T.G.I.S.

Ah, Saturday! 2 parental units, 2 children... evens up the score a bit. We decided to go to Summerfield Farm and Zoo today. Lee surprised me back in May with a trip there, and it's a neat little place. Today and tomorrow is Christmas in July. Soooo... we end up with this: (I mean, really, how do you go about explaining this to children 5 weeks out of Ethiopia?)

























It was not super hot today... good cloud cover, but it was muggy. I pity the elves in their felted layers.

Also, Santa doesn't usually have to worry about flies in December. He was a really authentic Santa too. And nice.

Also, I just found out, to get these smiles out of our kids, Lee was sticking his finger up his nose.

Right before this picture was taken, a lady with a big camera approached us and asked if we live in Boone County. She was a photographer for a weekly paper in the county. She asked if she could take a picture of the children. Um, sure... But then she was trying to figure out where to put them, trying to set up a shot, wanting to take a family picture of us. And I'm thinking, "Um, lady... take it or don't, but the dithering will not work for our children." And H and Y were looking confused and moments away from scared, when the nice elf lady swooped in and introduced them to Santa and got them to sit for this shot (taken by me). We tried to explain that they were new here, and didn't know much English. I was prepared for all manner of crying, but whatever magic elf-lady had, she totally charmed our children into following her. Meanwhile photo lady was setting up photos with a different family, and we beat a hasty retreat toward the hay ride (fun-o-meter score: -1). On the way out of Santa's lair, I noticed that pics with Santa cost $5. Oh rats... I ran back with $$, but nice elf lady said "Oh no, honey, not for you! Have a great day." How very, very nice.

After an hour, we asked the children if they wanted to look around more, or go home. We had a consensus on HOME, so we got in the car and left. No drama. Wha?! I had brought a bunch of snacks just in case, since our visit was going to cut into lunch time. They happily munched on popcorn all the way home. I said to Lee "You know what that crunching sound is? NOT CRYING." And we high-fived each other.

Also, because you may need a good laugh as much as we did today... Check out the sheep that sounds like Robin Williams pretending to be a sheep. Everytime he did it, Lee and I just cracked up. It's right at the end... you can't miss it! :)