Big Trip

It has been a strange and fast moving month since last I wrote. The week leading up to my trip home to Morehead flew by, primarily due to all the planning, packing and cleaning I did in preparation for the trip. Despite every one's concerns about me driving alone with Will (several people outright questioned my sanity)the time in the car was altogether pleasant and uneventful. Will was extremely cooperative and slept for the first 2 hours of the trip to Morehead, and our only major fussing spell was after the first stop on that same trip, when he wasn't at all ready to get back into the car seat. Otherwise he spent a lot of time awake, either playing with his toys or just looking out the window. I think it was the easiest car trip I have taken with him so far.

My time in Morehead was busy, but not overly so, and I got the opportunity to see many people that I haven't in a long time. The first night's sleep was terrible. I mistakenly thought we would be fine sharing one room, not realizing that instead of putting himself back to sleep as he normally would in his own room, when seeing me Will instead began crying insistently and I spent most of the night getting him back to sleep only to have to jump up again the moment he became aware he was back in the playpen. Thankfully we corrected the sleeping situation for the rest of the trip and we both slept much better, if with much earlier mornings. After arriving on Monday and spending the evening with Aunt Liz and Uncle Mickey, Tuesday I packed everything back up and headed to Park Lake. I have not gotten to spend any real time at Park Lake in a couple of years, and it was so nice to have some peaceful time there. I know Da enjoyed having Will all to himself, and we got the opportunity to let Will get into the water for the first time. He loved it! He had no problem with it being a big body of water, and he let me walk out with him until the water was about up to my chest. His favorite thing by far though was to sit in the shallows and kick and splash. We even lucked out as he didn't notice until the second day that the floor of the lake was dirt that he could pick up, throw, or try to eat.

Tuesday night Will and I got to have a wonderful meal with Ann (author of A Finer Thing ) and David in their beautiful new home. Ann prepared a delicious dinner and I truly enjoyed introducing them to Will and catching up. I have to also share that Ann went well above and beyond when realizing that I had left one of Will's sippy cups at her house, and made what is inevitably an inconvenient side trip to Park Lake the next day to make sure that we had it back for the rest of our trip. Given that I had just realized it was missing the next morning, it was such a shock to have it delivered to the cottage by way of a neighbor who had met Ann at the gate. Thank you again Ann, and I hope I can visit again.

Wednesday was another quiet day at the Lake, and Thursday morning as well. Thursday afternoon we packed up and came back into town. Kristi asked us to come over that night for dinner, which we did, and I got have Pasquales pizza. I haven't had anything from Pasquales in years, and that pizza was killer. Kristi and Jeremy and Olivia got to play with the little man, and we even gave him his bath at her house so we wouldn't have to leave quite so quickly.

Friday was probably the most relaxing day of the trip, because we did very, very little. Will loved looking at, talking to, and trying to touch Bella (the springer spaniel) and Bella took it fairly well. They even had some baby/puppy conversations that the rest of us were not privy to. Will and I stayed at the house with Aunt Liz and Uncle Mickey, and only went out during the day for a trip to the grocery store and Walmart. The Walmart trip was made a little interesting by the fact that is started pouring the rain as we stood in line to check out. But we made it home without getting soaked and all was well. That afternoon Kristi asked me to stop by Holbrooks so she could show Will off to some co-workers, which led to another wonderful treat. I was rushing through the visit because we were planning on going out to eat with Aunt Liz and Uncle Mickey at Pop's in Salt Lick, and they wanted to get there early to avoid the crowd. As I was rushing out of the parking lot, a large, shiny red pick-up was pulling in, and I stopped to try and make way. The driver waved me on, which made me look at who it was. The driver was Mr. Hardin, my high school homeroom teacher, for whom I was a teacher's assistant and worked for with the baseball team. Mr. Hardin was one of my favorite teachers and aside from a few e-mails and one random run-in many years ago, I haven't seen him since graduation. I rolled my window down and he did the same, and I quickly realized I had to stop and talk to him. It was so good to see him, and to introduce him to Will. It was also interesting for me because it was the first time I had interacted with him and not felt like his student. I was on equal footing and it didn't really occur to me until afterward how different it was. Not living in Morehead, (really haven't lived there full time in 10 years, which is crazy to me) I haven't seen many of my high school teachers, so I guess I just assumed I would feel exactly as I did when I was a high school student. It was different, but ultimately really nice, and I promised I would e-mail him every once in a while.

Dinner at Pop's was awesome, and forced me to loosen up a bit regarding Will's food. Being at home with him all the time, I have done alot to ensure that he eats very healthily. I still make all his food in batches and freeze it, and I even make monthly calendars (which I know sounds extremely anal retentive but I swear it is as much for my convenience as anything). There really wasn't much option to bring Will's food with us though, so I was at the mercy of Pop's Southern Style Barbecue menu. To give credit, Pop's did offer steamed vegetables as a side with their kid's meal options, and I was able to order Will a grilled cheese sandwich. Between Aunt Liz and I, Will ate very well, and even got a few bites of french fries. I got to see that while I will still feed him healthily as much as possible, occasionally such things are a fun treat for everyone. I ate very well too (if not healthy AT ALL) and got the catfish with fries, and fried chocolate pie for dessert. Just thinking of that pie right now is making my mouth water and my arteries clog as I type.

Saturday Will and I headed to Lexington to see Amy, Wayne and Max, and to attend a very special wedding. You faithful readers may recall that a brief playtime with Max directly and immediately led to Will crawling, and I wondered if further interaction would push Will closer to walking. While no developmental leaps were made that day, I do think the boys enjoyed playing (as much as any babies that age do) and I know I had a great time catching up with Amy. We got ready together and drove together to see the wedding of Laura Williams to Brian Jewell. I did not know the groom or his family, but I have known Laura since we were 5 years old in Daisy Scouts together, and I was so happy I got to share in that day. This was said at the reception, and I have for years been describing Laura as "truly the sweetest person I have ever met". I have even gone so far to say that it might be too much sweetness to bare in normal circumstances, except she is so honest and genuine that you cannot help but to know her sincerity and love her. Laura looked absolutely radiant as she came down the aisle and took her vows, and calm in a way that I associate with people who are completely certain and at ease with the choice they have made. As a couple they looked like two perfectly fitted pieces of a puzzle. Dena was kind enough to take the boys up to the children's' wing so Amy and I could focus on the ceremony. The reception afterward was fun, and made much easier for me by Maura, who I didn't know would be there, and who almost immediately took Will off my hands and carried around all through the food line. Then Molly took over and gave me a chance to eat and make a plate for Will. Between Maura and Molly I think Will was introduced to most of the room, and he put on quite a show. After a very brief moment with the Bride, Amy and I watched the couple cut the cake, and made our exit before our boys could potentially cause interruptions. The day went too fast, and I wish we had had more time to spend at Amy's house, but it was a good day and once again Will behaved like a perfect gentleman. After I got back to town and put Will to bed, I got a chance to go get some ice cream with Maura and catch up, which was really nice since I had missed my opportunity around the reunion because of my stupid broken ankle.

Sunday was family day at Park Lake. I headed out early with Will so Da could have some more one-on-one time with him before the rest of the crew showed up. By late afternoon everyone was there and we had a nice meal on the front porch. The day was fairly quiet and uneventful, but really nice to have a meal with everyone like we used to do quite often in the summer. We said bye to Da that night and went back to town. Once back in Morehead I put Will down to sleep and started repacking and doing laundry for the trip home.

Monday morning went by in a flurry of packing and loading the car. Maura stopped by for a while and then Kristi and Olivia made an appearance. It turned out that all of us (except Maura) were on our way to Lexington so we ended up caravanning there. We all had lunch together at Fayette Mall, and then Kristi, Liv and I walked around for a while. Around 2pm I said goodbye to everyone and Will and I headed to Daphne's house, where we would be staying the night. Daph and Willie had been dealing with emergency puppy surgery for Mr. Wiggles, but he came home that morning and was resting comfortably. Daph and I hung out for the rest of the day, and fairly late that night (fitting in a trip to Graters for some amazing ice cream) before hitting the hay.

Tuesday morning we got up, had breakfast, packed the car and got on the road home. Once again Will was such a good guy and did very little fussing. Still, by the time I was an hour from home I was SO tired, and ready to be finished. Those last miles seemed to stretch to eternity, and by the time I got into the driveway I have never been so glad to be home in my life. Eli was waiting for us and it so good to see him. It's nice to know after being together for 6 1/2 years and married for almost 4 that I get that tingle of excitement when I see him. Will was extremely happy to see Daddy, and they had a love fest while I got the bags unloaded.


So that was my big trip. It was fun. It was exhausting. I am so thankful to have Eli, and his help and support were made even more valuable to me by me having to do everything on my own for 8 days. I really enjoyed getting to see old friends and have time in the place where I grew up. Unfortunately, just a couple of days after I got home we ran smack into some bad news that we are still trying to deal with. But that is for the next post.