Sisters' Weekend

For about two weeks Wyatt had been telling me, "I can't wait until February 27th. It's going to be the best day ever." Not only was it Henry's birthday, but we were getting visits from our dear Richards friends (who had kindly produced a baby for us to hold since we had seen them) and my dear sisters (who kindly brought ANOTHER darling baby for us to hold). All on the same day! He was right. It was the BEST.

The fun started at dinner time as we dropped off Henry and picked up his sisters to play with Willa during the party. As we quietly ate our pizza, I noted that their house was probably much louder at that moment. Anna smiled and said, "That's why we came." It was very cute. After their pizza they got lost in the imaginary world that materializes whenever they are together. Mr. Wimmer came home and I got to feed him too. Just as we were about to paint nails as a culmination of our girly fun, the doorbell rang and we found Adam and Eli peeking through our mail slot. It was delightful to see the Richards again! Esther is a completely different and fun little person than when we saw her last and it was wonderful to see what a pleasant little baldy Naomi is. (I have loved baldies with a tender nostalgia ever since I had one.) And it was great to talk to Dan and Andrea again. They always have fun things to say and think about. After we had made the kid switch and Wyatt was reunited with his former home-boys, we eventually wended our way to bed. But only for a few minutes, because I had to get up to see my babysitting twins in and head for the airport to pick up those three gals I was raised with and the youngest of my nieces.

Their flight was late, they lost a carseat, we were all exhausted, and the temperature had dropped to arctic levels, but we had the greatest time. Saturday morning we had a huge breakfast party with the sisters, the Richards and the Bennions (who serendipitously knew Dan in high school and live less than a mile from us). We gave house tours to small groups. The kids played. I wore my pajamas until 11am. Then after we hugged the Richards goodbye, we braved the snow that had fallen during the night to go with all the girls to see Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was so much fun to sit in a row and giggle together. And Ivy is the best movie-going six month old I've seen. She is absolutely sweet. We dropped off my girls at home and went on a driving tour of KC which included a stop at the bakery and a drive by the river as the late afternoon sun was making it shine. The plan then was to go to the contemporary art museum and eat dinner there, but Ivy had finally fallen asleep and the icy wind would have spelled doom for her nap. So we sat in the car and visited. It was wonderful.

When we finally went in, the art museum wasn't everything I had hoped. Half of the (very small) museum was closed for an installation. The museum guide followed us around and kept talking to us, which I thought was pretty creepy, but M'Li seemed to enjoy. Paige kept snorting at the art that really any first grader could have done but was displayed because it had a famous name attached to it. She got much happier whenever she came to an actual picture of something. Representational art is much more her thing. I'll have to take her to the Nelson-Atkins if she comes back. And I had remembered lunch prices from the restaurant's menu, so we ended up ditching the plan for Cafe Sebastian and eating at a great salad and sandwich place called The Mixx. Then we came home early and went to bed.

Sunday was pretty basic. Church in our fantastic ward (which featured several glowing comments in YW about Fred Nielson) followed by lunch and visiting punctuated by a bit of song and dance in the basement, and then we had to see the aunties off to the airport. Wyatt cried for 45 minutes after they left and has plaintively told me many times how much he misses his aunties. I had to agree. I called Kirsta the very next day and told her the same thing. It was a great visit, was a nice length and we all felt spoiled just for being together (thank you THANK you Alan, John, Billy and Mom). The only thing is, I want more! And next time I want my mom to be there too.