A Weekend Away

We went away for the weekend to visit Kai’s grandmother in Ohio.

We haven’t visited there in three years, and Mama Dell doesn’t get to our area too often either, so, with school off last week, it was a great opportunity to visit.

Mama Dell was thrilled to see us. She gave us big warm hugs and welcomed us.

She and Papa Earl live near the water and Kai wanted to explore the dock area, so Papa Earl set up some fishing poles for us. My wife had hardly fished before so this was a new experience for her. She ended up catching the most fish and the biggest one that first day. Kai didn’t want to handle the fishing pole, but liked checking out the fish that Mom hauled in.

When he got bored of the fishing, Kai went inside and helped prepare dinner. After my wife found out how successfully Mama Dell had gotten him to peel potatoes, she hired him to be her new sous chef at home.

The next day, Dell insisted that my wife and I get a break from Kai. She took him for the bulk of the day, going to a merry-go-round museum, pick-your-own strawberries, and the park. We want Kai to know his family better, and so it was nice that he had this opportunity to spend a day with his grandmother. And though picking strawberries was tough on the back and Kai wasn’t perfectly behaved, she appreciated the time they had together.

Though I think that my wife and I got the better end of the deal as Papa Earl took us out on his boat for some fishing on Lake Erie. It was a beautiful sunny day with a gentle breeze keeping things from getting too hot. My wife  kept her fishing luck from the previous day with more action in the boat.

As we were away from Kai for so long, a strange sensation came over us. I vaguely recalled the feeling. I think it is called relaxation.

But, eventually we had to head back to shore. And Kai “welcomed” us with some bad behavior that I may write about later in the week.

But there was no dampening the warm feelings of sharing time with loved ones and renewing bonds.

We ended our visit on a great note, visiting the local pool before we left yesterday. On other vacations, when we have gone to a pool with him, he is too scared to try to swim. But this time, he was much more comfortable, and showed Mama Dell how much he had improved with his swimming.

Today, we are back to our daily routine with Kai starting summer school. But, our weekend in Ohio was a great way to kick off our summer and we won’t forget the fun times we had.