I don’t enjoy getting behind but that’s where things stand here in bloggeritaville ’til now. I made the decision to finish up our vacation without blogging and what a difference it made taking the pressure off. Now the pressure is back to get caught up, so here we go.

We spent some time with Bobby’s children and started out with Kristy. Kristy is a senior in college, is that possible? I still can’t believe that. We are proud of her as she’s pulling straight A’s in all her classes. We had such a wonderful time taking her shopping and enjoyed a delightful dinner at PF Chang’s (her choice) which we didn’t argue with, yum. We’re looking forward to spending time with her again for her graduation in May.

Bobby and Kristy

We spent a couple evenings with Ryan when he was off work. He’s the head baker of one of the Panera Bread Companies in St Louis. He is an amazing baker and whips up some of my absolute favorite pastries. He always spoils me when he visits as he takes full control of my kitchen and he makes the most amazing dishes for us. Below is a picture of Ryan and his longtime girlfriend (Danni) of I believe 3 or 4 years now and their friend Carlie. Can you tell he just woke up in this picture?

Lauren’s a sophomore in college this year and we’re so proud of her too. She’s our other daughter making straight A’s. Her classes were already underway so she drove over to spend Saturday evening with us. She chose a great Japanese restaurant that evening and we enjoyed a wonderful conversation with Lauren and her boyfriend Andy. Andy is such a sweetheart who is down to earth and loves to talk about philosophy. He’s definitely a keeper.

We spent Sunday afternoon at Bobby’s brothers (Jim, Chris and family’s) home. Chris prepared such an amazing feast and had the most amazing steaks I’ve ever had on the BBQ. Chris is like a sister to me and we never have a hard time picking up where we left off. Bobby helped his brother Jim and boys fix the go cart and they had it up and running in no time. Basketball was played and lots of visiting outside in the cool of the evening. I wanted to take pictures of everything that day but decided to just enjoy the special moments without interrupting for pictures; therefore I don’t have pictures to show of our day. But I can say that I have it all stored in my mind and I’ll never forget what a great time we all had.

Bobby and I had quite a bit of alone time sandwiched between the family gatherings and whatnot and we were also able to have some nice dinner dates just the two us. He took me back to his (now our) all time favorite Mexican restaurant from when he was just a kid (since 1998 for me). OK get this – we drove 2 hours out of our way on our way back to NY to visit Urbana-Champagne, IL for the most amazing pizza ever . It was that good my friends and well worth the drive and a second helping!

We had a great trip home and I can’t tell weather I’m glad to be back or if I want our vacation to last a bit longer. I think what I would really like is for Bobby to retire – but that’s another 20 years from now. I tried to get him to stay home with me today but he had meetings to attend. He did say he would see if he can take Friday off. I’m not ready for him to go back to work as I want him all to myself. I’m selfish that way so I’ll spend the next 20 years gettin’ over it.

We’re in the St Louis area visiting Bobby’s family. However we are taking time for just us as we love our alone time too.

We were able to take in a St Louis Cardinal game this week. The Cardinals have been Bobby’s team ever since he was a very small child. He still remembers his sister (Rita, she’s 11 years older than Bobby) taking him to his very first St Louis Cardinal game for his 5th birthday. And he’s been an enthusiastic fan ever since.

The beautiful new Busch Stadium

We enjoyed the diamond box seats that were just 11 rows up from third base.

View of the arch from where we were sitting

Fredbird tossing baseballs to the earlybirds

It was a full house Tuesday night

Welcome To Baseball Heaven – Home of the 10 time World Champions

He’s so passionate about selling those slushy drinks

They got caught on the “Kiss Cam” – And I captured her embarrassment

Albert Pujols plays first base – He’s our man!

Pujols putting all he’s got into the hit

Big Mac Land – In honor of Mark McGwire

It was such a fun night and the weather was perfect with a little cool streak at the end. We had brats, peanuts and crackerjacks as we can’t go to a game without those things. But our team didn’t score nary a point – yup, it was 12 Milwaukee Brewers to zip for the Cards. We didn’t let the score board dampen our spirits as we had a total blast cheering at the ole ball game.

For the past 11 years I’ve heard Bobby rant and rave about Chicago style stuffed pizza. It’s been 15 years since he’s had that yummy explosion of goodness in his mouth and the craving for that has never gone away. So on our drive through Urbana-Champaign, IL; he took me to one of his all time favorite pizza joints called Papa Del’s. Oh my word was it ever worth the 45 min. wait.

This is what our pizza looked like before we laid into it

A peak on the inside

It was not your regular deep dish pizza with a thick crust. The crust was the regular thickness, but shaped into a very deep pan much like how a pie crust goes into a pie pan. They place the toppings on the very bottom – for us it was mushrooms, onions and peppers. Then the nice thick layer of cheese, the pepperoni is added on top of the cheese and the sauce covers the top. Then the pizza is sprinkled with special seasonings and then one lone pepperoni was placed in the very center as the little topper.

I can officially report that I have now eaten the world’s greatest pizza. And it’s all Bobby’s fault that I crave that pizza! Hmmmm, if we could only work that 3 hour drive into our trip for another round as it doesn’t get any better than that.

Founded in 1867

Bobby has always told me that one day he would take me there. We left Kristy back in Michigan to start school and drove down the road to Urbana-Champaign, IL to Bobby’s Alma Mater yesterday. Bobby gave me a tour and I felt in awe as he took my hand and led me through what used to be the place he studied. We strolled the walkways, sat underneath a huge shade tree and watched thousands and thousands of students on a high as they prepared for another school year.

I can’t begin to explain the height of joy and wonder I felt so I’m just going to share a few statistics and what pictures I do have.

Here are a few stats of the campus –

• 559 Total buildings on 7.7 square miles (4,938 acres)
• 28,000 undergraduate students this year
• 9,000 graduate and professional students this year
• 4,000 courses and more than 150 fields of study
• 2008 – US News and World Report rated it the # 8 public university.
• College of engineering is ranked 5^th

Alma Mater

The Alma Mater has represented their motto of Learning and Labor since its unveiling in 1929. The figures clasping hands in the background represent learning and labor, and the Alma Mater in the foreground opens her arms and welcomes students with the inscription ‘To thy happy children of the future those of the past send greetings.’

Illini Union

The Illini Union was constructed 1939 – It has many purposes as it includes a 90 room guest hotel (Bobby says we’re going to have to stay there one day), food court, bowling alley, arcade room, pool hall, computer lab, and numerous study lounges. It is a place where students meet and relax, and it brought back so many fond memories for Bobby. He took me on a grand tour of that building, the inside halls were grand and I stood in awe of the massive columns stretching to the high ceiling. Each room was a showcase all of its own and I felt like I was standing on hallowed ground. I was filled to overflowing with amazement, perhaps that’s why I didn’t interrupt the moment to take pictures inside.

Back of Illini Union

Altgeld Hall

Altgeld Hall – Started construction in 1896 and was completed in 1897. It was originally the library and later turned into the Mathematics Building. Bobby took all his math courses here. Altgeld Hall is in the national register of Historic places.

Side View of Altgeld Hall

The University Chime was installed in the Altgeld Tower in 1920.

The Quad

The Quad is the heart of the campus where students relax, study, play Frisbee or hang out. Yesterday was a huge day of activities for the students in the Quad.

The Ceramics Hall

Assembly Hall

Memorial Stadium

Auditorium

Methodist Church

The sun was setting and we both continued to comment on what a delightful day we shared together.

The sun was tucked away for the day and this beautiful trail of light outlined this bridge over the river in Missouri.

And this last picture of the night sky as we approached our destination last evening.

We started our little road trip yesterday morning. We drove about 4 hours up the road and stopped on the American side of the Niagara Falls. We wished we had gone to the Canadian side as we were driving through Canada to go up over to Michigan anyway. But the US side is where we landed and we enjoyed the beautiful sights.

The flowers and gardens were so pretty

Flowers flanking the light posts

A cascade of pretty flowers

View to the left of the falls – Churning Water

View to the right looking into Canada

The falls

Two peas in a pod

Maid Of The Mist giving customers a tour of the falls

Crossing the bridge into Canada

Customs

Crossing the bridge to the US into Michigan

Lake Huron

We made it to Michigan

The sunset

And another shot of the sunset last evening.

We made our way to Ruby Tuesdays where Bobby’s daughter Kristy works. She was working last night but that didn’t put a damper on us spending time with her. We requested to be seated in her area so that we could at least visit with her during our meal. She must have told the whole staff that her parents were there as the staff kept showing up to our table as they all wanted to meet Kristy’s parents. We had such a fun relaxing time and we felt extra special as we were really catered to.

Then when we got to our room… Unbeknownst to me this is what awaited us right in the corner of our room! I love it when Bobby surprises me.

I planned to blog last evening but this thing had my attention and with that, Bobby started the water and we both enjoyed relaxing in that thing for the remains of the evening.

We have had a very busy day with Kristy and that post is for another day as we’re getting ready to start up the hot tub again this evening…