Meramec Caverns

We spent the afternoon underground, in Meramec Caverns (about 60 miles west of St Louis).  The outside was pretty unimpressive- a tourist trap type of place, with dozens of signs as advertisement, a dismal hotel, campgrounds barely above the river, the main building with a leaking roof, and an enormous parking lot that (in the middle of winter) had all of ten cars.  Inside the caves, it was a totally different story.  The caves were  very interesting and beautiful-we only saw a mile of dozens of miles of caves in this system.  There were some extremely rare formations which we probably did not appreciate to the fullest.  The caves also have an interesting history- some of the largest "rooms" were used a storage area for soldiers during the Civil War, a ballroom during the 30s and 40s, and eve at one point some hidden places served as a hideout for Jesse James.  Mariel had a great time (she was just a little sad that the bats were hibernating).  Noella was pretty tired of being carried around, but I was rather reluctant to put her down in there!  The tour ends with a "musical show" including lights being flashed on a huge stalagtite/stalagmite formation.  The ridiculous seriousness/ campiness of it reminds me (on a much smaller scale) of Stone Mountain in Georgia.  As we were leaving, Patrick snuck into the store and bought a pink dyed stone slice for Mariel.  In the car, he gave her the paper bag with her gift as a suprise, telling her it was something very special.  She reached into the bag, pulled out the index card that had a paragraph on the origins of the stone, looked at it dubiously, and said "Well, this isn't really that exciting."  We told her to look in the bag again, and her reaction to the actual gift was much better, including a gasp of sheer joy when she saw that it was pink. 

Noella's dinner:
1 toaster waffle (at 4:30, because she actually pulled the box out of the grocery bag and started gnawing on it)
3 crushed tortilla chips with shredded cheese (because Mariel and I decided we needed appetizers, too, and Noella immediately began pointing and grunting, universal baby language for I WANT THAT NOW).
1/4 chopped red and orange bell pepper
1 piece of deli turkey, diced
1/4 cup chopped tortellini and shredded cheese
1 cup whole milk to drink
and 1 empty ice cream cone (see note for tortilla chips- Mariel got a chocolate ice cream cone)
This whole meal lasted from 4:30 until 5:30.  If you have small children, you know that most kids will not stay in a high chair or booster for more than 20 minutes.  Noella, on the other hand, will stay as long as there is food. 

We call it Baby in a Box.  Good for minutes of keeping crazy toddlers happy while not ransacking your home.  Also entertaining for parents when baby tries to escape by plunging headfirst over the side.  I am going to work on my business model and marketing strategy. I think this could be big. 

"There are six people in a house.  Mariel, Noella, Dad, Mom, Alvin, and a mean witch.  Don't worry, she's nice.  She has a bendy arm.  Oh, we need feet."

(Note: Alvin is Mariel's imaginary brother.  She plays with him pretty much every single day. We've gotten used to him, and really he is quite nice.  Very quiet and clean.)

Tired.
Too much fun this weekend.  On Saturday morning we went to ballet class for Mariel-with a friend!  It does not get better than that.(http://www.morestrawberry.com/2010/01/just-perfect.html).  Saturday night was dinner out for me, with my own friend.  At a wine bar.  If you know me, you know how happy the combination of a good friend and good wine make me.  Did I mention there was delicious cheese, too?  Heaven.  (http://www.robustwinebar.com/).  Church for me and Mariel this morning.  I have many internal struggles about how I feel about religion, but I dearly love the calm comfort of Mass and its routine on Sunday morning. Its a church filled with young children, and Mariel goes with many of them to the Children's Liturgy... so I (and the other parents) actually get to sit and take in that calm comfort. (http://www.holyr.org/)  This afternoon I took Mariel ice skating at the Webster Groves Rec Center.  I would have taken pictures except that seemed potentially dangerous for all involved, particularly my camera.  She did very well, and even after only an hour (and three total times around the arena) we are both totally worn out.  (http://webstergroves.org/index.aspx?nid=197).  Noella spent the weekend perfecting some new tricks, mainly involving hiding things in the kitchen garbage (such as her washcloth, or clean diapers, or anything else that seems suitable).  The laundry basket is also a good hiding spot (we spent much of the weekend searching for her favorite bunny, which was eventually found in the bottom of the laundry bin in my room).  This afternoon, she branched out to the toilet (the poor bear in question is fully washable and went right into the washing machine).  A lot of adventure and discoveries for her!
And Patrick?  He pretty much worked all weekend, both from home and the office. So he is tired too, but for different reasons.