Okay. This is on the tail end of Morella's nap which Tim and I also just finished enjoying. I am hoping to get at least a few minutes of a post started before she wakes up. It's been a busy week so I'm just going to start and go from there.

I wish I had pictures to go along with this post, but if I added that right now there would be no content and I would never get done. I guess those will just have to wait.

We survived our first road trip! Not only was it my first real road trip that involved more than six hours of driving, but it was Morella's. Last Wednesday I had invited our out of town friend Chuck (who we visited in LA this past summer for vacation) to come over for appetizers and board games. Of course I didn't expect to play board games but instead just visit and chat. I also invited Sigrid and Matt, and Lowen who all came. We had wine, beer, and apparently a child's buffett dream (gummi worms, fruit slices, artichoke dip, shrimp, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, fresh mozzerella cheese, tomatoes and basil leaves with olive oil from Italy). It was plenty and we had a great time catching up. Chuck announced that he and Kathleen are expecting their first little in August too. I loaded him up with books before he left, and loaded up Sigrid and Matt with Pluto for the weekend. I went to bed exhausted by 11:30PM.

Thursday -- how can I forget what happened Thursday? I think I must have felt like crap...and just muddled through the day. No wait, I felt great actually and because Tm had a flat tire on his bike we drove him to work, stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and brought it over to Hilary's for an impromptu playdate. All three kids were home with her because school was closed due to the artic cold snap. Morella hada good time and walked away with a really awesome set of magentic acrobat dolls. I even got a really cool apron! Tim has his gaming night so it was my day to single parent. I succeeded with flying colors, complete with a bath and had planned on going to bed early and packing later.

However, Hilary convinced me of the benefits of taking a shower first and then getting as much stuff together as I could afterward so I wouldn't risk forgetting something when we woke up at 2:00AM to pack the car and leave. I ended up powering through and packed darn near everything and was done by 10:00 at which point I did go to bed. Tim came home at 10.30 and did some stuff ... by the time we got up he had only one and half hours of sleep.

Two thirty arrived sooner that I would have thought. We got the car packed, selves dressed, and baby ready by 3:10 and we were off. Morella went back to sleep right away and we were able to get three hours of driving time in before we decided to wake up early at 6ish. Tim entertained her until 7:30 when we stopped for breakfast at McDonalds' playland. The idea was that she would be able to crawl around and get some exercise before heading back to the car. That backfired becaue the playland in Springfield, IL was only open from 9:00AM to 4:00PM. What the hell? While we were there she was also criticized by the old man working the counter for wearing pajamas! Geez, she is a baby!!! She can wear jammies all freaking day if she wants too. I walked her around the place for awhile and then let her leave greasy little handprints on the playland window before leaving.

We made it an hour before having to stop again at a rest stop for 40 minutes because of a poopy diaper and ... get this .... Morella wanted cuddles! I guess she got kind of lonely in the back seat because she wouldn't crawl around at all. She just wanted to be held so that we could mock choke each other. Finally we were back on the road and she feel asleep around St. Louis. Sadly the nap wasn't as long as we hoped because she awoke again during the Ozark's when Tim stopped for gas. Though the last two hours were dodgey she whinned but didn't full out drop into a tantrum baby rage. We made it to Springfield MO in one piece .... thank god.

Checked into the hotel quick and changed before heading over to see if we could catch the tail end of the bachelor party that was occuring at a local arcade called 1984. For five dollars, you can play unlimited old school arcade games like Tetris, Gallaga, Pac Man, etc from 11-9:00PM. They had bunch of pinball machines too which was 25 cents per game. Of course it was all free to those of us who showed up for the party. We greeted Chad and then wandered around playing games one handed while taking turns holding the baby. She still wasn't ready to be on the floor on her own until afterward when we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at an Italian resturant called Nonna's. That was when she started the standing where she would hold onto her high chair and slowly start to crawl around and expand her circle chatting and flirting. She had a bean soup, I had lasagna with meat balls and Tim had spankonita (sp) with couscous.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and took a nap that lasted from 5:30 to 9:30. Whoops! I took Morella down to the main lobby to crawl around in the huge carpet space and see if maybe we could hook up with other wedding guests. They had a hospitality suite but no one was there when we showed up. Their were however, plenty of other folks waiting around in the lobby too. Eventually Morella crawled under their table and I went and introduced myself. They all knew Tim of course from his previous gaming experiences and Madison By Night. Super friendly bunch! I sent Tim out to get some supplies for Morella like milk, juice, berries and snacks. He returned with some beer, and at 11 Morella melted down so I took her back up and put her down. She chattered in her pack and play for about 20 minutes and then eventually went to sleep while I read some trashy vampire stuff and Tim headed down to hang out in the hospitality suite to play games and visit.

The next morning Tim was a little hungover and tired and slept most of the morning. Morella was up bright and early at 7:00 and enjoyed playing in the room. We all took a swim around 10, which didn't last long because the pool was kind of cool and Morella shivers easily. I bought her back up, gave her a bath then took a shower and then decided to go down to the hotel for an early lunch which ended up being their breakfast buffett. It was then I discovered that I could eat again...and boy did I eat! And what a mess Morella made! I introduced myself to guy (Tristan) I have seen at the Cardinal and Inferno the past 10 years and sat down at his table. We were joined a while later by an actor whom we had met the night before. Morella had a BLAST with her table company, packets of cream cheese and food. Afterwards, I brought her back up, we all took a nap and I told Tim that we needed to buy her new shoes before going to the wedding at 4:00.

Thankfully we had enough time for a good nap and a shopping excursion to get Morella new shoes. We got her a pair of Pedipeds instead of Robeez because the end we just don't like how they look. They are brown with colorful polka dots on them. We thought later that it wasn't very gender nuetral in case Crouton isn't a girl (which I am fairly certain is the case) but they didn't have any that were gender neutral. Oh well. Morella will put them to good use!

Back to the hotel to change and then off to the wedding for a last minute entrance as usual! The wedding was held at this ornate theater. Chad and his fiance's name were were on the billboard and there was a man riding a unicycle, blowing a whistle and yakking to all the cars that drove by (us included) and greeted those coming into the venue. Upon entering, there was a woman in stilts with a beehive hairdo, excess makeup and a feathered fan dancing, next to her was a woman in a colorful green 17th century green dress and overdone make up, a person encased in a red silk bag, and a another man roaming the entrance to the theater performing tricks and walking around entertaining. Inside a man was peforming with poi onstage while a 5 string band played tasteful music. About 50% of the audience was dressed up in their finest costumes, and were wearing beautifully ornate masks.

The ceremony started and Morella last about 10 minutes before Tim had to take her out. All of the wedding party were wearing exquisite masks. The ceremony had a bunch of traditions such as the wrapping of the mantilla, blessing of gold coins, lighting candles, ring exchange and vows and even a moment were the officiate had the couple turn around and take a minute to look at the their guests and really take in an appreciate all those who showed up. It was a unique ceremony and I throughly enjoyed sitting through it without having to worry about Morella.

Uh oh, Morella is awake. I guess I'll have to finish this later. I guess that is good considering how long it turning out.