Midwest Trip Part II--Summary and Pictures

We're home safe and sound and although both Nicholas and I are exhausted and he has had a few re-entry problems, I'm so very glad we went on this trip. It was everything our midwest trips usually are plus some surprise bonuses.

We had a good visit with a bunch of friends and family. Unfortunately our visits with one of my grandmothers took place in a hospital and nursing home and under less-than-ideal circumstances. It was rough for me emotionally, but I am so grateful to have had that time. And Nicholas did shockingly well with it. Much to my surprise, he recognized Grandma each time and was excited to see her. Since I can't imagine he remembered her from Christmas and she was not up for interacting much with him on this trip, I'm not sure why he was so excited, but every time we walked into her room he greeted her with enthusiasm. It was touching and important to me in a way I can't articulate.

We got to see more relatives than I anticipated because our trip happened to overlap with their visits to my grandparents, and Nicholas ate it up. One of my cousins was there with her 7-year-old son, who Nicholas promptly decided was his favorite person ever. All you had to do was say Cameron's name and Nicholas broke into a grin. Because they were there we also did more than we usually do, rather than just sitting around the house. One day we went to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum and another we went swimming at my aunt's house. We wanted to take the boys to the zoo, but since the heat index never dropped below 100 that week, we nixed that plan.

My camera batteries died about 5 minutes into our trip to Churchill Downs and I haven't gotten pictures from my cousin yet, so for now, this is the best picture I have of that trip:

From 2010 June

Nicholas was mostly nonplussed by the whole thing, although interested in the horse statues and riding simulator games. He did not enjoy going out on the track, but I can understand that because it was so hot I could actually feel the makeup melting off my face.

He loved swimming, though. The pool was really warm and he had his big cousins to watch and (great) aunts and uncles to cheer him on, so he was in seventh heaven. He did a good job of "swimming." If I said "kick" he did a perfect frog kick and if I said "splash" he hit the water with his hands. When he did them both, it looked like he was swimming. And he figured out that I was moving him when he did it, so started doing it on his own when he wanted to go somewhere.

Here he is in his swim ensemble, excited because he saw one of the dogs:

From 2010 June

After a few days in Louisville seeing lots of relatives, we headed up to Cincinnati to see my college friends and their families.

On the way up we met some friends on Xavier's campus. Some areas around campus have been completely reconstructed since I was there, but the academic mall still looks the same. We let Nicholas walk around on the "X" in front of the library and of course took pictures at various spots.

Here he is on the academic mall, happy in the shade:

From 2010 June

And here is the little Musketeer showing his school spirit:

From 2010 June

He then had a great time with the "big kids" and all their cool toys while I reveled in the chance to spend some time catching up with my college friends. I think we both would have been been happy to stay there for weeks.

From 2010 June

There are more pictures in the Gallery, as usual. Overall Nicholas did a very good job and I was so glad to have had the chance to go. The flight home was difficult because he had to skip his afternoon nap, I forgot that the Louisville airport doesn't have the fastfood options BWI does so he had a dinner of crackers and chocolate milk, and our flight was delayed long enough that we didn't land until after bedtime. But no fullscale meltdowns, so I will consider it a success.