So my parents decided to take Liam on a road trip for the second week of his spring break. It’s been five days now. They left on Saturday and will be back this coming Saturday or Sunday. They call every night to tell us what the adventure was that day. Sometimes Liam talks and talks and other times he just says Hi.
Before he left Greg and I had mixed feelings; excited for him, sad because we’d miss him, excited to have one on one time with Brianna, sad because we couldn’t be on vacation too, etc. So far it’s turning out well for all of us.
My dad sounds like he’s holding up very well. He had his last radiation treatment the Monday before they left. Liam has only had a few minor fits mostly due to being tired (as usual). The highlights, both from my mom and Liam, in no particular order:
Eating at a McDonalds that was in an old train car
Getting binoculars at Hoover Dam
Going from wearing shorts in the morning to climbing to an elevation where it was snowing Taking an old time train ride to a ‘cowboy town’ where robbers ran through the train and the Sheriff had to chase them. Evidently Liam talked up the Sheriff quite a bit afterwards.
Liam’s been getting a lot of treasure for his treasure chest. You know those bins of rocks/stones – he’s basically getting something every time they are in a place with one of those.
Finally getting to Sedona, Arizona (the destination) and not wanting to take a Jeep tour around because all the tour Jeeps were pink and Liam was not about to get in a pink Jeep. I guess Brianna’s future Barbie car is safe from him.
Today they are meeting up with Lanny, my maternal uncle, and going to the wild animal park. I can’t wait to get the call tonight and find out how that went.
While the three of them have been having fun on their road trip, Greg, Brianna, and I have been having fun too. We almost forgot how much easier it is to just have one child. Saturday, I had a hair appointment, so Greg took Brianna to Dennis the Menace Park. Then they went to Black Bear Diner for lunch. I actually got home before them and when they did get home Brianna went right down for her nap. The next day, Brianna and I had our day. First we went to Target to pick up a few things, then we went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We finished our day out at My Museum, a kids interactive museum. She fell asleep on the way home, but when I put her in her crib to continue her nap, she must have woken up and climbed out of her crib and came out to get us. The climbing out of the crib happened again when we put her down that night. She finally has hit that point – she is no longer afraid of climbing out of the crib, so we’re going to have to turn it into a toddler bed this weekend. My baby will be officially gone – well maybe not entirely because she’s still not fully potty trained yet.
Oh and we had the most fun play date after work yesterday. Amanda and I picked up Des and Brianna from day care and went to this nice, new playground just a few blocks away. There is a big kid area and an under 5 yr old kid area. Brianna had absolutely no fear going up this arched ladder thing to the top of the big kid structure. At the highest point, with my hands up as high as they would go, I would only touch the bottom of her shoes. Once up at the top, she took the biggest corkscrew slide all the way back down and did it again and again and again. Des only went down that slide twice - the first time with fear on her face until it was over and then a big grin, the second time she flipped a little half way down and finished sidewise, kind of head down. I think it scared Amanda more than Des. Anyway, after playing for about an hour (it was windy and a little cold) we all headed over to Del Monte Shopping Center and had dinner at PF Chang’s. Brianna had three bowls of egg drop soup and three helpings of brown rice. I was completely shocked she ate so much because for the last few days she hasn’t been all that hungry. I don’t know if she’s getting ready to grow again or if she was just keeping up with Des. Des is a very good, adventurous eater. Brianna and I got home around 7:50, 20 minutes past her bedtime. She was so tired that after stories she wanted to lay right down and didn’t get out of her crib (as she had the previous three nights).
So Greg and I are really enjoying our time with Brianna. She’s really enjoying the undivided attention she’s getting from us. It’s made me realize that I’m going to have to work harder at giving her more attention when Liam comes home. I feel so sorry for all the second and third and beyond children out there. You really do get screwed on the parental attention scale.
Oh and one more thing, Brianna asks me every day on the way home, “Where Liam, Mommy?” She misses him and they have talked on the phone with each other a few times, which is just so cute.
Just a few more days left until we’re a family of four again.
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