I told you that we'd had a great time up north last weekend. In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much that we went back to the cabin again this past weekend! And again, we had an awesome time. I think that one of the reasons that I love being up there so much is the fact that there's really nothing else to do other than enjoy our sweet little family. Honestly, there's a television up there, but no cable. Our cell phones work every once and a while, depending on where you're sitting, and there's absolutely nothing even remotely close to Internet access. There's no laundry to do, nothing to clean and nothing to worry about. It's so nice to unplug, unwind and relax. Even if it's only for two days. Jeff said to me that the cabin is the only place where he actually sleeps through the night. If he's at home, he inevitably wakes up at least once a night. Sometimes he can get back to sleep, other times I'll wake up in the morning to find his side of the bed empty and a lump on the couch when I head downstairs.
Anyways, I picked Jack up from school on Thursday afternoon and we came home to start getting things ready to head up north. Honestly, I feel like I'm moving every time we leave to go somewhere overnight. We have to bring SO much stuff. There's the Pack 'n Play, the safety gate, a stroller, food, clothes, swimming gear, dog stuff, and toys. Honestly, I'm getting nervous to head out to New Jersey, more so for the insane amount of money we'll likely spend on bag fees just to get everything out there. And everything seems to be a necessity at this point. Last night, Jeff and I were trying to work out the logistics of getting all of his guys out east. We were talking about only bringing one or two guys, but then the inevitable fear hits - what if Jack totally melts down because one of his "guys" isn't with him at night? Mostly, I'm just worried about the oversize Mickey Mouse, because I think we can manage the rest, but we're going to look like total weirdos on the plane - a blanket, a Spidey Bear, two bear blankets and a huge Mickey. I'm not sure there will be enough room for us to sit. So, anyways...
On Thursday night, Jack and I spent some time cleaning out the car to make room for all our stuff. Plus, it's always nice to embark on a road trip with a clean car. Jack loves to "help" me with this chore. He likes to sit in the driver's seat of the car and pretend he's driving. He puts in his Mickey Mouse CD and fiddles with the radio, honks the horn sometimes, and generally just pretends he's cruising. He also loves to turn around wherever I am and wave at me. His other favorite thing - sticking his head out the sun roof.
On Thursday, I was wearing my sunglasses while I was completing this chore. Jack promptly took them off my face and put them on - because obviously he thinks you need shades to drive, which is something he's probably seen me do thousands of times.
Honestly, I probably should stop being shocked about the fact that kids pick up and mimic so much of the stuff that we do. He talks on the phone and drives the car... it's almost like I've got a mini-teenager on my hands. That time will come way too fast for me.
Anyways, we headed up to the cabin on Friday night and while I opened it up and unpacked, Jack chilled out in Grandpa's chair and watched a Mickey. He went to bed soon after that and Jeff and I ate dinner and watched a really bad movie. The next morning, we got up bright and early. Jack (again) walked out of his bedroom and climbed onto the chair. I got him a snack, his guys, and put on a show. Jeff and I dozed for another hour. We went to a small town about twenty minutes away from the cabin and had the best breakfast of our lives. We then took Jack to a petting zoo that Jeff had found on the Internet. There were so many animals there - llamas, sheep, bunnies, chickens, goats, and even a baby deer. But, you know what animal Jack liked the best? The family's cocker spaniel. He kept following it around and woofing at it. He really didn't show much interest in any of the other animals, and even got bored with feeding the goats.
His lack of interest in the animals kind of surprised me. One of his most favorite books is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" - or Waa-Waa, as he call it - and he's gotten really good at making all the animal noises. He can quack like a duck, meow like a cat, bark like a dog...his sheep noises, well... he makes raspberry sounds whenever we get to the sheep...but he's learning. He did like running around the farm, though.
After that, we went back to the cabin to relax for a while and take naps. And, I made good on my word - Jack was a mama's boy last week, and now he wants his daddy. Jack was perfectly happy to sit on his daddy's lap and eat a snack (pick his nose?) before his nap.
Jeff left the cabin before we did yesterday and this made Jack absolutely inconsolable. It was actually quite the sad sight to see. Jeff gave me and Jack a hug and kiss goodbye and then got in his car. Jack followed after Jeff's car, crying hysterically for his daddy. It took Jeff ten minutes to get down the driveway because he kept stopping to come back and give Jack one more kiss and hug. It could have had something to do with the fact that we were getting close to nap time, but after Jeff left, I took Jack into the cabin and everything caused meltdowns of epic proportions. He was mad that I had sliced his banana, he didn't want to watch a Mickey, he didn't want his "guys" anywhere near him. He just wanted his Daddy. This morning, I went into his room to get Jack out of his crib and the first thing he asked me when I walked into his room was, "Dada?" and was quite tickled when Jeff came into his room and told him he was stinky.
But I digress... Anyways, after Jack got up from his nap on Saturday, we went into town and did some shopping. We picked up stuff for dinner and then went back to the cabin to make supper and go for a golf cart ride. I know I mentioned how much Jack loves the golf cart - or the "Beep Beep" as he calls it. I guess Jeff was riding with him last weekend and kept saying, "Beep! Beep! Coming through!" which is what I always used to say to Jack when he was in his walker last summer. After we were done with the golf cart and inside, Jack kept looking out the window and asking for the Beep Beep.
On Sunday morning, we started cleaning and packing things up. We went out for breakfast again and then came back to the cabin. We had decided that it was too cold to go swimming, but Jack had other ideas. He walked into his room and grabbed his water wings and asked Jeff to put them on. We took that as a sign that Jack wanted to go swimming, so we headed down to the lake with Blue. I think Jack agreed that it may have been a bit chilly to swim, because he stayed close to shore and just ran in and out of the water.
Jack and I left for home when he got up from his nap yesterday afternoon. We hit terrible traffic on the way home, which is typical for Minnesota on a Sunday night. I will never understand this though - we were gone for less than 48 hours and somehow managed to accumulate five loads of laundry. Tell me how that happens. It's some strange cosmic law, I think.
So, after dinner last night, I stripped Jack down to his diaper while we were still in the living room so I could wash his clothes. I went into the laundry room and a few seconds later, Jack came tearing in there, hollering "Nakies!" which is what I usually say when he's got no clothes on. I asked him over and over again where his diaper was - I had concerns, mostly because he was tooting up a storm during dinner and I was afraid I'd walk into a mess of poop that Blue had either decided to sample or that Jack had spread all over the floor. So, I'm walking around the house, trying to locate the missing diaper and I can't find it anywhere. Finally, I asked Jack where he put it, and he walked over to the garbage can. Sure enough, I opened it up and there was his diaper. And no, it wasn't dirty. This tells me several things - first off, he can take off his own diaper. Second of all, he knows where to put his dirty ones. The kid never fails to amuse me, that's for sure.
Anyways, the next few weeks will be busy. By this time next week, we will have made it to New Jersey - or "God's Country" as Jeff calls it. We'll be staying with Auntie Kate and Unkie for a few days and seeing family and friends. I'm fairly certain every minute of our week is booked. Then, Grandma T. is going to take Jack while Jeff and I head to Rhode Island for a wedding. This weekend, we're trying to get to the State Fair and we've got a swimming date on Saturday afternoon.
I can't believe that the summer is almost over. We're trying to squeeze in as much fun as we can before we've got to dust off our winter coats and put away our flip flops. The snow will be here before you know it...
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