It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. 2023 wasn’t quite as spectacular as 2022 (I’m not sure we’ll ever top that year!), but it was a fun, busy, interesting year just the same!
January was its normal, quiet self, after all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I took a moment to think about what I was looking forward to in 2023. We had a nice dinner to start the new year right. I had fun “rocking the dots” to celebrate Minnie Mouse and Polka Dot Day.
In February, the entire city of St. Louis began earnestly anticipating the inaugural season of our St. Louis City soccer team. We finally got to return to the Orchid Show at the Missouri Botanical Garden for the first time since before the pandemic. We had our traditional family Mardi Gras celebration. We did something different for our favorite made-up holiday of Bobunk (which we happened to celebrate on Kirby Day), and got gyros for dinner. I was beyond excited to learn that the new Miss Candyfloss collection, “Lilibeth,” was designed in honor of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
March is always a fun and busy month, and this year was no exception. We were very excited to see our tiny daffodils blooming. I returned to cooking “Disney Dinners,” which is always fun (not to mention delicious!). We got to see the TARDIS at the St. Louis Science Center. We celebrated MAR10 Day and St. Patrick’s Day. Turkey turned twenty, and Chickadee turned 11. We had a fun day of food inspired by Final Fantasy XIV. Moose won the “Mighty Maroon” award at his high school. We celebrated the beginning of another season of Cardinals baseball (if only we had known how the season would go, we wouldn’t have been so excited).
The highlight of April was definitely Easter. We enjoyed visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden to see what flowers were in bloom there. We also took a lot of field trips…mostly places that were outdoors so we could enjoy the lovely weather, but also to the Missouri History Museum so we could see the new soccer exhibit. Turkey won the math department “Student of the Year” award at his college.
May was, without a doubt, one of the busiest months of the year! We went to the opening day of “Chihuly in the Garden,” and then went back for “Chihuly Nights.” We celebrated May the Fourth and The Revenge of the Fifth, which involved a lot of new recipes…and an old favorite. I was super excited to watch the Coronation of King Charles III, and I planned a tea party, featuring the Coronation Quiche, to go with it. Ladybug turned 16! We purchased a new minivan…our first hybrid vehicle. Turkey and Bunny received their Associate’s Degrees! We traveled to Chicagoland for Combo Breaker 2023, where both Turkey and Ladybug joined Ryan in working the event. The trip also included a day in my favorite city! At the end of the month, Turkey, Bunny, and I hopped on a plane for a trip to Disneyland!
June was a month of travel. Turkey, Bunny, and I had a fabulous time at Disney California Adventure and Disneyland, but we didn’t enjoy the cancelled and delayed flights (not to mention surprise overnight stay in Minneapolis) as much. We took a family trip, first to Cincinnati, where we saw the adorable baby hippo, Fritz, and some little blue penguins, and then to Toledo, where we checked out Klinger’s favorite spots that he mentioned on M*A*S*H, including Tony Packo’s and the Mudhens. We also took a tour of a an old canal, and got to ride a mule-drawn boat! I celebrated my birthday. An adorable mourning dove squab named Gaz took up residence on our porch. We celebrated 626 Stitch Day with a bunch of recipes from Lilo and Stitch: The Official Cookbook.
July was a bit quieter after all of the excitement of May and June. At the beginning of the month, Turkey and Bunny had their wisdom teeth removed, which was quite an experience. Ryan had surgery on his arm, which was also an experience. Bunny turned 19. Chickadee and I saw the Planters Nutmobile in St. Louis. We celebrated “Dole Whip Day,” which is a most delicious occasion!
August was a very emotional month all around. We dropped Bunny off for college, which was a huge adjustment for all of us. Moose started his senior year of high school, and final year of marching band, which was also emotional. I started my 16th year of homeschooling with the realization that Ladybug, now a junior, will only have one more “first day of school” with me…more emotions. Inspired by the Disney radio station on the satellite radio, I came up with a list of my favorite Disney songs…imagine my surprise when, almost four months later, I was actually chosen for the “Be Our Guest 4 the Day” segment (stay tuned…). We had a fun time at our church’s family game night.
In September, Moose was recognized at Senior Night at one of the high school football games. He also marched in the town Labor Day parade, and I continued our Labor Day tradition of chili…but this time, with a twist. We got to visit Bunny at Parents and Family Weekend at her college…we were all so happy to see her again! We went to St. Charles Oktoberfest for the first time, and I was really impressed with it. I welcomed a new neighbor to my Animal Crossing island.
We started October by joining all of St. Louis in saying goodbye to favorite Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright…Ryan and I were able to be at Busch Stadium for his final game. That same day, I attended the final of four Oktoberfests I visited throughout the season. We went pumpkin picking. We also had our family Oktoberfest. In one of my highlights of the year, KSDK’s Rene Knott came to our house to do a story about me and my fashion! We took our annual walk around Creve Coeur Lake, and attended Legends and Lanterns.
Moose was very excited to celebrate his 18th birthday in November. I won a dress and hat from Miss Candyfloss! We observed Martinmas again this year. It was warmer than I would have liked, but we had a nice hike around Cahokia Mounds. I completed a year’s worth of “Mani Mondays.” We baked nine pies for our big Thanksgiving celebration…the best part of which was that Bunny got to come home!
And that brings us to December. We started a new Lego project for Advent and attended the Boar’s Head Festival. In a lot of ways, though, we were just holding our breath until Bunny came home for Christmas break…and that’s when the real fun began, starting with our (delayed) celebration of Nikolaustag featuring stockings, decorating the tree, wassail, Döner Kebab, and a gingerbread dessert. We went to our two favorite Christmas events…Garden Glow and Christmas Traditions. And of course we enjoyed our traditional, multi-day Christmas celebration, but a little low-key this year, because I managed to injure my back right before the holiday.
This has been another fun and exciting year, and I’m already looking forward to several things in 2024!