so much to tell, so little time. . .

Where to begin?? How about on Thursday. . .

After working until 6:00 that evening, I came home to a wonderful dinner and packed bags. No, I wasn't being tossed to the curb. We were heading out of town! By 8:00, Moby (the great white minivan/whale) was gassed up, we had our Tim Horton's cafe mochas, and the dvd player was fired up for some mind-numbing entertainment. E was out by 8:35.

About 7 (ish) hours later, we arrived in St. Louis for our long weekend. We tip-toed into my FIL's house and found our place to crash. After telling the kids to sleep in, they woke the next morning around 7:30. Great. We decided to take the morning slow and work our way to nap time and a more human feeling. I can't speak for anyone else, but I had a fabulous snooze on the couch.

Finally, in the afternoon, we decided it was time to take the kids on an adventure. But where? There are so many cool things to do with kids in St. Louis -- the zoo, the Magic House, City Museum, Grant's Farm, the Science Center, the Butterfly House. Well, how about Grant's Farm? It's FREE, we get to see animals, and we can ride on a train through the oppressive St. Louis-in-July weather. Wonderful idea! Except we got there five minutes after they closed the parking lot. Damn. Ok. Off to the zoo.

Now I have to admit that I'm not much of a zoo person. I always end up going when it is about 95 degrees and all the animals have chosen to hide somewhere and sleep. There's also the whole thing about wild animals being kept in contrived environments, but we won't get into all that. So, off to the zoo. Parked for FREE. Entered for FREE. Paid $9.00 for a double stroller and $4.50 for a big bag of popcorn and some animal crackers. (Love that!) After seeing some impressive reptiles, stinky monkeys, a very adorable baby giraffe, and absent big cats, I was melting into the pavement. Then my smart hubby decided it was time to visit the penguins and puffins. AAAAHHHH! It was so wonderfully cold in there! And, oh, were those penguins and puffins cute! (Don't tell J I used that word.)

We finally decided it was time to hit the road, and M was kind enough to retrieve Moby and pick us up in front of the zoo. As we were heading back to my FIL's house, we called Imo's and ordered a couple of pizzas for dinner. We were almost to Webster Groves when I asked, "Where's the diaper bag?" "I gave it to you." "You did? I don't have it." Uh oh. Back to the zoo. It was sitting right where M had left it with me.

Back at home, we devoured our Imo's and prepped for our next to-do: Celebrating E's 2nd birthday!! He actually turned 2 on Sunday, but since we would be driving in the car, we decided to celebrate it on Friday night. With the help of Elmo party supplies, some balloons blown up by J, and cake and ice cream provided by Papi, we officially ushered in the terribly terrific twos. An age we will call the "Me Do" age because E insists on doing everything himself. I can't believe I have a 2-year-old again. I better enjoy it while I can.

Saturday brought more adventures: The Children's Hope Reunion Picnic! We met up with some of our favorite CHI Ethiopian families and enjoyed some good times. Honestly, though, I have to admit that one of the best parts for me was seeing the wonderful woman who coordinated our adoption of J and having him meet her. Another highlight was viewing a photo album from Ethiopia that had several pics of S and E. Seeing them in their first orphanage made me want to cry. Fortunately, not everything was emotional -- lots of kids from around the world playing and parents comparing notes was a joy to be a part of. It was really cool to finally meet so many people that up until then had only been virtual. (Wow! You all are real!!)

After some nap time at home, the Ethiopian families headed to one of my favorite places in St. Louis: Rigazzi's. After some salad, t-ravs, and baked ravioli, I was a happy mama. But I was about to become happier: Ted Drewes!! Yummy concretes. (After all this goodness, I had to sit in the back of Moby with J and his aching belly -- he had eaten waaaay too much. Can't blame him. Easy to do there.)

After getting the kids in bed, M and I worked on packing up. After driving over at night with the kids mostly asleep, I was wary of what Sunday would bring. Driving 7 to 8 hours with the kids during the day?? Are we nuts?? Yep. And guess what? They were marvelous! I am still amazed at how well we all did. Good thing -- we're going back later this year and have to make the drive again. Woo Hoo!