The Big Trip-- Utah

Well, we're back now, not quite combobulated yet, though. Here's our Big Trip. A little at a time...
First of all, Rosie and I got on the plane one evening and went to Utah. I don't really remember that part. There's just a gray sleepless smudge and an echoing mantra: "No...more... red-eyes...."

It was wonderful to stay with grandma and KJ-- fancy breakfasts, complete with red crystal goblets and satiny (primover?? How do you spell primover, kj?) placemats-- tiny civilized pots of jam, qhite plates of eggs and bacon... I love my civilized grandmother, and her strings of superlatives: This is the BEST BOOK I have ever read! She is the MOST BEAUTIFUL CHILD in the world! Her love is contagious.
Utah was still cold and crispy when we got there-- we went up to see dad's new cabin and it HAILED on us. HAIL. It was a serious shock. :)
So Rosie and Zina-boo are bffs. They play SO well together, it's a joy to be around. We got to monopolize Zina for one whole day at Grandma Betty's house-- here the girls are investigating ants in front of Francis' house.

And... it was cold. Rosie sees this picture and says, "It's cold! Hiding!" But notice the lovely apple blossoms in the background...
And Xanny's AMAZING kindergarten play. He was the STAR-- really. He was the Duck and he sang Born to Be Wild in Duckish. Rosie was totally captivated: "Kids! Animals!" It blew her mind.
As a kid, this was my favorite part of Grandma's basement, too. Bathroom mirrors that you can fold around yourself, and multiply yourself ad infinitum. Rosie sat in the sink and said, "Lotsa lotsa Rosies!"
Here's the BEST THING EVER (in the words of Grandma Betty). There was an I Spy exhibit at the BYU art museum. You have to understand that we are OBSESSED with these... especially with a tiny little figure that is hidden on nearly every page of several of the volumes. Rosie calls him, mysteriously, the "Puzzle Piece Guy."
And
HERE
HE
IS!!!!!!!
It was like meeting a Beatle, seriously.

So look at this poor kid. We went down a slide, landed hard, and Rosie hurt her foot. Really, really bad. Luckily there was a nice pediatrician in the neighborhood who really didn't seem to mind a last second consult on his front porch-- he said, "it looks like a spiral fracture of the tibia. She'll probably need a cast up to her thigh for the next six weeks. I'll call the ER and let them know you're coming in for X-rays."
So, YES! on our vacation we got to go to the ER. Rosie was very brave and strong during the X-ray, and miraculously-- there was no fracture. But.... Rosie didn't walk for two weeks. And if a blanket brushed her foot in the night, she screamed. So I don't know what happened, but it was bad.
On the other hand... for weeks before the trip, my sleeping and waking nightmare was the specter of Rosie running off in the airport, or darting into big city traffic, or disappearing in the Paris metro. So.... in some ways.... I was totally fine with her being immobilized. It was so sad to see my usually super-active kid sitting sadly in her stroller...