Sarah Saves the Day

When we heard the exciting news that Shawn and Sandra were going to be married in the Mexico City LDS temple we were thrilled. Of course both Keith and I wanted to be there to support them and to visit Mexico. It quickly became clear though that unless someone was found who could take on Charlie's school schedule and PKU diet, I wouldn't be able to go. I racked my mind for the longest time. All of my friends here had kids of their own that needed to get to school as well, none of which went to Charlie's school. Further more I couldn't see asking any of them to take on Charlie's diet. My parents are in Ghana, Liz just had a baby, and Sarah had two small kids of her own. However, she seemed like the best option and I knew I could trust her completely to take on it all especially Charlie's diet.

So I called her fully expecting her to turn me down. Much to my surprise she said a very enthusiastic yes! We planned for some "fun" days before we left for Mexico and had a great time introducing them to some of the main attractions of St. Louis. Those days were also used to prepare her for the task ahead. We meal planned (including Charlie's meals and lunches), went over school schedules and bedtime routines. I explained to Charlie and Jane multiple times that Aunt Sarah would do some things differently while we were gone and prayed that it would all go well. Or at least that Sarah wouldn't have her bags packed and ready to catch the first flight home once we returned. 

The doctor kit is always a hit with these two. They got along splendidly.

The butterfly house!

The Blue Morpho butterfly is Jane's favorite. Usually they are difficult to take a picture of because as soon as they land they close their wings exposing the underside which is mostly brown. This one is the first I have seen that kept it's wings open. They only live for a few weeks so there is a good chance that it was just old and tired.

Across the hall from the large glass butterfly room is a small room where there are various activities for kids to do. They change frequently so we popped in to see what was there. One of the activities was pretending to be an entomologist and sort "chrysalises" by shape.

Night time stories with Aunt Sarah were big hits. For several days after Sarah left, every time I read to Jane she would stop me and ask me to do a certain character's voice "the way Aunt Sarah does."

No visit to St. Louis would be complete without a trip to the zoo...

(Braids courtesy of Aunt Sarah.)

...and the science center! This was the activity Charlie requested we save to do on Saturday when he could come. So even though he evaded the camera, he was there. :)

Sarah the engineer designing a nuclear power plant.

The Discovery room is great. Among other things, it is completely contained. That means that for the hour we are in there I can relax a bit and turn off my high alert mommy mode that is constantly on in crowded places. The kids like it because there is a limit to the number of people in there each hour so they get to play with more things. It is also focused more on little kids so it is Jane's favorite part of the science center.


Grant and Jane quickly went over to the space center. Jane picked up the play astronaut helmet and plopped it on Grant's head.

Jane is very particular about her outfits these days. She wore her butterfly shirt to the butterfly house, her "zebra" shirt to the zoo, so she wanted to wear a "sciencey" shirt to the science center. Her shape shirt fit the bill. Her desire to coordinate clothes with activities rubbed off on Grant so he wore his dinosaur shirt.

Last, but not least, Sarah brought the ties that my mom had picked out in Ghana and shipped to Sarah to distribute to the male members of the family. Keith, Charlie and Grant all wore them for the first time to church on Sunday. Charlie thought it was pretty neat to have a real tie that ties like daddy's, as opposed to a clip on tie. They were a big hit!

And the next day (and all too soon) Keith and I were off to Mexico!