Trip Back East, Stop #1

For the second time in less than a month, last Tuesday I headed to the airport with Drew for a cross-country flight. This time, though, I was without reinforcements, as Bill couldn't make this trip with us because of work. I prayed for patience, smooth flights, and no delays and someone definitely had my back that day. No airport issues, very little turbulence, and most importantly, a very agreeable Drew. He happily watched his DVD for most of the first flight, and we concluded by playing with stickers for a half hour or so. Just enough time to grab a bite to eat at Midway Airport and we were on our way again. This time, Drew fell asleep before we even took off and stayed asleep until we landed in Albany. My parents had arrived from Las Vegas earlier that evening and were waiting outside security for us. We grabbed our bags and headed for the hotel, planning for what we thought would be just a quick stop to get some ice cream for my very well-behaved 3 year old. Unfortunately, there was no ice cream to be found on Wolf Road that night. McDonalds had a broken ice cream machine. Burger King was closed (it was, after all, almost 11 pm). And finally, our last attempt was a gas station, hoping we could get drumsticks or fudge pops or something like that. Alas, Drew had to settle for milk and Oreos. Feeling like it was only slightly after bed time, and having just woken up from a long nap, I think Drew may have been the last one to fall asleep in the hotel room that night.

Wednesday morning we headed for Connecticut to visit my Uncle Ambrose & Aunt Peggy for a couple of days. Here's Drew and Grandma enjoying a game of Candyland on Wednesday afternoon.



Connecticut had been in the middle of several days straight of heavy rainfall and our arrival day was no different. During a brief break from the rain, Drew decided to head out to the deck and clean the water off the tables. He came in completely soaked, but he had a ball splashing and sweeping that water away.


Uncle Ambrose & Aunt Peggy recently finished building a brand new house so there was plenty of new territory for Drew to explore. He went up and down the stairs, ran from room to room, and generally made himself right at home. Here he is crabwalking and running his way back and forth across the sunroom.

After all the rain play and running we plopped Drew down in Aunt Peggy's big bathtub for a good scrubbing. I think he thought he was in a small pool.

Thursday we were bound and determined to get out on the lake in Uncle Ambrose's boat. The weather forecast seemed to be promising, with showers and storms predicted only for later in the day. It may not have been the sunniest day on the lake, but Uncle Ambrose said it was the nicest day they'd seen in quite a while.

Here's Grandpa and Drew waiting for Uncle Ambrose to get the boat in the water.

Little boy on a big dock

At first, Drew was quite unsure about the whole boating experience. He wanted Mommy holding on to him very tight, he hated the waves from other boats, and was generally very quiet.

After a little while he opened up a bit and willingly sat with Grandpa...

Threw some chips to the fish while we had our lunch...

And even took Uncle Ambrose up on his offer to let him drive the boat for a little while.

Then we hit some good bumps from another boat and he practically leapt back onto my lap. He had a little snooze on me and woke up ready to go again. So he got to drive the boat for a second time.

As we neared the end of the boat ride Drew was finally willing to sit in a seat by himself for a few minutes and the smiles returned to his face.

That evening after Aunt Peggy got back from work we all went out for pizza at a local place that was VERY yummy. Then we got back to their house just in time to watch the thunderstorm from their sunroom. Drew recapped every bolt of lightning for us.

Here he is with Aunt Peggy & Uncle Ambrose.

And Grandma & Grandpa.

The next morning we packed up the car and headed for Rochester for my great uncle Joe's 100th birthday celebration. There will be many many more pictures coming from that and our other stop in Syracuse.