Birthdays in Springfield, MO

I got a call last week from my friend, Sherri, who now lives in Springfield, MO. We met several years ago (when we were both single and childless) on a scuba diving trip to the Red Sea. We became close friends and we have kept in touch despite the geographical distance when Sherri moved back home. She has three little girls now and two of them, turning 5 and 2, have the same birthday, May 18. Sherri called to invite me to their party on Sunday the 20th and since school was over for Rachel, we decided to go.


We started out early Saturday morning since it's about a seven-hour drive to Springfield; but, God bless the soul who invented car DVD players, Rach and I had an easy, uneventful trip. We arrived about 2:30 pm and had enough time to let the girls play and get reaquainted (Sherri's whole family came and stayed with us last August for my 40th birthday) and then we had pizza for dinner.


We spent most of Sunday morning preparing for the party and then we had a wonderful cookout, courtesy of hubby Shane, presents and cake.

On Monday we went to the park and walked along the river that runs nearby and Emma, the oldest, had a tee-ball baseball game. It was really cute to see all those little boys and girls in all their gear, trying to bat, run and field.

On Tuesday we were hoping to go down to Branson to an amusement park, but rain was threatening so we went to the nearby zoo, which was also free with my Nashville Zoo membership, in case we had to make a run for it. The zoo there is really great. The kids loved all the baby animals, especially this baby elephant, and there are two baby giraffes expected any day now.

Wednesday was the long drive home--somehow the trip back home always seems longer. Hmmm.