Weekending - December 17, 2021

The weekends left in 2021 are dwindling fast!  We took full advantage of this past one.  Here's the rewind ~

Eric has a work trip at the end of the week and I tagged along.  Wednesday night we traveling to Des Moines, Iowa and I think the wind blew us halfway there!  Fortunately, we made it safely to the hotel and I got to spend Thursday in the hotel on Zoom calls while he headed off to his sales meeting.  You might recall that Eric switched jobs in August after being in the grocery store business for 30 years.  It has turned out to be a great move for him and he loves his new job.  Thursday night we attended his company holiday party which was so fun.  I'm already looking forward to next year's event!

Friday we departed Des Moines for my hometown to pick up my niece and nephews.  We scooped them up and arrived back home just in time to get them to bed.  

This year we added personalized ornaments to our tree.  Before calling it a night, the kids had fun slipping into their new Christmas pajamas that were waiting for them on their beds and finding their names on the tree.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early.  I had a couple special helpers making waffles!

We had reservations to go up in the Gateway Arch at 10:30 am.  I was pretty proud of myself for getting three kiddos fed, dressed, and in the car in time to make it on time!

Being from the St. Louis area, I've been up in the Arch more times than I can count.  But it's still fun taking new people and the kids' excitement was contagious.  They loved it!  If you're visiting St. Louis and want to take the ride to the top, plan ahead!  Times sell out and it's an attraction you don't want to miss.

In the afternoon, we divided up and went to the movie theater.  The boys saw the new Spiderman movie and I took my niece to see Encanto.  

After seeing the movies, we enjoyed a cruise through Wonder Lights.  This is by far the best drive-through light display we've been to.  As a matter of fact, this was our second time going this year.  Tickets have to be purchased in advance.  Get yours HERE.  It's all synchronized to music that you play over a radio station.  Truly amazing!

The little kids conked out soon after we got home.  We stayed up with our nephew Kayden to work on a puzzle.  It was way past our bedtime, but we got the entire 500 piece puzzle together!

Sunday we had a special surprise planned.  We invited more of my family and a few extended family members over for lunch.  Guess who showed up - SANTA!  I love having Santa at the house because it takes some of the kids a while to warm up to the big guy.  By the end of his visit, all the kids would at least stand next to him for pictures.  

The house had such a great feel to it with everyone there.  I love having all my people close!  Seeing the cousins interact with each other warms my heart.

When everyone left, Eric and I crashed on the couch and watched an episode of Yellowstone.  It was so quiet without the kids there!  

Now it's time to sprint to the finish of our Christmas preparations.  We are nowhere near ready with just a few days left.  I'm kind of taking it one day at a time, but the days are running out!  This is going to be a very busy week.  I'll be sharing a few special things this week, so pop back in to catch them.