Midwest Vacation: #4

I had decided to ride up to my folks' with Sal when she went up on Tuesday so Sunday and Monday were spent quietly at home with John's new expanded family. After a really long time waiting to adopt a baby, they finally got the good news that their four was now five. They named her Vienna Marguerite after the city in which my parents were married and after Joanna's maternal grandmother. I loved the name when I heard it and I now love the named even more. She is a cutie, sweetie, cuddlie, bundlie ... oh I can feel my teeth aching from the sweetness.

On Sunday, Zander and John began exploring the CD-ROM they got at the Frank Lloyd Wright gift shop. There are photos, movies, drawings and descriptions of all his creations. We discovered the house nearby was open on Sundays but not on Easter. We made plans to go the next weekend.

We decorated Easter Eggs in the afternoon with a speckled egg kit. It used concentrated liquid dyes applied using little sponges. Sal, Zo, Zander and I all had our unique methods and results. I forgot to take some pictures, sorry. I'm hoping John took some.

Sunday evening, Joanna, Erica and I went to see Blades of Glory. I don't think I've laughed so much in a theater for a very very long time. It was so funny. I was glad to see it with those two because everything seems funnier when I'm with Joanna. The kids wanted to watch Eragon while we were gone so Sal got to watch it again. Poor thing.

On Monday morning Sal and Joanna visited Zoe's class to test the first graders' reading skills. (I'll get to do it this next Monday. I'll describe the process then.) So that meant that I got to babysit Vienna all by myself. John left her swinging in her swing as he left for work saying she'd fall asleep soon. She didn't. She started to get fussy about 10 minutes later so I fed her some and she still didn't seem interested in napping. That was fine with me.

We met up with Erica and her two preschool kids at a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. My orange peel chicken was lovely but the egg drop soup and the egg roll were subpar. I might stick with the crab rangoons next time.

When the kids got home from school we went to the library and Target -- two of my favorite places. I actually had a headache at the library so I got a hot drink at the cafe and sat outside in the cool air while the others found their books and movies. We met up with John at Target when he was done with work. Sal and I bought Zoe some pretty ponytail holders and at the last second I found the cutest dress for her. It was supposed to be a nightgown but it will make a nice summer dress. I have to remember to take a picture of her in it. We had steaks on the grill for supper and then watched some baseball and then 24. It was a great day.

It started snowing on Monday so I thought I'd try to capture it. Harder than I thought.