Happy Easter from rainy St. Louis!

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!

Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!

Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

GO! St. Louis weekend

It was a fitness kind of weekend at the Balogh house! On Saturday, Ford and Virginia participated in the GO! St. Louis Read, Right and Run kids marathon. In the past couple of months, they have run 25 miles, done 26 good deeds and read 26 books . . . on Saturday, they completed the final 1.2 miles of their marathon!

A before shot of my happy runners!

Jeb was there to cheer them on!
Ford spotted me just as he was approaching the finish line . . .
And here comes Virginia . . . she is not so interested in athletics so we are super proud of her for participating!

And here are the hot, sweaty runners after . . . they were awesome!

Refueling is important, so we hit City Coffeehouse and Creperie . . . YUMMY!

On Sunday morning, I got up at 5 and met my great group of relay girls at 5:45 . . . we participated in the marathon relay. Basically, we each ran a leg of a full marathon. It is always a fun way to run, especially when the sun shines!! I will do it again anytime with these girls!! But now, onto training for another 13.1 in October!

And then spring break came to an abrupt END.

We spent the last couple of days of Spring Break with my family in Athens . . .

Virginia was very excited to have her favorite PF Chang's lettuce wraps! (Please note, we were dining outside!)

And a little frozen yogurt always makes us happy!
Bridge Street with Mema . . .
And then we headed back to the Lou. We needed to be home to celebrate a wedding of a sweet, young couple at our church. When we left Athens on Friday, friends in STL were posting Facebook statuses about snow. I knew they must be joking. When we arrived back in town, there was no snow. However, the next day, well, that was a whole different story.

Hello Saturday, March 26, 2011. Springtime in St. Louis . . .
Between 5 and 6 inches fell throughout the day . . . this is the view of Forest Park from the wedding reception on the top floor of the Chase Park Plaza Hotel . . . beautiful, but not what the bride and groom were expecting!

Girl time in Atlanta!

Virginia and I had a little side trip to Atlanta for a little "girl time". My mom joined us for the overnight road trip. It was a quick and jam-packed visit but one that Virginia LOVED! She even wrote a story about a "lucky little girl" that got to see "all the places in Atlanta" with her "rockin' mom and rockin' grandmother"!!

The trip started at the American Girl store. Welcome to the family Ruthie!!

We then enjoyed a fabulous lunch (outside in the sunshine without jackets!!!) with our amazing friends, the Lagers. The Lagers moved with us to St. Louis back in 2006 but sadly moved to Atlanta last summer. Virginia loved getting a little Jake time!
I also squeezed in my first EVER visit to an IKEA. Oh my goodness!! I can't wait to go back! I spent $100 and got 3 11x14 picture frames, 12 place settings of every day dishes, and a rug for Jeb's bedroom. Virginia enjoyed the sponge cake with raspberry filling and lime green marzipan frosting . . . it had a foreign name, looked so gross compared to the beautiful chocolate cake next to it, yet she is still wanting to return for another piece of IKEA cake! :)
We then enjoyed a dip in the rooftop pool . . .
Followed by a fondue dinner at The Melting Pot. Seriously good stuff!
After a good night's sleep at the hotel, we were at the Georgia Aquarium at 9am on day 2!

If you haven't been and are ever in the area, it is a MUST SEE . . . Virginia loved petting the stingrays. The beluga whales were amazing. The jellyfish -- wow! Not to mention hermit crabs, white crocodiles and dolphins arriving in April!

Thanks to a call from my awesome nieces the week before, I knew to be on the look out for a Baja Fresh. When we lived in DC, Baja Fresh was a staple in the Balogh diet . . . in other words, Brent and I ate there at least 3 times per week! :) It makes me happy just to look at this amazing plate of nachos. And it always reminds me of good times with our precious friends, Ben and Reika!

After lunch, we moved on to World of Coke. My nieces described this as "Aunt Char Char's heaven" and it was pretty close to perfection. Seriously, Coke machines that serve 160 flavors! DELICIOUS!

And be sure to try some Beverly . . . it'll knock your socks off! :)

Awesome, awesome time!

A few days in Birmingham . . .

After the lake, we enjoyed a couple of days in Birmingham. Being at Mimsie's house in Mt. Laurel is like a vacation destination!

Bobby and Jeb on the golf cart . . .

Cutest little guys ever!
Emily, Allison and Virginia strike a pose . . .
Dessert with a view . . . Ford, Emily, Allison, Virginia, Bobby and Jeb . . .
Brent and Brook with their kiddos . . .

Lake Life . . .

We headed South for Spring Break last week . . . 1st stop, Lake Martin! It was so fun to spend a day at the lake with cousins. And Bryan and Mary Laslie are pretty amazing hosts!

Ford and Lil . . . so happy together!

Virginia giving the kayak a "whirl", literally! It is really hard to make a kayak go straight! :)
Jeb got the best end of this deal . . . Ansley kayaked him all around and he just laid back to enjoy the ride.
Martha and Virginia . . .
Enjoy a little "sand bar" fun! Let me remind you, one week to the day from these beautiful photos, we were back in St. Louis and had 5 inches of snow. Seriously insane!

Jump Rope for Heart . . .

Each year, the kids school participates in Jump Rope for Heart in order to raise money for the American Heart Association. This year Ford's grade moved to "teams" rather than individual skills . . . her is a shot of his team. They did some great tricks but it is a little hard to capture in a still shot!

My handsome boy is developing a teenage smirk. Scary!
Virginia's grade still does individual skills . . . a little airplane while spinning anyone?!
And the traditional "jump"!
And you gotta love "girl love" . . . Emma, Alexa, Virginia, Robin, Allie and Riley . . .
Can you tell this was on St. Patrick's Day??!!