Tales from the Trip

Okay...I'm finally starting to unwind from my trip. I got all the way home and the thought dawned on me... I did not take any pictures! What a shame! For the most part, things were pretty hectic--not much down time. When there were quieter times, it was actually spent just being quiet.

It was nice to get to see my family again. All my sisters were there. Even though we were not together all at the same time, it felt that way to me. Jennie left on Sunday, but Marcie and Lori got there on Monday.

It was interesting and sometimes comical to see how each of the cousins interacted with each other. There were millions of toys to play with, but they all seemed to be fixated on only one toy at a time. This meant that the toy in the spotlight was the prized possession they all fought to have. Since the toy in the spotlight changed, you never knew which toy would be the one worth fighting over--sometimes it got rather brutal. Each child rotated from being the perpetrator to being the victim.

Kiahna also got Stairway 101 training while we were there. She took a tumble (thankfully only about 2 steps worth) and added another bump to the growing collection on her forehead. Her forehead seemed to be the popular place for injury. She would bend down to pick up a toy under the table and bump her head as she stood up. When she was the victim in the toy war game, somehow it was her forehead that paid the price.

Sunday afternoon Aliya was having a hard time with Niah and "everybody" leaving without her. She was crying because she wanted to leave also. Nana decided that she would take Aliya out to Grandma Doris' house to take a nap and then come back to the main house later that night. Aliya was thrilled with this option. She didn't mind Niah leaving with Aunt Jennie now that she was also getting to leave. Aliya got to play with "Sammie" (real name Sandy) and "Broccoli" (real name Barkley) and Abby (no problems pronouncing that name) before taking a nap. After they got up, they had a special snack before heading back to the main house. Later that evening when Nana was saying good-bye for the night and heading to the other house, Aliya raced around the corner to tell Nana "WAIT!!! I'm getting my things!!! DON'T LEAVE YET!!!"--Aliya just assumed that she would get to go back out to the fun house! Nana couldn't resist the excessive enthusiasm! This would have been one of those moments to catch on tape!

Marcie had brought Gwyneth an adorable bunny hat. Betsy got some pictures of that, and she said she would post them on her site. Hopefully some of my other camera-faithful sisters took some good pictures to share with everybody. On that note, I am signing off.

--Heidi