Lady of the lake

When we returned from Greenfield Village on Tuesday afternoon, Zachary wasn't much interested in a nap. So with a warm partially cloudy afternoon winding down, grandma suggested a boat ride. (Fresh from winter storage, Uncle B, Grandma, and I had brought the boat through the narrow tunnel to grandma's dock earlier in the weekend.) Meh had been concerned that he might not like having to wear the life jacket, having complained loudly when his swim class had made him use (a likely already damp and cold) one. But he was happy as could be, and was kicking, waving, and making happy noises as we boarded the boat. This quickly settled down to total vegging and drowsiness - that was a very relaxed little man! We had a nice low-speed ride around the lake (I took a turn at the wheel, though Meh declined), appreciating the pretty homes and the plethora of geese, ducks, swans, and herons; someone even had a pair of peacocks strutting around in their backyard - pets?

Wednesday was another rainy day, so we decided to try a trick from our Seattle playbook and head to the local mall. Furthering the use of the playbook, we had a lovely family lunch at the mall's somewhat newly arrived Seattle staple, whose cafe Meh and Zachary have frequented with friends, but was new to grandma and myself. A quick stroll later, Zachary ran around like a mad man at their play area, which featured a bizarre assortment of (I'm not making this up) candy and medical-themed climbing toys. Says the website by way of explanation:

"The newly refurbished play area features a health and wellness theme in which children can skip, frolic, and step along the ribbon of gauze to the mending Teddy. Healthy messages teach healthy lifestyle to even our youngest visitors!"

Yeeeeah, I'm not sure about the healthy message of Wonka-sized lollipops and melting creamsicle slides. But anyway, regardless of the representations they were going for, Zachary had a wonderful time running around with grandma in hot pursuit. Energy somewhat abated, he even let grandma and mommy shop for some cute new clothes for him while we toured the mall.

Grandma had mentioned a few times earlier in the week that she really wanted to babysit and let us have a date night. This was our last night in town, and Zachary was having a wonderful time giggling, laughing, and signing 'more' to grandma, so we took her up on the offer. We left in the midst of playtime (to what we learned later was only the briefest of Zachary objections) and got to have a nice, quiet, and relaxing dinner together in a cute nearby town's even cuter main street Italian restaurant -- Meh judged its tiramisu to be among the best she's ever had. When we got home, grandma reported that Zachary had had a fun evening of playing and even a mostly happy bath and bedtime. We're so glad that he's gotten comfortable and acquainted enough with grandma over the past few days that he trusted her with the cherished and sacred routine that has often left him in tears with other non-mommy/daddy participants in the past. That, and maybe he's starting to accept small amounts of change in his schedule? Nah...

Today was homecoming day; it was overcast again, we had a few hours, and the mall was on the way, so we went back to let Zachary play again, and enjoy one last bit of Michigan cuisine (hooray for orange cream coolers!) before heading for the airport. The only glitch was that the airline had auto-upgraded me (but not Meh or Zachary) the night before, and then of course gave away my seat. They didn't have two extra first class seats available (darn!), but the gate agent was able to do some shuffling and get me back into the same seat. Zachary slept for perhaps 45 minutes of the flight and was a crazy active man the rest of the time, wanting to climb between his seat and mommy and daddy's laps, and occasionally walking the aisle. With no real nap for the day, he was pretty much running on fumes, but seemed to mostly keep in a good mood.

It was so good to be able to visit with family and friends for the week, and huge thanks to grandma for hosting us, dealing with various baby- and schedule-related challenges, researching fun things for the little man to do, catering multiple parties, babysitting for our night out, and just being grandma! Thanks also to Zachary's Uncle B for flying in for a coordinated visit, and to all of our family and friends for making the journey out to grandma's house to visit and catch up.

Little man was so excited to be home, running around and smiling, laughing, and playing. His bathtime and bedtime were both happy, but I'm wary of what time he'll think is appropriate to wake up tomorrow. Meh's already asleep and I think I'll be conked out soon enough too!