Melting in Middle America
I am apologizing profusely for not writing during our trip to St. Louis (mom has Juno, so--well, you know what that means). SOME of our trip pix made it out to family; most did not, and I don't think any got out to friends.
Here's the breakdown of activities:
May 29: arrive in St. Louis in time for dinner; one suitcase and one $1200 digital camera MISSING! (don't sleep well)
May 30: prepare for sister Amy's graduation from Timberland HS at Lindenwood University; attend said ceremony in sweltering auditorium with my mom, Mark and their family plus my sister Sara, broinlaw Rob, nephew Raef, nephews Cody and Tyler, and Addie.
May 31: Stepdad Mark's company picnic at Six Flags; ride rides, take pix, and chase kids all day (There were fun rides that Addie could ride all by herself! It was so dang cute!)
June 1: Amy moved to Michigan with Rob and Sara and Mark left on a week-long business trip at 6am; Mom and kids sick and exhausted from trip to Six Flags; I'm exhausted from Addie screaming between 2am and 5 am because she's cutting molars and she misses her daddy; we miss church but end up having a pretty nice day at home.
June 2: Shop-a-rama with mom; we hit a cool second-hand kids' store and Costco, then set about organizing mom's plethora of crafting supplies (which have been cluttering up her otherwise luxurious and beautiful master suite for 11 months). This becomes a 3-4 day project with lovely results. At FHE, my nephews Cody and Ty teach a parable I taught them and we have Primary Song all-request hour.
June 3: Our first venture to the St. Louis Zoo, which was just splendid! It's free to get in (although lots of attractions cost money) and it's very wild and natural and fun. The kids loved the animals--they got to feed nectar to lorikeets, pet and brush goats, ride a tube slide that goes through the sea otter tank, and watch the penguins and puffins and hippos swim in their tanks, too (eye-to-eye underwater through the glass). They also rode a beautiful "conservation carousel" and a cute little train that encircles the zoo
June 4: House Projects (mom's room);
June 5: House Projects; Cardinals' baseball game (Cards spanked the Blue Jays, by the way--no hits until 8th inning and I ate the spiciest bratwurst ever--ugh!)
June 6: I can't remember what we did this day
June 7: Picked up Rich from Airport at 11am; lunched at Fazoli's; worked on the backyard as a family that night
June 8: church at 830am; picnic and zoo (again--we had to take Rich and his good camera); Addie has a ball with her daddy there! ; Addie starts running a high fever and having diarrhea--later we figure its probably a combo of teething and a bug that runs through the whole family over the next week.
June 9: Work on house (Rich building in basement; mom and I put up a pool for the kids on the deck); swam; had another sing-along fest for FHE and played Pictionary with Magnadoodles with mom, Rich, Cody, and Ty after little ones went to bed; Addie slightly sick.
June 10: Worked on house (Rich building in basement, me painting furniture in basement)
June 11: Worked on basement in the morning, took Rich to the airport in the afternoon (he flew to Rochester, NY to photograph a wedding on Thursday in Palmyra, then up to Montreal for the reception and a tour on Friday and Saturday); went to Old Navy with mom to get Rich's birthday giftie.
June 12: Hung out with mom; scan a bunch of old family photos to save for genealogy purposes; lunch at Hardee's and play at Lake St. Louis Park; shopping with brother Mike; scrap book and make cards for Father's Day.
June 13: Play with kids all morning, clean house, make books with mom, work on genealogy photos some more; breakfast for dinner; games with Cody and Ty; TV with mom (Gregory Peck died--so sad--I stayed up and watched his Biography on A&E 11pm-12am)
June 14: Laundry and Packing and cleaning up our mess; Addie feeling better but worn out (so we stay home to nap and pack while Mom and Mark took the other kids to see Finding Nemo); shop with mom; tacos for dinner; TV and manicures with mom; brother Mike came home from Youth Conference and we chill for a while and eat Trix at 11pm.
June 15: Fathers' day! Church at 830; picked up Rich form Montreal at 10am; Baja Tacos for lunch with Father's day gifts and cake; nap; pack; say goodbyes; mom drive to airport at 4pm for 540 flight that turns into a 610 flight that might not connect in Denver with our flight to Bozeman; we make our Bozeman flight by the skin of our teeth, only to arrive without our FOUR HUGE pieces of checked luggage (!); the flight was nice and Addie was good, but she totally peed all over me on the plane (we had run out of diapers, so I used a swim diapers--for future reference, they don't catch pee--just the floaty stuff)-I am just glad to be back and glad Rich was there to help; arrive at our home sweet home at 11 pm and have a joyfully dreamy night's sleep in our huge comfy super king bed with fresh sheets; Addie sleeps well, too--ahh! Who cares about lost luggage when you're home safe after a long trip!?! (well, we do, a little--still waiting for it to get here--it HAS arrived in Bozeman).
Top 4 things about being home:
1. Cool, DRY air
2. Huge comfy bed
3. The Sound of Silence (ahhhhh)
4. Livingston ROCKS--summer came while we were gone and it's mighty loverly!
Bottom 4 things:
1. Missing Mom
2. Not seeing the house projects finished
3. Not having any clothes to wear
4. Not having a free zoo
So there you have it. If you got the email of pictures, they should all make sense now ! :)
PS: Rich had a great time in Palmyra and Montreal and stayed with my friend Heidi's family in Seneca Falls (I am so jealous!) The pix are FAB!
PPS: the luggage arrived at 4pm today and just about gave the delivery guy a heart attack carrying it up. Better him than us, I guess.
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