Taking the plunge in Grandma and Grandpa W's "pool." Mike's parents have a two-person air tub, so we let John go for a little swim. He got a little worried when the bubbles came on, but he seemed to like it.
The camera didn't come out as much as it should have this trip. But we did get some good ones, and some other good ones were sent by Mike's parents. A glaring omission is Mike's dad with John. I've tried and tried, but for some reason it won't let that one post - typical, eh, Bruce? I've written to find out why - hopefully they'll be able to fix it and I'll post it up at a later date - sorry.
In a word, the trip was awesome. Just what we needed. Driving with a baby wasn't as horrific as I thought. I had to spend most of the first 12 hours in the back seat with John, to keep him happy, but it wasn't so bad.
At Great-Grandma's house, he had lots of fun playing with Mac. They played fetch together and battled for the toys. Mac always won, but John put up a good fight.
The drive to our hometown the next day was pretty uneventful - John was used to the car by then and dozed most of the way. Then we arrived and he dozed some more. Like 14 hours more. We put him down for what we thought was a nap, intending to head to my parents' house to say hello, but he was out cold. Mike even tried to get him up, but it was no use. He came up the stairs with a very zonked John slumped over his shoulder, only to be sent straight back down to put the poor kid back in bed.
The visit was great. We finally got to see my parent's new shop. They've only had it, what, two years? It's absolutely beautiful. Right out of downtown Oakville. We got to see Mike's dad, the new poster child for Herbal Magic. They should pay him a royalty every time he leaves his house - he's a walking ad for them. What was it - 70 pounds in six months?
It was definitely good to be home. It was definitely too short a visit, but it was good. In a way, it felt like we had never been away.
The trip back down was interesting. We kept John awake for hours past his morning naptime, hoping it would get him to sleep most the way to great-grandma's house. It was a dismall failure. He was awake, overtired and cranky the whole time. He finally fell asleep about half an hour from her house. When we got there, the plan was to slip him straight back to bed, but our wide-eyed, giggly guy had other plans. So much for that.
The leg home was interesting. Mike wanted to take a new route, so we went through the US. Freeway the whole way, he says. We'll make great time, he says. Sixteen hours later, we arrived home. I think our downfall was the logging road we took to get to the border in the first place. We were the only car - everyone else had big 4x4 trucks. That should have been a hint. We spent what felt like hours dodgeing giant potholes, often without success. I'm surprised our car has lived to tell the tale.
Oh, running out of gas on the freeway didn't help. I was nagging him to stop for gas, so of course he didn't. I was freaking - I've seen American news. I know what happens to women left alone by the side of the road down there. I had visions of John and I being found cut into pieces, scattered across the state. Thankfully, by the car's last gasp, we were on an exit ramp within sight of a gas station. Rather than walk, Mike hopped out and pushed to the intersection. While we were stopped at the red, a transport driver in the next lane rolled down his window and they got to talking. He put his truck in park and helped Mike push the rest of the way, which was really nice of him.
We were a little nervous about crossing the borders, but it was a breeze. I think we can thank John for that. We were loaded to the roof with bags and blankets. We could have had millions in drugs, guns, bombs, fruit, you name it. They waved us through in both directions. Mike said if he ever wants to smuggle, he's bringing John and I along.
Well, I had better get going. Mike wants to take John and I to the park to play badminton this afternoon, but that's a whole other post.
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