The Best Sound: A Mid-May Visit

Last month, the kids and I trekked up to NY for a brief visit with my in-laws. As eager as I was to make the trip, I was a bit nervous, too. After all, this was the first time we'd be making the trip without Scott, AND I had never undertaken a solo trip of that distance before with the kids. (I know, all of you who have done that countless times are just laughing at my trepidation.) I had no reason to be anxious (thankfully); the kids traveled remarkably well, and we only had to make two stops. (Channeling all my anxiety into thorough planning helped; instead of stopping for lunch at a restaurant, we picnicked at a rest stop. The only downside to that was NOT anticipating the VERY chilly -- make that downright COLD-- temps. I pulled up the picnic blanket around Leah and Hunter to diminish the wind chill.)

Because of the visit's brevity (arrived on Monday, left on Thursday), we hadn't planned much. After all, the main purpose of the visit was visiting Grandma and Papa, whom the kids hadn't seen since Leah's birthday in March and probably wouldn't see again until late June/ early July (for Hunter's birthday). Really, I just wanted the kids to have plenty of time with their grandparents. Still, that didn't mean we couldn't do anything; it just meant we had downtime, too.

So... Tuesday morning we went to Frog Pond, which is like a permanent farmer's market. In addition to produce, they sell animals, so the kids had a chance to pet the goats and pigs, look at the chicks/ ducks/geese/roosters, and admire the bunnies. After they tired of that, they played in the corn box, before we picked out some honey sticks to purchase.

That night, the kids had a chance to play with their cousins, which involved plenty of running around the house (at least on the part of the girls; the boys entertained themselves with a small keyboard.). The next morning, Leah and Hunter had a chance to play with two of their cousins (Kate was at school) at Mila's gymnastics class followed by open gym. Granted, Leah and Mila didn't play together much until the end of the open gym hour, but considering the variety of equipment, I'm not surprised. Leah divided her time between the foam block pit and the trampolines. Hunter had as much fun as Leah; he tried the foam pit and the trampolines, but he also liked playing with the balls and hula hoops that were available. (Side note: Cam and Hunter didn't play together much, but that's primarily due to their ages. They did haved some bonding time at the start of open gym; Hunter kept feeding "Ham" Goldfish.) Leah thoroughly enjoyed herself, and at one point asked, "Momma, is this my first day at gymnastics?" Hmmm, guess that's something I'll need to look into now that we're home.

After gymnastics, we headed over to Grandma Teddy's (Great Grandma) for lunch. My two very tired kids devoured their pizza and fruit, and then snuggled/ cuddled with Mel (Grandma) and Grandma Teddy for a story or two before we left for Mel's. Considering how hard they had played, I thought for certain that they'd both nap. Silly me! Hunter did fall asleep on the way home, but only slept for about an hour. As for Leah, she absolutely refused to even consider napping. (She did rest, but she didn't want to settle and sleep, even though she needed it.) Her resistance certainly didn't deter ME from resting; and while I napped, Mel took the kids up to play outside with their cousins. Needless to say, by the time they got back, the kids were exhausted.

Looking back, I see that maybe we did cram a lot in two days, but it certainly didn't feel like it at the time. Maybe that's because we did have some downtime for us to relax and visit with Mel and Roger. And since the trip (travel) was so successful, I suppose we could try it again sometime.