Made in the USA

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Lincoln, Nebraska with Daryl's family. On the drive over there we were asked to stop at a fireworks shop to pick up a few things. I've never been to one of these stores and it was quite an experience. It was like Sam's Club, but it smelled like gun powder.

The irony that is not captured in this photo is the people standing out front smoking on the side of the building.

I was trying to help Daryl pick out the best stuff, but I really didn't know what a bottle rocket actually looks like.

Daryl, Aidan, Reese and I stayed at our cousins Tammy and Tim's house. The kids loved to play with their dog Charlie. Reese put Charlie's leash on him and she walked him around the house. He loved it too!

Tim's garage is the cleanest, most well organized garage I have ever seen in my life. You really could eat off the floor. Aidan thought his Camaro was the coolest!

Reese loves her pinwheel and bubbles! Thank you Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Deon for our gifts!

Tammy was in charge of cooking the burgers and dogs with Carolyn and Diana looking on, until...

we had a minor situation and thankfully did not need to involve the fire department. Jessica and Steve stepped in and cooked the remaining burgers and all of the hot dogs. We tried to keep it quiet and hoped that everyone like their burgers well done. I was really disappointed and figured I would be eating a hot dog until Uncle Deon complained that his burger was still raw and I ran over to him and took his burger, wiped off the mustard added more cheese and enjoyed the only medium rare burger in the house. YUMMY!

Now on to the fireworks. I've never actually seen this many do-it-yourself fireworks. I've only seen the professional shows in the sky like the Macy's show in New York City or the ones at local park districts. I begged Daryl to bring Aidan back to me with all of his limbs and his face exactly the way I was sending him out. Once again I was told to chill out.

Aidan had a good time, but that won't keep me from freaking out.

Aidan asking Jessica a million questions about the fireworks.

The early clean up crew.

Jessica, Steve, Daryl, Shanna and Tammy

Brad, Carolyn, Diana, Reese and Deon.

Aidan loved the sparklers. I hate them. I've spent too much time at recent wedding trying to get them lit or trying to prevent drunk wedding guests from lighting anything or anyone on fire. I hope this fad goes out of style SOON!

Pappy, Aidan, Mimi and Reese watching the show. We had a little competition going with the neighbors down the street. Their show was better than ours, but we think that they had illegal ones. Either they "know a guy" or they spent too much money.

I did end up lighting two bottle rockets toward the end of the night. It was fun, but I was done after the two bottle rockets.

Reese was the first one out.

We had so much fun with everyone. My only regret is that the weather was terrible. It rained almost the entire time we were there so we didn't get to sight-see as much as I would have liked. Next time it will be better and we'll make it to Omaha for steaks.

The Other Four Seasons

I've stayed at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia, I've coordinated weddings at the Four Seasons in St. Louis, I dream of working at the Four Seasons in New York. I heart the Four Seasons.

This summer's Edward Jones regional meeting was held in the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri and we stayed at The Lodge of The Four Seasons. I get so excited when I hear the name "Four Seasons" until I realized that this is not THAT Four Seasons. I was still excited to spend the weekend with our Edward Jones family, so off we went.

Our first stop before checking into the hotel was a restaurant right on the water. There was a panoramic view of the lake and the most delicious food! Daryl parked right on a cliff and I had a little (actually BIG) panic attack. I started to hyperventilate because all I could see is water beneath us. I demanded that Daryl move the car immediately and Aidan said, "Mom, you have to relax! It's okay."

We checked into the hotel later and reconnected with old friends and met some new families. Daryl and I attended our respective meetings and the kids went to their "meeting" as Aidan called it (aka daycare).


The kids love seeing each other each year and its great to see them play so well together.

We made friends with the Womacks, who were attending their first meeting. Reese immediately made friends with Samiyah, their youngest. She went up to Samiyah and said, "I'm Ariel and you are Tiana." It was the cutest thing ever! Aidan has been going by the name "Batman" for a few months now, Reese now has her own secret identity and a sidekick!

The first night is the family dinner, its so casual and fun! The kids took fun to the next level by doing sprints in the hallway of the ballroom after dinner. All the parents were standing back smiling and dreaming of how well all the kids would sleep that night. It backfired on us... Aidan and Reese were so excited to be staying in a hotel and must have gotten and second and third wind... they would not go to sleep!

They finally went to sleep and the next morning, I woke them up early for a walk along the marina. When we got to the water, Reese yelled out..."Nemo, where are you?"

This is the "beach" on the property. I'm pretty sure they just use it for weddings. It was nice to put my feet in the sand, but I wouldn't really classify this as a beach as it is the size of my living room.

I'm a little obsessed with taking pictures of Reese's toes in the sand. I took a similar picture of her foot when we were in Florida last summer.

Nicole and I took the kids to the outlet mall after my marina walk and after breakfast.

Reese was all about the wristlets at the Coach outlet. I was so proud.

Our girls. I hope they grow up to be good friends.

How cute is this?

This one is for my nephew Guy! We saw these at one of the kitchen supply stores and I had to take a picture.

This night's dinner is the formal dinner where everyone is recognized for their achievements. No kids allowed and each table has a host and there is theme. This year's theme was the Olympics and each table was a country. We were asked to be a host. I was so excited. I was at Hobby Lobby 20 minutes after Daryl told me we were chosen to host! Daryl and I teamed up on this project and merged our talents to bring it all together. We ran into a few challenges working together, we'll call them creative differences. Daryl carved the base out of Styrofoam, I made French flags, and gold medals for all our table guests and our Eiffel Tower had lights on it.

A close up of the back of our table complete with champagne, Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags, fromage (cheese), croissants, and French postage stamps.

The Switzerland Table

Jamaica, hosted by our good friends The Yoders.

At the end of the night I was disappointed to hear that there wasn't a contest for best table decor. WHAT?

I made these tutus for Reese and I to wear and my outfit was complete with the beret. I went a little overboard (not me, right?), but I honestly thought there was a contest and I play to win!

The Gourleys take Kansas City

Since Daryl started working for Edward Jones, one of the highlights of our summer is the Edward Jones Summer Regional Meeting. This year's meeting was held in Kansas City, Missouri and we stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel & Plaza at Country Club Plaza - sounds fancy, doesn't it?

Daryl lived in Kansas City for about 10 minutes as an infant and I had never been. I am always excited when I get to visit a new city and the meeting planner in me starts going as soon as I know I'm going somewhere! I searched on the Internet and even requested a brochure from the Kansas City visitor's bureau. We got back on Sunday and I still haven't received my brochure - I guess Kansas City didn't want me to visit, but I showed them!

     Mr. Karaoke

At the EJ family dinner, the entertainment was Karaoke and they were selling raffle tickets to benefit the United Way. This Karaoke experience was a little different than the Clinique meetings that I used to attend. At the Clinique meetings, you could not get people to give back the microphone. At this meeting people were actually giving donations to the United Way to not have to sing! Because none of the adults would sing, Aidan took that opportunity to dazzle the audience with his "ABC's" - twice.

One thing that I was really looking forward to was spending time with Andrea Yoder. Her husband Jeremy started with EJ last year and we have become really good friends with them. While the boys were at meetings, Andrea and I did some sightseeing with the kids. We walked around Country Club Plaza. We loved all of the fountains and went into a few of the shops. There is a Burberry store there and I was so happy to be in there! It really made me miss my good friend Holly and our tea time at the 57th Street store.

I also took one for the team and ate at Arthur Bryants. For those of you that are not familiar it's a local chain of BBQ restaurants in Kansas City. I really do not like BBQ, but Daryl loves it and when in Rome... While waiting for our table I got yelled at by one of the busgirls. The place was packed and there was a six-top table that had the scraps from the last guests still on it. We had 5 people so I motioned to Ms. busgirl to ask her to clean the table when she could. She gave me a dirty look and the conversation went like this:

Ms. Busgirl: Do you really need this table? How many are you?

Me: Um, uh, we have 5

Ms. Busgirl: Ugh! (points to clean 4-top table). Just sit there and pull up a chair. (Ms. Busgirl exits)

Okay then. I pulled up an extra chair and we dined at the 4-top table. She eventually had to clean the table to a more deserving family (ironically they were another EJ family) that had 6 people. No wasted seats in this place. The food was delicious and they serve ice cold Coca-Cola in a giant souvenir cup - this place is okay by me.

Earlier in the day Andrea and I had gone into a popcorn shop and purchased popcorn and some Jelly Beans. Not just any jelly beans - the really disgusting ones called BeanBoozled. After the awards dinner that evening, we encouraged (aka tricked) a few people into trying the Jelly Beans. Some of the flavors include baby wipes, vomit, pencil shavings, and moldy cheese. Just to keep you guessing you could get lucky and get peach, juicy pear, or licorice, but most of our victims got skunk spray, boogers or the previously mentioned flavors. Good times.

    The Duck Derby

By the looks of our photos and the list of how many places we visited, it would seem that we were there for a week. Nope - just 3 days. We went to Union Station, Crown Center, Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, Country Club Plaza, and we even saw the Duck Derby.  I didn't quite understand what the Duck Derby is and I still don't.  You purchase a rubber duck (yes, just like Ernie has), the proceeds go to charity and your duck participates in a race down the river and you can win prizes from gift certificates to a Harley Davidson.  We watched this "race" and it takes 30 minutes for the ducks to travel 1/8 of a mile so you can imagine that it was a real nail-biter!  The Gourleys were bored after 5 minutes and we moved on.  Back to St. Louis we went.

6/6/09: Green Acres is the Place To Be...

Farm livin' is NOT the life for me.



I love my sister-in-law, Natalie and I can appreciate HER love for country living. I stress that it is HER love for country living, NOT mine. I am SO not made for the country. In fact, I think I may be allergic to the country. In the words of the great and fashionable, Liz Pruitt, "I'm a city slicker, through and through."


On our way back to St. Louis from Orlando, we detoured to visit Natalie, my brother-in-law Tim, and my nephews Guy and Levi. They live in a gorgeous house that they built together. You can see Natalie's style in each of the beautifully decorated rooms of the house. It is so cozy and warm (on the inside). Outside there are bugs and frogs and dirt - not my idea of a good time.



As soon as we arrived, we brought the kids to the backyard. Within the first few minutes, Reese was attacked by a dragonfly and freaked out! Her scream reached a pitch that I wasn't even aware exsisted!







The one thing that Reese really loved about their house was Lillie, their horse. Tim brought Lillie from the barn and Reese immediately wanted to go over to her. She was probably wondering where Lillie's carriage and coachman were because the handsome cabs are the only horses we ever see! Reese was a natural! She wanted to ride Lillie! I couldn't believe that she wasn't scared! Tim lifted her up onto his lap and they rode the horse all over and Reese loved it.







Aidan on the other hand loved hanging out with his cousins and experiencing all that country livin' has to offer. The boys searched for frogs - which I now know pee all over you when you pick them up. Excellent. Here's Aidan with one of the frogs. If the picture was clearer you could see the eyes popping out of the frog's head because Aidan was squeezing him. If this had sound you could hear the frog begging to have his life spared!



The boys put all the frogs in a bucket and even a lizard and some other creature got in there too. Again, excellent.



Later we enjoyed dinner together and celebrated Tim's birthday. Reese and I helped Natalie water her flowers and we got eaten alive by more bugs. After I couldn't take it anymore - which as it turns out was not a very long time, we went back in to the house.



The boys decided that they wanted to sleep in the tent in the living room but they were too excited and didn't want to go to sleep. Diana even got into the tent to try to get them to go to sleep - sorry I wasn't able to get a picture of that. In the end it was too hot in the tent and they ended up in Guy's bedroom.







All in all - great family fun, but I can't wait to get back to my loft!

6/4/09: All Good Things Must Come To an End...

Today is our last day in Florida. We'll be heading back to Hotlanta for some more toilet fun tomorrow. All in all it was a wonderful trip. Many great discoveries were made:

• Nat and I disagree on how amazing his driving skills are. I do not wish to read the VIN number on every car we are driving behind when he is at the wheel.

• Diana is terrified of rollercoasters – even though she is on the ground and has no intention to ride one.

• Reese HATES to swim

• It is nearly impossible to get a tan at the pool or beach when you have children. I have accepted the fact that I will have dark (or lobster red) shoulders and arms and the rest of my body will be albino. No more reading People Magazine or Martha Stewart Weddings magazines at the beach/pool for me – have to make sure that the turkeys don't drown, drink pool water or eat sand.

• Reese believes that every time we stop the car it is time to eat.

• Aidan loves hotel living and never wants to leave.

• After a week with their grandparents, my kids are so spoiled that you can probably smell them from where you are sitting. I'm learning to let it go. My mom spoils them, Nat and I Diana do it, I know it comes with being a grandparent, but grandparents – you are the same people that made us finish our vegetables before letting us have dessert and made us go to bed early. Our kids do not eat in the car, but I looked back and Reese was holding her hand out proudly expecting more Almond Joy from Nat. Another incident - the kids had white powered donuts all over their faces, hands and car seats. Not acceptable. Can't wait for reality to set in when we get back home.

• Aidan loves his cousins! He and Reese had so much fun playing with Asia, Nathan, Jasmine, and Ashlyn. We enjoyed visiting John Mark's church on Sunday and then went to their house afterwards to swim. The kids played so well together, it seemed like they had always been friends.
  

• The DVD player in the minivan is a lifesaver. I don't know how we would have made the trip without it!
  

• Although it is completely practical, I still stand by my original thought on minivans – they are just not cool!
  

• Once again, my Phil & Teds stroller has proven to be the best investment we ever made.

• I was excited to go home, but we didn't have enough time here to do all the things we wanted to do!

Today the weather forecast predicted afternoon showers so we decided to make the most of the morning and head over to SeaWorld. I had been to SeaWorld with Kelsey, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Jill and my grandfather over 10 years ago, and I couldn't wait for Aidan & Reese to see the Shamu show!


We caught a live Elmo show – I couldn't believe how mesmerized the kids were. I also couldn't believe how many parents were purchasing those glow sticks. I guess a sucker is born every minute at these theme parks. I have purchased my fair share of junk in my day, but come on people. Does "little Johnny" really need a toxic glow in the dark stick that costs $10 and will last for only 10 minutes. I guess at an average cost of $1 per minute to keep "little Johnnie" quiet it must be worth it. My kids were too focused on watching Elmo and friends to worry about the glow sticks – that or they are too young to know what they are. Either way, I'll take it!

They loved Shamu! We didn't end up sitting in the "soak zone" and I am so glad. We got to the show early and we had plenty of time for snacking – thankfully this time, I was smart enough to bring my bag with the snacks. Because I had my bag with me and Diana and I couldn't afford to ruin our hair, we decided to not sit in the "soak zone." We still enjoyed the show and managed to stay dry.

I wished my uncle Jeff was with me this time because they now have two really crazy roller coasters there and he would have loved them. We didn't ride anything for two reasons – the kids are obviously too little and Diana was terrified of the coasters. You could hear the thrill seeker's screams as they would fly right over your head. Aidan thought it was awesome and he squealed with excitement. I thought Diana was going to pee her pants each time they flew past us. I can't wait until Aidan is old enough and tall enough to ride, but it might be a while for these carnies.

6/2/09: DON'T TOUCH the Breast Implants (I mean Jellyfish)!

It was a day at the beach, literally. We drove out to Cocoa Beach with our sand toys, sunscreen and Subway sandwiches.


Note to self – Do not eat at the beach. We should have eaten at Subway and then continued on to the beach. Not only was the cheese melting as I was eating my sandwich, but I had sand and sunscreen all over my hands and it was interfering with my sandwich. I usually put potato chips on my sandwich to give it a little bit of a crunch, but I didn't need to because the sand was already making it crunchy. YUCK!


Now Reese, who apparently loves the taste of sand, had a different view on the situation. She clearly viewed the sand as a giant all-you-can-eat salad bar and went to town. I had to scold her several times. "No Reese, we do NOT eat the sand."


I love the beach, but having grown up in the Midwest, I have only been to the beach a handful of times. With that said, everything at the beach is still very novel. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw what I assumed to be several breast implants on the shore! I have viewed said implants at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Convention that I attended when I worked for Clinique - how was I to know that what I was seeing on the shores of the beach were in fact jellyfish!



Thank you to Walt Disney & Pixar for teaching all of us what can happen to you when you get stung by a jellyfish. I was able to explain to Aidan that he didn't want to get stung like Dory did, so DON'T TOUCH the breast implants (I mean jellyfish)!