Weekend Rewind

Sorry for the delay in posting this. We spent the weekend in St. Louis (Southern Illinois really) and got back late Sunday night. I took a grand total of 6 pictures (and two were the same thing). Even though they don't show much, I'll go ahead and share them as filler (and proof that we were in St Louis).

Friday afternoon C and I loaded up in the car and headed to Illinois. But not without first stopping at the dealer to get my license plate affixed to the front bumper (here's to no longer driving around with it in the front window!), filling up with gas at Giant Eagle $0.40 off a gallon makes for some cheaper gas! (duh, Rachel.), and a stop at Steak 'n Shake for dinner. I have no idea what I just did with the punctuation in the last sentence. After all those stops we headed west to Altamont, home of 2,400 people, FOUR LC-MS churches and Wesley (who reads my blog!).

By the way, upon entering Illinois we were greeted by the reekiest smell in the world. We encountered it one more time that evening and one time Saturday morning. C has confirmed it didn't come from him. If you have any insight I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking the farmer fertilize with manure.

We got to Wes' house and were given a tour of his school.  I must point out that it smelled just like a Lutheran school (not a bad thing). The rest of the night was spent sitting on the couch, drinking beers (the boys, not me). and talking. It was just like college. Only the couches and surrounding were much nicer.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at McDonalds and headed even further West to some town on I-255. I think it was called Caseyville. Side note: it was at this point that we discovered that we can talk to the built in GPS system. I guess anyone can talk to their GPS system, what I should say is that ours listens and sends us close to where we want to go (we did get stuck when she thought we meant Edwardsville, PA).  We joined the extended Elsea (and Uchtman) clan for some more breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  After breakfast #2 we headed to Wal Mart where I bought my first Essie nail polish. I feel like I am slowly stepping up in the fashion world. Then it was off to Starbucks to sit and chat while we waited for check in time at our hotel.

Later that afternoon we loaded up in the Jeep and headed off to Grandma's 80th birthday party somewhere in St. Louis (I have absolutely no idea where it was).

The view from the way back.



The back seat isn't as bad as it's made out to be. At least not when only one person is back there and can stretch out.

Hello, Four Seasons. It was so nice to stay with you a few years ago.

Ahh, yes, the Starbucks where Drew got the first Trenta prototype back in 2004.

Dinner was delicious. We dined on soup, salad, beef, potatoes, rice, fish, chicken, veggies, tortellini, and some German foods I cannot pronounce. We also had plenty of time to run around with Paul and Sam. Once Paul discovered he could use "magic" to open and close the car trunks we didn't need any other entertainment for the rest of the trip. Later that evening we returned to the hotel and Paul was ready to swim.

Waiting for his swim suit.

Despite the larger than life meal we had, around 10:00 p.m. we found ourselves starving and in need of more food so the guys made a run to Steak 'n Shake.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel before heading to Amilia's church in Hamel.

Someone needed some in church entertainment. I'll let you guess which one.

Then it was off to the Galaxy in Alhambra for some lunch before everyone hit the road.

It was great to see the extended Elsea fam. We are (and have been) counting down the days to Elsea beach week in August!