But, that being said, the trip was worth it to eat some great food and (more importantly) reconnect with family. There's nothing like people who knew and loved you through 1980's hairstyles and clothes---and they still want to talk to you!
Inspired by Jurate's quest for some of Mike's childhood pictures, we spent a good deal of time looking through old boxes of pictures. Thankfully Stefan reminded me that EVERYONE looks bad in junior high. But I did enjoy seeing some of my pictures when I was the ages that the boys currently are. I'll scan some of my pictures in soon, but here's one of me two months old, being held by my Grandma Baker. (loyal blog readers will remember that she passed away in September)
In addition to a wonderful Thanksgiving meal, we also went out to eat the next day to celebrate Mom and Dad's 39th wedding anniversary! Congrats, Mom and Dad! However, breakfast was pretty amazing as well... Jurate convinced my Dad to save some dough from the dinner rolls and turn them in to his famous cinnamon rolls. Although carefully rationed (1.66 per person!) they were a hit. That's right, Baker family... we had sticky rolls and it wasn't even Christmas!
Alex particularly enjoyed his time with Benjamin. These two have the capacity to feed off each other's energy and really make some noise... but they clearly love each other.
Benjamin is a little wary of the singing waiters at the diner we stopped in for lunch, but Alex loved it.
On Friday we went to the Newport Aquarium, which is just across the river from Cincinnati. Stefan and I hitched a ride there with Mike and Jurate in her "Mini," which we both loved. Although I'm not sure if it was the car, the conversation with Mike and Jurate, or the break from the boys!!
At first I was astonished at the price ($40 for three of us??) until I heard Alex describing it to Stefan's parents on the phone the next day--he clearly gained so much from it. He remembered so many names various sea animals and could describe a jelly fish in detail. He got to see sharks swim overtop of him (they had these great tunnels through shark tanks) and he even got to pet a shark. But, perhaps the highlight for him was "Scuba Santa." I never realized that Santa's hobby is scuba diving with sharks---I'm impressed!
My favorite part, as I eavesdropped in this conversation, was when he described the rain forest exhibit.
"And there were real birds and you could feed them nectar!! But you had to be careful of all the BIRD EXHAUST and make sure none landed on you."
On the way home, we had a few moments of sanity as both boys found solace in their blankets---J-Mo for napping and Alex for his own movie theater. Stefan and I enjoyed listening to uninterrupted NPR!
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