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We had a full house this weekend, and we loved every minute of it. Our daughter came home on Wednesday for a long weekend to attend a friend's college graduation party. On Thursday my cousin from Chicago arrived, picked up by his sister at the Megabus stop. She had traveled from Cincinnati. Late Friday night the Chicago cousin's roommate got here. The Chicagoans were here for a wedding, while the Cincinnatian came to hang with me. (And maybe see her brother.) Since our daughter was the last one to make reservations at our B & B, she spent Friday and Saturday nights with a friend who lives here in town.

water lily at the Missouri Botanical Garden

During the day on Friday we went to the Missouri Botanical Garden then hit one of their favorite restaurants, Crazy Bowls and Wraps, for lunch. Then we set off for the zoo. And was it ever a zoo! The place was packed, though we did manage to score a decent parking spot in one of the Art Museum's free lots. We got sprinkled on a couple times, but at least the temperature was decent.

That night my cousins and I went to The Shaved Duck for dinner. As this restaurant had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, we were eager to check it out. After a 45 minute wait, we were led to our table for three. The appetizer of Smothered Fries was amazing, even if it did look a bit disgusting. The French fries are covered with shredded rib meat and a cheese sauce. Tasty! I split a pulled pork sandwich and order of mac and cheese with my cousin, and she ordered a side of corn bread for us to share. We knew we were stopping at Ted Drewe's on the way home, so we didn't want to overload ourselves.

The Shaved Duck restaurant

Smothered Fries

breakfast at the Boardwalk Cafe

Saturday we were all able to go out to breakfast together before everyone headed out for their activities. A couple of us went to The Hill to do some shopping at the Italian markets there. I had never been and it was a wonderful experience. I picked up some garlic flavored linguine, which I am eager to try with some shrimp. In the evening we dropped the wedding-goers off at 9th Street Abbey for the reception and the rest of us ate at McGurks. It was a beautiful night for outdoor dining, and we had a glass of wine at the house on the deck when we got home.

Most of the guests left this morning, and our daughter heads out tomorrow night. It was great to be surrounded by young people with all their hopes and ambitions ahead of them. And yet I find myself very content with this phase of my own life.

Amtrak coming into the Kirkwood Station

We had company over the weekend again. Jim's sister and her fiance took the train from Kansas City to St. Louis on Saturday. We picked them up at the station in Kirkwood, which is great for us since it is so close. Fun fact is that this station was going to be closed by Amtrak, so the city of Kirkwood purchased the station in order to keep it open. It is run entirely by volunteers! Anyway, the train was right on time and we decided to go ahead and have a late lunch in Kirkwood. We walked over to Kirkwood Ice and Fuel, and then did a little shopping in Kirkwood. With the free parking and good location, it is so much more convenient using the Kirkwood Station instead of going downtown.

Saturday evening we packed up our chairs and headed over to the Streetfest in Webster Groves. They close down Gore Avenue, and a band was playing Beatles music. The temperature was pleasant, so for supper we went to the new Mexican restaurant in town - La Cantina. We grabbed a table outside where we could still enjoy the music as well as the trains that pass by there. The food was great and we will definitely go back there.

Sunday morning we made a nice breakfast and then sat around talking for a bit. We decided on the Boathouse in Forest Park for lunch, and as usual there was a wait. I am not a fan of this place, but for some reason everyone always wants to go there. I think the food is mediocre and the service is always slow. And we roasted sitting outside. I also knew that eating this late was going to throw off supper plans since we had tickets to the Chinese Lantern Festival that night. Anyway, following the mediocre lunch we went to the Civil War exhibit at the Missouri History Museum. It is very well done. We got back to our house a little after 5:00, and wanted to leave for the garden by 6:15 or so. As predicted, we did not have time to eat supper.

Performer from the Szechuan region of China

Performers from the Szechuan region of China While there is a lot to photograph during the daylight hours, it is after the sun goes down that the the garden really shine. Whoever came up with the tagline "Art by day, magic by night" deserves a bonus. It truly describes the transition from ooooh to WOW! when you view the lanterns at night.  The lantern festival is truly remarkable and I hope people take advantage of the unique opportunity to see it. It is only the second time the festival has been shown outside of China, and the first time in the United States. I am looking forward to our second photography class this Thursday night. (Other than the fact that it is supposed to be well over 100 degrees that day!)

Man, I am worn out. As previously mentioned, Katie and her roommate are here for spring break. I picked them up at the MegaBus stop Friday afternoon. I then fixed lasagna, cheese garlic bread and a salad for supper, followed by ice cream sandwich cake. Yum! This is not the way to take off the extra pounds I added on the cruise ship. Saturday the girls took off for the zoo and art museum, and I worked on my presentation about traditional publishing versus self-publishing. I was on the program at Borders that night with other SLPA members. Jim went off on a motorcycle ride for the afternoon.

Yesterday we went to Crown Candy for lunch, and that took a big chunk of time since we had to wait nearly an hour to get a table. Then we went downtown to the arch, and unfortunately all the tram rides for the rest of the day were sold out. They are only operating one tram currently. It was packed since this is a big spring break week. We did get some nice photographs of the arch outside anyway. Then Katie and Fay took off for the Loop, while Jim and I stopped at SWT so he could check on some work. We walked home from there since the girls had dropped us off. It is about 2 miles from home, so at least we were able to get some additional exercise. Last night we hung around the sitting out on the deck since it was so nice outside.

Fay leaves on the 4:35 bus this afternoon, so I'll see what they want to do until she has to go. I could take them back downtown to the arch, or we could go to the botanical garden. It is a nice day for doing either one of those things.

We have been shuffling furniture around in the house. Katie took her trundle bed to college, so we needed to take the twin bed out of the small bedroom and move it upstairs to the third floor so she has a place to sleep when she comes home. Then we found out that we are having additional company for Thanksgiving, and with Andy and Megan here we will have no bed for the other guests. So we took a second look at the small bedroom and decided if we moved the dresser and my sewing machine/table up to Katie's room, we could set up a full size bed in the that bedroom. But first we had to move the roll top desk/chair and vanity table/chair out of Katie's room.

We now have a roll top desk in the entry foyer (anyone need a desk?), and a vanity table in the basement. The other items fit in Katie's room just fine, though I'm not sure she would agree. The small bedroom is now a blank slate. With nothing in there, it would be a perfect time to paint the room. And we are not sure what to do about a bed. We have an antique wrought iron bed frame in the basement we could use. The problem with it is that it was made during the time when people only had a feather mattress on their bed - no box spring. When you put both on the bed you practically need a step stool to be able to get into bed. Should we try to find a modified mattress/box spring or just start over with a new bed? Decisions, decisions...

Old expressions usually have a kernel of truth to them. "Fish and company stink after 3 days" is one that is oft repeated. My brother arrived last Monday with his two girls ages 14 and 11. I haven't seen so much drama since I was involved in the theater department in high school! If the older one is listed as being in a relationship on Facebook, life is good. If she states that she is single, the whole household suffers. Her relationship status changed so many times in the past 7 days that I lost track of the count. Right now she is single, so it kinda sucks to be around her. I am so glad my kids didn't get into this kind of stuff in junior or senior high. I never realized how nice we had it in our house.

I tried to keep them busy during the week, and I had my niece's 14 year old over several days and a couple of nights as well. I am exhausted! Between trying to figure out what to feed everyone and coping with a family that doesn't ever go to bed before 1:00 a.m., it was quite the challenge for me. My niece came over this afternoon with her two girls, and she took everyone to the airport at 4:00. I found myself repeating the words of Martin Luther King, "Free at last, free at last...!" Now to clean and do all the sheets and towels - yippee...

I was already a week behind on my ORMI work due to being in New York, and with the guests here I am up to two weeks. I was trying to do a little each morning before the kids got up, but Thursday my computer decided it was not going to connect with the network at ORMI. I called the computer guy on Friday and he was booked until Monday. That meant no catching up over the weekend. Then this morning the internet was down. I spent an hour on the phone with AT&T tech support before fixing that issue. Part of that time was on hold waiting for my Indian techie. I love how they tell you that they are experiencing unusually high call volume today, so if I don't want to wait I can access help at att.com. Helloooooooo....if I had access to the internet I wouldn't need to be calling you, would I???

Two weeks of backed up work and four days until we are on the house/garden tour. Anyone have some Prozac they'd like to share?