After getting up at 6 a.m. and working a full day in Hawaii, I boarded a plan at 6:30 p.m. for the fist leg of my journey. With six/seven hours behind me, a short hour and a half plan ride from Dallas, Texas to Saint Louis, Mo. was all that stood between me and the Hoffmann family.
I don’t know if I was still shaken up from my white knuckled, turbulent flights or just plain tired, it took me several moments to realize the three figures excitedly waving in my direction were my friends.
My lil guy got so big!
Chase started walking at around 10 and a half months, and although his mother sent me tons of video evidence that he was in fact a bi-ped, I had to see it with my own four eyes.
He may have only take a dozen steps before I plucked him up and covered in him smooches! The last time I saw his sweet face he was just four months old.
Wiping the sleep from my eyes, we made our way to the car where I was greeted by an old friend: McDonald’s Sweet Tea! In true Stephanie fashion, I had the drink but she threw my straw away! I knew this weekend was going to be one for the record books for sure.
The ride from the airport in Missouri to Jerad’s dad house in Illinois was quick. We made a pit stop to unload my stuff before meeting Steph’s dad and sister at a restaurant called Lotawata Creek Southern Grill. The portions here are huge, they made my inner fat girl blush. The portions are so big, they buy more than 5,000, 9 x 9 Styrofoam containers each week.
Since fried ravioli originated in Missouri, we ordered some for the table, and an order of creamcheese stuffed mushrooms. My Weight Watchers tracking was already shot.
Full from the apps, I decided to play it safe and order a salad from the “lunch menu.” Welp, when that sucker made its way to the table, my eyes bugged out of their sockets.
This was the LUNCH size portion. I don’t event want to know what the dinner portion looks like. Sadly, I hardly made a dent in it.
Full to our britches (note I am in the mid west) we ventured over to Toys R Us so Chase could pick out his birthday present. I made him a photo album, a year in review, and shipped it to his grandma’s house, but what kid wants a book for their birthday? He helped me pick out his elephant ball popper.
Belly’s still full and birthday gifts in tow, we headed back to Jerad’s dad house to unload and change. Steph had me hit the ground running and after a quick outfit change, we were on our way to Eckerts, which I dubbed the Whole Foods of Illinois.
The Country Store’s shelves are lined with old-time country favorites like apple butter, honey, jams and preserves, fresh baked goods, bread mixes, coffee blends, specialty teas and other gourmet goodies.
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| How fun are these "RedNek" wine glasses?! They are mason jars attached to a pedastle. Clever and very practical because they have a lid! |
While we were moseying around and trying some samples, our noses caught wift of something delicious. This would be our lucky day. The store was having a wine and pizza pairing class and they had some extra seats!
We signed our selves up and noshed on pizza, got our wine learn on (Steph started feeling it after the second of five wines) and we even got to make/assemble our own pizza.
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| Caramelized onions, toasted walnuts, sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, blue cheese and balsamic vinegar. It was so so good! |
Stuffed, Steph and I (I had to drive hehe) decided to try our lady luck at the Casino Queen, home to the loosest slots in town. This is where Steph used to work before she met Jared. Sadly, lady luck wasn’t on either of our sides and our machines of choice were not putting out. Steph broke even and I lost $15.
I can't believe how much stuff we crammed into my first day!
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