Monday, June 16, 2008

Meeting Junebug!

Sari, my best friend from childhood, called last week to say she had planned a surprise trip to Rhode Island for Father's Day weekend. Since I had not seen Sari for about a year and a half and never even met her daughter Juniper, we decided to make the trek - about a 3 hour drive down 95 South.

Payson and I left on Friday during her naptime. I spent the morning packing. Can you believe all the stuff I needed just for one night?! I was prepared, to say the least.

The trip down went pretty well - the traveling during naptime plan went alright - although Payson woke up at the first toll, about 45 minutes away, and then cat napped the rest of the way. We spent Friday night at my mom's, which was great. Payson recognized Nana right away and warmed up very quickly, following Nana around and saying her name repetitively. We went out for Thai food that evening and drove home singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" over and over and over, at Payson's request (she says "tinkle, tinkle" and gets upset if you try to sing another song).

P. and I got up early Saturday morning and headed to Barrington, the town where I grew up. It has changed quite a bit, and it feels so strange to go back. I am flooded by so many memories driving down the streets. What a beautiful town! I can see why my parents chose to live there.
Juniper was sleeping when we arrived, but when she awoke she and Payson had fun playing together. We can't wait for the next visit when they will be even closer developmentally (they're a little over 6 months apart)! They really did seem to enjoy each other's company, and were really cute together. I was so happy to see Sari and to finally get to meet Juniper, who will be one on June 30th!

Junebug, just up from her nap! What a cutiepie.

Juniper loves to push anything in her path and will be walking very soon! Payson hitched a free ride.

Riding in the car together was a big hit!
Sari & Juniper
We went swimming after the lunch/nap combo. Payson had 2 snack traps, and Junebug snagged one - it was so funny. They were very content with each other!
Juniper's got her mom's world class strength... she "crawled" (or crabbed?) around near the pool like this so her knees wouldn't hit the ground. Pretty impressive!
Alright, guys, we're ready to go home!!!
We had a pretty low-key day, but had a ton of fun visiting with Sari, Juniper, and Sari's parents (aka T & Kiki to the kiddos). After a yummy dinner and a quick tubby, we headed back to Maine and arrived at 11:30. Payson slept the entire way and went down to bed really well when we arrived home. What a great traveling companion! We were both exhausted the next day but had a great Father's Day - and we all had some good naps!
The traveling experience made me more confident! We are planning on heading back down to RI to visit my mom and do some really fun stuff down there in July, so I'm feeling better about that now. And I'll have Matt to help me! But all in all, the trip was great!
We are looking forward to my sister's visit - she's coming this Thursday and leaving Monday. She hasn't seen Payson since she was about 9.5 months old, so it should be great! We're trying to work with Payson on saying "Aunt Alicia" or just plain "Alicia," but Payson keeps saying "salsa." So, she might be stuck with that as a nickname, which suits her pretty well!

1 comments:

aliciac3 said...

I'll take Salsa! fine with me. Glad you guys had a nice visit, Juniper certainly is a cutie as well. Looking forward to seeing you in a few!