Extended Stay

The girls, the dog, and I made our way to North Carolina to stay with my parents on Tuesday, February 28, and ended up staying with them until Saturday, March 10. It was quite awhile to be away from home, and even toward the end of the second week, Elsa was asking to go back. Jarrett came up for the weekend in between, so it was nice that we did not go the entire time without seeing him.

We had a really nice time while there. The girls were able to see a lot of their grandparents and Uncle Billy, we were able to get out and do some things while my parents were at work during the day, and Merckx, as usual, had a hayday playing with the border collie next door.

Some of the highlights from the trip were:

•  Elsa's jumping sessions with Uncle Billy and Grandpa. She would get a stool, place it in front of the recliner where they were sitting, stand up on it, and then jump off, onto their laps (sorry, guys -- but she had a blast!).

• One evening after my dad got home from work, he pulled out his smaller remote control plane (I think there might be a fancier name for these model planes he built with a friend, but I am not sure of it), named "Sweet Pea" (the larger one is named "Elsa Marie"). My dad tried and tried, but was having a terrible time getting it off the ground. There was a bit of a breeze, and every time it would fly just a bit, it would almost immediately crash back down. Elsa asked if she could do it, so my dad graciously handed over the controls, most likely thinking there was no way she would get the thing to fly, if she could even get it to move at all. He pointed to a lever and told her to move it. I swear to you, that plane took off, did a couple of circles in the air around the culdesac, and then just continued to fly higher and higher, further and further away, until it appeared to come down some great distance behind a neighbor's house. We were about to fall over with our laughter. My dad drove around that evening and Elsa and I took a walk the next day, but our searches came up with no sign of Sweet Pea. Maybe she'll turn up one of these days...
• The girls and I spent the better part of a day at Discovery Place Kids. Elsa had an absolute ball. We started in the morning, took a break and left for some lunch, and then came back. It was still hard to get her to leave. She was able to pretend she was a veternarian, was in heaven while playing with the large water table, drove a car up to the bank teller window, went grocery shopping, played doctor to a little baby, served me and Avie at the cafe, worked on the farm, etc. It was really a fantastic place for young children, and I am sure she will visit again in the future.

•  I took the girls to an overlook to watch airplanes take off and land at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. I attempted to do this with Elsa when she was much younger, but we had problems locating the overlook then and ended up in a fast food restaurant parking lot. We were still lacking our doughnuts. I am telling you, I am not even sure how often we actually did this when I was a child, but I now have a strong association with eating doughnuts and watching the airplanes. (On a side note, I just found out that this place, opening soon here in Decatur, will have gluten-free and vegan doughnuts -- you do not understand how excited I am!) Anyway, we had a fun time at the overlook. The weather was gorgeous, and we enjoyed our picnic lunch in the strong breeze. Elsa spotted a little boy attempting to outrun the planes as they took off and landed, and she eventually decided to try it out herself.

• I somewhat convinced my mom to take a half-day off the last Friday we were there, and all us girls went out for a Mexican lunch and some shopping. My mom and I also made it out to a movie one evening after the girls were in bed -- Safe House. I cannot say I would really recommend it. It was certainly suspenseful. I think my blood pressure was quite elevated by the time we left, and I spent a good part of the movie with the lower part of my face tucked into my zippered fleece. But it was just a lot of shoot-em'-up drama without a whole lot of resolution. It was still so nice to actually go. Mexican and movies -- a must for me and my mom.
• Many trips to Target. Please tell me, why can I not stay away from that place?

Aveline also experienced some firsts while there -- her first time in the Johnny Jump-Up, as well as her first ride, facing forward, in a stroller. She was fairly pleased with both new activities.

And I realized that I just might be able to attempt placing the girls together in their room at night. With my parents' jack-and-jill-style setup with the two rooms and the bathroom upstairs, I often had everything open at night, to where Elsa, who was sleeping in a room with me, could surely hear Aveline when she awoke in the middle of the night, but yet did not wake up herself. Now, there are still other issues. For instance, last night, because Elsa had fallen asleep on the couch for a little while earlier in the afternoon, she did not want to go to sleep. So she ended up staying in her room, with the light on, reading to herself until 9:30 p.m. I am not quite sure if Avie could sleep through all of that. One of these days, we will find out.