Tractors, Buses, and Granddad

Since I last blogged, Simon's discovered a new passion - trucks! Although he calls them "trac-tors", he talks about them all day long. Seriously, he just says "trac-tor" over and over and over again. If he didn't have the cutest little high voice, it might start to drive you crazy! Yes, Simon's into trucks and tractors, and buses. And balls. That's the other word that he repeats over and over - "baaaall". He says it like he's talking about God himself. "Baaaal", with lots of emphasis and pause on aaaaa. He's pretty expressive. I am realizing how much he imitates me with all my "oooohhh's and ahhhhh's and mmmmmm's and yummmmm".

This past weekend we had a big four day weekend trip to Brisbane, Toowoomba, Warrick, Kalbar and yes, of course, IKEA!It was lots of fun but a bit too much time in the car for our little boy who hates car rides and no, rarely falls asleep in them!

We headed to Brisy to see my friend, Cathy Condon's, mesmerizing art show. While her work was absolutely fantastic, Simon was more interested in the buses. You should have seen him in the city.... he just ate it up, with all the Christmas lights, people, and buuuussses (again, says it like he's in ecstasy!). We are in the gallery, looking at this amazing art work, and he takes my hand and leads me outside, down a zillion stairs, to the middle of a busy sidewalk. He plunks himself down on the cement, reaches his arm out and points to the incredible buses.... "ahhhhh.... buuuuussss". so cute. then driving out of the city, andrew managed to get next to a tow truck, an excellent strategy for riding out a half hour of city traffic. he was again ecstatic, tensing up his whole body and letting out a big "trac-tor!" every few seconds.

Our two days in T-ba were wonderful. We stayed with D's in-laws, John and Jenny Shepherd, who are some of the most lovely, welcoming Australians I know. They just make you feel right at home and so comfortable. Made me miss being a part of a community with age diversity... While I love our community we all are about the same age. I think everyone needs some age diversity in their life, and especially people our parents age who you can just learn so much from. Anyway, it was great to spend time with D and Eilleen. Steph organized a Christmas picnic in this charming rose garden, and then that avo we had Christmas with the Dunn's and of course, enjoyed Sue's incredible afternoon tea spread. And then that evening, we all went to see the Christmas lights in Queen's park, which were lovely. Simon loved it all, especially the brass band playing Christmas carols. He would have stayed there all night, clapping and dancing and signing "more" each time the band ended a song. He was definitely the most enthusiastic audience member there.

Then on Sunday we headed to church with D and Eilleen and then, after fish and chips for lunch, drove to Warrick to see Andrew's Granddad. I had organized to give a little flute and voice Christmas carols recital at the nursing home where he lives, and I really enjoyed it. The highlight was a dear old lady, toothless, singing to me, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" followed by, "isn't that a great song?" And then she'd sing it again. and again, and again. Kind of like Simon. I thought, "Isn't that a great woman!?" Grand dad seemed pleased, too, and even clapped. While I seem to fade in and out of his memory, Simon has stuck, and he seems quite taken by him. Simon had a good time, too, playing with a big beach ball, until he landed flat on his face and nearly knocked out his two front teeth. I've never heard him cry that hard from a fall.

After a quick over night trip to Grandma and Grandpa's in Kalbar we headed home via IKEA. Yes, I love IKEA and can rarely pass up the chance to visit my
third space" and buy some more crap that I don't really need and buy their "bargain" lunches that consist of ... chips! We were after Christmas decorations for our tree this time, but were a little too late, and most of the decorations had been sold out. We managed to get a few, and a lot of other great stuff, too! Unfortunately, though, our IKEA frenzy lasted too long, which meant we were stuck in terrible traffic for a few hours and Simon was not too happy. Andrew and I took turns driving and sitting in the back seat pointing out every "trac-tor" and trying to entertain our little fellow. Yes, poor kid, seems to need lots of stimulation in the car.

We pulled into home tired, but all in all, it was a good weekend. However, I've made a vow that we aren't taking any more road trips for a month... We'll wait and see if that actually happens!