickets they offered us VIP seats since we were traveling so far. We also got the awesome opportunity to participate in the meet and greet with him. My girl was a rock star and won his heart over. She is such an awesome kid. She danced and sang her booty off.

We came home Sunday morning, and we were all very very tired from the day before. It was so so worth the memories we made though.

-- Mel

My 'Hood

I grew up living across the street from my grandparents. It was a little kids dream.. Get mad at your mom and dad? Go across the street and be spoiled rotten. They always had our favorite foods at their house and we spent so so so much time with them. I was double lucky that I lived across the street from BOTH sets of my grandparents. 

So naturally, when my grandma passed away and we were offered the opportunity to purchase her house we jumped all over it. Not only did we get an amazing deal, but we also got the opportunity to make some awesome financial decisions for our future by buying her house. 

Buying her house also meant I was back to living across the street from my grandparents, and while it is a little different now that I am grown it's still kind of the same. If I ever need something (thanks for the ketchup this week grams!) or need someone to watch Anna while I run to the store they are right there. But even more than that, I love that I am able to walk on over and sit with them on their front porch anytime I want. 

Now that I have Annabelle I am so grateful that she is able to hang with her great grandparents as much as she does. She loves her "me-maw" and grandpa a whole lot, and I often catch her peeking out of her bedroom windows to see what they are doing outside. 

This week my parents closed on a house around the corner from us, it is about a 2 minute walk from our house. So now my girl has access to her great grandparents and her grandparents anytime she wants them. How lucky is she? I am so excited that my parents are going to live close, I can barely stand it!

I am so lucky to have my sister, brother in law, aunt, nieces, nephew, grandma, grandpa, mom and dad within a few blocks. 

-- Mel

Taking a family trip

Anthony and I live on a pretty tight budget, there isn't a ton of room for extras like vacations. However, I am very excited that we are taking a short weekend trip with Anna in a few weeks.

We planned our trip around seeing this guy in concert.

Yep, we are going to see Randy Houser in Union, MO. 

We are also planning on taking Anna to the St. Louis Zoo, The Magic House, and the St. Louis Arch! She is very excited to go on a "bacation" with mommy and daddy and of course she is excited to see Randy Houser!

It is going to be great! 

-- Mel