Of children, dragons and monkeys

Tom's foster son, John, arrived this morning with his mother and his two daughters -- Katya and Elena. They had stayed overnight in the Dells and came by for breakfast and a trip on the train before heading to Chicago.

The first time Katya visited, I had all the big dragons, and she still thinks of this as "the place with the dragons." And Tom has about thirty stuffed monkeys plus a few other animals thrown in for good measure. So when they got here, the girls wanted to see the dragons and the monkeys.

Elena is holding a big dragon (that actually belongs to Peter -- all I have are smaller ones now) and Katya has a floppy-eared bunny. They had dumped all the monkeys and things out onto the living room floor and draped them with some Mardi Gras beads that they found in the same box.


Here you see some of the spread, but this gives you no idea how many animals there are. There are a dozen dragons, thirty monkeys, a few more apes, a dog, a cat, some Teddy bears, some bunnies ...

After this, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast prepared by everyone [except me, but I did set the table and make the coffee] -- pancakes, bagels, fruit, bacon and sausage, juice and coffee. Then Tom gathered the Sjaastads all up to head to the railroad while I finished putting the dishes away and straightening up. John, who is a responsible parent, not only loaded most of the dishes in the dishwasher but also had the girls "play clean up" with the toys before they took off.

We are hoping that next time, Elliott will be old enough to make the trip. John says he is a huge train fan, and the railroad is made for such as he.