You've done it again, Mr. Magee

We got back from a trip to a local farm/ice cream place yesterday afternoon, and Daniel was chattering on at the dinner table after H got home. He was talking about statues and flags and I realized he must still be thinking about our long weekend trip to Wellsboro, PA. There was a small park with lots of cool statues and fountains to look at and grassy areas to run on and tulips to see. Then he popped out with: John Magee, and I about fell off my chair.

The first time through the park we saw the monuments to soldiers, and the fountain with Winkin Blinkin and Nod as the centerpiece. We missed the bust statue, and went back to it on our next go-round to the park. To no one in particular I remember reading the name John Magee, and a small piece about his founding a railroad.

Apparently my kid is even more of a little sponge than I thought.

Deer, Interrupted

H loves to travel. Make that H LOVES TO TRAVEL. With company or without, near or far... it seems the gears are always turning for him about planning some sort of trip. I like to travel too - it's something we have in common. But that "gear" is not so much in the on position for me since Daniel's arrival.

Our most recent outing involved a trip to Wellsboro, PA. It's beautiful country, and a prime fishing target for people like my father and brother. My parents and brother met us out there for a little fly-fishing down-time for the guys, and lots of togetherness planned for everyone to see Daniel and all. The trip began with a bang when our car met a deer about 6 miles outside of Wellsboro. We're all OK, and that's the important thing. But my car has a damaged front driver's side grille, the left front fender clean off the car and a busted front left turn signal. A little prayer of thanks that we're all OK. But damn, this was my first rather nice car...

Daniel basked in the family time. It makes me happy that he is so excited to see my extended family since there are large gaps between visits. We ate in restaurants like the Wellsboro Diner and Timeless Destination, mostly successfully since getting Daniel to sit still is sometimes a challenge. Adjoining rooms meant extra space to roam, and while Daniel's sleep schedule was pretty much a haphazard-whenever-you-feel-like-slowing-down bedtime, it was still a fun/successful trip. And we seem to be getting back to normal routines without too many bumps.

Now, on to fixing my jeep so I can stop muttering stupid deer under my breath.

The Calm before The Storm

A great big thank you to the person who parked next to me at CVS yesterday - darn near diagonally in their parking space - thereby encouraging some interesting acrobatics to get my two year old back into his car seat.

During this feat of gymnastics I happened to note the presence of at least one kid's car seat in said car... I can only hope that the van belonged to the woman in the store who was busily pushing the double stroller through the too-small aisles. She looked like she had her hands full, and that's the only way I can mentally cut her some slack at this point...

We are water-heater operational again, and I am composing my complaint letter to Sears next. More on that as I have more news to tell... The jury/trial that H landed on is still going on, much to our dismay as this is getting pretty inconvenient. Flu shots today for baby and I - H is next. Otherwise we are just hunkering down to outlast the remnants of Storm Noel.

That's One Way to Stay Awake

It always amazes me to hear the various stories of kids and their "sleeping styles." Quantity, timing, location... all vary from kid to kid and even in the same kid from time to time. Just to keep us parents on our collective toes...

I was apparently one of those lovely children who didn't need much sleep. At all. Once my little brother came along my Mother had to enforce "quiet time" to try and get me to play or read quietly or something. My brother was on the opposite end of this spectrum and would sleep anytime, and almost anywhere. We have photos of him sleeping in the middle of someone's kitchen counter, and home movies of him ka-zonked in his highchair. A moving vehicle was the fastest way to put him out, and I think Mom worried a bit about putting him on the school bus.

Daniel's doing pretty well with the nighttime sleeping, but I am starting to suspect that we are phasing out the naps. He must still need them because he drops off pretty quickly, but one catnap of an hour or less and he's raring to go (usually... he blessed us with a 2.5 hour nap a few days ago).

Longer car trips can get a bit trickier: put a cozy car, with some of our windier back roads and the rhythm starts him nodding off. And that little bit of extra sleep can make bedtime a lot more interesting. H stumbled across a way to keep the little guy hopping recently. (Well it will work until the temperature drops dangerously...). Roll down the window on some curvy roads, and let the breeze blow through those blond curls! Daniel gets this elated look on his face, and we all laugh the last half of the trip home with the little voice from the backseat squealing: Do 'gen! Hair blo'!

Eeep!

There are some very nice friends of my parents in their neighborhood. We visited many of them recently, just to say "hi" (And who am I kidding, to show off Daniel a little...) One of these friends, Burt, collects and sometimes even races cars. Daniel took a shine to a yellow car in the garage that Burt and Teddi referred to as "the Dino." Come to find out from talking to my father later that car is a Dino Ferrari, much like the one pictured, and is quite expensive. Just the thing I want my two-year-old's hands all over!

We are home. Three sore behinds from 1,200 plus miles in the car with a toddler. A toddler who is now wildly off his schedule for little things like sleeping and eating. But hearts are all the richer for getting to spend relaxing and fun time with far away family.

On Golden Pond...

There is something about these trips to Wisconsin to see family and friends... I have been very nostalgic about it recently. The passing of Grandma B, and sale of her house pretty much marked the last of the "houses of my childhood." It's a different perspective from H's family who still lives in the same house he grew up in.

Driving through town there are so many little tidbits that are familiar, liberally mixed with things that are new. Elkhart Lake is a resort town, familiar to many as the home of Road America. My parents have a great condo, and practically around the corner is the street where Grandma and Grandpa T used to live. The old house has been being renovated for quite some time. It's a refreshing change from the original purchasers who had been letting the place fall down around their ears... but it's hard not to feel a tad possessive even now about the place where I spent so many summers as a kid. At least these folks are taking care of it. On that same street's corner is the Gritzmacher place. You used to have to go up this long narrow set of stairs to their house. Beneath it (once upon a time) was a blacksmith shop. The whole shebang has now been turned into a bar/restaurant.

We had an early dinner this evening at Schulz's Restaurant in Sheboygan: charcoal grilled steak sandwiches with pickles and onions and real butter on the hard rolls that starts to drip down your hands. Yum! Daniel loved the french fries... It's a favorite stop when we journey into Wisconsin. Tomorrow we will have an Aunt and a few cousins and their assorted kids over for bratwurst and hamburgers and lots of chatter and we will work on making new memories.

Holy Cow

Um, yeah - the trip.

Item 1: The car. Remember the Seinfeld episode where Jerry has a confrontation with the car rental agent who has held his reservation, but not actually held him a car? When they finally find him a car, he requests the insurance because,"I'm gonna beat the hell out of that thing." This was the scenario that kept running through my mind as we argued with the car rental agency... First they found us a vehicle, only for us to discover that it was reeking of smoke. By the time everything was straightened around we weren't on the road until nearly noon.

Item2: The toddler, day one. I will say this. All in all, for spending so much time pent up in a car Daniel did pretty well. There were tantrums, but we tried to keep up with the snacks and the toy cars to play with.

Item 3: The hotel. Or lack thereof. One of the first times I have had to check approximately 8 places before finding a room. Complicated by the cranky toddler who wailed every time Dada stepped out of the car.

Item 4: Yeah, the toddler? The one who spent most of his day strapped into a car seat when he usually spends most of his day on the move? He was the one running laps of the hotel room while his exhausted parents tried to get him to sleep.

Press repeat on the toddler, the time spent on snacks and cars and playing... at the end of all this was Grandma and Grandpa and Sophie the dog (Soapie!!!). Daniel was so excited to see everyone that he was grinning and practically vibrating in place. I'm looking forward to spending some time seeing relatives, sleeping in, getting some good "Mom-cooking" and just generally relaxing. And trying hard not to think about doing a repeat of this on the way home.

A Two-Fer

One two-year-old in the car for two days. I remember being in the airport to and from Chicago for BlogHer and seeing all the kids and thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice? It's only a two-hour trip by plane..." We tried it last time, and that was the LONGEST two hours I have spent in quite awhile. Serious contemplation was made of renting a car for the return trip home. Maybe in a year or two we can try that again.

Grandma and Grandpa and many assorted relatives and friends are tickled that we are coming. Truthfully, so are we. I don't get to see everyone as much as I would like.

Also truthfully: Send good wishes for the sanity of the two parents.

To Infinity and Beyond...

In the category of odd things you must see, I present... The House on the Rock. Located in Spring Green, Wisconsin, H and I took the tour with my mother a few years ago. Designed and built (begun in the early 1940s) by Alex Jordan of Madison, WI this is actually a complex of rooms, streets, buildings and gardens covering acres of land. I did not realize at the time, but discovered in checking out their web presence that there is actually an Inn and resort to stay at as well.

The top photo is an outdoor shot of "The Infinity Room"... truly a sight to see as it juts out 218 feet over the valley (unsupported) and has 3,264 windows for walls. Much of the rest of the house contains the various collections of Mr. Jordan, including items such as the world's largest carousel, antique guns, dolls, mechanical banks, areas devoted to aviation, nostalgia, a nautical theme (including a Titanic display, and this creature below...) and much more. It is an attraction that at times defies description. But if you find yourself in Wisconsin, I encourage you to swing through!