The craziness before the storm

It’s T-minus 8 hours to the arrival of my suegros from Bolivia. They’ll arrive late tonight and stay at our house for three weeks.

Much has happened today:

A surprise airport reunion.

A little boy who turned blue.

A trip to Grant’s Farm.

Yoli’s parents have traveled to St. Louis once before, but the long journey isn’t easy for them. They were understandably nervous about going through security, navigating the connection in Miami, being able to find someone who could speak Spanish, among other things.

Imagine our delight this morning when we found out that somebody else we knew was on the same flight: our friend Corina’s parents. Yoli’s parents saw them, and found out they were both going the same way. Hopefully they’ll help them go the right way in Miami. What a relief.

Meanwhile, here in St. Louis we have been cleaning up and preparing for the suegros’ imminent arrival. This morning Yoli went to the elementary school to help out in the library, leaving me with Josie and Joseph. I had some projects to do, so I made both the kids go outside. Overall they played well and stayed out of my hair.

Instead, they put some stuff in Joseph’s hair.

Specifically, blue chalk. They colored it on his face. And on his chest. And on his legs. Basically every place that wasn’t covered by underwear.

So Joseph got to have his first shower. He emerged unscathed and no longer a smurf.

Jadzia and Ludi both went to Grant’s Farm as a reward for good behavior at school. About half of St. Louis was there with them enjoying the beautiful weather, but the crowds didn’t faze them. They enjoyed train rides and feeding the animals.

The rest of the day was filled with errands and cleaning and classes — and waiting.