What a Zoo!

My brother and his two daughters are visiting from Boulder for a week. His 18 year old son stayed home to take care of the 2 dogs, 2 cats and rat - purportedly. They flew in Monday afternoon and will leave next Monday night, taking my great-niece Molly back home with them for a couple of weeks. This afternoon Joe, Stephie and I went to the zoo. I had not been there for quite a while. In fact, the last time may have been the re-dedication of the Flight Cage, which Jim's company had worked on. I parked in the parking lot as I could not find any spots along the street. $11.00 to park!!! Unreal! I guess that's what you get when admission to the zoo is "free". Inside the zoo it really was not as crowded as I expected. Though it was warm out today, it was not overly oppressive like it can be in St. Louis. I don't know about the rest of them, but I had a great time snapping pictures with my new lens. Man, does it capture the moment!

Tomorrow the girls and I will go to Cahokia and pick up Molly and her sister Cordy from their last day of school. They get done at 11:00, and after that I'll take them to lunch and then swimming at the Lodge at Des Peres. My back-up plan is to take them to either the City Museum or the Magic House if it rains. My brother will go with us if we decide on either of the museums, but he is not interested in the pool scene. I think he is considering that a house with no kids in it sounds pretty good to him. Molly will spend the night here with us, but Julie (my niece) will come and take Cordy back home with her. My limit is three teenage girls at once. I'm hoping for no rain as laying at the pool with a book sounds less stressful than a trip to the museum with 4 girls.

The City Museum, a Wedding and Converse Tennies

My husband and I attended a wedding at the City Museum last night, which was a Sunday night. The bride has worked for my husband for quite a few years, so we know her well. Mindy is Jewish, and her new husband is Chinese, so to say this wedding was a joining of two different cultures is an understatement. Mindy and Eric met while attending Washington University's school of graphic design, eight years ago. The choice of the City Museum to hold the wedding did not come as a surprise to anyone who knows Mindy, as she is definitely one of a kind. The wedding invitation stated that the attire for the wedding was to be black, white or gray, with a splash of color on the shirt, tie or accessories deemed appropriate. Further, Converse tennis shoes were encouraged as the footwear. Being in our 50's, neither my husband nor I own Cons. On my shopping expedition, I immediately dismissed the idea of buying white or black shoes for myself. If I was going to shell out $50 for a pair of tennis shoes, I was going to have some fun with mine. I ended up with a pair that were white, pink and black with some subtle hearts in the design. Perfect for a wedding - this one at least. (And can I just say that for $50, Cons are not the most comfortable shoes I have worn, especially for being tennis shoes.) Jim stuck with black high tops as he wants to be able to wear his again as well. When we first arrived, I was a little concerned that we were the only people who took Mindy serious about the shoes. Once in the room, however, it appeared that perhaps slightly less than half of the guests fired up for the occasion. It was fun seeing all the colors and varieties, and I have to say that dancing was a lot easier than if I had worn my black heels. Mindy did surprise me, however, by wearing a green dress with orange heels (which she changed to orange Cons once the pictures were taken.) And I thought about the request for black, white or gray attire - thus assuring her that no other woman would show up in a green dress. Brilliant! It was a wonderful wedding, and a perfect setting for a couple with the fun and imagination of Mindy and Eric.