Wednesday morning, September 22, Chris’ parents arrived from Kentucky for a two week visit. Chris went to pick them up from the airport, and Alexandra and I rode the city bus to playgroup in the village. Alexandra was a bit nervous waiting for the bus. She had never been on one, and wasn’t sure what it would be like. She kept saying, “You hold me hand, okay?” “Yes, I will hold your hand the whole time.” “You sit wight necks to me, okay?” “Yes, I will sit right next to you. You can even sit on my lap, if you want.”
The bus pulled up and we climbed aboard. She held on to my hand very tightly while I bought the ticket, but by the time we had chosen a seat, she was already feeling very comfortable. She let go of my hand, and when I tried to pull her close to me, she scooted away, so she could get a better view out the window! Glad she figured out so quick how fun public transportation can be. 🙂
Playgroup, however, is another matter. I stayed for a few minutes and then her teacher picked her up while I went out the door. I could hear Alexandra crying for me as I walked down the stairs. So sad. Her teacher always holds her up to the window so she can wave goodbye a second time. In the 2 minutes it took me to go down the stairs, walk out of the building and get into position on the sidewalk, the teardrops had already stopped. Whew!
I walked over to the bus stop and discovered that I had missed the return bus by 4 minutes. The next one wouldn’t be coming for another half an hour, so I just walked home. Or rather, walk/limped, as my hip was still sore from the marathon (although it did finally pop back into place late Sunday afternoon) and my heel spur hadn’t gone anywhere either. It was still a lovely walk. We live in such a peaceful, picturesque spot, with so many fantastic views. Heaven.
The weary travelers finally arrived, safe and sound. Chris had picked them up mostly on time, considering their flight landed early and he got stuck in tunnel traffic. I always feel so conflicted when people come to visit us from the States. Am I happiest to see them, or the stuff they brought for us? :: My mother-in-law understands this conundrum and always opens her luggage and starts taking out my treasures right after I hug her and say “hello”. heehee This time there were a few surprises, such as a new Garmin to wear when I go running. Chris had ordered it and not told me. So fun! I love when he does stuff like that. She also brought some Halloween outfits for the kids, and a stack of magazines we subscribe to and have sent to her house. We don’t care if we read them when they are current, it’s just fun to look through them and laugh at the crazy advertisements. I mean, seriously people, how hard is it to make your own pbandj sandwich? Do you really need to buy frozen ones? Blech! But I digress.
I took Angie with me to pick up Alexandra from playgroup. She stayed in the car while I went up to get Baby. We came walking around the corner and there was Oma, waiting for her. She started off walking kind of slowly to her, but she kept getting faster, the closer she got. Finally she ran into her arms and gave her a big hug. She had been a bit confused about who exactly was coming. I kept telling her Oma was coming and she would say “Mamamama?” Because my mom had visited in April, and Alexandra thought she was coming again. Which made me happy she remembered her and loved her, but made it harder to explain who was coming. Apparently, seeing is believing. 🙂
The other kids knew that Oma and Opa would be coming while they were at school, and must have been on pins and needles the whole morning. As soon as the school bus dropped them off, the screaming started. We could hear them through the windows from all the way at the end of the street. It continued all the way to the house, up all 3 flights of stairs, and didn’t stop until Oma went out and met them by the door. The kids really do love their grandparents and I wish they could see them all more often.
We spent the afternoon just visiting and went for a short walk to help keep everyone awake. Oma came with us to Noah’s swimming class that evening, and then we let them get to bed a bit earlier than usual. We had lots of fun activities planned and needed them to be well rested. 🙂