Anju's first road trip or Anju loves Elmo

Anju on the move

We left Thursday morning for a visit to my parents/brother in the Minneapolis area.  This is a 5-hour trip for one mom and three kids to make (Shawn had to stay home and conduct church).  It's a 3 1/2 hour trip for a dad going to a meeting in the cities--you fill in the blanks.  Before this trip, the longest Anju had been in the car was about a half hour.  Let's just say after an hour and a half she started getting concerned.  Yes, concerned is a good word for it.

Whenever she was especially "concerned", the kids discovered that if they sang the "Elmo's World" theme song, she quieted down.  So, we're all really sick of Elmo now.  Well, not Anju.  She lives, breathes and likely dreams about Elmo.

Once we arrived, she appeared to warm up quickly to my family and she enjoyed thrift shopping with her mommy and grandma.  Grandma found an Elmo purse and I found some Elmo board books, so it was a successful trip in Anju's eyes!  Now that we're home, she loves putting the books in the purse and walking around the house with them.  She also likes to kiss the pictures of Elmo.

She enjoyed her Chinese dinner at LeeAnn Chin's, and seeing lots of "pup-pups"--some stuffed at Cabela's, and some alive at Como Zoo.  She preferred her animals breathing and moving, as do I.  

Solveig, Anju, Grandpa, Grandma and Jonah at Cabela's

Checking out the ant farm at the zoo

You know life is exactly as it should be (at least in my life) when your new camera you've had for 5 months breaks right in the middle of a trip.  It stopped taking pictures, but still takes videos-- it's going to have to get sent in.  So, my visual aids for this story are much lacking.  My dad was kind enough to treat me to a disposable camera at the zoo--but those pictures won't be available for awhile.  And, of course, the social worker is coming tomorrow and I am short the one family picture that I was going to have taken at the last minute.  

Anju found the Elmo ride at the outlet mall

After church on Sunday (we found a wonderful LCMS church with traditional services), we stopped at the outlet mall for lunch at Subway and for the kids to play on the playground.  The drive home was much more uneventful.  Anju didn't get really upset until about the last half hour and she did sleep for much of the trip.

  So, now I guess she's all ready for her next road trip next month.  We have her birthday on April 16 on which we will drive to Fargo and stay at a hotel, have her dr appointment in Fargo at 8 a.m. the 17th, and then leave the 18th for the Rochester area to celebrate Anju's great-great grandma's 100th birthday with her on the 19th and will return home the 20th.  "Elmo's World", here we come!