Yeah. We stayed here.

More later.

I admit it.

I'm a sucker for stuff like this. For some reason it popped up when I hit the Google site. Ok, so mostly it was this lady to the left. Some of the other faces were a bit, uh... dramatic for me. But I've always been a sucker for women in hats, and women in styles of the 30's through 50's.

Wild Weekend, and Walking

Well.... not "college drunken stupor" wild. Just hectic and worldwindesque.

This was the long planned weekend The Groves were coming to visit. It was unsure until Friday afternoon if Cami was coming because of a work project she had. There was rain in the forecast for most of the weekend... but let's go back to Friday morning.

Friday morning we got a call from Kristin wondering if we could take Trenton for the day. She was pretty sure she had strep throat, was making a doctor appointment, and pretty much didn't want Trenton around her... hoping he could avoid getting it.

So I took off in the morning, but I had some stuff I needed to get done at work Friday afternoon, so Vicki took over for me at 1:00. We insisted on keeping Trenton all night so that Kristin could get a good night's sleep.

Brian and Kristin had told us that Trenton had taken "a" step every now and then around last weekend, and later in the week he was getting three or four in before falling on his butt. He did it for me in the morning a couple of times, and for Vicki in the afternoon. He's quite thrilled with this new ability.

Anyway, Friday night he woke us up a few times -- Vicki popped the binky in the first two times. I tried it at 2:30 am, but he was sitting up, and then he stood up in the crib, so I took him to the couch where we sat and both fell asleep for about an hour. Which of course I absolutely hated ;-) I plopped him back in bed at about 3:40 and went back to bed. He woke up at 5, and we fed and changed him and put him in our bed with us until after 8:00.

Kristin called and told me she was going to take a shower and come get him. Vicki called her right back and told her to go back to bed and get more rest, and we'd keep him as long as we needed to.

Not long after he got up, Trenton was now taking 6 to 8 steps before falling.

I made a quick run to the store to get stuff before the Groves arrived, and they showed up in the early afternoon. Brian and Kristin came over to see them and ostensibly to get Trenton ... Kristin took him home in the mid afternoon so they could both take a nap. Brian went about an hour later, and they all came back for dinner.

By afternoon, he was up to about 15 steps at a time.

He also loves our antique mechanical clock at the bottom of the stairs. He immitates the "Tick-Tock" sound, and the "Ding-Dong" sound by saying "Eh-Ah! Eh-Ah!" He'll stand at the top of the stairs and say "Eh-Ah!" over and over again while he watches it. He's fascinated by the pendulum, the sound, and especially when it chimes on the hour and half hour. Wherever he is he HAS to go see it when it starts.

The Groves brought brats and a tasty lemon-drop martini recipe. But the weekend was a blur, with moments of visiting between running interference with Trenton. Mark and I sat out on the deck during the warm evening ... it had stopped raining for several hours, and played guitars and talked ... smoked a pipe and a cigar, cooked the brats.

After dinner all of us except for Brian and Mark went for a walk, and when we got back after dark they had started a fire in the chiminea on the deck. We spent the rest of the evening out there. Brian, Kristin, and Trenton went home (Trenton had been put down to sleep long before) and Mark and I stayed up to make sure the fire died down enough to leave alone on the deck.... played some more on the guitars and talked. Hit the hay....

Got up to make the traditional Snoopy Waffles and whipped out the belgian waffle maker just so we could have three waffle irons cranking, as Brian and Kristin and Trenton came back over for breakfast. Breakfast for 9.

It is good to be surrounded by friends and family.

Cami and Cassie went to the mall to use a Penny's coupon for something for Cassie. Mark wanted to hit an antique mall, so we went out to The Market Place for a couple of hours while Vicki put Trenton down for a nap. Brian is studying for some military test for a promotion.

We got back, and Cami brought Sonic Burgers for everyone. Then they had to leave. Kristin had to work this afternoon. And Kevin was coming into town to have a birthday dinner with his dad (we did that a couple of weeks ago with him). His dad was coming to our house to meet him -- Ken got here as the Groves were leaving.

In the mean time, Trenton is coming down with a cold and just not feeling well at all, though he's now walking 15 feet at a time. He's getting tired easily, but not sleeping more than about an hour at a time. He woke up when Kevin got here. Ken, Brian, and Kevin went out for Kevin's birthday dinner. By the time they got back Trenton was tired again and I went and put him down around 6. He woke up a half hour later as I moved him to the crib, and Nana Vicki took over and got him back to sleep.

Cami called about an hour and a half after they left. They had just gotten past the bridge at Rocheport on I-70... about 15 minutes (normally) from here. Apparently a semi had gone off the bridge. Probably didn't bode well for the driver.

Ken left. Trenton woke up about 7:20. Needed to eat. Kevin left while he was eating. Brian finished his study book. Vicki and I took turns keeping Trenton entertained until Brian finally took him home about 8:45. And the house is now quiet, except for the "Eh-Ah!" of the clocks.