Summer has begun.....

Well.....here is a close up picture of some of my violas. I have had to cut down the size - so the entire picture isn't this but you get the idea!!! We actually planted them last year as annuals and I'll be darned if they didn't come up on their own this spring. MY flower bed has ALL come up on it's own to tell you the truth! It's mostly these and PETUNIAS! And I mean TONS of petunias!! Now I've had them come back a few at a time but I'm talking an entire bed full of them!!!!!! Once they grow bigger and get all bloomed out I'll be sure to take pictures of that too. They're probably mostly purple. I'm thinking that the entire bed is some kind of purple. LOL

Am and I took off for St. Louis yesterday (Friday) I was "disturbed" that it rained on us almost the entire way there. We got about 10 miles from home and it started...................GRRRRRR. Gas was $3.19 when we left Monroe City. As you can see here, it was cheaper in STL. One would think that the urban areas would have the higher prices. Oh well....I don't understand the whole thing anyhow...so whatever.

We went to the Cathedral Basillica of St. Louis and I must tell you, Catholic or non-Catholic, it was purely BEAUTIFUL. All of the pictures on the ceilings, walls and everywhere you look are mosaic and some of the most detailed and intriquite work I've ever seen. WOW.

This is a baptismal. (I guess that is what it is called......I am not up to speed on all of the Catholic terms. Being married into such a large Catholic family, you would certainly think that I knew more terminology but I don't) You can see the words "Baptisma......something" etched into the sides. I'm sure a lot of the language written on things is Latin. Regardless I just can't go into detail on the beauty that this place displayed. They do have mass there. Ambrose has also decided that "sometime" when we're in STL again, that he wants to go to mass. That's fine. It would be rather interesting to see the difference. Downstairs in the "museum" area, there was a special "chair" that was made specifically for Pope John Paul II when he made his appearance in St. Louis in 1997. There is also a place (and I have NOOO idea what it's called) where 3 former "Cardinals" and 1 former "Arch Bishop" are "buried"?? (Not sure if buried is the right word. Am called it their interment................????????? I just know that it was gated shut and their names/dates were inscribed into the concrete.

We went downtown after that. We had tickets for the game. Supper was like at 4:00 lol at our usual place "Charlie Gitto's Pasta House" downtown. I was a good girl.......I stuck with salad and I don't know that it was all that many points. Probably more than I think but I gave it 10 just to be safe. We got to the stadium early when the gates opened and since it had rained all day, there was no batting practice. But there were a couple of players signing things. Here is Ryan Franklin. He's one of the pitchers they have brought up.

Before the game, I noticed that there were people hovering around the bullpen area so I jaunted down there. I thought Am knew where I was going and I do wish he'd came down. THAT was sooo neat. I got to watch Anthony Reyes (the starting pitcher) warm up. Also, Dave Duncan (pitching coach) was there and my man, Yadier Molina (catcher). Josh Kinney and Jeff Murphy were in there as well. *Josh Kinney is a relief pitcher and FYI, he attended and played baseball at Quincy University! Th Cardinals lost the game but it was a pretty good game. Albert Pujols hit a home run and shortly after that Jimmy Edmonds hit one also. We lost 5-4. But that's ok.....still had a great time and despite the sprinkes!!!!!

*I snuck this one of Dave Duncan (pitching coach) when it was pretty much time to do the National Anthem.

We had a great time. Today we ate breakfast at Denny's (ohhh myyyyyyy) and then shopped for a couple of hours at Mid Rivers Mall in St. Peters. We got home around 4:00 this afternoon and that's all she wrote.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!