Anders Goes West

I used to have a souvenir glass for Kansas tourism that said "Kansas, The Land of Ahs." That glass mysteriously went missing after we married. We took Anders down to Marquette, KS on Friday to meet the Petersons.

Anders did a lot better on the way back than the way down to Kansas. About an hour into the trip, Anders realized that we were not going to the mall. He lost it around Minnetonka and Anna had to ride in the back with him the rest of the trip down and back.

For the trip, Anders had a new mini-lazyboy car seat. He was pretty excited at first to sit in the new seat. Again, that changed quickly.

Anders averaged about an hour per stop. He loved the stops and really didn't like the ride. He did calm down after sunset as we drove across Kansas.

Anders enjoyed rolling around on the carpet at my uncle Fred's house. He also enjoyed the piano music played by Mom and Fred. He delighted at my uncle Jim's Donald Duck voice.

We took Anders to meet my grandma's friends. Anders gave them big smiles and full body Ando Shakes. Anders has figured out how to put together his shake and smile, which charms almost everyone.

We went out Saturday night to Smolan to eat BBQ at an old high school gym. It looked like Arthur Bryant's had a child with Hoosiers and that's where we ate. I expected Jimmy Chitwood to be our host. It was a cool place. I'm surprised I'd never heard of the place before. We took Anders out on a swing outside of the school, which he enjoyed, as did I until the mosquitos zeroed in on me.

Anders did well in church on Sunday. He walked up with my help and stood for the entire children's sermon. After it was over, he walked all the way back. During the children's sermon, he had zeroed in on one of my grandma's cousin and was charming her in the front row. Anders then went over to my uncle Jim and aunt Barbara's house in Lindsborg where he met more of his cousins.

Oh, on Saturday, we took Anders to the barber. I got a haircut. Anders loved the swirling pole. We also got a great picture of him in the barber's chair. Perhaps next year he can get his first haircut from Kenny like I did almost 3o years ago.

The trip back to Zimmerman was brutally long, but also fun during the stops. At the East Lawrence service area, Anders made friends with a biker. On the biker's way out, Anders and the Biker high-fived.

We stopped again at the Valley West Mall in W. Des Moines. Anders had a ball here with the fountain in the middle of the mall. While we were feeding him, he gave a smile and a shake to an older woman who stopped by to say that Anders had made her day and offered to take him home! Anders had a great time with the piano player at Von Maur. He was also giddy with excitement to visit the shoe department of Von Maur. My mom could not believe how happy Anders was to be in the shoe department. We had seen this before at DSW in Columbus in the spring. Anders loves shoe shopping.

Anders slept a lot on the way back. Then around the MN-IA border, Anders sort of lost it. We finally stopped in Owatonna. Places were closing or gross, so we had to get back in the car and drive up the road. We were wary, but Anders took the brief trip to Culver's well. We made it back before midnight.

Anders developed a lot more stamina in his assisted walking. That was probably his biggest development. He also put pressure on all four points and inched forward. He didn't really crawl, but he moved another step closer in that process. Well, Anders is waking up, so I better go.

It was a long trip, a good trip, but I am wiped out and ready to lay low for a while.