The Big Apple

This month, Aaron and I traveled to the East Coast for a family gathering with the Abts' (my mom's side). My cousin Sarah's graduation party was happening near Springfield, Massachusetts, and a handful of the family in WI headed out there to celebrate with her!

While we were out there, we took a 2-day trip to New York City! It was fantastic! Aaron had never been, so we made sure that we hit up as many of the big attractions as we could: Times Square, Rockafeller Center, Empire State Building (from the street only), Central Park, 9/11 memorial site, Statue of Liberty (from Battery Park only), NYSE & Wall Street, and Grand Central Station.

And that was only the first 48 hours of the trip :) After that, we all headed over to MA to spend the rest of the time together, playing Mafia (our family's favorite game), celebrating birthdays (I turned 24 AND Sarah and my uncle Ron had birthdays too), exploring western MA, and partying it up :) It was a great time!

Fourth of July

This weekend was the 4th of July celebration in Saint Louis, and there was a ton of cool stuff going on right by our apartment. First, there was an airshow over the river, and we had the absolute BEST SEATS for the show. We watched the show from the roof of our apartment! While we were soaking in the pool! Is that not the best way to enjoy something like that on a hot, sunny day? I definitely thought so :)

Later after we finished soaking, we went down to check the festival, parade, and eat some fantastic-tasting food. And that night, we met up with Andrew and Bethany Arkills to catch a concert on the riverfront and the fireworks!

And the best part: at the end of the long day, we didn't have to walk miles back to our car, then fight traffic all the way home. We walked about 3 blocks back to our apartment, rode the elevator to the 18th floor, and plopped on our bed. Love it.

I absolutely have loved living downtown because of stuff like this. I will definitely miss this city.