My Old St.Louis Home...

Okay, so this post took quite a bit longer than I expected to post. This is because I ran into some technical difficulties, but here it is. Our long-anticipated drive to St.Louis was the first week of July. The drive is a long one, but I don't mind it so much. I ate quite a bit of junk food on the way up there. There's a gas station in Tulsa that has chocolate cheesecake, so I've been getting that the last few times we've gone up.

I don't know how many of you have tried to use Blogger's photo program, but it is incredibly difficult. So, this time I decided to use an online photo album for my trip pictures instead. Here is the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/EditingKate27/StLouisTripJuly200802?authkey=TJyuJgwRV6g

And I'll just put all the details on here!

Wednesday night Dad visited his family while Mom, Grandma Ruth Ann, and I went to the Muny. For those who are non-St.Louis natives, the Muny is one of the largest outdoor theatres in the world. They show seven musicals every summer, and tickets are surprisingly cheap and surprisingly good. Mom and I estimated that we had season tickets for seven years while we were growing up. Anyway, the Muny is one of the things mom misses the most about St.Louis, so she wanted to go, no matter what the show was. I was rather pleased, however, because I LOVE High School Musical. Yes, you can call it a kid's movie all you want, but I still like it. Probably because the music is excellent and the story is cute and it is sqeaky clean in content.
We were worried when we got there because there was a chance of rain, and obviously you don't want to sit out in the open when there is a gigantic storm. Right before it was supposed to start, the thunder and lightning started like crazy, though not much rain. I am all for thunderstorms, but not so much for being out in the open during them. Most of the people there moved to the wings, which are covered, and we stood there for close to an hour, waiting for the storm to pass, but it did, and then we could enjoy the show!

Thursday night we all had pizza at my aunt Cindy's house with a lot of my aunts and uncles and cousisns and my grandparents. It was a lot of fun. The girl cousins that were there (and Kevin) played phase 10, and it was a lot of fun.

Friday was the fourth of July! We went to lunch at T.G.I. Friday's with Grandma Carlette, Debbie, Marty, Emma, and Logan. Emma enjoyed painting mine and Sarah's nails with some kind of glitter polish at the table while we were waiting for our food. Then we all went to the St.Louis Zoo, which is ranked as one of the best in the country. I enjoyed the bears, the lemurs (Emma's favorite), and the giraffes (there was a three-week old that was adorable!), but my favorite section is Big Cat Country. Unfortunately we couldn't see any of the tigers out (they were probably hiding in the shade) but we did see my favorite, the snow leopards, and also a black panther that was pretty cool looking. I think all the big cats are magnificant creatures, and I don't even like regular cats.

Then we went downtown to see the fourth of July fireworks. Sarah, Kevin, Dad and I played different card games while we waited. We couldn't sit on the courthouse lawn this year because of the flooding, but we still had a decent view of the arch from where we were. The fireworks were amazing, per usual.


Saturday was the much anticipated baptism of Ruth Ann Kraemer, my grandmother. The missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints knocked on my grandparents door nearly 30 years ago, and many of my family members have been baptized in that time. Needless to say, we all have been waiting for this day with happy anticipation. Many people came for the occasion from other states; some friends from Tulsa, my family from OKC, Sarah and Kevin from Provo (a longggg drive) and Jonathan, one of the original missionaries who introduced my grandparents to the church.

While we were waiting, I saw the most romantic thing ever. A beautiful young woman was dealing with allergies and the strong emotions of the day, and her dashing husband came to the rescue of a runny nose by placing a tissue over it, allowing her to blow her nose.
I don't care what people say; it was like watching a romantic movie, it was so cute. And I'm leaving out names in case they're embarassed, though they've told me this is impossible for me to do. Usually they embarass me.

I don't know what happened to my sanity, but I volunteered Sarah and I to do a musical number as part of the program, Sarah playing the piano and me singing. I was shaking pretty bad even before getting up there. Kevin was sitting next to me making me laugh, but it only worked until I got up there. Then I had to try and not rattle while I was up there. I was told I was fine, but I think I was more relieved when it was over.

Now I'm back in OKC, just trying to not be too bored. Today I bought a bubble wand (Which Jen will remember from FHE) and it rocks! So...that's what I do with my time.

Now I'm just counting down to something that may or may not affect me. Nine days!

Have a nice week!