A Tour of Busch Stadium

On June 13 we were invited to help our friend Dave celebrate his birthday with some surprises by his wife, Jessica. Together with the couple, we enjoyed a tour of Busch Stadium. We had a great tour guide, and there were so many interesting things we learned. After the tour we ran by Gus's pretzels where Jessica had arranged for a giant StL pretzel that we then took with us to eat at a restaurant in Soulard. It was such a fun day, and so nice to spend some time with our friends, and without our toddler. Thanks again for allowing us to share this day with you, Whitlocks.

In the announcing booth.

Our group in the dugout: Mandy, Jessica, Ryan and Dave

Us, sitting on the dugout bench. Can you believe it?!

That's one, big pretzel!!! Happy Birthday, Dave.

Race for the Cure 2010

On June 12 we once again participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. This time was bittersweet, however, as we not only walked in survival of Mandy's grandmother and our soon-to-be brother-in-law, Danny's, grandmother but we also walked in remembrance of Ryan's mother, Suzi, for the first time. We try to go to this event every year, the only one missed in the past 8 years was the year that Brendan was born. This year we were supported by some family and friends: NaNa and BawBaw (Mandy's mom and dad), Aunt T (Ryan's sister, Tory), Uncle Danny (Tory's fiance), Robyn (Danny's mom) and her mother (a breast cancer survivor), and our friends, Brad, and the Whitlock family (Dave, Jessica, and Josie). But boy was it a hot, hot, HOT day!!!

It is always astounding to see the amount of people who have been affected in someway by this disease, and this year was no exception. Nearly 65,500 people were said to pack the streets of downtown St. Louis and $3.4 million was earned to find cures for breast cancer. I truely believe that within our lifetime a cure will be found for this disease. And our part can be played, by participating in anyway we can and through our prayers.

Ryan's family (in a way), from left=Mandy, Ryan, Danny, Tory, Danny's grandma, Robyn; down in front (not paying any attention)=Brendan

Our poster in memory of Ryan's mom, Suzi. Our way of having her with us on that day.

Group shot, Mandy's fam and friends, top row from left=Jessica, Dave, NaNa, BawBaw, Ryan, Mandy; bottom row from left=Josie (in case anyone is unaware, this is Brendan's future wife), and Brendan

Brendan goofing of with Mommy before the start of the Race:

Too rough a day for Miss Josie, asleep in her stoller:

Brendan is 2!!!

Brendan had such a great time on his 2nd Birthday. We had a small party with friends and family at the community park by our house. It was a beautiful day, warm but not horrible. The sun was shining and the kids seemed to enjoy the fresh air. We had a rock-and-roll theme as Brendan is totally into guitars right now. Everyone was asked to dress up in their favorite "rocker" gear. Brendan's Uncle Shane gets the prize for best costume as he showed up as Slash. A close second was Aunt Lilly who looked like a true rocker herself. What good sports!

The kids played on the playground and swingset, enjoyed the bubble machine, and even played a little tee-ball. They had wigs to try on, and head-bands and gloves to wear. We listened to rock-and-roll music, of course. There was a super awesome guitar-shaped birthday cake (Unfortunately Mom forgot to bring down the forks--so we all had to eat with our hands. Oops.) that Brendan was able to blow-out the candle on his first try! We even had stick-on tattoos that even the adults couldn't help but want to put on.

We had so much fun and are so grateful to everyone who helped make this day possible, and who came out to enjoy it with us. It's so hard to believe that Brendan was born TWO years ago. The time goes by far too quickly.

Arkansas Fishing Trip

You diehard fishermen out there know all about the White River in Arkansas. Well, Ryan took the trip of a lifetime from 5/21-5/24 to the tailwaters of Norfork Lake and the White River below Bull Shoals Dam in AR, and boy does it live up to the hype!! The Picture below is from the back porch of the Mayer's house viewing 'Pilot Knob' (I think), what passes for a mountain in the Ozarks. The picture does the view no justice at all.
Many Thanks to Mike and Christy Mayer for being gracious enough to let Ryan join Mike and Matt for the weekend. Ryan works with Matt (their son) and once they found out they were both trout enthusiasts (ahem....FLY Fishermen), the planning started and culminated in 4-days of trout fishing greatness!!




The closest town is 'Mountain Home', which is right in between the two lakes, Norfork and Bull Shoals. Bull Shoals' tailwater is the White River and Norfork's tailwater is the Norfork River and the two converge southwest of Norfork lake to create probably the best trophy Brown Trout habitat in the world!! They showed up at the river on Saturday morning and guess who caught the first fish while the other two guys were still figuring out where to put their lines!!! (that's why Ryan had such a great camera operator).
They all caught tons of fish over the weekend, but Ryan is not too modest to say that he was the only one that caught a Brown of any good size. No pictures yet (Matt got a good one on his I-phone that he hasn't sent to Ryan yet), but we will post them when we get them.
Catching a sizeable Brown Trout on a fly rod was indescribable. Ryan's hands were shaking for about 15 minutes after he landed that bad boy!! Ryan and Matt both caught 18" rainbows and Mike hooked a really nice one. All told, the guys probably caught 6-10 fish per day EACH! And this is not a trout park folks! These fish are wild, though the populations are not native to AR, they reproduce naturally, and fight just like in the movies!

Tough thing was, Ryan promised to help Matt and Mike figure out the lake while they were down there. Norfork Lake has a max depth of about 160 feet and is crystal clear.....a bit off from what Ryan is used to fishing. They threw everything at those lake fish and barely had a bite. Thankfully, the trout fishing was good enough to wipe that sore spot out of everyone's mind.

What a trip!! I think there may be another....

A Little Fun in the Sun

Back in mid-April we had a beautiful spring day, and Mommy decided to go out and pull weeds. We got out the sidewalk chalk and let Brendan's creativity run wild. When all was said and done, there was more chalk on his face, hands, and clothes then there was on the sidewalk.