We started off the trip with a flight to visit Dan's parents in their fancy new townhouse for one night. They have abandoned suburbia for city life and are enjoying the perks like nearby shops/restaurants and the ability to walk to work. We stopped by a local place for dinner (and a cute little pie shop for dessert).
The next morning, we were off again to visit my grandparents in upstate New York. After about 6 hours of travel, including a well-timed stop at a McDonalds PlayPlace (for Mae to exercise/exorcise out some of her wildness/demons), we arrived just in time to meet my family at the pool. Mae looked super cute in her new flamingo swim suit, and absolutely loved pretending to be a speedy motor boat in the floaty ring we brought.
The next day, Grandpa took us out for a boat ride. Mae and Oliver didn't look particularly comfortable in their life vests, but they didn't mind once we got them on the boat. Mae loved hanging over the front edge and watching the waves break along the sides of the boat. She cried every time we slowed down to look at something along the shore!
Monday, we celebrated Dad's 60th birthday with a lunch cruise on a big steamboat. All his siblings and a few of my cousins were also able to attend. We packed the dance floor as soon as the music started after lunch (no surprise there if you witnessed the bench-clearing dance party at our wedding reception). Mae especially loved spinning around the floor with Dan and me while shaking her head to the music!
After the cruise, Gramma and Grampa gave a little slideshow presentation with photos and facts about Dad. (We loved seeing his long hippie hair from the 70s.) Then we played bingo and enjoyed a cake which turned everyone's tongues blue. Oliver was very amused by his mommy's bright blue tongue!
We spent a quiet, rainy Tuesday playing cards and preparing for our drive the next day. Wednesday we drove about 5.5 hours to my inlaws' beach house. Our weather Thursday and Friday was beautiful, but the ocean was COLD! I tried to keep Mae on the warm sand, but she cried and pointed at the waves until I moved her into the shallow water. She splashed and played with her shovel in the sand until her little chin was quivering uncontrollably and her lips started to turn blue at the edges. GranE warmed her up with lots of snuggly hugs afterwards. Mae is a little water bug for sure!
As much as Mae loved being on the beach, I think she loved chasing Pepper around the house even more. She has a special raspy squeal that she unleashes whenever she's in close proximity to a canine. We're pretty sure she's mastered her first real word (other than the "mama" or "dada" she indiscriminately spouts at most objects) since she yells "DOG-GEE" every time we pass one on the street now. She has also gotten pretty good at saying "uh-oh," though it often comes out as "uh------uh."
Mae also showed off another milestone while at the beach. She stood unsupported for the first time before our vacation on May 22nd for Daddy and then again for GranE on FaceTime... though I didn't see it until a few days later. She had fun practicing her new skill on the porch at the beach house (and then diving onto Aunt Colleen's lap). Mae also frequently insisted that Batman help place the pieces in the new farm animal sounds puzzle that he bought for her.
After a lot of travel and a lot of fun, we were happy to head home. Mae got some of her sillies out by crawling under the airport chairs before our flight. She certainly has a lot of energy, and it was really fun to watch her experience boat rides and beaches on this trip!
Postscript:
Okay, so you thought we were nuts for cramming all this into a week? So, get this: Christopher and Emily DROVE from their house to my Grandparents' house (13 hours), then left mid-week and DROVE to North Carolina (another 13 hours), and then DROVE back home again (a measly 12 hours). All with a soon-to-be one-year-old baby! That... is crazy.
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