The Visit

So, by “tomorrow,” I apparently meant next week! There are really no excuses besides the standard busyness, but we also haven’t had the internet here for a week. And since my blogging time is usually when Luke is asleep, and I’m also confined to the house when he’s asleep, I haven’t had as many opportunities to stay caught up with my blogs. Which is a shame, b/c there’s been a lot to blog about.

But we’ll start with our trip to Ken and Victoria’s. We had a great time! To me, the whole visit was really relaxing, which was wonderful. I remarked to Greg on the way back that I was kind of sad to have to get back to the “real world” of cooking and cleaning and getting stuff done! Much of our time in Maryland was spent just hanging out, talking, eating Victoria’s delicious meals, and playing with the kids, which was ideal. But we did make a few ventures out: on Saturday afternoon, we went to the Ukrainian festival, and on Sunday evening, we all went to the mall. The Ukrainian festival was held at Victoria’s parents’ church, and we got to watch all sorts of performers sing, dance, and play various instruments. Greg and I enjoyed it immensely, and Luke was moderately diverted, though he preferred pushing his stroller around and making friends with people in the audience over watching the actual show! We also had a dinner of all sorts of Ukrainian food—it was all delicious, though I can’t remember what any of it was called. [Incidentally, Ken or Victoria, if you read this blog, can you remind me of what it was that we ate, as well as the name of Victoria’s parents’ church? I need it for my scrapbookJ. I know I could email you, but I still don’t have internet here. Greg is going to post this blog for me at the church building.] After dinner, the three cousins diverted themselves by running around and playing, notably with an old dilapidated Jeep (a child-size one) that was inexplicably on the church grounds. We got some cute pictures of them all sitting in it, which you can see on our photo site.

On Sunday evening, we went to the Columbia mall, which was a lot of fun. Grace and Amelia have two traditions at the mall: drinking smoothies and riding on the carousel. Luke LOVED the smoothie tradition, though he seemed less thrilled with the carousel ride. He, Grace, and Greg were all in a carriage-type thing, and every time they came around, Luke was in a different position—sitting next to dad, sitting next to Grace, on Greg’s lap, etc. I guess he just couldn’t find the perfect one for him!

The coolest thing about our trip was how well the cousins all got along. Honestly, I’ve never seen Luke interact as much with other children as he did with Grace and Amelia. They even got him to open up and start talking a little. For instance, he would say, “ba” for ball, something that, despite our best efforts, we have never been able to get him to try. We thought that maybe his being with them happened to coincide with a language breakthrough, but he definitely has not been as talkative since we got back. I think the girls just inspired him! Also, this trip marked his transition from bathing in the sink to bathing in the tub. I know, I know: it’s about time! But the sink is just so much more convenient, and he’s always liked it so much. In fact, the tub has kind of scared him in the past. But the first night as he bathed in the tub, Grace supervised with me, and interacted with him. She showed him all the bath toys, and when he would set them on the edge of the tub, she would push them in and laugh uproariously, which Luke found to be hilarious! It was so funny watching them laugh together! Then the next two nights, the cousins all took a bath together to save time. I can’t speak for Grace and Amelia, but Luke thought this was great. And don’t worry—we became “those” parents and got all sorts of incriminating bath photos. I mean, how can you resist that opportunity?

Well, I hear Luke’s mobile, which means he has woken up from his nap. I’m still set on a once a week blog, but at this point, I think that’s my maximum!