St. Louis Gateway Arch

The Gateway Arch was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States. As our nation's tallest man-made monument, it stands at 630 feet.

We decided to take a ride to the top of the Arch via tram.

This is what we saw when we looked down...

Busch Stadium, Home of the St. Louis Cardinals

The beautiful city of St. Louis.

This was our tram. There were 6 other people in this confined space with no air conditioning.

Dustin and I decided to make a week long vacation in St. Louis after I had scheduled some training for work there. We had no idea what to expect, in fact, we didn't even think of it as a real "vacation" spot so we weren't quick to make many plans. Turns out St. Louis is a great city with lots of U.S. history and fun things to do. We had a great time!

Labor Day in Ruidoso 2009

Going on a bear hunt with PaPaw

It makes me sad to see how much the river has changed since the flood. Lots of rocks have been brought in to try and control the river. Do they not know that Mother Nature can just wash all the rocks away? I mean really, the river is going to flow in the direction that it wants to flow. It will never be the same river that I remember playing in growing up.

Lauren had a great time sticking her little toes in the cold river.

Ruidoso is always a fun place for us to spend Labor Day weekend with Dustin's family. We can go to the Upper Canyon and enjoy the smell of the clean fresh air and pine trees. We can shop downtown and find great food. We love Cafe Rio! It's a great place for us to get away and spend time with one another.

Mmm mmm Daddy...that's good!

I think the dinner that we were having looked so much better than whatever she was eating so she just had to get in Daddy's lap and try some of it. That dinner does look irresistible. I think I'll go home and ask Dustin to grill us some steak tonight!

South Padre - August 2009

We decided for our 2009 summer vacation to take little Lauren to the beach. We didn't want to have to fly too far since we would be cooped up on a plane with a one-year-old for at least an hour. South Padre here we come! One of my best friends from college, Devon, lives in the area so we thought we could vacation and visit friends at the same time. Devon and Will have twin boys about the same age as Lauren. They met us at the hotel and we played on the beach building sand castles for a while, then back to the pool to wash all the sand out of our bathing suits and play in the kiddy pool. Dustin and I got brave and took LJ to Schlitterbahn. During nap time we decided to ride in the lazy river. Boy did that turn into a bad idea! We saw a sign that read RAPIDS AHEAD... Lauren and I had to get out and finish her nap on the backside of the park while Daddy had fun. All in all, it was a nice family vacation. We look forward to taking Lauren back to the beach again someday soon.

Heading to South Padre

Have you ever tried to entertain a 1-year-old in a airport? I think Dustin and I were thankful we had each other just to keep her busy. We found the open spots for her to run and play (burn some energy). Lauren also read on the plane with Daddy. Lauren had her book of colors and Dustin probably had a golf magazine.

MCH Heart Walk 2009

Lauren and I joined up with other employees of Medical Center Hospital this year to raise money and awareness for the American Heart Association. Lauren even had a t-shirt to match the rest of us. We had a great time walking around Buffalo Wallow. Lauren rode around in her pink car and enjoyed every minute, especially when she got out to feed the ducks. Mama actually fed the ducks while Lauren ate the bread. Oh well! She was hungry!

1st time for Spaghetti

This was Lauren's 1st time to eat "real" spaghetti, as in not Gerber Graduates Spaghetti O's. She didn't know what to think about the noodles, but it didn't take her long. Once she got a noodle in her mouth she knew to suck in those cheeks and slurp up the noodle. Yummy!