Church Camp Out

The church camp out last weekend was so much fun. It was PERFECT weather and luckily, the group we camped with had a sweet bug zapper so I didn't get one bite! And it was kinda cruel but fun to listen to the thing spark and zap all night long. 

 Breakfast was awesome. Eggs, hash, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and cinnamon apple croissant thingys. (That man in the sweet Dr. Suess PJ's is our dear Pastor Kurt, they forgot to bring their oatmeal so they got lucky and breakfasted with us!) 

 Cooking breakfast

We had some fellow grace and peacers come to serenade us in the morning while we ate. 

 Judah played with Roy, although Roy had a rough night cause he met a skunk, so dad had to run to closest grocery for tomato sauce. boo. 

Jill and Judah 

 Judah's first adult beverage. Well not really, although he did barf right into the top of the bottle without me noticing and then casually dumped it all over my pants. I figure, Judah's is merely giving me practice for what's ahead. 

Judah and DAD! Handsome boys! 

Rend Lake, the beach we worshipped on Sunday morning.  

Group supper around the campfire.  

 After supper and singing and smores, we had our own little jam session down at our camp. Brian knew every Dylan song (lyrics and all) we requested. It was pretty amazing. My favorite was our group sing-a-long to Old Crow Medicine Show, "wagon wheel". 

Boeuf Bourguignon

 So I've become just a wee bit obsessed with this woman. Don't worry, I'm not going to start blogging about all her recipes like in the film Julia and Julia, which was really cute btw. anywho...

I have not felt well for the past 3 months. And definitely not up to cooking. but like magic, overnight I started feeling better! And I think my little 3 month sabbatical from cooking has resulted in a surge of a cooking craze. So....

I made this recipe, Boeuf Bourguignon yesterday. It took me the full 5 hours, maybe 5 and a half. It was SO much fun!! There were something like 45 steps, it was crazy but so worth it! 

(I have both volumes of her cookbooks on order from amazon!! Can't wait!!)

 so we had friends over to partake and everyone loved it, the sauce was to die for. I can't wait to get her cookbooks so I can try more of her recipes!! I want to learn how to make brioche, and I know that's in Volume II. Anyway, it was such a great meal. You should try it!

Thanks Julia!!

Balloon glow

 So friday night we walked to forest park from a friends house (they live in dogtown so it was close by) to see the balloon glow!! We went down for a friends birthday. It was fun. It's a HUGE thing here in St. Louis. And it's always crazy cause at any of these events, no matter how many people are there, we always seem to see someone we know in the crowd! 

 It was really warm nearby the balloons but it was pretty impressive to see that massive 12 foot flame up close. 

 The race was the next day. There is a giant energizer bunny (that is also a hot air balloon) that gets a head start and the balloons race to the finish. Apparently the bunny drops a sand bag at some point and then they all drop sand bags and whoever is the closest to the bunny wins, so it's more of a target race or something. 

 The group of friends we went with. Claire, the one with those cute little spectacles in the middle, it was her birthday. And that's Mark, her hubby, peeking his head behind her. 

the bagpipers were awesome. We grooved for a bit. it was great! 

sweet finds

so we went antiquing in Greenville, IL a small town 45 minutes away from St. Louis. We left St. louis with four ladies and a spacious car. We came back nearly sitting on top of one another, the car full from top to bottom with goods. Trunk so full, we had to leave it open and strap it down. FUN! I found a few things, one shown above. The fan still works!!!! Not up to code of course, need to be careful with little ones! but we love it... 

Then we found this. I love these embroidered pictures. It's a "Van gogh" and it had to come home with me. So there you have it!