Christmas...Birthday...Mother's Day Weekend

 Back in November, Rebecca called and told me that Mary Poppins was coming to the stage in St. Louis and asked what I thought about us girls going in together to get Mom tickets as a Christmas gift.  We could all meet in St. Louis for a girls weekend to go see the play together.  I knew this was the perfect thing for so many reasons.  1.  Mom loves those kind of gifts.  2.  Mary Poppins is my favorite Disney movie.  When I heard (Quite a while back that it was going on Broadway, I really wanted to make a trip to NYC to see it!  3.  Who could turn down a girl's weekend?  I rarely get to see my mom and sisters, especially without the kids around!  4.  The play was running over my birthday and Mother's Day weekend.  Nice!!

Mom was thrilled when she opened her Christmas gift!  Thanks to Skype I was able to "be there" when she opened it and saw that pure excitement on her face.  It was priceless!  I was so happy that we were able to come up with something so great and that we could all enjoy together.

Mom wasn't the only one excited.  I was.  As the time drew nearer my excitement continued to grow.  I was so excited to be able to go see my family and to have a getaway without my kiddos.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kiddos, but things have so busy around here, that it felt like a well deserved break.  Not to mention that it was my birthday weekend.  I love my birthday and it almost felt like we were going away for me!  Selfish, I know...

 One thing we knew was on the agenda for the weekend was to go to Olga's.  We all love Olga's and hate that the only time we can ever go is when we are in Michigan.  A few years ago we discovered that there is an Olga's in St. Louis.  Sweet!!

So...that was stop #1!
The food was great as always, however, the Orange Cream Coolers were slightly disappointing.  Just not how they used to be.  Come to find out...they've gone lactose free... YUCK!  Oh well..

 I had no idea that, even though it was my birthday weekend, that there would be cake and presents!  Mom made my very most favorite cake!  White cake with white fluffy frosting with coconut...DELICIOUS!!!  I haven't had that cake in so long and it was just as good as I remembered!  Mmmm...I want some now!  Since I never get to see anyone in my family for birthday (or any other special occasion, for that matter) it made my birthday that much more special. 

Thank you, Mom, Kris and Rebecca for making my birthday so special!

 We spent some time wandering around Downtown St. Louis.  I don't care how many times I see the Arch, I still think it is so cool!  It is so pretty and amazing!

Kris and Rebecca were on a little bit of a mission to find a few local breweries so that they could take some beer home to their husbands (who really enjoy brewing their own beer).  They were successful and I'm pretty sure Scott and Neil were happy with their loot!

Smack dab in the middle of the city...art!  Such a neat place nestled in amongst the tall buildings.  I loved it!

The picture in the top left corner is of both hotels that we stayed at on our trip.  The Renaissance Marriot and the Embassy Suites.

Jon was able to use some of his points to get us this amazing hotel room.  It was completely huge and amazing.  I'm so thankful he was able to do this for us!

And the moment that we had been waiting six months for!

TIME FOR MARY POPPINS!!

AMAZING!!!  That is the only way I can think to describe the play.  We all LOVED it!

Part of me wished that Abby could have been with me.  Maybe when it comes to Tulsa???

What an amazing weekend! I can't think of anything that would have made our time together any better or more fun.  I felt so happy, spoiled, free, special, loved...it was just fantastic!  I am so thankful that I have Jon who was willing to take some time off of work and hang out with the kids all weekend so I could go have some fun!  I would love to make this girl's weekend an annual event!