Recently, while Matt was on a business trip, I took a little trip myself. After Mom and Grandma picked me up at the St. Louis airport we spent a few days visiting in MO with everyone else. We picked fresh lilacs in the backyard and gathered them in bunches. Spent two afternoons on two aunt & uncle's farms hunting morel mushrooms. It was so peaceful traipsing through the woods hearing only the birds, creek and one of us saying "Found one!" (By the way, we found over 6 lbs of the yummy and sought after fungus and some people buy them for $40-$70 a pound!) Mom and I spent time talking with Grandma and Grandad about genealogy and filling in blanks on the family tree Greg kindly researched for us. A few of us spent Saturday morning making the garage sale rounds and found good bargains. We fed geese and went on walks at the park. Also saw deer eating dinner right outside the kitchen window. And
Flat Stanley joined us after his adventures in AL at the pharmacy with Mom before being returned to a cousin for her school project. There was the usual eating out at local restaurants (The Towers, Jerry's, Don's) and the treat of being able to laugh and play with baby Wyatt.
When Mom and I drove back to AL we took our time and drove through St. Genevieve, MO, stopped at an Amish bakery for goodies, found an antique store to wander through and drove by Helen Keller's home in Tuscumbia. Our time in AL was not idle. We went out to lunch at The Basketcase and Mamma Goldberg's, rented movies, improved some things on her computer, replaced a bunch of lightbulbs inside and outside that required two people and a ladder, cleaned out some of the garage, and picked out new glasses for Mom. While she was at work I ran some errands and visited with Krystal & Benji and Lindsay & Herreson.
Before ending the trip, Mom and I drove to Montgomery to meet Sarah, baby Mac and Beth for a fun and yummy lunch. From there I went with Sarah & Mac back to Birmingham to spend a short visit with them. We gabbed and rocked on her brand new front porch, had a delicious BBQ dinner, frozen yogurt dessert and played MarioKart with Patrick. The next morning was eerily gorgeous as we walked in the fog around the pond in their neighborhood. Mac had energy to burn so we stayed outside to throw rocks down the rain gutter, play in the sand, walk through a new house being built, and ride a toy in the driveway. By noon I was on a plane headed home. It was a great three-part trip.
We ate seafood outside by the water at Cantler's:
Saw blue crabs being sized and separated:
Walked (and laid) around downtown Annapolis after touring the State House and eating ice cream:
And snuggled (by force?) with a kitten at the animal shelter:
