P and R Go East

Here comes a post from R! Last weekend P and I flew to Cleveland and then drove to Lake Chataqua in NY, and back again. The occasion was my brother in-law's 40th birthday. When we arrived Ome picked us up at the airport, we went to her house and had a quick dinner before heading to my sister's house which had just been vacated by T and A so as not to ruin the coming surprise.

P had about 30 minutes to acclimate and then we had to "rip the bandaid" and head to the surprise party, leaving P in a new place with new babysitters and missing his family, which was very hard, but of course P was a champ!

That night P hit the hay about 9 (6 PDT) in the babysitter's arms and the adults had a great time at The Wine Spot in Cleveland Heights - and A had no idea the surprise was coming!  

The next day there was another surprise for A, that it wasn't just his immediate family going to Lake Chataqua, but also us, his parents, some friends, and his brother's family! But before we left we got in a few fun moments at Ome's house including P sleeping below R on a pullout trundle bed and driving Cousin E's car!

By the way P was well-behaved on the two flight legs of our trip, sleeping from taxi-out to taxi-in on the second leg.

In between legs we enjoyed riding the tram at MSP and the moving walkways too.

The travels continued the next day in Ome's car as we spent about 2.5 hours driving to beautiful Lake Chataqua. After we unloaded the cars T and A arrived and we (sort of) surpised A again. P spent the afternoon in the lovely upper 70's temps outside where he is happiest. First we walked the ~200 yds to the lake and stood on the dock and took it all in. Then we investigated the "big boy" tree swing.

After lunch we helped A inflate a big wading pool for the kids. In the afternoon we all worked on the water balloon production line making ammunition for a big fight to happen the next day. This lasted almost three hours and the kids really enjoyed having tasks to do. The best was getting Cousin E to throw finished balloons in the pool for P to retrieve and put in the box. Later that night P experienced a perfectly fire-roasted marshmallow courtesy of cousin C who quickly became P's favorite playmate. That night P enjoyed sleeping with Daddy due to space limits in the rented house, but both slept very soundly and we slept until 8. Sunday morning we went to pick up another of A's surprises - a ski boat! On the quick ride from the marina to the house's dock, P was pumped and was able to stay awake. But after lunch, the vibration and hum of the boat and his comfy life vest were too much to overcome and P was right to sleep in my arms!

We had another great afternoon Sunday, learning from other kids how to ride the swing on our belly and throw water balloons, but the highlight was easily the boat rides.

P took 3 separate naps on 3 boat rides. Later that night we watched fireflies light up and bats swoop through the sky catching many of them. The next morning we woke up and enjoyed our last bountiful meal full of many choices, the best of which were Ome's scrambled eggs and cinnamon rolls. We hit the road with a long travel day ahead of us. P slept most of the car ride back to Cleveland. We stopped at Ome's house for lunch and to stretch our legs before going to the airport.

Our flight was late and P had some energy to release making the first leg an active one! When we got off the plane there was a nice man waiting for us from Delta's "Elite Services" who offered to drive us directly to our next gate so we could make the close connection.

This was the first time I have been offered this service as a "Diamond Medallion" member at Delta, it made us feel pretty important! After a good early dinner on the go/snack and engine start, P curled up in his frog blanket and sacked out...for the entire 3 hour flight!

What a wonderful gift for Daddy! When we arrived P was ready for more modes of transportation and had fun riding the airport train and then the bus to our car, but was disappointed no boat was in the equation. On the drive home P topped off the trip by asking Daddy "why" about a motorcyclist's helmet - beginning what I'm sure will be a prevalent question in this new stage!