HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRIS .. DAY TWO!!!

For your 50th birthday you deserve a celebration that goes on and on and on, right??????  I started the day by gobbling MY birthday cupcake along with my first hot out of the pot cup of Cinnamon Pecan Coffee .. Yummmmmm!!!  

 

Madonna showed up bright and early with Cris's birthday gift .. Gosh .. I sure wish I had cleaned all that junk off the side of my fridge before I took this picture .. LOL!!  

Madonna is such a creative person .. the birthday card was hand crafted!!  

And then there was the Birthday Tiara .. with a big Five Oh on it!!!  

And then the hand crafted apron!!  

And hot pads to match ...

And the hot pads have magnets in them so you can just toss them on your refrigerator when you're finished with them!!!   Or I guess you could stick them to the side of your stove .. but the girls had fun throwing them at the refrigerator .. LOL!!  There was one more gift in that big purple bag but I'm saving the best for last .. sure hope I don't forget to post it!!!  

After the opening of the gifts .. the three of us climbed into Madonna's car and we headed out on our day's adventure!  First stop ... Sweets of course!!  

 

 We had already decided that before we headed in towards the city on this day of  treasure hunting that we were going to stop by Schnuck's and get one of their delicious sweet rolls to start our day .. Madonna and I have already made our choices but the birthday girl is having a hard time choosing only ONE!!! 

This big Cinnamon Roll with Maple Icing .. Vanilla swirls .. and crushed Pecans is always my favorite!!!  

And Chocolate Milk!!  Yummmm ... nothing like a Maple Pecan Cinnamon Roll and Chocolate Milk to start your day off right!!  We are not even going to contemplate how many calories the three of us consumed before we ever even got the day going .. LOL!!!  You don't count calories during birthday celebrations, right????  Yeah .. that's what I thought!!! 

Madonna had a long list of places to go .. some of them were places we had never been to before .. like this one.  There was a regular resale shop downstairs and the upstairs was filled with small Flea Market booths.  Very neat and clean.  All three of us found something there and all agreed it was a place worth revisiting. 

Of course you can't go treasure hunting without hitting a few Goodwill stores .. this is one we had never been to before.  We went so many places I don't remember whether any of us got anything here or not!!  We went to a couple of places after this one but don't ask me where .. I don't remember .. LOL!!  

Eventually stomachs were growling and we decided it was time for lunch.  There is a small strip of eating places we like to go to because it has a variety of choices of places to eat .. a Cafe type restaurant .. A Chinese Buffet .. a Dominoes Pizza .. and a Qudoba .. which is one of Cris's favorite eating places.  Madonna and Cris got their lunch at Qudoba and I got a Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich from Dominoes.  There was a terrific breeze so we decided we would eat outside.

After lunch we were on the hunt again.  We eventually came to another new store ..  

 This one just recently opened and is owned and operated by disabled veterans!!!  It was a nice clean store .. but things were a bit pricey in comparison to other thrift stores!!  


As I said earlier .. we went to so many places I lost track of them.  Both Value Village Stores .. 2 or 3 or 4 more Goodwill stores .. a couple of small resale stores.  The Value Village Stores don't have public bathrooms .. we hit the second Value Village store along towards evening .. when we left the store all three of us were in need of "powdering our noses" so to speak ..  so we ventured over to the Taco Bell that was in the connecting parking lot for a brief visit but ended up staying long enough to eat a little bit before taking off again.  I had a Chalupa .. the girls both had a Taco.  No time to linger .. there were more stores to visit and more fine treasurers to see .. LOL!!!  

We came dragging into my home in Hematite about 9:30 pm!!  That's about 13 and 1/2 hours of climbing in and out of the car .. walking up and down aisles .. yakking .. laughing .. and having fun!!   WOW .. what a day!!!  

As soon as we got settled in Cris and Madonna started digging through their bags of treasures to see just what they had found!  Just like two little girls giggling over their treasures .. LOL!! 

Madonna is quite proud of her pink chenille bathrobe .. with a hood no less!!  She really loved that hood!!  Her sister looks like she just might be pouting because she didn't get one .. LOL!! I love this picture!! 

Sad to say these are the only treasures I found .. and I got the America America sampler the day before!!  The auto vacuum was for Rob .. and believe it or not I got the pumper bottle to put my dish washing liquid in!!  I am too lazy to bend over and put my Dawn dishwashing liquid under the sink when I'm done with it .. it sets out all the time and becomes quite unsightly .. I thought this might be a whole lot better .. we'll see!!  And now get all that stuff off the table girls we're going to gobble a few goodies!!!  

This is the first chance we've had to sit down and enjoy the goodies that Madonna made .. 

And believe me we did enjoy them!!!  Thank You Madonna for the home made treats and the Cupcakes and Ice Cream!!!  

DAY THREE!!  

  Madonna and Cris ventured to Farmington, Missouri for the third day of celebration .. sad to say I didn't get to participate in this day's fun for I had to work so this will be a short story!!  They went to a place called "The Factory" .. this is an old factory building that is now filled with craft booths .. resale booths .. and a small cafe.  They also went to a flea market that is set up in a group of storage buildings.  Farmington Goodwill.  Applebees for lunch.  There are a couple of nice Antiques / Collectibles shops in Farmington but they didn't mention having gone to those.  After thier jaunt in Farmington they came back to Hematite and picked up Miss Lindsay and went to the theater in Festus to watch "Brave".    If Madonna has pictures I will create a DAY THREE page and share them with you .. all I have to do is remember to ask her .. LOL!!  

DAY FOUR .. 

The celebration is almost over .. Cris would be going back home today!!  Another of Cris's favorite treats when she is in this area is the Cinnamon Crunch Bagels with Honey Walnut Cream Cheese from the St. Louis Bread Company.  It just so happens that these are a favorite of her mother's too!!  So as she was taking her shower I headed into Festus to the St. Louis Bread Company to purchase her last birthday treat .. Yummmmmm!!! 

This was Monday and Madonna had to work .. so Cris had to pose for the obligatory Hematite Bed and Breakfast front porch picture all by herself!!  She doesn't look 50 years old does she???? 
 

Speaking of being 50 years old .. remember that last gift in Madonna's big purple bag of gifts? 

 The one I saved for last????? 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRIS!!!!! 

Love you Cris .. I hope you enjoyed this birthday celebration as much as I did!!!   My biggest treasure of the weekend was being able to spend time with my daughters doing absolutely nothing but HAVING FUN!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRIS!!!

Madonna, Cris and I  enjoyed  a "Girls Weekend Out" together last weekend to celebrate Cris's 50th birthday!!  It just does not seem possible to me that she is now 50 years old .. but I guess maybe a mother always sees her children as children!! 

DAY ONE ...

The celebration began on Cris's birthday .. Friday, July 13th .. Yep .. it was Friday the 13th the year she was born too!!  So for those of you who believe that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day .. believe that no more .. for on that day in 1962 a beautiful dark haired baby girl was born .. and that was a lucky day for all those who are fortunate enough to have her in their lives .. for that baby girl has grown into a beautiful and loving Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Nurse, God loving Christian and Friend!!   

 We had plans to meet Cris in Ina, Illinois to check out an Antiques / Collectibles shop there that she had been wanting to visit and then on to Benton, Illinois .. which is FULL of Antiques / Collectibles shops!!    And from there Cris would follow us back to Hematite to spend the weekend.   Madonna had a long list of other shops and thrift stores to go "treasure hunting" in during the next couple of days!!!   


 We had quite a time getting to our meeting spot over in Illinois .. Madonna knew how to get to Chester, Illinois .. which is just on the other side of the Mississippi ..

There's the bridge .. we'll soon be at Popeye's park in Chester .. all we have to do is cross that bridge!!  

Crossing the Mississippi into Illinois!  

 

Right across that bridge is a small park dedicated to Popeye .. the whole town of Chester is dedicated to Popeye!!  More pics of Chester and Popeye later!! 

Once we got to Chester .. Madonna  was relying on the GPS to get us where we were going!!  Sad to say  her  Garman GPS system was in the Equinox and the Equinox and her hubby, Mike, were  on their way to Michigan to visit a friend!!  Sooooo  Madonna had borrowed Derrick's Tom Tom GPS.  Tom Tom wasn't a whole lot of help .. we were taking the "scenic" route through the country to get there and Tom Tom kept trying to get us to take every exit along the route because he wanted to get us out on the highway!!!  We soon stopped at a gas station and bought an Illinois map and Madonna plotted our directions for the rest of the way ...

Tom Tom went into the glove compartment ..

And Madonna decided they would be getting Derrick a better GPS system!!  

Cris was also having a difficult time reaching Ina .. before we ever got to Chester we had gotten a call from her  .. she was at a standstill on I57 South due to a traffic accident and had no idea how long she would be sitting there!!    We stayed in touch via cell phones as both vehicles made their way though Illinois searching for Ina.  Eventually traffic started moving again on I57 and
as we wondered through Illinois checking the map and figuring out our turns Madonna was so in hopes of beating Cris to Ina  .. but alack and alas .. about 10:30 or so we got a call from Cris .. "I'm in Ina .. where are you"??????  We missed getting there first by about 10 minutes!!  However .. we decided it was only fair .. after all .. Cris was the "birthday girl" .. LOL!!!  

Rend Lake Antique Mall at last!!  Big building .. lots and lots of things to see!!! 

One of the workers was kind enough to take this picture!!

Cris got the first "treasures" of the day .. the Salt and Pepper shakers to go with the "Hobo / Clown" teapot she has that used to be Grandma Carpenter's!!!  We stopped at another much smaller Antique Shop in Ina but there wasn't much to see there. 

Next stop .. Benton, Illinois.  There was an Antique Shop on all 4 sides of the town square and some that weren't on the square!!  However .. our first stop in Benton was the "Buzz Cafe"!!  

Checking out the menu on the front window!!  

We each had half a sandwich and chips and a cup of soup.  They had some delicious looking desserts but the sandwiches were served on huge crescent rolls and even though they were only half sandwiches they were very filling .. we decided we just might come back later and have dessert!! 

I just had to get a picture of the can cans in this shop .. needless to say these particular can cans are NOT vintage .. LOL!!  

I couldn't tell you who found what where .. but we sure had a good time traipsing through all the places on the Benton town square!!  

 

Benton also has a prison museum but we didn't take time to tour it.  These gallows are a reproduction of the gallows that used to be used here many years ago!!  

Mapping our way back to Chester and on into Missouri!

A family out enjoying the day on a pontoon boat on Rend Lake! 

Next stop .. Chester, Illinois .... 

The "White Buffalo" Antiques / Collectibles Shop in Chester. 

We each found something here .. 

 

This was my "treasure" of the day!! 

Madonna had been looking forward to getting back to "Wimpy's Park" all day!!!  

This is why Madonna could hardly wait to get back to Chester .. she loves these things with holes that you put your head through .. LOL!!  We set my camera up on a brick trash can holder to get this pic .. and then a young couple came into the park taking pictures with their cell phone and I said "Hey .. I'll take a picture of you with your camera if you'll take a picture of us with mine"!!  (Hard to believe I used to be bashful and shy .. LOL!!!)  Of course they agreed ..

and they took THIS pic!!!  Since Madonna was the youngest she HAD to be  Sweet Pea!!  

There are all kinds of murals like this one on the buildings in Chester but we were running out of time .. we wanted to get back over that bridge and back into familiar countryside before it got dark.  

Aaaahhhhh .. back to Popeye Park at last!!!  

And there is the bridge .. we'll soon be back in Missouri!!  

And lo and behold .. there is the couple that showed up at Wimpy's Park and took our picture .. LOL!!!  In visiting with them we discovered that they were from Kansas .. they had come to Chester mainly to see this bridge .. it was in the movie "In The Still of the Night"!!!   

Me taking a pic of Cris following us off the bridge .. LOL!! 

After a stop at QT right across the bridge for gas ($3.06 a gallon .. cheaper than in Festus!!) and of course a soda we were off again .. next stop .. "Bandanas" in Festus for Cris's Birthday Supper .. we all three love their BBQ Pulled Pork .. Yummmmm!!!  They didn't have little birthday cakes so we ordered a dozen of their donut balls for dessert .. and when the waitress brought the donut balls she also brought Cris a birthday cake made out of a bandana and Tootsie Roll Pops!!! 

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOO YOOUUUUUUU!! 

 And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOO YOOUUUUUUU again .. LOL!! 

We finally made it back to my house where Madonna got the plate of Birthday Treats she had created out of the fridge and we celebrated once more!! 

And Cris opened her gift from me .. a Mary Englebreit set of Salt and Pepper Shakers that looks like a teapot .. a book "101 Things I Will Never Do Again Now That I Am Over 50" ...

And a Precious Moments figurine.  Cris has been collecting Precious Moments for years .. she even puts up a Precious Moments Christmas tree!!!  

This is the "treasure" that I found the day Rob and I went to the St. Clair Antique Mall in Fairview Heights.   She was created in 1990 (the same year Cris's oldest son, Ethan, was born!) and she says "I'm a Precious Moments Fan"!   I had almost given up on finding a real "treasure" and could hardly believe my luck when I saw her sitting there in one of the very last booths we went through!!   

After eating just a few of the goodies on that plate of delicious birthday treats Madonna headed next door for the night and Cris and I headed to bed also .. we would be getting an early start the next morning and needed our beauty sleep .. LOL!!!   

TO BE CONTINUED!!!