10 Year Anniversary

So this is not the best picture of us, but this is how Josh and I celebrated on the evening of our 10 Year Anniversary, at a T-Ball game, how romantic!  Several factors affected how we celebrated our anniversary this year; two of those include having a seven week old baby and Josh finding out that his company would be relocating to Nashville, TN.  We just weren't sure what would be appropriate to do this year given the circumstances.  

In the end, we decided to go to St. Louis overnight with Aleah, and Aunt Betsy and Uncle Nathan graciously agreed to keep Hannah and Jacob, with some help from Grandma Teresa.  

Josh planned everything out, which he loves to do, but I was especially thankful since I was extra busy with VBS prep.  We started out by driving to Breese, IL where we had lunch at the Dairy King and tried different flavors of Ski pop, one of Josh's favorites.  I had Rainbow Ski and thought it was very good!  Then we went to the Excel Bottling Plant for a tour, where they make and bottle Ski.  We thought it was interesting and fun!

 Aleah slept in her carrier while mom tried Frozen Ski!

Then we headed to our hotel.  Josh got us a very nice suite at the Drury Plaza hotel in Chesterfield.  We were going to stay downtown, but since we planned it last minute and the Cardinals were in town, they were all booked up!

First we headed to The Chesterfield Mall right across the street, where The American Girl Store is in St. Louis.  It was neat but nothing compared to Chicago!  Josh actually paid a little more to get The American Girl package with our hotel room, so we have a fun surprise for Hannah's birthday!

We had dinner downtown at Kemoll's.  It was on the 40th floor of the Metropolitan Building overlooking The Arch.  The food was delicious, and there was a ton of it!  Aleah slept peacefully through the entire two hour plus dinner.  Yay!

 After dinner we walked to The Arch and through the City Garden and then headed back to the hotel.

The next morning, we went to a Pez Convention.  Yes, you read that right, a Pez Convention.  Josh's parents started a Pez collection for Josh when he was little, so he occasionally has fun with it.  He took a few for trade and got a couple of new ones.  Two different vendors gave Aleah her "first Pez."  Maybe she will have a collection?  Ha!

After that, we went to The Galleria Mall, where everything is too expensive, but I like to look!  Josh did get me a new Vera Bradley wristlet, so that was fun!  And then we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant that Josh had scoped out.  The food was yummy, but Aleah was fussy, so she and I were both over it.

On the way home, we stopped to meet my new niece, Hazel Mae!  She was born on June 16th!  She is a very beautiful baby and there is a big size difference between the girls, who are only 10 weeks apart.  I'm sure Hazel will catch Aleah sooner or later though :)

After meeting Hazel, we went to get our kids at Betsy and Nathan's in Champaign.  The kids had a great time at the park, the pool, Monical's, etc.  They had tons of stories, and we were so thankful that Betsy and Nathan watched them.  We decided there are so many fun things to do in St. Louis that we'll have to go back soon with the kids next time!