Buschwhacked

We spent this past weekend in Williamsburg, VA along with some very special friends who we have not seen in TWO YEARS. (Yes, this a good indicator of the speed at which my social life moves.) We visited Water Country USA, which I cannot say enough nice things about, and Busch Gardens Europe, which was just so-so. The family survived the weekend in amazing spirits, despite a 7-hour roundtrip drive, one speeding ticket, several forgotten items, foot-blisters, a harrowing I-want-to-get-off-this-roller-coaster-now moment, and two small colds (me and Jack).

I was, as usual, very impressed with how well the baby fared during the whole trip. She didn't fuss in the car, was perfectly content to eat anywhere (and anything), napped in her stroller, played amongst hundreds of squealing, wet people in pools, greeted everyone with a smile, and even safely rode in the hotel shuttle with no restraints (although she did manage to pinch two strangers during these bouncy rides, which--if you don't know her--is a very low statistic). I suppose I find all of this mildly surprising because these were not activities we could have done with Jack. I know that you're not supposed to compare your children, but that is kind of impossible--it's our experience as parents to figure out each one of these rascals and how best to keep everyone from choking everyone else. (Thinking about it is OK.)

While we were off having fun, my parents and sister watched the dogs. Stanley was up to his usual antics (running around like a moron) and managed to have a near-death experience (luckily at the hands of my cousin, who, thankfully, is a very conscientious driver). He was very excited to see us when we finally made it to my Mom's for a bbq dinnner. He was so emboldened by his new lease on life that, at a moment during the meal, he hopped up into an empty chair at the table, and then proceeded to climb right up onto the table...and when the whole family started squawking, he was all WHAT? WE AREN'T DOING THIS ANYMORE?

Now he has contented himself with guilting as many cookies as possible out of Dan and I with his tap-dancing and I-could-have-died-doe-eyes. So all is back to normal in this house.