Missouri dreamin'

Owing to a de-centralized, cooperative method of picture-taking (a.k.a. sometimes my parents' camera was there, sometimes my brother's, and sometimes ours), pictures from our recent vacation are now scattered about the country. I hope that we will have at least ours to post here soon.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of the highlights of our weeklong visit to my parents' house in Springfield, Missouri:

--Elly started eating like a toddler! Which is to say, not all pureed, and enjoying feeding herself macaroni and cheese and such. And last night she ate spaghetti and meatballs with gusto - both brand new foods. What a change from two weeks ago!

--Meredith learned to jump in the pool, and is working on her swimming. It's amazing how much more comfortable she is after swimming every day for a week.

--Meredith got to sneak down early in the morning and snuggle with her grandparents. To hear her anticipation, this is a top-priority activity. Very sweet.

--I only billed one hour the entire week. Hooray! I did check my Blackberry frequently, though.

--Derek and I got away for a 4-course, 2-hour anniversary meal at a nice Italian restaurant in Springfield, Gilardi's. Check it out if you're in the area - it's delicious northern Italian fare in a beautiful old carriage house in the historic district. Evidently the Italian owner-chef married a woman from Springfield. Nice way to import talent.

--We drove back overnight on the fourth of July and enjoyed spotting fireworks throughout central and northern Missouri. Many kudos to Derek, who proved himself an able overnight driver both ways, with only post-4 AM help from me. The girls slept, as planned. Lovely, but a 2-day recovery from staying up all night.

-JRR