A week in Ohio

Before I forget to mention it, this is how to survive a plane ride with a toddler:

After all the excitement of the shower weekend, Daddy headed home to go back to work while Sam and I hung around Gommy (sp?) and Papa's house for awhile. I spent some time prepping for my next trip (more to come!), but we also had plenty of time to fit in some fun.

Sam spent a lot of time playing out back. It wasn't 95 and humid, which was WONDERFUL for us. And he had lots of willing participants, including Papa and Uncle Matt. He picked up a new sport - Lacrosse. He mimicked everything that Uncle Matt did with that stick! And he and Papa played endless amounts of "baket ball." And my parents have new neighbors (well, new since I lived there) and there are kids on either side! So he got to play on a swing set and a bounce house out back as well.

Gommy and I and finally got around to taking Sam to COSI (http://www.cosi.org/), which we'd been meaning to do for quite some time. We went straight to the little kids area, which is the same concept as the Tot Spot and the Children's Museum in Houston that we love so much. What made this kind of special, though, was that Mommy used to play here when she was little. Well, kind of. The museum has moved buildings and changed a few things, but there were several elements that I clearly remembered using when I was little. No more baby chicks, though :-( It took Sam a few minutes to get comfortable in the new space, but once he had the lay of the land he felt like he owned the place. He even started telling other children what they were not allowed to play with because they were "mine!" Yeah, not uncommon these days, unfortunately. By the way, I love that they had rain coats for the water play area, but am wondering why they didn't have any in preschool sizes in an area designed for 5 and under? Hmm... But they DID have a very cool "hang out" room for big siblings. Since absolutely no kids over 5 are allowed in the little kid area, they have a supervised movie room for big siblings. How nice that must be for the mamas with a wide spread of kiddos!

Gommy also schedule a playdate for Sam. Who knew that she had friends with preschoolers?! Well we had a great time at an amazing park. Our neighborhood has some great parks that are always full of kids, but this one was fancy! Aw, the suburbs. They do have their draws...

And guess what - I got to go shopping for an entire afternoon! Papa kept the boy and the ladies hit up 2 malls and I took my time trying on dresses. Ahhh. It was wonderful, and I am a much better shopper when I have another opinion, and Sam doesn't care yet.

Sam also got to hit up the Big Pool for the first time this year. He loves the pool in my parents' neighborhood. With the beach entry, splash pad and baby pool that comes complete with "friends," who wouldn't love it? He mastered the art of jumping off the edge and is practicing kicking his legs while in a swimming position. I don't think we got any pictures, but I think he went three times while Mommy was gone.

That's right, Mommy was gone for a few days...