St. Louis Surprise

Last week was my Spring Break.  R had to work so I had a low key week... for the most part.  I had a little something up my sleeve though.  

Several weeks ago I decided to go to St. Louis and surprise Mel and cheer her on for her Go! St. Louis half marathon.  Holly, Lora, Laura, Meredith, and Laura-who-doesn't-have-a-blog-yet also ran the half.  I admire these ladies for their determination to tackle this half.  So much so that I made an announcement on the way home - more on that later.

I went into the weekend nervous about meeting so many new people.  Will they like me?  Will I be what they expected?  I left the weekend with six amazingly beautiful women, and one Hubby Jack, I now call friends.   There was never an awkward moment - we all clicked right from the start.  Perhaps it's because with Lora around, we were ALWAYS laughing, or simply because these friendships were meant to be.  

It would be impossible to write every detail of the weekend.  So I'll give you some of the highlights in pictures...  Sorry about the quality of some of them.  They are all from my phone.  And my apologies in advance if you follow me on IG.  These will almost all be repeats. 

This was in the car on the way to the Lou.  I sent this pictures to Mel (who had no idea I was on my way to see her) and Kimmy (who knew the whole secret).  Kimmy and I kept video chatting each other about how shocked Mel would be.  :)  

After TONS of construction which resulted in a quick change at a truck stop, we arrived at the restaurant.  Met Holly (It's true, she's just as cute and sweet in person!) and waited (and waited, and waited, and waited) for Mel to get there.  I sat so my back would be to her... but that sneaky 'b' came in a different door! 

She walked over to the table, looked at me, then it clicked who I was.  The look on her face was PRICELESS!  I wish I could have gotten a picture of it!  I got up, hugged her, and there may or may not have been a few tears.  She kept asking if I was real. 

So glad to finally be united with this girl!  LOVE her!

Laura, Holly, Mel, and I had a fantastic time laughing and catching up.

Poor R, he was our testosterone representative for dinner.  He was a trooper and took a hundred pictures for us.  He's a keeper!

After dinner we went to a place called The Train Wreck - some of the people in there probably gave it it's name. Yikes.  At this point, Lora and FH had arrived from Memphis, so R had a testosterone buddy.

Big Holly made an appearance with her classy shades.

Saturday morning, R and I got up and toured the Anheuser Busch Brewery.  This was the most beautiful horse I've ever seen!

We attended Beer School before our tour and learned about different beers, why they get poured into certain glasses, what gives their flavor,  and how to know if your glass is dirty.  This Honeycrisp Shock Top smelled like a candy apple!  YUM! Not to mention, we graduated with Honors. 

These Budweiser Clydesdales live better than we do!

This building is where the beer is made.

This building is where the beer is bottled and packaged.  We learned that all the beer packaged here would last only 1.5 days, and the midwest consumed more beer than any other region in the US.  

These are all of the beverages made at the Anheuser Busch Brewery.  

I didn't realize there were that many.

After we finished our tour, we met the girls (Laura and Meredith had arrived from Memphis that morning) for lunch at a cute little place called The Fountain.

Saturday evening we went to Mel's house for a low key evening and for the girls to carb-load for their race.  Hubby Jack couldn't miss out on an opportunity to swoon over his blog ladies.

Some backyard shenanigans. 

Apparently, my baton twirling skills didn't make this photo.

Saturday morning, HJ and I stood post with this fabulous sign I made.  The girls mentioned getting free beers after their race, so I figure this was only fitting for the occasion.  You'll have to ask Lora if you want the backstory on the hashtag....

Terrible picture, but there's Mel just in front of the gal with the green jacket tied around her waist.

Here's Holly!!!  Still smiling at mile 6.  By mile 13 that's wasn't the case anymore....

Post race, Kimmy needed proof that Mel survived.  

After lunch and saying our "see you later's" to everyone, we hit up the arch on our way out of town.

The ride home was uneventful, until this happened.......

Yes, ladies and gentleman, these women have inspired me to run the half marathon in my hometown in September.  

Also, we are investing in leg deodorant so Lora doesn't start any fires.