Plane Fun

On our drive up to Whidbey last week, we passed some signage for both a Future of Flight museum and, oddly enough, a nearby Historic Flight museum. I hadn't recognized the names (I later figured out that the former is the rebranded Boeing Tour), but knowing the boys' interest in "visiting the Museum of Flight another time", I figured I better store these away. Sure enough, this week Meh stumbled upon an announcement for Vintage Aircraft Weekend, where they would be flying a number of classic World War II planes. The pictures alone were enough to convince me that I had to take the boys; there were images of fields and runways filled with planes that you could walk right up to. Meh was off to a choir retreat, which was going to pose a challenge if this show was anything like the don't-touch-a-vehicle experience of the recent car show. Thankfully Mima was up for the adventure, and the four of us headed out early this afternoon.

The drive was shockingly short (I really need to try to explore to the north more often), and we were parking in a grass field in no time. O was initially conked out (fighting a cough and cold), but when I transferred him to the stroller, he woke up to ask me why, then waited for me to stroll him up the bumpy steep hill before bailing out and declaring he didn't want to use it anymore. Mima and the boys waited in line while I took the stroller back to the car.

Once we got inside, I knew this was going to be a winner with the boys: there were planes right inside of the door to look at (along with a bunch of aircraft artifacts and a video lecture going on at the other end of the building), and the hangar doors wide open to the outdoors, where there were all of the boys' favorites: classic cars, a giant classic red fire truck, go carts, a whole row of military vehicles, and yes, planes! We must've walked up to more than forty planes in all, and the boys got to sit in a little one themselves. And did I mention the two bounce houses, both of which were nearly unoccupied when we got there? And the announcement that the air exhibition would be beginning 15 minutes later? Suffice it to say the boys had an excellent time, as did we; snack time up on a hill watching planes taking off and making passes of the runway, bagpipers marching around, multiple trips to the bounce house, and walking down amongst the planes and along the runways to watch the big bombers and fighter planes take off and land. More pictures here; alas, looks like at some point during the visit (or perhaps under Z's watch during his photo shoot last week?) the lens developed a scratch.

Three Guys (and Mima)

While the boys and we eat at restaurants (arguably perhaps too often), the selection is, shall we say, limited: sushi or Red Robin. So when the boys and I decided to go out for lunch today, picked up mima to join us, and when I asked everyone where we should go, O declared "I want to go eat somewhere that we haven't been to before", I had to make the best of it -- while still setting us up for the possibility that both Z and O might actually find something to eat. Both close by and not previously sampled was the latest rendition of the best burger places in the world ever. We'll ignore for the moment that neither boy eats burgers and both mima and I don't eat meat.

Anyway, so we popped over; the boys were fans from the moment we walked in, because there were tables with those crazy high bar stool seats. The kind that Z tried to climb and almost tipped before I anchored it. Yikes. Anyway, we ordered and sat -- and O immediately noticed a giant barrel full of peanuts and asked what they were. I tried to describe them, but then noticed a scoop and little paper baskets: bottomless appetizers. I gave him a few to try to shell and he actually snacked on some before his tasty grilled cheese came out, along with mima and my veggie burgers (excellent), Z's hot dog, and a cup of fries for the table. Well, intended for the table; O tried one and never looked back -- not even to his grilled cheese. But after some time of hesitation, Z did try his hot dog and ended up eating about half of it. So I think we'll call this a third restaurant in the repertoire -- hooray!

Sons of the beach

Whidbey Island vacation! Mima and papa organized the trip more than a month ago, booking us a few nights at a house rental right on the beach, and the boys had been talking about getting to "go to the beach house" for about as long as we'd mentioned it was coming. As an added bonus (well, because Meh had to work), they and their fearless chihuahua Lola took the boys a day early (along with an alarmingly fully packed car of foodstuffs and beach paraphernalia that we did somehow manage to consume), e-mailing us the top particularly cute picture of the boys' first day watching the ocean. Uncle J joined us the day after we arrived. The weather was amazing the entire trip; we did everything you would expect of a trip to the beach, which was actually a fair amount of nothing. O kept collecting shells and making "mud soup". Z liked to sit in the sand. I taught O to fly a kite. We read books, roasted marshmallows, ate well, beachcombed, played frisbee (O for the first time, and he did a fine job catching even if the throwing is still an emerging skill) and also explored several nearby seaside towns (including the boys eating blueberries straight from a bush in front of a posh island inn -- with permission from the gardener of course). Oh, and we also found parks with great play areas for the boys -- and even drove the length of the island to check out the dizzying bridge over Deception Pass; Z was a particular fan.

The beach house itself was cute and cozy, with a nice fire pit in the back overlooking the bay, and a beach that got huge when the tide went dramatically out hundreds of feet. The upstairs was a loft with three queen beds; the boys ostensibly slept in one, us in a second, and Uncle J in the third (there was also a bedroom downstairs for mima and papa). I won't suggest we all got enormous amounts of sleep or that the boys didn't pile into bed with us at crazy early hours of the morning, but we all loved our time there. As we were leaving, O and Z were already quizzing us about "coming back another time", though of course the ferry ride back was yet another highlight to wrap up their fun adventure. Many (many) more pictures of the trip can be found here.

PEPSapalooza

While we never actually participated in PEPS, Seattle's Program for Early Parent Support (weekly meetings among new parents and a volunteer facilitator), we've heard for years about PEPSapalooza, a big event featuring music and kids activities. This year the schedules aligned (and Meh planned ahead) for us to finally attend, and it did not disappoint; they held it at the Everett Stadium where the Aqua Sox (the Mariners' minor league team) play, and it was an enormous affair -- thankfully we arrived early enough that it wasn't too crazy yet. There were stations/tents for every conceivable kids-related business, multiple bounce houses, and live performances by multiple of the kids' favorites (arriving to Recess Monkey playing "Jet Pack" sold both the boys on the event immediately). There was a kids barber shop offering silly hair gel; a nanny service art station making custom bubble wands (Meh of course was awesome at it and made a car-shaped one for O, while Z and I were happily using a pre-created wand); the Seattle Children's Museum station had a bunch of noisemaking "instruments"; and much much more.

The boys had an excellent time bouncing in a school bus that's been converted to a play area (!), and afterwards, without any prompting at all, just parked themselves on the concrete for snack. My favorite was when Z noticed there was a painted circle on the concrete, and automatically scooted himself to sit right on the edge (an artifact from summer camp perhaps?); O watched his brother and immediately imitated him. There was also a hat-making station with sticker letters and shapes; Z was the first kid at the station to spell an entire sentence out on his hat. Silly man. Anyway, a very fun morning for everyone, capped off with lunch at (where else but) Red Robin.

Second Run

Sunday was Z's first film screening, and O was extremely excited to hear that he'd get his opportunity to experience some movie magic today! Same movie, different audience: Meh and he had an excellent time. (Well, Meh indicated the film itself was fairly weak compared with Pixar quality, but she had fun watching it with O.) O apparently was good about sitting still through almost all of the film, only getting a bit bored and climbing around for the last few minutes.

The movie theater adventure was preceded with O's dental appointment; Meh reported that he did amazing with the whole process, paying good attention to the dentist and hygienist throughout. He scored a new green toothbrush featuring Tigger. One of the boys' favorite parts of our dentist is that at the end of the appointment they get a token and can feed it into bubblegum-style machines for a variety of prizes. O picked out a fabulous purple ring, and then very politely asked for another token so he could get a present for his brother. Such a thoughtful boy! He clutched the dentist bag all through the movie, as you can see in the picture.

Premiere Screening

Zachary's birthday present from mima and papa was for them to take him to see the new (and highly anticipated by both boys) Disney film "Planes". He had an excellent time, apparently chowing through an entire theater-sized bucket of popcorn. When I asked him afterwards what the movie was about, he answered "toys". Sure, I can see that. (And sure enough, we've already queued up the franchise's toys, likely to bring along on our upcoming trip to Whidbey Island.) Later he indicated the film had jetways, which I thought was interesting since what purpose would those serve with anthropomorphic planes? But regardless, he had a fabulous time in his first full film since "mommy and me" infant screenings. Happy birthday once more, Mister Z!

All's well that ends sick?

Yesterday was Z's 6-year wellness exam. We were concerned that he might have to get some booster shots, but apparently he's free and clear of those for another four or five years. Somehow my own memory of childhood doctor visits wasn't nearly as shot-free, but we'll take it! The stats:

• Weight: 39 lbs 2 oz (10-25%)
• Height: 42 3/4" (10-25%)
• BMI: 15.1 (25-50%)

Meh then dropped him off at camp with a successful exam behind him. Three hours later I had a phone call that he was acting under the weather and likely had a fever -- poor Z, when I got there to pick him up, he was lying asleep in the counselors' office. I got him home with snuggles and a quiet evening, and he bounced right back with a bit of Tylenol.

Speaking of bouncing, the boys are pretty much pinballing their way to bed lately, wild beyond belief even after bath time, stories, and a trip to the potty. Sometimes there's fighting or whining, and that can get a little frustrating to deal with. Other times you just have to try not to laugh -- here was what we heard at the top of the stairs tonight:

Blow Outs

Happy sixth birthday to Z! Mommy made pancakes with sprinkles this morning; Z was very pleased with us singing happy birthday and did a great job blowing out the candle. It was pajama day at camp, so he didn't even have to get dressed for his birthday. When I picked him up from camp, he had a fabulous birthday hat (I later found out that everyone made silly hats that day, but his was super cute, and he kept talking about his hat the whole drive home). After collecting O (and dropping off fellow camp-friend N), the three of us decided to celebrate the big day with birthday sushi! Our favorite waiter was there, and when he found out that it was Z's birthday, a giant bowl of ice cream with another birthday candle made its way out.

Z was happy to blow out a second candle (somehow through a piece of cucumber roll that he had in his mouth at the time), and O was happy to consume all of the ice cream (Z declined). A very fun end to a great birthday for Z!

Airborn

Z's birthday is on Thursday, which meant this weekend was his birthday party! Despite hectic schedules all around, Meh still managed to make for a wonderful celebration of Z turning 6. His interest in airports hasn't abated, and when Meh asked him what kind of cake he wanted, he immediately said "airport cake". I then made the mistake of doing an online image search of them for him, and he's been requesting "pictures of airport cakes" ever since, so the bar was even higher than usual. Nonetheless, mommy outdid both the internets and herself, with an excellent cake featuring a runway with a "plane taking off" (Z was insistent that it wasn't landing), a terminal building (the tower was an inverted ice cream cone), and of course many airplane vehicles that immediately became Z's (and thus also O's) favorite toys. The boys' wonder at the cake first thing Sunday morning was only topped by the guy arriving with a bounce house (Cars-themed, just to push the boys' interest to eleven) that was to become the entertainment of the party. He apologetically indicated that due to scheduling, he'd have to leave the bounce house a few hours longer than we'd booked -- oh, the suffering.

Of course it wouldn't be an airport party without Meh making awesome accompanying goody bags for the kids, decorations around the house, and a kids activity (our own recreation of the fun "build an airplane out of high fructose corn syrup" adventure we had a few months ago). Everyone had a wonderful time -- once the party itself wrapped up, O gave Z a birthday present he apparently saw at the store and thought was perfect for him. Didn't seem to matter that O himself helped open it; both boys enjoyed the foam dart rockets for a good five to ten minutes.
But I think my very favorite part of Z's birthday festivities was late in the afternoon after dinner time, where we had one more family-only bounce house jumpathon. The boys were forlorn to see it deflate this evening, but as Z likes to say, "we can always go in the bounce house another time".

I'm OK, You're OK

Something I experienced this morning that made me chuckle, but which Meh says she's heard a few times over the past few days -- a crash from another room followed by O, unprompted, hollering "I'm okay mommy!" While I was getting ready for work this morning, the boys were both in the playroom. Another crash, then O yelled from two rooms away "Don't worry, Zachary's okay, daddy!"

Cars and trucks and things that go

Driving through downtown Kirkland last week, I saw some signage indicating an upcoming car show. After our roaring success with one the boys and I stumbled across last year, I knew we had to try to be there. Friend B even volunteered to come along - it was slightly stress-reducing to have another set of adult eyes on the rambunctious boys. There was a wonderful variety of cars there from the 1920s up through the present (I was chuckling at one late 1970s wood paneled station wagon, which apparently now qualifies as a 'classic'?), in all different colors and varieties. The boys were of course comparing every car they saw to the Pixar ones, and were particularly pleased to see three different police cars, two of which were close in appearance and livery to Sarge. The third police car was a modern interceptor placed next to a 1930s period City of Kirkland police car with a poster board indicating the many differences in the size/population of the city, police force, capabilities of the vehicles, etc.

But by far the boys' favorite was the bright. red. fire truck. Up until this point I'd been reminding them that these cars were for "decoration" and that they should "look with their eyes" despite them lingering closer and closer (with some wary owners I think keeping a polishing cloth at the ready). But the fire truck specifically had a piece of paper on it indicating that it was fine for touching, climbing, and playing on. The boys were completely thrilled. When I was finally able to pry them away to see more of the actual vehicles, O kept asking if any of these cars also had "pieces of paper" (e.g. could he climb on/in them). We had to make a return trip before heading out, but what a great morning activity for the boys!

Bird is the Word

For once the title of this post isn't intended as some kind of pseudo-clever word play. Bird is the Word is Z's favorite song, and he both sings and requests it with some frequency. I made the mistake of hunting on YouTube and rediscovered the extended joke it made for on a Family Guy episode.

When the bird alone won't suffice, I often catch both boys singing Uncle B and my hit song from grandma and John's wedding. And yes, a video of the premiere performance has surfaced:

Family Portrait

Last month just before heading to Michigan, we had our long-awaited family portraits. It was a twice (perhaps three times?) rain-delayed affair that Meh had purchased excellently cute outfits for, hence the sweaters for a shoot taking place in June. And even on the day of, it was sprinkling as I headed home from work -- but somehow the sky cleared and we were able to have some fun at a clearly photo-friendly (kudos to Meh for picking it) local park featuring historic buildings and a number of rusting tractors that I think could give you tetanus just by looking at them. Still, the boys managed to stay clean enough and patient enough for these amazing pictures - huge thanks to Keri! We met her in a parent/baby group with Zachary, and since Z helped start up her portfolio, her business has simply continued taking off since (celebrity babies and all!). We'll give Z just a tiny slice of credit, but such fabulous and memorable results from Keri; more pictures here.

How dry I am

Meh's excellent anniversary present to me was to replace our aging (we couldn't remember, but it's wholly possible it came with the house) clothes dryer -- even grandma was excited to hear the news, having experienced its raw awesome non-drying power when she and J watched the boys a few months ago, and probably spent the entire week trying to dry the same load. The new dryer was delivered and installed yesterday, a space-age top-loading device from what is apparently the major appliance manufacturer of New Zealand. It's already run through two loads and (gasp) successfully dried clothing. Crazy, I know. I'm also a fan of the lint collector, a little scoop that you just pick up and shake in the garbage like a dustbuster - no scraping or pulling out debris. It's a fun device with a host of interesting sounds (not loud, but sounding like a little Cessna motor is spinning up) and a wonderful gift - it even fits the bill for the traditional ten year gift of something made of aluminum. (Again, where do they come up with these things?!) Thank you Meh!

Regional Airport

While our trip to Michigan wrapped up more than a week ago, Z's obsession with planes and airport vehicles has continued. It's pretty obvious what his birthday cake is going to be, and he frequently talks about how "we can definitely go to the airport another time" and how we'll similarly revisit the Museum of Flight. But why wait? He's taken the most unlikely of building blocks, his collection of Lincoln Logs, and turned them into a full-fledged airport on his own. Check out the luggage carts, the baggage loader, the plane tower, the terminal (I helped him with it just a bit), and of course the fabulous airplane!

The Ten Year Pitch

This morning, O and I got to have some daddy/son time while Meh was at work and Z was working with L. I let him choose where we went, and he recommended one of our favorite beach parks. An excellent idea, but I didn't anticipate O wanting to go all the way down to the beach -- and then into the water, "just like at grandma and John's house!" I rolled up his pants (yes, he wasn't even wearing shorts) as best I could, but that didn't do much when he decided the next step was to sit down in the lake. Ah well. On the plus side, a father and son came up to the lake with a remote controlled tug boat, and we had great fun watching them. Then they kicked it up a notch by attaching a barge behind the tug and putting a toy bulldozer in the barge. O's mind was sufficiently blown, and it was super amusing seeing Meh's disbelief when he later described the scene -- it took my pictures to prove his story true.

Today is Meh and my tenth anniversary! I can't believe it's already been ten years; while in some ways I feel like we've known each other forever, I look back at our wedding photos and sometimes think, oh, that was just yesterday. Even when O, Uncle B, Aunt J, and I were at the sandwich shack right across from our wedding venue a few weeks ago, it really didn't seem that long ago that the two of us were walking down the aisle, then dancing and celebrating with our friends and family all Sunday long. Celebrating our anniversary, I continued the silly tradition of making an overly elaborate book full of attempted (and probably mostly failed) jokes; the format for this year's valiant effort was "pilot" scripts (yes, in traditional format) for send-ups of a variety of TV shows we watch (Mehd Mehn, Game of Tones, True Caffeine Free Blood, etc.), bound up in a silly TV Guide format. It was enjoyed even if I clearly spent too much time on it. Mima watched the boys so we could celebrate with a lovely dinner (complements of John and grandma, celebrating their 10-day anniversary!) at a tasty local restaurant. A very happy anniversary to my soulmate, my best friend, my very pretty and cozy wife of ten years!

Here Comes the Bride

It's been an excellent week in Michigan as we celebrated grandma and John's wedding! The boys had a fabulous time, the weather was cooperative, and of course the ceremony itself was very special and we were so glad to be able to share in the festivities. The time went by very quickly, but it was a great opportunity to catch up with family and friends, visit some old and new favorite locations, and in general get some good quality family time.

No trip can begin without some playtime at the airport, and the boys didn't disappoint with wild running around and playing. As usual, this somehow didn't actually exhaust them, and the entire plane flight (thankfully direct) involved various kinds of entertaining the boys ("Want a present?" was Z's query literally as we sat down on the plane) with food, toys, boys, movies, stickers, and other distractions. We arrived and got to take an (always exciting for the boys) series of elevators, escalators, watch the luggage carousel, and then grab a bus to the rental car facility; the boys continued to be super pleased if a bit zonked from the flight. The rental car facility was making popcorn, so O and Z both accepted and munched on buttery bags of goodness while we marched out to choose our car. The boys selected a nice dark red Kia -- insert irony of them passing by an entire row of Big Three Detroit vehicles and opting for the sole import offered to them.

The next day was fairly quiet, featuring some fun times at the park with grandma and John, and then lunch at a local diner. I picked up Uncle B and Aunt J in the evening, and the rest of the family was incoming over the next 12 hours as well; it was so nice to get to see our small and spread out family (Seattle, SF, DC, NY, MI) all coming together for such a celebration.

Wednesday was our primary opportunity to both spend time with Uncle B and Aunt J and run some errands (for reasons that will become apparent later, Uncle B had to get to Ann Arbor to pick up a guitar). First we all visited my dad's burial site; I prepped the kids (and myself) as best I could, but it was still both sweet and a bit tear-jerking when O talked about "leaving a stone for grandpa to play with". We made a quick stop as well at the house Uncle B and I grew up in; while the main street's shops aren't even remotely recognizable anymore, the neighborhood itself was still looking pretty good, and the house itself is still the same color it was when we left. Onward to a family lunch/dinner at one of Ann Arbor's more famous restaurants! The boys weren't really interested in the tasty looking hot dog (Z) and grilled cheese (O) that we got for them, but when O heard there was ice cream... Needless to say, we couldn't leave without O getting the tiniest little dish of "swirl" (mixing their chocolate and vanilla gelato). Oh, and next to their separate coffee house/ice cream building, we discovered the cutest little play area, complete with (what else but) vehicles. The boys were well entertained for the remainder of our visit.

Before heading home from Ann Arbor, we had to make a stop to visit at least one of the famous fairy doors that Meh had discovered while researching our own acquisitions. And this one certainly didn't disappoint; it was in the hallway right outside of the shop, and for extra fun, behind the door you can see the various things that people have left for the fairies -- including an alarming number of mentos, Vernors ginger ale, and as O and Z were quick to point out, even a tiny Mater toy. Meh chose to leave a tiny book that she'd had forever, it was the perfect home for it to end up with the fairies. It didn't hurt that there was a toy store right across the hall. From one meal to another; we got home in time for a brief rest before heading onward to the out of town guests (e.g. family) dinner. O conked out in the car and proceeded to sleep (thank goodness we'd brought the stroller) through the entire meal. When we got back, I got to work making the wedding challahs, though the second batch had to wait until morning.

The wedding day arrived, and it was time to get the boys into cute outfits and pray that they could keep them stain-free at least through the photos. But honestly, the boys did amazingly well throughout the day. It was a beautiful morning and a fabulous venue; the boys were pleased to see golf carts whizzing by and patiently stood through pictures. My mom and John both looked so happy and I think they really enjoyed the entire day! We met the rabbi, who informed us (and then the gathered guests, and then at the reception mentioned again) that his grandsons are also Z and O. Soon it was time to walk down the aisle -- the boys did a great job sprinkling flowers, even if O eventually decided to just upend his bucket near the chuppah. Both boys ended up somehow under the first row of chairs during the ceremony, but stayed very cute and quiet during a lovely wedding. I had a front row seat -- well, standing position, helping to hold up the chuppah, and it was wonderful and sweet to see and share in the love and joy of the exchanging of vows and rings. At the reception, O was a dancing machine and Z really got into the act as well.

And speaking of acts, we might as well get to the guitar. Both B and I gave toasts (O came up to interrupt me halfway through: "Excuse me, daddy. I have to talk to you."), and then we'd cowritten (well, B wrote all of the lyrics and the melody; I mostly just contributed chords) a song about the two whose lives have changed the most besides the bride and groom: my mom's dog Gus and John's dog Winston. There was a chorus with a big cue card for everyone to join in on:

Lucky Dog (By Uncle B and Scoot (ASCAP))

Gus is a lucky dog
With yellow fur and a big brown nose
And his favorite thing in the world
Is to lick his paw just above his toes
And his second favorite thing
Is Missy Sue, he thinks she's his mom
And his next favorite things
Are his new best friends Winston and John

[CHORUS] Oh lucky dog, lucky dog, bow wow
Lucky dog, lucky dog, woof woof,
Lucky dog, lucky dog, bow wow,
Lucky dog, lucky dog, lucky dog.

Winston's a lucky dog
A springer spaniel with a great big heart
And he's lucky to be deaf
He can't hear you [pause] when you fart
And when Winston has to make
He just paces around, doesn't bark at the door
You gotta read his mind
Or you’re gonna be cleaning up the floor

[chorus]

Now Winston's got a new mom
And Gus has got a new dad
They're glad for what they have
And they remember [pause] what they had?

[chorus 2x + coda]

It was a wonderful celebration, and the raising of the bride and groom on chairs was only mildly penalized by 5'4" me trying to lift up grandma. Everyone had an amazing time. And then to punctuate the whole thing, we took the boys to their first fireworks in the evening. While it was loud enough that I had to hold my hands over O's ears for him to be happy, everyone had a great time watching them launched over a local lake. Z was so excited he had to compare it declaratively to his other favorite activity: "We're going to the airport on Sundayyyyyy!"

The day after the wedding was a big family cookout. Grandma and I took the boys out on the boat, to much happiness all around even if there was some pushing and shoving for the seemingly identical front chair positions. When we got back, I took the boys out for some wading (and later with O, actual swimming) into the lake itself -- there were many sand toys (and a Cars-themed kickboard) at our neighbors house that they had generously shared with us. In the evening, the extended family decided to head to Ann Arbor for dinner -- of course at a totally different restaurant. Nah, the same one again. This time we managed to get O to eat some of his dinner in between playing with Z and a little girl who kept walking toys out of the play area (to concern from the boys; her parents brought everything back though), though he again scored ice cream for dessert. Then a brief tour of downtown Ann Arbor, where we did spot a second fairy door -- the local theater's entrance for the faerie folk.

This year is the 20th anniversary of my high school graduation; alas, the class presidents haven't organized anything, and a few other alumni who tried to get something together for August ran out of time and resources -- so it'll be the 21st anniversary before we have an event. I spammed the e-mail list and invited everyone to a casual bring-your-own-picnic at a local park on Saturday and had a few interested responses. Alas, only one classmate showed - we did have a nice time catching up (and the boys had a blast at the park full of climbing, sliding, swinging, and spinning), and I guess too many other classmates were either out of town, had other holiday weekend plans, or no longer live in the area. Anyway, it was a fun morning/afternoon, and the boys were particular fans of an entire playground full of equipment that rotated in dizzying circles. Saturday was also John's birthday -- what a week of big events, happy birthday John!

Sunday was a fairly quiet final day with Uncle B, Aunt J, grandma, and John; we found a local mall with both a play area and a ton of toy vehicles, and the boys were plenty happy to climb around in them even without quarters to run them. Then it was off to return the rental car and get to our plane -- we said a final goodbye to Uncle B and Aunt J (whose flight was due to leave just a few minutes after ours, a few gates down -- due to weather they didn't actually get out and home until today, argh!) and were on the first of two planes back. Another sleepless flight for the boys, though we were all pleased to see the second plane had a 2-4-2 configuration, so we had two rows to ourselves. O discovered the glow bracelets and was wearing about twenty by the end of the flight. There was a final hiccup when our car seat didn't make the last leg of the flight (it showed up today - while mildly annoyed and exhausted at the time, I was amused that the tracking e-mails and site were managed by the very appropriately named wheresmysuitcase.com), but we eventually were home at 11 pm. An end to an exhausting but excellent trip -- mazel tov once more to grandma and John! It was so good to see aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, friends, and to meet new members of the family at the same time. The boys are still talking about flying on the airplanes and the next time we'll be able to go to the airport (and I suspect they still will be for some time!), and it was a lovely trip home. Welcome to the family, John! Pictures of the adventure here.