What A Difference A Week Makes. (Day Seven)

168 little hours.

And really, it didn't make much difference at all. But here we are, a week into summer and still managing to enjoy each other. Mostly.

So, I know this will come as a complete shock to most of you, but Stella and I had a really laid back morning. Stella goes through phases where she has favorite toys and favorite movies...and this summer vacation has caught us square in the middle of one of those phases.

Favorite toy: Little People Dollhouse and Airport. (Yeah. I said Airport.)
Favorite movie: Finding Nemo. I think we have watched it about twenty times in the past few weeks.

So we spent our morning - you guessed it - playing with our Little People and watching Finding Nemo. All the more reason for Jake to be dead convinced to take Stella to DisneyWorld next year. (They do have a kickin' Nemo ride.)

We enjoyed a cozy lunch date (we split some chicken soup. She gets the noodles, I get the broth.) And then we got our acts together and headed to Springfield to see Jake's new office. I have to say, I am going to love that Jake works right in the heart of downtown. It's still pretty easy to find parking and it allows Stel and I to pop in and visit him and then kick it around the Old State Capitol. It REALLY makes me anxious for the Farmer's Market.

Stella loved meeting dad's new co-workers...who I think were having a slow day. So Stella was good entertainment for a good 15 minutes. She scored some Winnie The Pooh christmas decorations and played on dad's phone. I had to wonder what the powers that be at DCFS would think if they called Jake and his two year old answered. Hmmmmm.

After hanging out with Jake for a bit, we met Uncle Matt (Vala, not to be confused with Uncle Chicken) and made Stella's first trip to Starbucks for the summer. How it took me a whole week I may never know. But Stels enjoyed a rocky road cake pop which might be the coolest thing ever invented. Well, second coolest. My iced chai with soy is still THE coolest.



We hung around on the square in the beautiful weather for a bit before meeting up with dad. Stella and Jake headed back to Petersburg, while I stayed downtown to meet with Julie and Damien at the Hoog before heading out to a fantastic night with the girls at Ross Isaac. It was my first time (the walnut quesadilla was incredible) and really any food tastes better when you get to sit outside on a warm night and share it with your great friends. This was an especially good Monday Funday because we got to share it with Mary Megan's future MIL, Patty, whom I adore.

I always miss having the girl with me, but sometimes....it's nice to choose to share my food with people instead of having it stolen from me by my two year old.