Re-Entry

After five days barefoot by the pool, this high heeled mama is finding it hard to put her shoes back on.

The family vacation was a success. Peanut met three of my aunts, two of my uncles, two of my cousin's kids, two cats, a bunny rabbit and a swimming pool. And he loved them all. He was quite the ham all week and perfected some tricks that kept us in stitches, among them:

* Waving -- he's been intermittently waving for a bit, but during this trip, he really seemed to get the hang of it. He proceeded to wave to just about everyone in the airport, on the airplane and on the shuttle bus to the park and ride on the way home.

* Stairs -- we live in a ranch house with only one-step between our kitchen and den, so the set of steps from the guest room to the main living area were his mini-Everest. He insisted on climbing them every time. He's not as adept at going down, however.

* Squealing -- He enjoyed a call and response game of squealing, especially when he was looking for a bit of extra attention. He also tried a similar game with fake coughing, but we're trying to discourage that one.

* Throwing a ball -- Peanut loves throwing toys out of his crib/car seat/stroller, but hasn't really "gotten" the idea of a game of catch. He caught on this week and started throwing a ball with purpose. Granted, he's still missing the mark most times, but his face lights up when he releases at the right moment after a wind-up...perhaps a pitcher in the making?

Meanwhile, this high heeled mama and the hubby enjoyed the culinary achievements of my Uncle M. and devoured his apple-raspberry pie, blueberry pie and chocolate-raspberry cake. I'm currently in dessert withdrawal...my sweet tooth is twitching as I type. The New England weather was perfect -- warm and sunny in the afternoons with breezy, cool evenings. We enjoyed sitting out in the sunroom after dinner and peanut was in bed with a glass of wine, a dessert, watching the curtains flutter in the breeze and the fireflies flicker. We talked about anything and nothing, just visiting with good friends that also happen to be related to us.

And then today we were back to reality -- laundry, groceries (okay, I didn't go, but I did make a list), and no dessert. Ah, it was good while it lasted.