50th Birthday Celebration

Wow! I can't believe I am 50 years old!

It actually happened about a month ago, but this weekend was the fun celebration. My best friend from high school, Tina, flew in from Dallas, TX and we celebrated our big events together.

Kate and I picked her up at the airport on Thursday evening and began our fantastic weekend with dinner at St. Louis Bread Co! Yum!! When we got into Farmington we stopped and rented 6 movies so we would be ready for the weekend. We went home and watched "Last Chance Harvey" and went to bed - we aren't what we use to be!!

On Saturday we braved the heat with a 'Winery Day'. First stop was lunch at Vance Vineyards in Fredericktown. We enjoyed appetizers - stuffed portobello mushrooms, crab cakes, and toasted ravioli. For lunch I had a grilled pork loin sandwich, Kate had a club sandwich, Tina had a chicken club sandwich and Jake had shrimp fettucini - Everything was delish!!

Next stop was The Cave Winery - a place I have always wanted to go! It was a bit of a drive but very beautiful! We traveled down narrow roads and gravel roads, paved roads and more gravel roads! But we finally made it! After tasting and deciding on a wine, we purchased a bottle along with some wonderful chocolates and then rode a shuttle down to 'the cave'.

We were so excited to enjoy our wine in this nice cool cave - What a neat experience this was going to be!

Well!! It wasn't long (maybe 1-2 minutes) before we were getting dripped on. Oh well, we thought, we can handle some drips for the experience - you know ambiance and all! Then Kate says to Jake, "Is that a snake?" Tina and I bolted out of our chairs! Needless to say we removed ourselves from the 'nice cool cave'! Forget about ambiance and the experience!!

Me and Tina, my BFF from high school relaxing inside the nice cool cave!

This picture was taken before we heard the word "snake"!

This picture was taken at the entrance to The Cave (after we heard the word "snake")

So after the snake incident and picture taking we left the cave - Back into the 100 degree heat - Unfortunately the nice shuttle did not show up to take us back up the hill and we had to walk. But all in all I am still glad we went to The Cave Winery!

Last stop was Sand Creek Winery - the newest one in our area. Again it was a beautiful drive and again we were on pavement and then gravel.

At Sand Creek we enjoyed cheese and crackers and homemade potato chips with homemade dip!

Kate and Jake

Aren't they cute!?!

Levi, Jordan (my nephew), and Tommy & Cole (2 of Levi's high school friends) joined us at Sand Creek.

Jordan, Levi, Tommy and Cole.

After getting home we watched a movie - "Fool's Gold" - we enjoyed that one. We tried to watch "Surfer Dude" but it was really bad. Later Tina had to have her 'white castle' fix. Kate and I had Sonic - no belly bombers for us!!

On Saturday we decided to get some sun and hit the pool at Kate's apartment. Unfortunately, Kate got a little too much sun! After sun bathing we had to have Hunt's Burgers (it's a Farmington thing). Then we did a little shopping at the shops around town. I actually purchased 3 plaques to match the 1 Kate gave me for Mother's Day - they are for my up and coming Dining Room!

Saturday night was movie and popcorn night! We watched "The Bridges of Madison County" - an old movie we had both seen, but we still cried! We had to make a taco bell run at about 1:00 in the morning! Tacos were one of our favorite late night snacks back in the day!

Sunday came too soon!! After enjoying lunch at Ruby Tuesday's we did a little shopping and then it was time for Tina to go to the airport and catch her flight.

I had a blast celebrating my 50th birthday with my life friend!!

I thank God for her - she has always been such a blessing in my life!! I pray we can celebrate many more birthdays together!