Trains, Swans, and Other Stuff...

Andy's brother Gary lives close to a train track, so he invited us over so Calvin could watch the trains go by.

The men watching and waiting...

C and A watching and waiting.

Some air time with daddy.

Sitting by the tracks and waiting some more.

Walking with Grandpa.

Playing with Daddy.

Andy giving up on the train and saying it was time to go.

We never did see a train come by, but Calvin was completely happy. He played with Gary's two Jack Russel Terriers, ate a strawberry snow cone, and threw a lot of rocks. He didn't know he was missing out on anything at all. Besides, it was fun to see Gary and his son Stephen even if we didn't get to see a train.

After the boy's nap, we drove down to VA where we were staying for the night. Grandma and Grandpa followed us, and we all went swimming in the hotel pool which Calvin loved. After swimming we went out for steak, and then said a sad goodbye as they drove back to PA.

At the hotel they have a big pond in the middle with two swans named George and Martha. C loved them, and it was all we could do to keep him in the room. The brought us a nice crib, and we all had a really good night as we prepared to leave for home early in the morning.

Chuck E Cheese

Today was rainy and cold again, so we wanted to get the boy out of the house and do something fun. We went to the mall in town and let him play on the kiddie playground (Andy calls it Ground Zero because of all the germs), and ride on the escalators over and over again. After buying two 25 cent bouncy balls and running up and down the halls, we wanted to get something to eat without a lot of waiting and sitting. We ended up at Chuck E Cheese. It was fun at first, but Calvin was overstimulated and had a bit of a melt down. On the bright side, we did end up with a couple of scratchy pictures and a plastic car that cost us 100 tickets.

Pool Champ in the Making

I think I've mentioned before that Andy's dad competed in billiards semi-professionally and is the most amazing player I've ever seen. Tonight he showed Calvin his table, and the boy put a new spin on things.
At first he would run all around the table, rolling the balls into the pockets, but after he saw his grandpa's stick action, he wanted to try that as well. He was pretty good at both methods, and insisted on incessant praise and clapping. Three generations of Nelson Pool Pros.

Bad Habits

I was able to finish training sooner than anticipated, so we left Wednesday night to come back up to PA before Calvin went to bed. Unfortunately there was a rain storm like I've never seen before - the water was a solid sheet in front of our windshield, and the lightning, which was about 20 seconds apart, blinded you for a good 5 seconds before you could see the road again. Cars were pulled over all along the side of the road to wait out the storm, and the visibility was non-existent, so we went back to our hotel and spent the night there. We left at 7am on Thursday morning and were able to see Calvin just as he was finishing up breakfast. We have never left him over night before and I couldn't believe how much we missed him.

We were only gone for 2 full days and already his grandparents taught him bad habits. Here's what we came home to in the morning:

(Two disclaimers: I look horrible because we had been driving all morning and I hadn't showered yet. And second, it's just root beer.)

Back at the Homestead

I have re-entered the world of the gainfully employed for so many reasons that aren't even remotely interesting, so I won't dwell on them here. The point is, I had to come back to DC this week for some training. Andy worked it out so that he could have meetings in the area as well, so we were all able to fly together. We have spent a few days at Andy's parent's house, and left Calvin with them to be babysat the few days when we had work to do. This is our first night here, and Calvin was already in heaven.

Sliding down the slide on the hill in the backyard (later in the week they turned a hose on, and he had his own little water slide).

Wading his feet in the pool with daddy.

Running down the small town roads where there's no traffic to worry about.

Looking at the mini horses with Grandma.

Sticking his fingers in the nose of another mini horse.

The horses were so cute. There were several new babies and even the adults were so small that Calvin could go right up and be face to face with them. His grandparents help the woman who owns them, so we were able to go in and visit over a dozen of them.