Fun at Grandma's House

So, after picking us up at the airport, your Grandma Suzanne and Grandpa Dale played tour guides, desperately trying to find us something good to eat. Only one problem, at 11pm on Thursday night there aren't a lot of options that don't involve drive-thru or a sit-down meal, and we were really hoping for something in the middle. After seeming to exhaust all possibilities, Grandma talked us into trying the McDonald's Bistro. And after seeing their menu (this is NOT your quarter pounder with cheese kind of McDonald's) I was happy we did. Cheesesteak Panini? NUM! Of course, then we found the Bistro part closed at 11, so it was back to their house for some leftovers and a fried egg for Momma. Your Grandpa Dale is a serious professional when it comes to his fried eggs...

Today was the first day of real fun and excitement, and we certainly had both. You were pretty excited just to be wearing goggles in the house.

But to actually have a hot tub on the back patio to put them to good use in? I can imagine the questions you might have... "Daddy, why don't we have a pool and a hot tub and 2000 square feet of back porch with tables and coloring books and toy lawn mowers?"

And the questions continue from there. "Why don't we have a lake in the backyard with fish eager to be fed and boats and lizards and life jackets and fishing poles?" Yes, you really do love feeding those fishies, and they were more than happy to eat it all up.

We stayed by the dock and watched them eat. You are really excited to go fishing with your cousin Owen when he gets here on Tuesday!

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's favorite restaurant, at least daytime restaurant, for a little brunch. There was a wait for the table, so you and I ran around and looked at fountains. You wanted to swim in the fountains, but somehow I managed to talk you out of it.

Then it was off to a nice park with a huge playground. That was lots of fun, there were slides and tunnels and steps and all kinds of things to run around on. I think Grandma Suzanne brings Grandpa Dale here and pushes him on the swings sometimes, just like we did with you today...

There was even a dinosaur to ride. You named him Spot. Then you kept asking, "Donde Esta Spot?" from the Spanish book Santa brought you for Christmas. You have no idea what Donde Esta means, but you sure are good at saying it!

After that, back to their house. And after refusing to nap, you started raiding the toy cabinet. Where do Grandma and Grandpa get this stuff? Again, I bet this is Grandpa Dale's princess crown, so you should thank him for letting you wear it.

Finally, after a huge dinner, it was tubby time. And, a first for Maya, at least as far as I know, dumping a cup of water (two, actually) on your own head. You usually hate getting your hair wet, but this time you seemed to enjoy it just a little bit.

Wow, what a night. Again you tried to negotiate yourself out of having to go to sleep for a good three hours, but eventually you surrendered. Your poor Momma just got back downstairs with horrible stories of the tricks you pulled trying to get out of falling asleep. Tomorrow night, I'm telling you, velcro pajamas. Or perhaps a straightjacket. Don't laugh, that was your mother's idea... Perhaps tomorrow night will be easier. Yeah, and perhaps tomorrow you'll take a nap! Anyway, tomorrow you might get to go swimming in a great big heated pool, or perhaps a carnival with little kid rides, or maybe even SeaWorld or Disney. Vacations sure are fun, and your Grandma and Grandpa are taking really good care of all of us. Tomorrow afternoon your Grandma Maya was going to be here, and I'm sure we're all going to be sad about that. But we'll have fun anyway, because that's what she would have wanted. Oh, and we'll have to go to a store where we can buy a few square yards of velcro...