STL in the Fall, Y'all!

 By mid-October, we were MORE than ready for a little break from the house projects.  We left our home in absolute disarray and headed to St. Louis for a long weekend for a much anticipated wedding weekend! 

 

Mat's best friend, John,  was marrying Hannah, and Mat was honored to be the best man.  It just so happened to fall at the same time as Mat's Fall Break from Loras, so the timing was perfect for a quick get away!  We headed to St. Louis on a Wednesday and shortly thereafter headed to the wedding rehearsal.  That following day was our little bit of down time, and as I think I'd mentioned previously, I'd really been wanting to take the kids to some type of pumpkin patch.  Our weekends here in Dubuque had been absolutely taken over by house renovations, and I definitely didn't want to miss out on this tradition.  Mom suggested Thies Pumpkinland in Creve Coeur, and we had a great time!  This was Charlee's first pumpkin patch visit, and Gigi and PopPop were able to join in the fun as well!

 

 

 In deep conversation with the billy goat...

 

 King of the haystack!  MJ had a blast-such a difference this year...climbing haystacks, exploring corn mazes, zip-lining, etc.  ---no more fear!

 

 Pretty laid back, as usual, about the whole pumpkin thing

 

 All kinds of new colors and textures to explore!

 

Does this boy looks like he belongs in Iowa or what?  :)

 Cuddles with Gigi and PopPop

Last year, MJ was able to go to a pumpkin patch with his Mema and Papa and now this year Gigi and PopPop.  I'm sensing a tradition coming on! 

 

 Waiting our turn for the hayride

 

 So sweet!  If only his eyes were open...

 Melt my heart!

 

 

Friday night was the wedding.  It was so fun to get together and celebrate John and Hannah's wedding!  I think we were all so stoked to be out for a kids-free night. Can't even remember the last time we were all able to hang out together for some fun adult-time! Soooo, we might be aging a bit though because we all spent much less time on the dance floor than we did back in the day.  Ha! 

 



 Mat standing up for his best friend, John.

 

 All gathered together for a very special night!

 

John was the best man in our wedding 11 years ago, and Mat was so thrilled to return the favor.

 

The next morning, Bridget and Mike were sweet enough to invite us all over to their house for a little play time with the kids.  We hadn't got the kids together in quite some time, and this year alone Claire, Graeme, and Charlotte had been born and many of us hadn't met the newest additions yet.  It's so cool to see how all our families are growing!  I still feel like we're college kids just embarking on the world.  When did we all grow up?!

 



 

 Little Graeme (Bridget and Mike's little guy) and Charlotte just said and played together.  I think C was jealous of G's super cool hat!

 Gotta love these munchinks, but it's almost laughable how lame this picture was.  We even bribed them all with fruit snacks to sit on the blanket for a quick group shot, and this was the best I could get!  Seriously, not one kiddo is even glancing in my direction.  Little stinkers-they look like we're torchoring them!  Look at cute little Claire though just sitting in her bumbo.  She was only about 8 weeks here I think-so tiny!

 

 

Later that afternoon we met John and Hannan and their family members at the Lumiere for a post-wedding brunch.  What an amazing view of the Arch and downtown STL!  We're truly blessed with such great friends.  It's always great to go "home" and just pick up right where ya left off.  That's the sign of true friendships!

 

It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but we're so glad we were able to spend a couple of days of quality time enjoying the wedding festivities!  Thanks to Mindy and Derek for coming to my parent's house to babysit the kiddos on wedding night!  Just last Fall Break, we were in St. Louis for their wedding.  Hmmm, who's up next year??  :)