I got to Kansas City on a Saturday, by Sunday, I'd had something to chew. Mike, Cecil and I voyaged to Missouri for our summer vacation during the first week in July. While we were there, we had a great time visiting with friends and family, despite the major heat. You know Missouri is too hot when its hotter than Texas! In addition to good times with friends and family, we had some great new food places. On Saturday, we got up early and drove 12 hours to see Maribel, Jerod, and Genevieve in Kansas City. We were so excited to see them and so thankful for a place to stay as Cecil hates hotels! On Sunday, we decided to have a big lunch and met up with Sara, Julian, Aurora, Brent and Shelly at Brio's on the Plaza. I had been to Brio's in St. Louis and after eating here, I am anxiously awaiting the completion of the new one in the Arboretum in Austin. I had the caesar salad and chicken risotto, which was delicious, but a little on the salty side. After lunch, Shelly suggested we check out a nearby cupcake place. We had a walk through the Plaza and arrived at Cupcake A La Mode. It was so cute inside with great pink and black decor. I ordered a tasty strawberry and dark chocolate cupcake, which I devoured right before we left Kansas City. From Kansas City, we headed to St. Charles to stay with Mike's family for a bit. After a 3 hour car ride, Cecil was so excited to see his grandparents. During this part of our trip, we got to hang out with our siblings, see Mike's parents, and have a gathering with Mike's family. It was great to be able to see so many relatives! On Wednesday, we headed to Florissant for the last leg of our trip. Cecil was again excited to see his other grandparents and his "aunts" Maddie and Lucy! Wednesday was July 4, so we headed over to Sandy and Tom's for BBQ and fireworks. It was great to catch up with so many friends, but it was so hot that we didn't even go outside until fireworks started! On Thursday, Mike and I had individual plans with friends, but stopped at Penn Station for lunch. We have so many great sandwich places here, but we still miss Penn Station! From there, Mike went to sweat himself silly at Warped Tour and I went to visit Carrie and Maria and their babies. On Friday, we tried a new Florissant hot spot. We ate lunch with my parents at Delish, which is located across from Fritz's by the water tower. It was a tiny place, but the food offered a huge taste. My mom and I ordered the Zang and the Louie, respectively, which were both variations of beef sandwiches. Mike and my dad ordered the BLB (bacon lettuce bacon) sandwiches. Everything was amazing! In addition, we got some of their pretzels, which were even better than Gus's and some truly "delish" chocolate chip cookies. I hope this place is able to make it-the food was phenomenal and the owners were super nice. After lunch, Mike, Cecil, and I went on a tour de North County while my parents vacuumed. We didn't end up quite where we expected, but I was able to see Mike's house from growing up and his high school. Friday night, we had a gathering with my family and a bunch of our friends. Again, we were so excited we got to see so many people. Cecil was in small dog heaven! We knew we had to leave Saturday to head back to Texas, but not before one more meal out. Mike, my parents, and I met up with Andy at DeLeo's in Florissant. It was a cool sandwich spot located in the old St. Louis Bread Co location. I love sandwiches and DeLeo's met my expectations. I had a chicken sandwich with melted cheese and crusty bread-it was perfect! I was also so glad to get to see Andy! After lunch, we loaded up the car to head back to Austin. We were sad to go, but ready for home-we needed to relax after our busy vacation. On Saturday, we made it to Oklahoma City and spent the night in a hotel there, much to Cecil's dismay. We got up early on Sunday to head back to Austin. We lucked out and brought the rain with us and got to travel most of the way through Texas in pouring rain. :( When we finally made it inside, we all crashed. Thanks to all our friends and family for a fabulous Mo-Cation! We were sorry we missed some of you, but hope to see as many people as we can next time we are in town.

The New Austonian