Opening Day

Today Alan and I experienced what all Cardinal fans look forward to over the cold winter months...OPENING DAY!! About a month ago, Alan and I (along with other members of our family) entered a lottery for tickets to Opening Day. Nonnie, Mitchell, and Katie all won! What can I say...I married into a family of winners! Alan went to his morning classes and then we headed downtown. We parked at the law firm that Alan is interning at this semester, I was impressed! Here's a view of the building:

Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard PC is the name of the firm

this is Alan's office!

view from his window

we walked about 2 blocks to Kiener Plaza where a lot of Gameday activities were taking place

the fountain was red for the festivities

Fredbird found me and gave me a kiss

it's a beautiful day in Saint Louis!

LOVE the Arch in the field :)

our seats were in the shade so we had to put our jackets back on!

beautiful Clydesdale horses

Stan Musial came to Opening Day along with a lot of other Hall-of-Famers

2011 Cardinal team ready for the game to begin

bomber planes flying over the field at the end of the National Anthem...very cool

I love Fredbird

Take me out to the ballgame!

History & Art

Well I will begin by letting you know that this is like no other March 26th Alan and I have ever seen...we got 5 inches of snow today!!! However, with our time in Saint Louis coming rapidly to a close, we decided there was no time like the present to continue exploring the city so today we went to the Missouri History Museum and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Both are located in Forest Park so I've also included some pictures of the park so you can really see just how much snow we got today. The museums were both free so it was a fun (I will not necessarily say educational) but fun way to spend a Saturday.

Missouri History Museum...notice no snow yet

statue of Thomas Jefferson

Saint Louis hosted the World's Fair in 1904

picture of the fairgrounds...most of this was in Forest Park

street car from the 1904 World's Fair

apparel from the 1904 World's Fair

standing in front of the "Spirit of St. Louis"

Charles Lindbergh

Alan with memorabilia from Sportsman's Park, 1920-1965

Alan with memorabilia from Busch Memorial Stadium, 1966-2005

Saint Louis Art Museum...you can see the snow coming down

Statue right outside the Art Museum

inside the Art Museum

pretty statue

Monet

contemporary art

contemporary art

stain-glass window

mummy

statue at the front of Forest Park

We cannot believe this CRAZY weather!

poor daffodils

We thought that Forest Park looked like Narnia :)

Bradford pear blossoms weighed down by snow

Erica's 27th Birthday!

As you know, we have been celebrating my birthday since March 1st but the past 2 days have been the best yet! Yesterday on March 23rd, Alan and I went to dinner at Laura and Mike's house and at the end of dinner, Laura completely surprised me by bring out some delicious petit fours from one of our favorite bakeries in Saint Louis, Clayton's Bakery & Deli, they were yummy!

I actually had to work today, but Alan made my birthday very special. We had french toast (one of my all-time favorites) for breakfast. Throughout the entire day I got phone calls, text messages, facebook posts, and emails from some of my favorite people...thank you all for the sweet birthday wishes! Tonight, Alan made me a wonderful birthday dinner and then I opened cards and presents from family and friends. While I am so thankful for my life, I am equally as thankful for the people that make my life so special...you know who you are!! These are a few fun things I got for my birthday, yippeee!

Great dinner Alan made for me

YAY for birthday fun!

About to blow out the candles on my cupcakes :)

From Alan...here's to hoping I'll be able to cook well someday!

From Nonnie and all of my siblings...gift cards to my favorite store!

From my parents, Alan's parents, and Mimi...just in time for summer!

From Katie...I can't wait to begin making some of these recipes!

Celebrities and Cervezas

This year was the last time Alan and I got to take an official "Spring Break". We had the best time visiting my grandfather, Pepérè, in Fort Pierce Florida for a few days and then going on a Celebrity Cruise with Patrick and Elizabeth. We had quite an adventure!

Friday-Sunday, March 11-13

We drove from Saint Louis to Nashville to pick up Patrick and Elizabeth and then to Atlanta where we spent the night with Alan's cousins, the Stokes family, and then went on to Fort Pierce Florida to see Pepérè. It was a sweet time of visiting with him and some of the rest of my mom's family.

Monday, March 14

I got a sinus infection, and not wanting to have to visit the medical facility on the ship, went to a doctor in Fort Pierce for an antibiotic.

Then we drove to Miami where our ship embarked from.

Here we are on the deck ready to depart!

South Beach!

Grand Restaurant is where we ate dinner every night

Tuesday, March 15

Our first day we spent at sea and enjoyed doing NOTHING! We spent the morning laying out, Alan, Patrick, and Elizabeth went to a wine tasting that afternoon, and that evening we went to a fun show and then dinner. After dinner the Captain had a toast for everyone!

Cheers for vacation!

Wednesday, March 16

Our second day we docked in Roatan Honduras and set off early to explore. We walked around the town center and then hit the beach. It was beautiful! This is a view from the ship:

The beaches were amazing

Thursday, March 17, "Happy Saint Patrick's Day!"

Our third day we docked in Cozumel Mexico and spent a relaxing day of eating and shopping in town.

We ate lunch with Patrick and Elizabeth at Señor Frogs

Friday, March 18

Our last day on the cruise was at sea and we spent more time lazying around and enjoying the end of our trip.

That last night we actually made it up to the deck to watch the beautiful sunset

That night we had delicious Baked Alaska for dessert!

Saturday-Sunday, March 19-20

We drove safely home and reflected back on a GREAT WEEK!