Well, the trip is still overdue...but Cale still got to benefit from Grammie's hospitality.
Cale had his first multi-day sleepover at Grammie's house!
And boy did he get spoiled !!
The ages of our children are so close...but even at the small amount of difference, there is significant changes that take place when coming out of toddler/preschool(hood) to school age.
Naps are not a factor, which can be a tough bullet to bite, but can also give you a sense of freedom - that is if your non-napper is your only or last child. Tim and I often fantasize about how different our lives will be when this baby is not napping anymore................... DAY TRIPS will be planned. Presumably diapers will be out of the scene as well, which is still sort of baffling to me. ;)
As it is, for the next few yearsm this is the schedule we manage:
There's a few hours in the morning...but not much before lunch (around 11:30a) and naptime (around 12p), so if we plan family outgoings, we do them between 4-7p. It doesn't give us that much time, but our kids are still quite young, and sleep is most important.
......now I'm rambling.
Back to Grammie.
She offered to have Cale come and stay for a few days, so we met her at a half-way point between our houses and made the hand-off.
This was our first real experience with Cale being gone.
Tim was quite tenative and kept asking "what if" but I assured him that Cale would most likely not miss us, but not even ask about us, AND have a spectacular time.
I am happy to say I was right.
The first night there was a late one...and Grammie said that Cale woke up before 6am! Good thing she's an early bird, because I would have had NOTHING to do with that!! I think she sent him back to his room for awhile, but I dont think he slept.
As promised, Grammie took Cale to "Beech Mountain" - Cale had been dying to go to a beach all summer, and even though this was a lake, it served it's purpose. There was sand and there was water. My mom told me he had a great time and played with whomever he saw. Our firstborn is a social being from dawn til dusk. My mom said that as they drove home she looked back and he had fallen asleep for awhile... I suppose all that attention got the better of him! :)
The next day Grammie took him swimming at the YMCA. Cale told us that "the pool was 36 feet long and he had to stand on his tiptoes." Grammie was in the pool but she didn't swim, says Cale.
I assume she was hawk-eyeing Cale who is over-enthusiastic about being in the water without actually knowing how to swim.... ;)
What was it about Cale? *SPOILER ALERT* (as told by a 5-yr-old)
"a little boy who grew from the ground with leaves on his legs...the mommy was sick and she went to the doctor and the doctor said 'welp, you don't get any sons' - so they got one....of course when he got out of the ground he was really muddy. then he went home where he belonged...because he didn't belong there, and then the mommy and daddy had a little girl."
The last day Cale and Grammie went to the Snack Shack for ice cream as an after lunch treat...and then "had friends come over for a cookout."
"...I got the green ice cream with the little chocolates on it."
Who were the friends that came over?
"you know...like, Uncle Chet...Francis...and I dont know what the rest of their names are..."
What did you eat at the cookout?
"Like...a cheeseburger, and chicken."
We did miss him, but honestly I was so happy that he was having such a good time. My mom wrote me that same night she met Tim to give him back to us and said she missed him already. I'm glad he will always have this memory...
And I'm also hopeful that this may become a more regular summer occurance...for Cale's sake, and for ours, and I secretely hope that next year she takes on another one...the one who was so super jealous.
Megersa will be almost 4 by then...hopefully out of diapers and most likely not still napping...so it should all work out nicely..... ;)
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