October: Disappointment and Redemption - Cardinals, Camping and Embracing 30

Babler State Park

I could, or let's say for the sake of my audience's time, should break this post up into four or five, but instead I'll do my best to summarize one my favorite times of the year into one post.  I mentioned this in my last post, but I'll say it again: the fall season, particularly the month of October, is my favorite time of the year.  Cool, crisp temperatures, beautiful fall foliage, camping, post-season baseball, all things pumpkin and oh yeah, my birthday!  Despite the drought we had this summer, I believe this fall turned out to be one of the most beautiful foliages I've seen in recent years.  I LOVE to drive through Missouri and take in all of the bright fall colors of orange, red, yellow and gold.  I also love planting some of my favorite fall plants, mums.  You can buy them almost anywhere, the grocery store, garden centers, green houses, etc.  I like to purchase mine from the Amish greenhouse in Leadmine / Tunas, Mo.  They have a huge selection of sizes in almost every color imaginable, along with "doubles" - two colors in one pot.  Here's a peak at the four I planted this season.


Camping - Eddie and I wanted to take at least one fall camping trip this year.  So on a whim we packed up and set out for Babler State Park, just on the western most edge of St. Louis County, about a 40 minute drive for us.  This was our first time at this park and it's an experience worth repeating.  It's a gorgeous area this time of year, and a very family friendly park.  We got lucky as we set out with no reservations.  When we arrived the campsites were mostly packed, but we drove around and found a culdesac of  four sites with electric, all available!   A few hours later, the culdesac was full.  Talk about great timing!  This park offers miles of bike trails, equestrian and hiking trails.  One couple that was taking a stroll stopped at our site and mentioned that when they had made reservations at the end of August there were only two sites left!  God opened up a door for us because there had obviously been some last minute cancellations to allow us a campsite.  It was also the night of a meteor shower, however; I wasn't able to stay up late enough to see them - maybe next year.  We had a relaxing, fun, fall family outing.

Disappointment

Two nights later, I sullenly watched my Redbirds give up their third straight loss to send the San Francisco Giants to the World Series.  This was also on the eve of my 30th birthday, needless to say, I was extremely disappointed.  Not the way I wanted to end the 2012 baseball season, or my 20s.  

Redemption & Embracing 30

Thanks to my amazing husband and awesome family and friends, my birthday turned out to be an unforgettable event.  My husband got up hours before dawn to make my favorite breakfast before he left for work, whole wheat pancakes and bacon - YUM!  The entire day I was bombarded (in a good way) with phone calls, voicemails, emails, texts and Facebook posts wishing me a happy birthday.  Since the morning was cold and rainy I took my boys to West County Mall to buy a new sweater and let them burn off some energy at the indoor play area for kids.  That evening my in-laws came over to the house to watch the boys and put them to bed while Eddie took me to dinner.  This is where my birthday gets really good!  The rainy morning had given way to a warm, sunny fall afternoon / evening.  So when we arrived at Square One Brewery and Restaurant we chose their beautiful patio to dine; and when we walked out I was surprised by a table full of my dear friends!!  I was so shocked, and strangely, embarrassed:)  Something about being the center of attention unexpectedly...who knows.  Eddie had been scheming this little surprise for weeks.  I had a second surprise when the servers brought out two Gooey Butter Cheesecakes covered in candles from the Blue Owl Bakery.  Thank you, Beth!  Eddie told me my fabulous friend, Beth, had helped with a lot of the planning - the cakes were all her idea, and a tasty one at that!  Laura made me a pan of peanut butter bars - YUM, and I had the best birthday yet; congregating, celebrating and catching up with some great friends.  The entire experience made it pretty easy and exciting to embrace the big 3 - 0.

Fall Feild Trip and Halloween

Two days after my birthday, Ben's preschool took a fall field trip to a local greenhouse and garden center in south St. Louis called, For the Garden.  Ben and his classmates got to learn all about bats, paint a pumpkin, explore a maze and take silly pictures.

Last, but not least, October wraps up with the fun holiday.  No religious or national significance, just a day dedicated to dressing up, eating sweets, carving pumpkins and telling jokes (a St. Louis thing).  This year I borrowed costumes from my cousin, Nichole, and the boys suited up as some of their favorite superheroes: Batman and Robin!  I got to spend the morning as a parent host at Ben's preschool party where the kids dressed in costume, played games, made crafts, and of course, snacked on sweets.  That evening we carved a Jack-O-Lantern while watching The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, visited Grandma and Grandpa Rickard, Trick-or-Treated in the neighborhood and handed out candy.

I had started this post with the intention of including all of my fall favorites, but for the sake of time, I decided to include one "fall favorite" in a series of upcoming posts.  Next week I'll be sharing about my week of Pinterest, along with my Fall Harvest Soup recipe. Cheers!