Midwest 2011 Day 3

I drove home with my parents from Louisville a couple weeks ago in 10 hours. This time it took me 47. Yes, almost 2 complete days. In part because I planned in a bunch of stops. (In case you're wondering, the Wheeling children's museum is more like a garage sale of random toys than anything that can properly be called a museum. And guide dogs train for 2 years and can do your grocery shopping for you and make a bed!) And there were some detours for construction and closed freeways.

And then there was the 16 hours delay due to a flat tire.

Luckily we did not spend 16 hours on the side of the road. We had stopped to spend a few hours with friends in Cincinnati and noticed the flat when we tried to leave. Since no tire place is open at 7pm on a Saturday night, we spent the night and got the tire fixed this morning.

Nicholas actually really enjoyed the delay because he got bonus time with our Cincinnati friends. They have 3 young kids, a swingset, and a trampoline. Happy little boy.

Apparently Nicholas has been watching people use real swings because yesterday in what was to my knowledge his first time on a real swing, he began pumping his legs and leaning back, as you can see in this video.

From 2011 June

He wasn't able to effectively get much height, but I was impressed that he even knew about this. And he was really persistent. By the time I took this video he had been trying for 3 or 4 minutes.

And he didn't take any time at all to warm up to the trampoline. He jumped (literally) right in and had a blast. I didn't video yesterday because all 4 kids were on and so it took all 3 adults to keep them safe, but today he was on by himself for a few minutes. The falling on his butt he picked up from the 5-year-old.

From 2011 June

But that kid was getting some serious height!

From 2011 June

Nicholas stayed and played while I got the tire fixed and then we began the final leg of our journey (well, or phase 1 of our journey). The normally 2-hour drive to Lousiville took 3 hours, but since Nicholas didn't fall asleep until over an hour and a half in, it gave him the chance to nap. Quick lunch with my grandpa and we were off to my aunt's house to go swimming. And, as I'm sure doesn't surprise you at this point, Nicholas was thrilled!

From 2011 June

We were out by the pool for over 3 hours and I think Nicholas was in the pool for about 2 1/2. He was able to get tons of pool time because my aunt and one of my cousins each took a long shift playing with him. I also played with him for awhile, but there is only so long I can do it and he absolutely cannot be in the water without an adult.

He did all of his normal pool things, but also played with this torpedo thing he called an airplane for a long time, played water basketball, and mimicked everything anyone else did. Amy went under the water and about 5 seconds later Nicholas carefully began lowering himself off the step he was sitting on. He made it up to his nose before I realized what he was doing. He tried a second time a minute later and we had to have a talk about how only Amy could do that. Then when Amy blew water out the noodle, Nicholas absolutely had to try.

From 2011 June

He was not successful, but he was pretty hilarious.

We also instituted a modification to the jumping in game. He hasn't been getting any distance when he jumps in and it makes me anxious that he'll hit his head. And I've tried asking him to jump further or lean forward, but he doesn't seem to understand. But today we brought the noodle over and created a game of jump over the noodle.

From 2011 June

And he finally started getting some distance!

We then went out to visit Aunt Mary's horse in the field. It took Nicholas a bit to warm up to Cody. I think he was scared by how big and strong the horse is. I know it caught me off guard and I've ridden horses before. But after we all pet Cody a bunch and said a lot of "nice horsey," Nicholas was willing to try. Then the problem was getting the horse to come close enough Nicholas could reach--that kid's arms are short. He was able to pet him quite a bit when Aunt Mary lured Cody to the edge with grass:

From 2011 June

And then Nicholas was able to help feed Cody, with very careful supervision from Aunt Mary, the vet:

From 2011 June

And after all that excitement, the little boy who hasn't gone to bed before 8:30 in over a week was so tired that he fell asleep in the car on the way back to grandpa's at 6:30 and was perfectly happy to be carried in straight to bed. But I should probably get to bed soon since this may have readjusted his internal clock so much that he'll be up at 4am. Also, I'm almost exhausted as he is with all the drama and driving and sun.