This past weekend (February 19-22) we went to Portland, Oregon. Steve was whooping it up with fellow brothers and groomsmen for his brother's bachelor party weekend party. Emma and I stayed with our good friend, Kate, her dog, Sam, and her cat, Max.
Getting there is half the fun as they say, and as usual there is more than one "airport" story.
Story #1: We missed our connecting flight in Minn/St.Paul due to an airlines delay while they fixed our plane's squib on the ground in Milwaukee. Emma filled her diaper (with more than urine) on the descent into Minn, and we only had 15 minutes to get to our connecting flight. We hustled from one terminal to another, and once there I made the hasty decision to change Emma's diaper in the bathroom directly across from the gate. I hustled and bustled! When we came out of the bathroom I could see the nwa woman gesturing to Steve to get off the jetway. We got there just as she was closing the door on us. We were not allowed on the flight even though Steve had been explaining the situation thoroughly. Suffice it to say that the attendants on the first flight promised the connecting flights would be held, and the nwa woman at the connecting gate was rude and completely inflexible and lacked any level of understanding. We, of course, handled ourselves with dignity and patience. :) Emma really was the model of patience; she did not seem to mind the delay. We had a good snack, did a lot of walking and exploring, and then on the trip to Portland she slept for almost 2 hours!
Story #2: The disposable diapers were just not able to withstand the call of nature for the beginning leg of the journey home. Before we boarded the plane in Portland, Emma was soaked through her pants. We put on the only spare pair and crossed our fingers. With turbulence, Emma's nap, and the fasten-seat-belt sign being illuminated for the descent into Minn, we were unable to change her diaper in the air. Before landing, Steve felt something a little unnerving: wetness on his thigh. Emma had soaked through again! It was so bad that Steve's leg was soaked, and we had to put down a thick magazine on the seat of the stroller to prevent further defacement of our clothes and accessories. Off the plane in terminal G, Steve changed into dry pants (he had all of his weekend gear stuffed into a carry-on bag- so efficient!), and I changed Emma into the drier of her two pairs of pants. Then we headed off on the long trek to terminal D, and we stopped at a the first clothes store we saw. Unfortunately, there were no toddler-sized pants. The woman was very helpful, however, and pointed us in the direction of the closest info desk. She thought that there was a hand-me-down spot for poor souls whose children needed fresh, dry, clean clothes. That lifted my spirits, but the man at the desk sent us on to the airport information center next to terminal D with drooping hopes. The man at that info desk was eager to help, but after discovering that all they had were spare diapers we were again losing hope. (Emma still didn't seem to mind anything except her growing hunger.) Sensing our despair, he pointed out the nearest row of stores and suggested a few that might have toddler pants. Off we went! Emma and Steve grabbed some chairs (and a light snack) while I started shopping. There were a plethora of toddler pants in one store called Fly Babies. (We're in luck!) I ended up leaving that store empty handed after reading the price tags; they wanted at least $25 for pants! Ouch. So I went back to the store across the way that had one 5/6 size grey sweatpants left on the rack. Emma is too young to really appreciate fashion so I happily paid $6 and left. From then on Emma remained dry and cozy!
Our stay in Portland was awesome! Kate and Emma had never met each other so that part of it was great. Thursday night Steve, his brother, Mark (who we picked up from the airport), Kate, Emma and I enjoyed a nice night of shooting the breeze and eating a tasty dinner. Kate convinced Mark and Steve to try sardines, which I think they enjoyed. Emma slept well that night until 5:30 am, which is great considering it was 7:30 our time. We shared Kate's bed that sits on the floor at the perfect height for Emma to crawl in and out of safely. Since she was so tired, she fell asleep right away. When I joined her later, I scooted her over to give me some more space on the outer edge of the bed. But throughout the night I would awake to find her legs up against my back, her entire body in danger of being rolled upon if I laid back, or my body almost falling off the bed. It was interesting! But I have to say, waking up to her cute, morning coos was just precious. Apparently, her soft sounds also woke up Kate whose alarm had failed to wake her up earlier.
Kate went off to work around 6:30 am, and I hurried to get ready for the day. Emma had so much fun playing with the pots, pans, cookbooks, stereo- anything she could get her hands on. "Aunt" Kate pretty much told her that nothing was off-limits, and Emma took her completely seriously. Sam the dog was very good with Emma playing with his toys. He also followed Emma around, licking her fingers for food scraps. She giggled. :) Max the cat sat on the stairs and watched the whole show. When Emma spotted him she tried playing peak-a-boo with him! It was too cute. We left the house around 8:30 am and headed to the park district in downtown Portland. The sun was shining and it was warm outside the shade of the buildings. We drove the length of the street (instead of walking in the cooler shade) admiring the beautiful trees, buildings and statues. When I stopped to figure out how to park (to perhaps take a stroll) I said hello to a passing elderly man to ask him how to work the parking situation. (You have to park, find a parking payment station, buy a ticket, place it in your window and then return before your paid time is up.) He also told me all about Pioneer Courthouse Square where the Portland information center is and a little bit about the aerial tram that we had seen from the freeway. He was a nice man, and Emma and I took off to find the square. We did find it, more than once (around 3 times actually), but by that time the street parking was non-existent. I was afraid to try my luck in a parking garage so we drove through the streets passing the World Trade Center, the river park (gorgeous), a Chinese-looking archway over a road, and other random city sights. When it sounded like Emma had fallen asleep in the back I decided to head to Powell's Books to let her stretch her legs before heading to Kate's for lunch.
Powell's Books is huge! The location we went to downtown is called Powell's City of Books and for good reason. When we walked in the list of rooms with different genres was itself like a book: Rose Room, Orange Room, Blue Room, etc. http://www.powells.com/info/citytour.html Visit that website to take a virtual tour if you are interested. The place defies description. I basically wished that I had the whole day to wander around and lots of spare change to buy, buy, buy! Emma had other plans. We went into the Rose Room because it housed the children's section so I thought she would find it interesting. She found it so interesting that she pulled books off of shelves and plopped down on the floor to "read" them. Well, she read one, and then I had to pick her up to keep her from pulling them all on to the floor. It turns out that picking her up wasn't the best idea: she screamed! So I tried to distract her with the nearest book, which worked for a minute. I put her down, but she continued to fuss and pull away from my hand. I calmly told her that if she didn't listen we were going to have to leave. We had to leave moments later, and that was when I smelled a horrible smell. She had pooped! So I carried her kicking and screaming and stinking through the store. A kind cleaning lady held the door open for me, and as I thanked her and turned away she tapped my shoulder. "Only one shoe," she said in a thick accent as she pointed to Emma. Great. We had to traipse back through the store- Emma was kicking, crying and stinking the whole way. Her shoe was waiting for us along the back wall somewhere in the Rose Room.
Once I got her shoe on Emma calmed down. Hmm. I took the opportunity to walk a hallway to another room and we passed by a row of sale books. Wouldn't you know that they had some kids books there? Emma started fussing again so I grabbed a book with a rooster on it and we marched back to the entrance and check out counter. On an impulse I also purchased a recyclable "canvas" Powell's bag that has a squirrel on it. Lord knows I needed both hands to carry Emma to the car!
I changed her poopy diaper in the back of the Rav4, put her in her car seat and wished we had more time for browsing. As I was opening the driver's door, who should be passing us by but that same elderly man who had helped us earlier in the day! We exchanged pleasantries, and we headed to Kate's. But we stopped at Fred Meyer first- the local grocery store for some supplies.
After lunch it was time for Emma's nap. Let's just say that I was glad I had happened to watch a bit of Super Nanny a few weeks ago. (Don't ask!) Anyway, I read a few books to Emma just like at home and laid her down in the middle of the big bed with Sleepy Time Joe. As soon as I had turned my back on her she was scrambling off the bed with an impish look on her face. "It's sleepy time, Emma," I whispered while firmly laying her back down. I turned around and decided to keep standing there, completely silent to see what would happen. Predictably, Emma crawled out of bed again, giggling to herself. *Quickly and silently, without eye contact, I scooped her up and put her back on the bed.* I turned around, taking a couple steps closer to the door and waited. Sure enough, she scrambled out of bed again. Read between the *'s. This happened about 6 times before I made it to the bedroom door and Emma stopped crawling out of bed. I took one small peak as I left the room, and I saw Emma on her tummy resting peacefully. Whew. (Thank you, Super Nanny! I had seen Jo coaching a mother on this same strategy of not leaving the room, not speaking, and not giving up re-placing the child in bed. On the show, it took the mother 45 minutes until the daughter fell asleep. Emma only lasted 6 escape attempts and roughly 15 minutes. Yay!)
I made crackers while Emma slept, and when she woke up we had a snack of grapes and crackers. It was such a beautiful day that we walked around the block (with no coats!), hung out at the corner utility pole (a neighbor decorates it in an unusual manner), and played with the rocks in the front yard. When Kate came home she told us she wanted to take us out to dinner to her favorite local Mexican restaurant- Por Que No? Since it was so nice out, we loaded Emma in the stroller, put a leash on Sam and walked the few short blocks to the restaurant.
It was a hopping place, but luckily we found a table that would accommodate the 3 of us comfortably. Emma devoured her rice and bean bowl that was smothered with all kinds of sauces and blobs of colored yumminess. My chicken taco was good, and the homemade chips and guacamole were delicious! We left quite fat and happy.
Back at the house, we gave Emma her bath right away. Sam and Max had never seen anything so interesting before; they came right into the bathroom and watched the whole show. Sam even stuck his face over the edge of the tub, and Max got cozy in the towels. It was a very endearing scene. Emma feel right to sleep that night! Kate and I were planning on watching a movie, but instead we chatted the night away while eating cheesecake and drinking tea.
Saturday morning we got up and snacked and left before 9 am for a breakfast fundraiser in Happy Valley where Kate teaches. Emma and I met some of her fellow teachers, parents of her students and the principal. Emma loved the pancakes and orange wedges. I cut up a pancake into bite size pieces for her, but she grabbed a whole pancake and chewed that down to her fingers. Kate got a big kick out of that! It was pretty amusing. Again, it was a delightful treat for Emma and I!
On the way home we decided that the aerial tram would be something fun to do that would be easy for Emma to enjoy as well. So we looked up the location, grabbed a baggie of treats for Emma and we were back on the road. It took us a couple of tries to find the bottom of the tram along the river's edge; there weren't signs or anything to help us out. We did end up on the top of a hill overlooking Portland and the river, which we would not have seen if we had found the tram right away. It was a gorgeous view!
The tram ride was only 3 minutes one way, but the view was spectacular! You could see the buildings of downtown, the mountains (Hood and Mount St. Helen's), and the river. Pretty neat. Plus, Emma didn't seem to mind the height, or the crazy dip that made the car rock front to back. The tram stops at the OSHU (Oregon Hospital something or other) at the top of the hill. There is an observation deck and a very pretty garden terrace area. We saw it all! On the garden level there was an area enclosed with 4 foot high rainbow glass that glittered and shimmered in the sun. On the inside was a the soft turf found in Kindergarten playgrounds these days, done to look like ripples in the water. In the middle was a large, bronze turtle perfect for sitting on. We all took turns and of course, snapped pictures!
Further along was a fountain low to the ground, and Emma had fun splashing her fingers in the water. Kate was continually amazed with how busy Emma is; she is always looking, touching, examining, etc. I find the phrase quite apt at describing Emma. She is so busy!
We took the tram back to our car and got home in time for lunch and nap (although a bit delayed on all counts). Emma again fell asleep fairly easily. I managed some homework, and Kate took Sam to the neighborhood dog park. We reconvened at Kate's for a homemade dinner. I made ravioli and Kate made a quinoa dish that was quite tasty. Steve and I are always looking for good vegetarian staples so that was fun to try. After dinner was another fun bath experience!
The bathroom was crowded again with people and pets. Emma was having tons of fun in the deep, large tub. At one point I wondered aloud what she was doing squatting down, and Kate echoed my sentiments. "It almost looks like she is going to poop," one of us said. Then I said (a little too loudly), "she is pooping!" We both started cracking up, and I think I scared Emma a bit with my loud voice and obvious shock. I tried corralling Emma towards one end of the tub to avoid stepping in the piles, but it was tough going. The piles started floating! Kate said she would scoop it up as she ran out of the room. When I saw what she was scooping the poop with, I laughed even harder. She had grabbed her slotted spatula from the kitchen! That pretty much signaled the end to bath time. We tried soothing Emma while dressing her in her pajamas. She fell asleep easily, and hopefully she doesn't remember her mother's shock at her bodily function. :)
Kate and I were just starting to watch Mama Mia when Andrew dropped Steve off. Steve looked dog tired, and they both said it had been a fun weekend. Steve went up to sleep on the floor not long after he arrived. Kate and I couldn't watch much of the movie before we also went to bed. (In case you were wondering and have not seen it for yourself, if you don't like ABBA, you probably won't like Mama Mia. I love musicals, but I was having a hard time with that one. I did finish watching it when we got back to WI, but I pretty much muted the singing scenes.)
The next morning dawned too early. We had a nice breakfast of oatmeal and toast. Sam licked Emma's fingers one last time, Max meowed from the stairs, and Kate bid us farewell at the car. It was really hard saying goodbye, especially after such a super visit. We all waved and blew kisses as we drove away. Another great trip to add to our memories! And Emma will hopefully one day love hearing all about it!
Getting there is half the fun as they say, and as usual there is more than one "airport" story.
Story #1: We missed our connecting flight in Minn/St.Paul due to an airlines delay while they fixed our plane's squib on the ground in Milwaukee. Emma filled her diaper (with more than urine) on the descent into Minn, and we only had 15 minutes to get to our connecting flight. We hustled from one terminal to another, and once there I made the hasty decision to change Emma's diaper in the bathroom directly across from the gate. I hustled and bustled! When we came out of the bathroom I could see the nwa woman gesturing to Steve to get off the jetway. We got there just as she was closing the door on us. We were not allowed on the flight even though Steve had been explaining the situation thoroughly. Suffice it to say that the attendants on the first flight promised the connecting flights would be held, and the nwa woman at the connecting gate was rude and completely inflexible and lacked any level of understanding. We, of course, handled ourselves with dignity and patience. :) Emma really was the model of patience; she did not seem to mind the delay. We had a good snack, did a lot of walking and exploring, and then on the trip to Portland she slept for almost 2 hours!
Story #2: The disposable diapers were just not able to withstand the call of nature for the beginning leg of the journey home. Before we boarded the plane in Portland, Emma was soaked through her pants. We put on the only spare pair and crossed our fingers. With turbulence, Emma's nap, and the fasten-seat-belt sign being illuminated for the descent into Minn, we were unable to change her diaper in the air. Before landing, Steve felt something a little unnerving: wetness on his thigh. Emma had soaked through again! It was so bad that Steve's leg was soaked, and we had to put down a thick magazine on the seat of the stroller to prevent further defacement of our clothes and accessories. Off the plane in terminal G, Steve changed into dry pants (he had all of his weekend gear stuffed into a carry-on bag- so efficient!), and I changed Emma into the drier of her two pairs of pants. Then we headed off on the long trek to terminal D, and we stopped at a the first clothes store we saw. Unfortunately, there were no toddler-sized pants. The woman was very helpful, however, and pointed us in the direction of the closest info desk. She thought that there was a hand-me-down spot for poor souls whose children needed fresh, dry, clean clothes. That lifted my spirits, but the man at the desk sent us on to the airport information center next to terminal D with drooping hopes. The man at that info desk was eager to help, but after discovering that all they had were spare diapers we were again losing hope. (Emma still didn't seem to mind anything except her growing hunger.) Sensing our despair, he pointed out the nearest row of stores and suggested a few that might have toddler pants. Off we went! Emma and Steve grabbed some chairs (and a light snack) while I started shopping. There were a plethora of toddler pants in one store called Fly Babies. (We're in luck!) I ended up leaving that store empty handed after reading the price tags; they wanted at least $25 for pants! Ouch. So I went back to the store across the way that had one 5/6 size grey sweatpants left on the rack. Emma is too young to really appreciate fashion so I happily paid $6 and left. From then on Emma remained dry and cozy!
Our stay in Portland was awesome! Kate and Emma had never met each other so that part of it was great. Thursday night Steve, his brother, Mark (who we picked up from the airport), Kate, Emma and I enjoyed a nice night of shooting the breeze and eating a tasty dinner. Kate convinced Mark and Steve to try sardines, which I think they enjoyed. Emma slept well that night until 5:30 am, which is great considering it was 7:30 our time. We shared Kate's bed that sits on the floor at the perfect height for Emma to crawl in and out of safely. Since she was so tired, she fell asleep right away. When I joined her later, I scooted her over to give me some more space on the outer edge of the bed. But throughout the night I would awake to find her legs up against my back, her entire body in danger of being rolled upon if I laid back, or my body almost falling off the bed. It was interesting! But I have to say, waking up to her cute, morning coos was just precious. Apparently, her soft sounds also woke up Kate whose alarm had failed to wake her up earlier.
Kate went off to work around 6:30 am, and I hurried to get ready for the day. Emma had so much fun playing with the pots, pans, cookbooks, stereo- anything she could get her hands on. "Aunt" Kate pretty much told her that nothing was off-limits, and Emma took her completely seriously. Sam the dog was very good with Emma playing with his toys. He also followed Emma around, licking her fingers for food scraps. She giggled. :) Max the cat sat on the stairs and watched the whole show. When Emma spotted him she tried playing peak-a-boo with him! It was too cute. We left the house around 8:30 am and headed to the park district in downtown Portland. The sun was shining and it was warm outside the shade of the buildings. We drove the length of the street (instead of walking in the cooler shade) admiring the beautiful trees, buildings and statues. When I stopped to figure out how to park (to perhaps take a stroll) I said hello to a passing elderly man to ask him how to work the parking situation. (You have to park, find a parking payment station, buy a ticket, place it in your window and then return before your paid time is up.) He also told me all about Pioneer Courthouse Square where the Portland information center is and a little bit about the aerial tram that we had seen from the freeway. He was a nice man, and Emma and I took off to find the square. We did find it, more than once (around 3 times actually), but by that time the street parking was non-existent. I was afraid to try my luck in a parking garage so we drove through the streets passing the World Trade Center, the river park (gorgeous), a Chinese-looking archway over a road, and other random city sights. When it sounded like Emma had fallen asleep in the back I decided to head to Powell's Books to let her stretch her legs before heading to Kate's for lunch.
Powell's Books is huge! The location we went to downtown is called Powell's City of Books and for good reason. When we walked in the list of rooms with different genres was itself like a book: Rose Room, Orange Room, Blue Room, etc. http://www.powells.com/info/citytour.html Visit that website to take a virtual tour if you are interested. The place defies description. I basically wished that I had the whole day to wander around and lots of spare change to buy, buy, buy! Emma had other plans. We went into the Rose Room because it housed the children's section so I thought she would find it interesting. She found it so interesting that she pulled books off of shelves and plopped down on the floor to "read" them. Well, she read one, and then I had to pick her up to keep her from pulling them all on to the floor. It turns out that picking her up wasn't the best idea: she screamed! So I tried to distract her with the nearest book, which worked for a minute. I put her down, but she continued to fuss and pull away from my hand. I calmly told her that if she didn't listen we were going to have to leave. We had to leave moments later, and that was when I smelled a horrible smell. She had pooped! So I carried her kicking and screaming and stinking through the store. A kind cleaning lady held the door open for me, and as I thanked her and turned away she tapped my shoulder. "Only one shoe," she said in a thick accent as she pointed to Emma. Great. We had to traipse back through the store- Emma was kicking, crying and stinking the whole way. Her shoe was waiting for us along the back wall somewhere in the Rose Room.
Once I got her shoe on Emma calmed down. Hmm. I took the opportunity to walk a hallway to another room and we passed by a row of sale books. Wouldn't you know that they had some kids books there? Emma started fussing again so I grabbed a book with a rooster on it and we marched back to the entrance and check out counter. On an impulse I also purchased a recyclable "canvas" Powell's bag that has a squirrel on it. Lord knows I needed both hands to carry Emma to the car!
I changed her poopy diaper in the back of the Rav4, put her in her car seat and wished we had more time for browsing. As I was opening the driver's door, who should be passing us by but that same elderly man who had helped us earlier in the day! We exchanged pleasantries, and we headed to Kate's. But we stopped at Fred Meyer first- the local grocery store for some supplies.
After lunch it was time for Emma's nap. Let's just say that I was glad I had happened to watch a bit of Super Nanny a few weeks ago. (Don't ask!) Anyway, I read a few books to Emma just like at home and laid her down in the middle of the big bed with Sleepy Time Joe. As soon as I had turned my back on her she was scrambling off the bed with an impish look on her face. "It's sleepy time, Emma," I whispered while firmly laying her back down. I turned around and decided to keep standing there, completely silent to see what would happen. Predictably, Emma crawled out of bed again, giggling to herself. *Quickly and silently, without eye contact, I scooped her up and put her back on the bed.* I turned around, taking a couple steps closer to the door and waited. Sure enough, she scrambled out of bed again. Read between the *'s. This happened about 6 times before I made it to the bedroom door and Emma stopped crawling out of bed. I took one small peak as I left the room, and I saw Emma on her tummy resting peacefully. Whew. (Thank you, Super Nanny! I had seen Jo coaching a mother on this same strategy of not leaving the room, not speaking, and not giving up re-placing the child in bed. On the show, it took the mother 45 minutes until the daughter fell asleep. Emma only lasted 6 escape attempts and roughly 15 minutes. Yay!)
I made crackers while Emma slept, and when she woke up we had a snack of grapes and crackers. It was such a beautiful day that we walked around the block (with no coats!), hung out at the corner utility pole (a neighbor decorates it in an unusual manner), and played with the rocks in the front yard. When Kate came home she told us she wanted to take us out to dinner to her favorite local Mexican restaurant- Por Que No? Since it was so nice out, we loaded Emma in the stroller, put a leash on Sam and walked the few short blocks to the restaurant.
It was a hopping place, but luckily we found a table that would accommodate the 3 of us comfortably. Emma devoured her rice and bean bowl that was smothered with all kinds of sauces and blobs of colored yumminess. My chicken taco was good, and the homemade chips and guacamole were delicious! We left quite fat and happy.
Back at the house, we gave Emma her bath right away. Sam and Max had never seen anything so interesting before; they came right into the bathroom and watched the whole show. Sam even stuck his face over the edge of the tub, and Max got cozy in the towels. It was a very endearing scene. Emma feel right to sleep that night! Kate and I were planning on watching a movie, but instead we chatted the night away while eating cheesecake and drinking tea.
Saturday morning we got up and snacked and left before 9 am for a breakfast fundraiser in Happy Valley where Kate teaches. Emma and I met some of her fellow teachers, parents of her students and the principal. Emma loved the pancakes and orange wedges. I cut up a pancake into bite size pieces for her, but she grabbed a whole pancake and chewed that down to her fingers. Kate got a big kick out of that! It was pretty amusing. Again, it was a delightful treat for Emma and I!
On the way home we decided that the aerial tram would be something fun to do that would be easy for Emma to enjoy as well. So we looked up the location, grabbed a baggie of treats for Emma and we were back on the road. It took us a couple of tries to find the bottom of the tram along the river's edge; there weren't signs or anything to help us out. We did end up on the top of a hill overlooking Portland and the river, which we would not have seen if we had found the tram right away. It was a gorgeous view!
The tram ride was only 3 minutes one way, but the view was spectacular! You could see the buildings of downtown, the mountains (Hood and Mount St. Helen's), and the river. Pretty neat. Plus, Emma didn't seem to mind the height, or the crazy dip that made the car rock front to back. The tram stops at the OSHU (Oregon Hospital something or other) at the top of the hill. There is an observation deck and a very pretty garden terrace area. We saw it all! On the garden level there was an area enclosed with 4 foot high rainbow glass that glittered and shimmered in the sun. On the inside was a the soft turf found in Kindergarten playgrounds these days, done to look like ripples in the water. In the middle was a large, bronze turtle perfect for sitting on. We all took turns and of course, snapped pictures!
Further along was a fountain low to the ground, and Emma had fun splashing her fingers in the water. Kate was continually amazed with how busy Emma is; she is always looking, touching, examining, etc. I find the phrase quite apt at describing Emma. She is so busy!
We took the tram back to our car and got home in time for lunch and nap (although a bit delayed on all counts). Emma again fell asleep fairly easily. I managed some homework, and Kate took Sam to the neighborhood dog park. We reconvened at Kate's for a homemade dinner. I made ravioli and Kate made a quinoa dish that was quite tasty. Steve and I are always looking for good vegetarian staples so that was fun to try. After dinner was another fun bath experience!
The bathroom was crowded again with people and pets. Emma was having tons of fun in the deep, large tub. At one point I wondered aloud what she was doing squatting down, and Kate echoed my sentiments. "It almost looks like she is going to poop," one of us said. Then I said (a little too loudly), "she is pooping!" We both started cracking up, and I think I scared Emma a bit with my loud voice and obvious shock. I tried corralling Emma towards one end of the tub to avoid stepping in the piles, but it was tough going. The piles started floating! Kate said she would scoop it up as she ran out of the room. When I saw what she was scooping the poop with, I laughed even harder. She had grabbed her slotted spatula from the kitchen! That pretty much signaled the end to bath time. We tried soothing Emma while dressing her in her pajamas. She fell asleep easily, and hopefully she doesn't remember her mother's shock at her bodily function. :)
Kate and I were just starting to watch Mama Mia when Andrew dropped Steve off. Steve looked dog tired, and they both said it had been a fun weekend. Steve went up to sleep on the floor not long after he arrived. Kate and I couldn't watch much of the movie before we also went to bed. (In case you were wondering and have not seen it for yourself, if you don't like ABBA, you probably won't like Mama Mia. I love musicals, but I was having a hard time with that one. I did finish watching it when we got back to WI, but I pretty much muted the singing scenes.)
The next morning dawned too early. We had a nice breakfast of oatmeal and toast. Sam licked Emma's fingers one last time, Max meowed from the stairs, and Kate bid us farewell at the car. It was really hard saying goodbye, especially after such a super visit. We all waved and blew kisses as we drove away. Another great trip to add to our memories! And Emma will hopefully one day love hearing all about it!
OMG - emma and her bodily functions on this trip! I've actually read they recommend parents bring a change of clothes for themselves when flying for just what you described. it sounds like you had a blast - when's the next trip?! we head to the states for a conference with the boys in 3 weeks (business class will never be the same) and then again to Iowa in JUne. let's hope they are as good of traveler's as before!
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