Over the river, through the woods, and one cancelled flight later...

Posted on Oct. 8, 2008 at 12:40 PM - Post Comment

We got to Nana's house!  Grady and Mama went up to Massachusetts for a week-long visit last week and, despite our troubles getting there, we had a wonderful time!  We just loved seeing everyone - Nana, Papa, Grammy (my grandmother), Grandma Pat, and Grampy Bruce.  Thank you everyone for a fun-filled week!

We were supposed to go from Saturday to Saturday BUT our first flight was cancelled (SO not fun and the worst part of the whole experience but ultimately everything worked out OK).  They put us on the same flight the next day (yeah, we so were not going to be routed through JFK and arrive at 1AM - that made me laugh).  They do not have to move your return flight, especially since Sunday to Sunday is more expensive, but the lady at ticketing was nice enough to give me an extra day since we lost a day.  The biggest pain was that we flew out of Charlotte, which is about 1.5 hours away (cheaper flights) so we had to drive all the way home then back the next morning.

Anyway, Grady did great on the flight.  He wasn't afraid at all, his ears never bothered him, and he never got fussy (despite the first flight keeping him up late and the return flight being during his nap time).  He never napped, but I didn't expect him to (it's loud and exciting with strange people all around). 

While at Nana's we picked apples (Grady did all the picking and was SO proud), went to Gymboree up there, had a playdate with Ellen and her 2 daughters, and visited with family a lot.  It was so nice to see people and have everyone spend time with G.  He was quite lovey with everyone, which made it nice.  He would give kisses and often say "I love you" when saying hello and goodbye.


First,  just a few pictures from before we left.  On Thursday we went to the zoo with my German friend.  While we waited for them Grady played at the new playground - it is so nice and different, and it is under a canopy which keeps it cool.  That is so nice since it is hot here forever.  Although that day was relatively cool.  It's back to the mid-80's now though.







This is the day we never made it on the flight.  The worst part was, we had already handed them our boarding passes when they pulled us back.  Then they kept delaying it so we waited in the airport for hours, only to find out it was cancelled.  Apparently the plane was messed up though, so I am glad they didn't let us on.



Once we actually got on the plane on Sunday.  Grady just kept saying "fly plane!"



This was our first day in Mass.  We took him to a park that I used to go to as a child, which was fun.  They had a new playground with 2 huge sandboxes filled with trucks.  He was in heaven.  He didn't leave the sandbox for about 3 hours - no joke.  As you will see from his clothes, it was already quite cool up there!  The only good side to that was that we could break out the new fall clothes!








in the sand...



the mini excavator:











Grandma Pat helping him climb:





Running around with Nana.  They were playing together, and he was laughing so hard when Nana chased him.



Another thing that made the trip great was the fact that G slept so well.  He was never scared in the new room, and he would hang out in the crib in the morning for an hour or so, just like he does at home.  He also took very good naps.  

The second day of our visit we went to my Nana's office (which is in a school) so her co-workers could meet G.  He also got to play with some little kids at recess.

Here he is at Nana's desk:

"I really think we need to discuss this paperwork"



"Excuse me, I need to make a phone call"





"And this paperwork definitely needs some highlighting"



Tooling around in a little car on the playground:





The next day we went to the science center for storytime.  It was so much fun.  They read a story, then bring out an animal that goes with the theme of the story.  Then you move into another room to do a craft with the same theme and everyone gets snacks.  It was very cute because Grady was clearly the smallest kid there, but he did so well!  I was so proud of him.  He sat down (mostly - occasionally the woman would ask a question about the picture and he would get all excited and run up to her pointing and answering), was quiet, and really payed attention.  It was a long story too!  Then he did his first craft ever!  He really doesn't love to color, but he really enjoyed the glue stick and decorating his paper hermit crab :)

These are in the museum, before storytime:







learning about clouds - he liked it because he remembered flying through them a few days before:



look how excited he is!







He got to see sea urchins and hermit crabs.  He would giggle when the crab would come out of its shell.

 Grady's favorite activity at my mom's house was emptying this one cabinet.  It was a good activity though because he would say whether each one was heavy or light.  I guess it is good that he learned a new concept anyway!





We went back to the park on Thursday when my mom had to work:





He loves my shoes!



Playing with Papa on the couch:



This was fun - Grampy Bruce came over with one of his cool cars.  Grady got to sit in it and "drive", which he really enjoyed.  By the way, Grady is now a HUGE fan of Grampy Bruce and has been talking about him since he got home.






love this:





And just a couple videos: