With a full tank of gas and a cooler full of snacks, we loaded up in our ZipCar and hit the road last weekend. Our destination? A surprise visit to see Uncle Clint and Auntie Meg, who had trekked from Colorado to Baltimore to take in a little football game.
Since they weren't available until after game time, and since we don't usually have a car, we took the long route and stopped in Philadelphia for a little tourist action on our way there.
First, we hopped on a horse and carriage and took a little ride through town.
Next, we did a little sight seeing on foot. Taking in the Liberty Bell (don't ask Mason how he liked it. He didn't.)
The U.S. Mint.
And a Quaker Meeting Hall (Mason really liked the loft!)
Before seeing what our mugs would look like on a $5 bill.
Back on the road, we met up with a very surprised Uncle Clint and Auntie Meg (who was in on the surprise) in Baltimore and had some crab cakes, before heading back to the car. On our way, we found this curious sign above a gutter, which made us all giggle.
After a hotel-room football game of our own, and a little pillow fight, we all crashed for the night. Sunday started out with church and then after much indecision by all of us adults, Mason picked out the aquarium for our activity.
We -- mostly Uncle Clint -- teased him mercilessly on the way there, saying we were instead going to the Museum of Dentistry, but in the end, we stuck with the original plan and Mason saw eye-to-eye with a sea turtle, checked out some rays and sharks and had Clint and Meg to lean on the whole time.
Our last stop at the aquarium was the dolphin show, which wasn't quite Sea World, but wasn't too shabby either!
After lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, it was time to take Auntie Meg and Uncle Clint to the airport and head for home ourselves. We did make one final detour, to Philly as the cheesesteak lines were a little too long Saturday. Mommy and Dad-O indulged in the sandwiches, while Mason opted for fries and we both decided Geno's won out.
Dad-O was at the polls when they opened. I waited a bit longer, mostly because I wanted to take the Mason Man with me. So, here we are, at 7:30 a.m. standing in line at the polling place, waiting for our turn.
Mason pulled the lever. Hard to believe that the last time we did this, he wasn't even a twinkle in our eyes. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool to share the voting booth with him.
When Mommy and Dad-O get off work, we're all three going to go to Election Plaza and await the results there. We'll see how long we last, but I'll post updates later.
*** UPDATES ***
Here's the three of us at Election Plaza last night:
A gallery of the rest of the shots can be found here.
Overall, it was an awesome experience to be there as some of the states started to turn, and the scaffolding's rose up the side of the GE Building. We didn't last too long. We were tired, and had a tired toddler on our (mostly Dad-O's) shoulders, so we were home well before they called the race for Obama.
From that vantage point, there was much rejoicing and gleeful cheers to be heard on the streets of Harlem.
No matter which way you voted, I don't know how you can deny the significance of what just happened. It gave me a chill, and brought tears to my eyes. After all, Mason has someone who looks an awful lot like him to look up to in the Oval Office.
We celebrated Halloween with our little firefighter all day long yesterday. First on the agenda was the second-annual Small Idea Daycare trick-or-treating parade extravaganza.
Mommy was greeted with a "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat..." song when Mason, Kellyn and their crew showed up at the home office to collect their goodies.
After that, we took a walk around the block, and attempted to take a shot of the whole crew before Mommy had to duck back inside to do some work, and the kiddies had a little party and a nap to get ready for the evening's festivities.
In the afternoon, we took all the kids to Hippo Playground on the UWS to participate in the Hippo Playground Halloween Parade and play in the playground a little bit. There, we met up with our neighbor Emilio, who Mommy didn't recognize because his "pumpkin head" costume was such a good disguise.
Once the crowd thinned, and we met up with Dad-O, we headed out on our own to do a little trick-or-treating. We went up and down 86th Street, which was decked out by all it's residents. In addition to the usual candy, they also handed out pizza and hot dogs. Not bad!
We even had a celebrity siting, as Elizabeth Hasselbeck was hitting up the street with her kids. By we, of course, I mean Dad-O. He told me who she was after she left us. I guess I need to watch the view more!
After wandering up Broadway, and picking up a few more treats, we headed for the subway. We had planned to trick-or-treat on 95th Street on our way home, but by that point, the little fireman was all tuckered out and just wanted a ride home!
We just got back from a big Florida adventure, where we visited Grandpa, Grandma Julie, Auntie Ro and Uncle Reggie in the Tampa area. It was a short trip, but we made the most of it!
We flew out last Saturday, and Auntie Ro picked us up at the airport. When we got to Spring Hill, Grandma Julie, fresh off a trip to clown graduation, answered the door with her clown nose still painted on! Once Grandpa arrived, we headed to the park to play, where Mason herded us all aboard his bus.
Then, he took a long ride on the swing.
Back home, we played a bit in Grandma and Grandpa's pool. We started out throwing a grapefruit in (they float!) but by the end of our adventure, Mason was stripped down to his skivvies, and the rest of his clothes had to be tossed in the drier!
Later that evening, we went to a little Halloween fare where Grandma was volunteering on the Haunted Nature Trail. Grandpa watched the Mace man while we big kids took part in that, but there was plenty of fun for him. Our first stop was a pony ride.
Later, we took a haunted hay ride. Grandma picked us out in the crowded line from her post on the nature trail. She recognized Mason's hair as he sat on Dad-O's shoulders. So, she joined us and got to sit right up front with the driver. This was my favorite part of the night, even though I was the only one of us who got scared on the ride! Seriously...
Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa took us up to Crystal River and the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. This was REALLY cool. For starters, we rode a little pontoon boat on the Homosassa River from the visitor's center to the wildlife park. While on board, we saw a real live -- wild -- alligator!
Once we arrived back in the park, our first stop was to see the manatees. Mason was so excited when he spotted the first one, Amanda, coming in to feed on some carrots that had been left there.
After all of us posed as manatees...
We got an underwater look at some schools of fish. They were so thick that you couldn't see beyond them.
Our next stop was to visit Lu, the 48-year-old hippopotamus. You see, the park used to be privately run, and Lu was one of a bunch of *exotic* animals housed there. When the state of Florida took over the park, it was decreed that only animals native to the state could be housed there. After failing to find a suitable home for Lu, he was granted honorary citizenship and allowed to stay on.
Lu treated us to a little show. Turns out hippos like to eat watermelon. Our melon-loving Mason thought this was pretty cool. I liked the way Lu opened so wide to get his juicy treat tossed into his mouth.
Living right next to Lu are the Florida gators. This one swam right up to us.
We also got to see a ton of birds, some black bears and Katie, the possum before we headed home.
Monday we went to Orlando and took in Sea World -- something we had done on our last visit, when Mason was a mere 14-months-old. He loved it so much then, that we really wanted to get back!
We weren't disappointed, either.
We petted some rays...
Fed some dolphins...
Then watched them swim underwater...
Took in the dolphin show...
Saw some penguins -- I'm not sure who is more penguin crazy, Mason or Grandma Julie. We let the two of them get a head start on the Penguin Encounter, because we all knew they'd be in there for a while!
And, of course, what's a trip to Sea World without visiting Shamu!
We were in the splash zone, as you can see. But, Mason loved it, which made our soaking wet selves as happy as could be. That was truly worth the price of admission!
Later, we visited the sharks, sea lions and a few more fish. We even found time to pose for a family shot before we all headed home exhausted at closing time.
Tuesday was our last day in town, so Grandpa took us out to MacDill Air Force Base, which was a first trip on-base for both Mason and I. We got up close and personal with some retired airplanes and Grandpa took great joy in explaining each one's function to Mason, as well as how he had worked with them during his time in the service. It was pretty special to see. We also drove out the the base's private beach, which was beautiful. And, we got to see some planes that had just taken off overhead.
After meeting up with Auntie Ro, and grabbing a little lunch, it was back to the airport for us, and alas, back to reality.
After witnessing a little early morning acrobatics on Sunday where Mason climbed into, then out of his crib we came to the conclusion it was time to convert -- to a toddler bed.
Trips to three kiddie stores ensued as we searched high-and-low for some cool big-boy duds (bye, bye teddy bears, hello fire-engine dogs) to deck out the bed.
After much fanfare, here's what the little man looked like Monday night when we tucked him into his new-and-improved big-boy bed:
And here's what he looked like when I went in to wake him up Tuesday morning:
Mind you, all the pillows, blankets and stuffed animals I lovingly placed on the floor to break any possible fall had all be placed in the bed sometime during the night by him. Despite leaving himself very little room, he managed to sleep through the night without sustaining any bodily harm.
Finally, just for giggles, here's what he looked like mere minutes ago, when he was standing upside down -- his words, not mine -- while we were playing trains.
Mason and I had a great trip to Colorado over the past few weeks, though we missed having Dad-O along for the ride. Hopefully I'll have some time to post more later, but until then this will have to do.
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