Visitors from afar… very afar

This past week the kids received a very special treat. They were visited by my Mom and their Uncle Jim and Aunt Karine. Up until now a big, gapping, 2500 mile geographic obstacle has kept them from visiting. (Namely the American Southwest and Plains States). But last week, geography happened to someone else. I feel like I need to add a little something about my Mom, Jim and Karine. But it’s hard. They just ARE, to me anyway. It’s like asking to describe air… or water without using the word “wet”. For my Mom, all I can say is that she survived 5 of us and can still smile, so that’s gotta say something right there. She has a gift with children and is not afraid to use it. Sometimes to the utter mortification of her older children while in public. Jim and Karine are both, equally as special. They’ve suffered our eccentricities with nothing more than a shake of the head and a laugh. This is the first time I’ve seen either one of them (to my memory anyway) with very small children, and it was something to be seen.

Well, on to the trip. I wanna keep this as short, yet concise, as I can because there are a lot of pictures to look at. They arrived on June 1st after first flying in to Tennessee, then making a road trip out of the remaining distance. When they arrived, it was straight to the babies for my Mom and Karine. Like the black hole that keeps our galaxy a-moving, they sucked Rowan and Arwen up, not to surface for at least a year. (The details are fuzzy, time flows funny in a sigularity… something about dinosaurs, stomping here they come) Soon enough it was time for Arwen’s nap, so she slept and we visited. For the visit we were fortunate to have completely un-Toledo-like weather. The heat was mild and there was almost always a breeze (if not gale-force winds). We ventured outside and had tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and fresh bread. The rest of the evening was filled with eating dinner and plenty of visiting. Spaghetti with butternut squash in a sage and butter sauce if you must know.

The next day we made a plan to go to the Toledo Zoo. And before I get into that, I will put out there for anyone who wasn’t there to not bother buying your tickets online. The trouble it caused wasn’t worth the dollar saved on each ticket. I’m getting ahead of myself. We weren’t to leave for the Zoo until around 2 (Mila still had school and Arwen needed her nap), so before that we visited and played with the kids. Lunch was tacos carnitas which provided lots of fuel for the day ahead. So… visiting, nap, lunch, zoo… Got it? Good. Fast forward to the zoo. The day was warm, but not overly so. The sun was out and there was a cool breeze. There is a natural flow to the zoo, those of you that know it, know how we went… Polar bears, Africa, chaos. Somewhere between Africa and the South African penguins, my Mom got ice creamy treats for everyone, including Arwen. While this wasn’t her first taste of ice cream, this was her first attempt at a cone and in quantities larger than just a spoonful. Needless to say, Arwen enjoyed it and didn’t make the mess you would expect. At this point (despite the protests and complaints by the union of shoulder and back) Rowan was put in the carrier. I guess the view wasn’t good enough from his stroller. Well to speed this up a bit, there was zooing and lots of goofiness and lots of Arwen running around. All told, it was a really good experience. The kids did a lot better than either spyMommy or myself would’ve thought. A few hours later, at the insistance of the PA system, we left the zoo to partake of that staple of long days in the sun, Pizza.

Bedraggled and sunburned we greeted the new day with plans. This last full day, touristy things were to be done. Jim and I went to Fort Meigs for the first part of the day while spyMommy, Mom & Karine kept the kids at home. When we got back and had some food, the ladies went out to the mall while Jim and I minded the kids. The rest of the evening was spent with the kids until bed time.

The last day was as anyone would expect. Jim, Karen and Mom came by about an hour before they had to head to the airport. Everyone got their last little bit of baby time. The mood was reserved, if not just a little somber. So, farewells were said and they were off.

I am sure there is a lot missing. One of my biggest problems with writing is that I do not have an eye for detail. Especially when trying to recount something. I memorize landmarks and a lot times forget about the scenery. Maybe spyMommy can fill in some of the blanks.

And now for the pictures. For those interested, I can send hi-res copies to anyone that wants them for printing. Also, these pictures are from four different cameras, and even though all the cameras were going at the same time, the internal clocks of these cameras were way out of sync, so a lot is going to be out of order. My apologies.

25-May-2011 18:25, EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY KODAK EASYSHARE C122 DIGITAL CAMERA, 4.5, 6.3mm, 0.033 sec, ISO 80

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