Posts

On the Tulip Trail

It’s tulip time in Belleville!

Eckert’s is offering a fun new spring event this year…the Tulip Trail!

Tulips are my favorite spring flower, and I have always wanted to experience rows upon rows of them like you see in photos of Holland, so of course I had to make time to follow the Tulip Trail. It did not disappoint…there are 300,000 tulips in every type and color you can dream of, in neat, orderly rows just like I imagined!

It’s amazing just how many different kinds of tulips there are, from ones with spiky petals to the traditional rounded variety, and some with ruffled edges, too. I also really liked the stripey ones!

There are lots of fun photo spots throughout the trail…I especially liked the bicycle!

The main attraction, though (other than the flowers themselves, of course!), is a windmill made in the Eckert’s workshop:

There is something fun and beautiful to see everywhere you look!

This is such a unique experience…I don’t think there’s anything like it anywhere else in the St. Louis area. It was super busy, so it’s obviously something people are interested in, and I really hope it becomes an annual event. The only disappointment we had while we were there was that they weren’t offering the cut your own tulip experience at that time, and we were really hoping to choose some for our Easter table. I would love to have the chance to go back in the future and create my own bouquet!

Tulip time never lasts long enough, but they’ll be around for a while yet, and if you have the opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it!

An Academic Road Trip

Last week, Turkey, Chickadee, and I had a new experience…we went on an academic road trip!

Turkey was headed to Columbia, MO, for an academic conference sponsored by the Missouri section of the Mathematical Association of America. I decided that his travels would provide Chickadee and me with the opportunity to travel on to Kansas City to visit a few museums, so it turned into a learning experience for all of us! We stayed at a Hampton Inn that was literally across the street from Mizzou (not the location of Turkey’s conference):

Since we were right there, Chickadee and I took an evening walk around the campus…it was beautiful and historic!

The next morning, we set out for KC, which is only about two hours away from Columbia. The main purpose of our visit was to tour the National WWI Museum and Memorial. It is easily one of the best museums I have ever been to, and very moving…full details to come!

When you buy a ticket to the museum, you can add on a trip to the top of the memorial tower to your purchase, which I didn’t realize until we were there. I couldn’t believe that it was only an additional three dollars, so of course we went up, and the view of the city was AMAZING!!!

After we toured the museum, we walked to Town-Topic Hamburgers, a Kansas City classic that has been around since the 1930s. They make an amazing burger, and some of the best onion rings I’ve ever had!

After lunch, we hopped on the KC Streetcar (free to ride!), and rode to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

After the drive back to Columbia, we stopped in at Hy-Vee, because I love checking out a local grocery store!

We grabbed breakfast from the hotel buffet before we checked out Saturday morning…the branded waffles really amused me!

While Turkey attended the last few sessions of his conference, Chickadee and I went to Rock Bridge Memorial State Park for a short hike and to explore a small cave:

And then we met up with Turkey at Columbia College before making the trip home.

This was an unprecedented school trip for us, and while I don’t know if it’s something we’ll ever be able to do again, I really enjoyed this opportunity!

Mani Monday

Baseball is back! This week’s mani reflects my love of the St. Louis Cardinals, featuring their team colors and little hearts. I used Holo Taco “Sugar Rush” topped with “Red Flake Taco” and “Sweetheart Taco” on my thumbnail, followed by “Red Licorice” topped with “Sweetheart Taco” on the nail of my index finger, and “Red Licorice” topped with “Red Flake Taco” on the nails of my middle and pinkie fingers with just “Sugar Rush” on the nail of my ring finger to finish it off.

Fourteen and Fantastic

The weekend of birthday celebrations continued today!

Chickadee started the morning off at church, where the congregation sang “Happy Birthday” to her after the service!

When we got home, she opened her presents:

For breakfast, she wanted the coffee cake we always have on Christmas, with a twist…this time, I made it with strawberries instead of cherries.

She requested “Brinner” (breakfast for dinner) for her birthday dinner, featuring Mickey waffles, scrambled eggs, sausage, a delicious fruit salad, and strawberry milk tea with popping boba:

And she picked a chocolate chip cookie cake for her birthday…the decorations were inspired by the colors of the Honmoon in KPop Demon Hunters.

I had such a fun time celebrating my youngest (who isn’t that terribly young anymore!) today!

Celebrating 23

Turkey’s 23rd birthday was earlier this week, but we celebrated it today. I was really happy with how his angel food cake turned out, and the fresh strawberries I got for it were amazingly good, especially considering the time of year!

Moose pointed out to me that as I am currently 46, Turkey will be half my age until my next birthday!

Mani Monday

This week’s mani is all green inspired by St. Patrick’s Day! I used Holo Taco “Wicked Potion” set with the super magnet on my thumbnail, followed by “Wicked Potion” unmagnetized, “Lost in the Woods,” “Green Taffy,” and “Mint Mojito.” I love the variation in shades!

St. Patrick’s Day, Observed

Happy (early) St. Patrick’s Day!

We decided to celebrate today because it was the best day this week for a family feast. We started by setting the leprechaun trap…at this point, I can only assume that “Lucky” is taunting us!

Of course there were Lucky Charms:

And I made myself my favorite green drink this afternoon…the lavender matcha!

I love baking soda bread:

And we had our traditional corned beef dinner with all the fixin’s:

For dessert I made Guinness mousse to go with the Guinness cake Bunny baked:

This is truly one of my favorite dinners of the whole year!

A Trio of St. Louis Favorites for 3/14

Two days ago we celebrated Chicago on 3/12, and now it’s St. Louis’ turn…in honor of the original telephone area code for the metro area, we observed 314 Day!

We had a few St. Louis favorites…(frozen) Imo’s pizza for dinner, with the St. Louis classic, Fitz’s root beer:

And a homemade lemon gooey butter cake for dessert:

The celebratory season is far from over…tomorrow we’re having an early St. Patrick’s Day, and then the two March birthdays in our house within a week!