MxPx in St Louis! Our 24th Anniversary!

We went to St Louis to see MxPx for the first time in years! This was part of our 24th anniversary/my birthday celebration and we had to do it right.

The venue (The Pageant) was right next door to the Moonrise Hotel where we stayed, which was nifty because we could just walk next door to see the show and didn't have to deal with the mess of traffic or finding parking.

I got a picture of the lobby the next morning when the light was better:

The hotel had a rooftop bar, so we had some drinks up there while we waited for the show to start. It was low 70s and there was a light breeze, it was perfect. You couldn't ask for a better fall weekend.

Our room was super cool; the moon and stars theme is obvious throughout the hotel and we even had some Georges Méliès framed stills in our room.

Waiting for the show to start!

The only video my dumb blog will allow me to post, but it was an amazing show!

These dudes had as much energy as I remember from the last time we saw them, years ago. Fast-paced, blazing riffs, and great songs. They were a blast to watch and I like shows like this where the entire crowd knows the words to every song. And they even did the bass/guitar toss across the stage to each other, just like back in the day. Only difference is the mosh pit is full of blue hairs now. But so what, it was a lot of fun!

Got a picture of The Pageant the next morning as we took a walk to explore the neighborhood:

On the way home, the odometer hit 123456, so I had to capture that:

Ah well, I suppose. All good things come to an end...

Ringing in 2019

We rang in the new year hanging out with the Von Thuns and playing trivia and card games, including the non-computer version of The Oregon Trail. It was a blast! Then on the morning of the 2nd I flew out to Boston for a few days:

The company celebrated their 50th anniversary in the old Boston Plaza Hotel. It's weird how many new people they've hired, I hardly know anybody anymore. When I started 9 years ago there were just over 100 employees and now there are almost 900. Only a few of the people who were there when I started still remain, so I guess that makes me a dinosaur. Anyway, there was a cocktail party after the company meeting:

The hotel was super cool; it was built in the 1920s and had retained its old timey appearance:

It snowed twice while I was in Boston, but I returned to a very brown Iowa. That's OK, I don't mind the unusually warm January. Hello again, 380:

In mid-January it finally snowed and we got to do all the winter stuff you're supposed to do. Like sledding:

Meet Mortimer the snowman:

As we sat outside around the fire one night, I'm pretty sure the snowman was closer to us than he was when I looked earlier...

Then all of a sudden Rose turned 14! I'm pretty sure no one saw that coming. She had lots of friends over for her birthday and had cake, ice cream, and a snow storm:

Her birthday celebration on her actual birthday:

And her birthday celebration with friends on Saturday:

Lily hates our good time:

The girls split into two teams and went to Lindale Mall to do a photo scavenger hunt. They were a little hyper and got yelled at by a mall cop, but they checked almost everything off the list and the team that won only had one item that they couldn't find. I don't think they had very much fun:

Also, Rose is studying for her permit, so lock your doors and stay off the streets.

Cynthia and I went to Riverside to see Everclear on a frigid Friday night. The temp without the windchill was -4. Thanks a lot, January. It was an awesome show, though, and cool to see Art still rockin' in his own weird way:

January ended with temperatures around -24 and a wind chill of -49, thank goodness. Can't wait to see what February brings us.