Trip to Missouri: Part Two

Dia dos in the Show-Me-State was kicked off in my personal favorite fashion- by sleeping in.  After we finally rolled out of bed around 10 am we got treated to french toast a la Sandy.  I hadn't had french toast probably since I was in Jr. High, I kid you not.  It was delicious.  The kiddos were at school, so Ryan, Mike & I didn't have to do any arm wrestling over the last piece or anything.  It's a wonder I ever came home, isn't it?

Post toast (haaa... do you see what I did there?), we headed over to a cute little home goods/baby item store called Beyond Blossoms and did a little browsing.  Despite much prodding from the pencil test conductors to buy some pink items, Ryan & I left empty handed.  We then headed over to Kevin's office, Capstone Insurors, to check the place out.   If you're in the Bolivar area and need insurance- give him a shout- he's better at insurance than leg wrestling, I promise.  Obviously this type of strenuous activity made us exhausted so we headed back to Sandy & Kevin's to re-fuel. 

Ryan was almost too nervous to eat.  I don't think I've mentioned yet that it was Bolivar's homecoming weekend and that Ryan had the honor of driving the highschool girls softball float in the homecoming parade bestowed upon him.  It should be noted that said "float" was really his uncle's truck with their flat bed trailer attached, but in my mind that did not make the safety of the youth of Bolivar any more secure.

We arrived up to school to watch the ladies decorate the float with blue and gold.  I have to say, this homecoming parade was quite the to-do.  We were behind a float that had a legitimate animal skull painted and crushed to symbolize pulverizing their opponents, the Buffalo.  Or Bison?  I'm really not sure because the head was definitely not either of those.  Regardless- I admire that spirit. 

I, of course, got to live out my life-long dream of riding shot gun in a homecoming parade float.  Luckily, Ryan navigated the mean streets of Bolivar like a pro and no injuries were sustained.  He found himself so comfortable at one point in his route that he saw a house for sale that piqued his fancy and called the number.  Because that's definitely not a safety violation. 

We stared at the back of for about an hour.  Class of 2015!  (How old does that make you feel?!)

Boys soccer float.  More affectionately known as the kids who kept pelting us with Laffy Taffys.

My kinfolk. 

I just thought this looked like the perfect shot of a small town homecoming parade.  Because of the water tower?  NOOOO... Because of the Thor reference.   Duh.  (Okay, maybe the water tower).

 Some good-looking Bolivar-ians.  Bolivares?  Bolivarettes?  Whichever - here's Meemaw & Sandy looking very excited to see that Ryan has not yet crashed into anything.

 Town Square packed in quite the crowd.

We arrived safely back at school and deposited the superstars themselves unharmed to head to practice.  The adults rushed home to clean up a little bit and then we headed into Springfield for dinner.  Ryan's grandmother's brother, Larry, his wife, Linda, and their kids, Scott & Kristi, plus Kristi's family (Craig, her husband, and their adorable kiddos, Parker & Griffin) were all meeting us for dinner.  I had the honor of meeting Larry & Linda at our wedding last year but hadn't gotten to meet Kristi, Craig or Scott - despite hearing lots of fun stories about them over the years.

Dinner was at Houlihan's and it was divine.  It was really good to see Larry & Linda again and to get to meet everyone else.  As if that wasn't enough, at the end of dinner, Lori & Sandy brought out a cake and surprised the bajeezus out of Ryan & I with a baby shower!  Since they live so far away and we unfortuantely only get to see eachother a few times a year, they wanted to make sure they didn't miss out on this time.  Ryan & I were both so humbled and touched by their thoughtfulness.  We got way too many cute things and we more than quadrupled the previous amount of baby items we had.  (0 * 4 = about 12 in my scenario here, btw).  Thank you, thank you, thank you from the very bottom of our hearts, everyone!  I'm not sure why or how we got so lucky to call you family, but I'm incredibly greatful - particularly when you consider all the Ryan-isms you've dealt with over the years.  ;c)

I never did ask if the pink was a pre- or post-pencil test addition.

 

I hope we are better at changing diapers than we are at unwrapping presents.

 Mike, Larry, Linda, Kristi, Griffin (you can't see Craig & Parker) and Scott.  They are probably hoping that we are more adept at diapers also.

 

 

This outfit brought to you  by the letters S & L and their fool-proof scientific genetic testing.  (I apologize for the blurriness of these pictures - just pretend that we were shaking with excitement rather than photographing without flash).

 Hooded towels are my favorite.  So cute!

  Thank you everyone!

After dinner we headed over to Andy's for what I was told would be the best custard experience of my life.  I forgot to mention that it was Street Car National weekend in Springfield, and that Larry, Scott & Craig all have beautiful (is that a manly enough term) cars that they'd driven into town to show off.  Larry & Scott have Novas and Craig has a GTO.  Scott was kind enough to chaffeur Ryan & I over to Andy's.  A baby shower AND arriving in style for custard?  Again - incredible that I ever came home.  Andy's lived up to the hype.  I had a caramel pretzel crunch and it was a taste of heaven.  I give it two thumbs up.

Meemaw, Lori, Sandy, Mike & Ryan - the newest Andy's franchisee-hopefuls.

Once we'd ordered our custard, we headed across the road to check out the Applebee's parking lot where a bunch of old cars had congregated.  I'm going to save all those pictures for my next post though because we went back the next evening.  Plus- I have to give you something to come back for, right?

 Okay, okaaaay - you twisted my arm.  Here's a sneak preview - Ryan, Scott & I in Scott's nova.  Sweet ride, huh?

Another fabulous day in the books!  Stay tuned for burnouts and football Jace-style.