The Small Family     

I'm pleased to report that Day 1 of our trip went much more smoothly than I expected! As many of you know, my Mom got sick with a bout of diverticulitis shortly before the trip and thus had to cancel at the last minute and stay home. So, it was just me and Theo for the first four days.

Theo was a super boy on the flights, with barely any fussing despite a long day of being confined to a car seat, no nap (don't ask me why--I even gave him some Benadryl!), and very little food (due to a shorter than anticipated layover). The hardest part was carrying everything. I had the giant car seat (strapped to my back), a very heavy carry-on bag filled with books and small toys to keep Theo occupied, my purse, and wiggly Theo.

Chris got a security pass so he could help us to the gate in Sacramento, but we were on our own in Minneapolis. And my goodness, that is a large airport! Just my luck, we came into a gate at the far end of the airport, and our connection was at the far other end!

Theo and I were last off the plane because I had to wait for everyone to get off before I could maneuver down the plane aisle with all our stuff. Then a potty stop was required, which, as fellow moms know, can take a while with a little one, especially when both forms of nature call! After the extended potty break, we started the long trek to our connecting flight. I had Theo walking on his own, but naturally there was much stopping to investigate things, and when I'd encourage him to keep walking, he'd often just sit down. So I'd have to bend over, the car seat smacking me in the head and the carry-on falling off my arm, and hoist him up.

We finally made it to the gate four minutes before boarding...no time to pick up a snack. So on the plane we climbed...and then we sat on the runway for a full hour, waiting for takeoff. Theo was a trooper, despite his dinner being Wheat Thins and a banana I had in my purse.

We finally arrived in Buffalo at 10:45pm....to find the luggage cart dispenser broken. Yikes! How would I manage everything without one?!? Luckily, I ended up finding one. (Although this didn't end up being such a lucky break in the long run--as you'll see if you read on!) I proudly got our suitcase and stroller, loaded everything onto the cart, and went to get our rental car. By the time I got the car seat installed, took a potty break for Theo, and got to the hotel, it was after midnight. Starving, I raided the tiny "store" at the hotel and got Theo some Cheerios and me a gnarly frozen dinner. Beggars can't be choosers....

It was only when we were finally in the room that I realized I'd left our Pack-and-Play spinning lazily on the baggage carousel. D'oh!! Luckily, the hotel had a small port-a-crib, which Theo learned how to escape by night #2....

Jet-lagged Theo slept until almost 10:30 our first full day in Buffalo, so after we got ready, we ventured out to lunch, having missed breakfast altogether! We shared a salad and bagel at Panera Bread (Theo is a big fan of their chicken!), then headed to East Aurora to kill an hour and a half before we were due at my cousin's house. East Aurora is a smallish town outside of Buffalo where my Dad grew up and my parents were married. It's a pretty little town, perhaps most notable for housing the Fisher-Price headquarters and the Roycroft Museum and campus. Theo and I visited my Dad's memorial brick at the Roycroft, though Theo was most interested in observing the man using the backhoe to do construction. We also drove past my Dad's house, which my grandfather built. And then it was off to Lackawanna, where my Dad was born and my cousin lives.

My cousin, Heather, is my Mom's brother's oldest daughter. She and her fiancé, Brian, have an adorable four-year-old daughter, Grace. And boy, did Theo and Grace have a fun day! Theo is still to young to do much playing WITH older kids, but he really took a quick liking to Grace and kept following her and giggling at her antics. (And she is hilarious--she was cracking me up with her constant chatter about anything and everything!!) They played in Heather and Brian's yard for a couple hours, then we all went to George's (in North Boston) for hot dogs and fries. Awesome place because they have yummy hot dogs, but also because they have a big playground in the back where the kids can play while the adults sit at the picnic tables and visit. Theo had so much fun that it was hard to get him to stop and eat!

Then it was a stop for frozen custard--always a must-have when I come to Buffalo--and then back to Heather and Brian's for a little more play before bed. I'm not sure I've ever seen Theo quite so grimy by the end of the day, but boy did he have fun!! He didn't even squall TOO much in his bath back at the hotel.

It was another no-nap day, so you'd think that plus a day of hard outdoor play would wear him out, but no.... I put him to bed in the hotel port-a-crib, and he was rolling around, kicking, chattering, and announcing, “Get down!” as is not uncommon for him when sleeping in strange places. I had a migraine coming on, so I told him it was time to sleep, turned off the lights, and laid down on my bed to inspire him to settle down. I had my eyes closed, just listening to him, but about 20 minutes after I put him down, I suddenly heard a voice right next to my ear saying, “Get down! Yay!!” I opened my eyes to see him gleefully standing next to me, clapping his hands at his great escape! I couldn’t help but laugh…though I wasn’t necessarily laughing a half hour later, when I was STILL trying to get him to sleep! It took over an hour, but he finally passed out…as did I….

The migraine was still there Thursday morning, so the first order of business was getting to a store for some migraine medicine, which gave me blessed relief within half an hour. Happy dance! Then Theo and I went back to the airport to pick up the errant Pack-and-Play to avoid a repeat performance of Theo escaping the crib.

My (Great) Aunt Laurel invited us over for sandwiches for lunch, and then the three of us headed to the Buffalo Zoo! It's about the same size as our zoo, but they have some animals we don't: elephants, polar bears, and kodiak bears, to name a few. Theo rode the carousel and enjoyed the barn area, and they also have a neat new rainforest exhibit with baby capybaras--so cute!

Theo lasted a bit more than an hour before two days of no naps caught up with him--he actually asked to go back to his car seat, so he could sleep! In retrospect, I should've brought his stroller, but usually when I bring it, he walks and I end up trying to keep up with him while pushing an empty stroller!

He got a nice 45-minute snooze while I drove Aunt Laurel home, and after relaxing at the hotel for a bit, we went to a mall about a mile away for dinner and playtime. Theo gave their play area a big thumbs up...and I gave their frozen custard a thumbs-up too!

Friday we were set to have lunch with my great aunts and other assorted family, so Theo and I just puttered around in the morning, doing odds and ends. In the late morning, we went for a stroll on the Lehigh Memorial Trail--a paved walking path that runs through part of Williamsville.  When my grandma lived in Williamsville, I'd walk the path every day when I visited. Earlier in the year, there are lilacs all along it, and they smell wonderful! The lilacs are long gone by this time of year, but it's still a nice walk. Theo gathered sticks and leaves, and we saw a small bunny along the way, too.

Then we picked up my (Great) Aunt Norma and headed to (Great) Aunt Laurel's for lunch, where we got to meet baby Addie (10 1/2 months--a cousin a couple times removed...never can figure it out exactly, so I just call them all cousins!) and see cousins Cassie and Alice (Addie's mama). We had a yummy lunch of chicken, rice, carrots, and salad, with wonderful creamy lemon tarts for dessert. It was great to see everyone and meet Addie, who is just an adorable, happy little doll! And Theo was quite enchanted with Aunt Norma's "beans" (translate: bead necklace), which she let him wear.

Theo was clearly in need of a nap after lunch, so we left to take Aunt Norma home, and he quickly fell asleep in the car. He got a nice hour-long nap while Mommy drove around in a heavy rainstorm to keep him asleep!

After relaxing at the hotel post-nap, Theo and I ventured to Bounce Magic to kill a couple hours while waiting to go pick up Chris from the airport. Bounce Magic is a huge place filled with bouncy houses and other assorted games for kids to play. Theo has always been pretty rattled by bouncy houses--they have something similar at Little Gym, and he won't go anywhere near it. He doesn't like the air compressors they use to keep bouncy things inflated--he always yells, "Yowd!!" and covers his ears to let me know it's too loud. Nevertheless, I thought we'd give it a try, as he might at least enjoy some of the other games. Indeed, he started out avoiding the bouncy houses like the plague, sticking instead to a plastic climbing castle and a few games. But eventually, he slowly started exploring a giant bouncy slide. And after about 10 minutes of feeling it out, he climbed to the top and slid down...and a sliding monster was born! I don't know when I've seen him have so much fun! Over and over he'd climb to the top, slide down ridiculously fast, laughing hysterically the whole way and with the biggest grin on his face! He was actually quite sad to leave when it was time to go to the airport, so much fun was he having. I'll be interested to see whether this new love of the bouncy slide encourages him to try the bouncy track at Little Gym when we go back....

Chris arrived on time, and we stopped for a late dinner of Beef on Weck (a Buffalo specialty!) from Charlie the Butcher on the way back to the hotel. Mmmmmm!

Saturday morning we headed out to Rochester to visit the Strong Museum of Play, a wonderful children's museum. I drove so Chris could make a phone call to our credit card company (Wells Fargo) about an odd denied charge on our account. Long story short, they confirmed our suspicion that our card number had indeed been stolen! There were three fraudulent charges on it, all to a gas station somewhere near New York City, as well as two other charge attempts that were denied. We had to cancel our credit card and have a new account issued, which would take several days. That is the only credit card we use, so it's a very good thing we had enough cash in our checking account to cover about a week of our vacation! (Though it actually ended up having to cover our WHOLE vacation, as Wells Fargo bungled sending us our new cards not once, but TWICE, so we finally got them several days after arriving home, instead of upon arrival in Virginia, as planned. Sigh...)

For those curious about how this happened, I'm pretty sure I know exactly when and where they got hold of our number. This is the second time this has happened to me in the same way! When Theo and I arrived in Buffalo, I had to get a luggage cart to get all our stuff to the car. The luggage-cart dispenser had a handwritten sign taped over the cash-insert portion saying "Out of order"--forcing you to use a credit card instead. I'm told that thieves can insert a card reader in devices like this (and gas pumps, which is where this previously happened to me), get your card number, have it transmitted to them, and then print a fake card with your number and name on it. Last time this happened, I learned that such thieves often use the fake card at gas stations, as they're not overly likely to check ID for a transaction. And so it was this time....

Anyway, the first fraudulent charge attempt was less than 18 hours after I used that machine, and the only other thing I'd used it for was to secure our Hertz rental car. I suppose Hertz COULD be the culprit, but given that I've had this happen before in a similar manner, I suspect the luggage-cart dispenser.

One of the charges was made at 8:15 a.m. the first morning in Buffalo, while Theo and I were still asleep. For some reason, it just makes me really angry to think that while we were sleeping peacefully, minding our own business, someone was stealing from us. Grrrrr!!

But on to happier things... Theo loved the Museum of Play--especially the fish displays, the rock box filled with trucks and digging implements, and the old-fashioned wooden dollhouse. He played hard for about 90 minutes before declaring, "All done! Car, please!" He was so tired that he was actually ASKING for the car so he could take a nap! I don't need to tell you how rarely THAT happens!

After napping in the car for the hour-long ride back to Buffalo, Theo was back in fighting form for the evening's fun at cousin Nancy's house. Nancy and Dale are the parents of the bride, Katy, and they hosted dinner at their house for roughly 30 wedding guests (mainly those of us who came from out of town). The weather wasn't overly cooperative for the original backyard picnic plan, but that didn't seem to bother Theo, who spent much time exploring their big, beautiful backyard with Chris while I visited with various family members. Nancy also encouraged Theo to play their piano, and he loved that! We were actually kind of surprised by how natural he looks in terms of his hand positioning while playing. He played my aunt and uncle's organ later in our trip, and he's actually not half bad for a two-year-old who is just randomly pressing keys. Hmmm, maybe some lessons when he gets older?? Anyway, I posted a video of Theo's musical adventures on this trip on the More Videos page of our site, so be sure not to miss that!

We had a yummy buffet meal of Beef on Weck, which delighted Chris and me, and Theo gorged on antipasto. Aunt Laurel's delicious cookies for dessert topped off the evening. Yummmm....