Last weekend, our family took a long awaited trip. It was only for a few days, but it gave us the peace and calm we needed (away from our daily work schedule) to just enjoy being in the present. My husband used the days to participate in a sober living retreat, and so I invited my mom to come along so that Lewie could enjoy spending his days both with Mommy and Gramy.
On both Saturday and Sunday, we started our days off feeling refreshed with a healthy breakfast. After breakfast, we visited a few small gift shops and specialty shops in town, and then we spent our afternoons at the hotel's outdoor swimming pool, where overall, it was pretty quiet other than a few hotel guests taking a dip. The early morning was a special time for me as I woke up and took a long walk through the countryside while the others were still fast asleep at the hotel. It gave me time to reflect about the present, the unforseen future, and the past. It also allowed me to do some soul searching. Do I want to quit my job and plunge myself into this new start-up business? If not, I was recently informed that my job would become full-time. Did I want to keep my current job (something that's secure and stable), especially in an economy like this where I should be thanking my lucky stars that I'm employed? I can't say any official decisions were made during these walks, but I found a strange sense of calm that God would provide and that an answer will come when the time is right.
Perhaps the most beautiful part of this trip was spending two full days with my little guy without the interruption of work, errands, phone calls, emails, or just plain worries. I knew Lewie had been going through yet another change--more talkative, more confident, more self-assured, but I didn't know how much he was becomming his own little person. During our store trips, he was charming, funny, and quite the entertainer. He'd make store owners laugh, he'd ask intelligent questions, and he'd make friends with everyone that passed by. At an art gallery that once used to be a bank, he started the following conversation:
"Hi. I want to tell you something..."
"Who me?" the store owner asked.
"Yes, is this an elevator?" he asked pointing to a unique door.
"Oh no. It's a vault."
"Oh...how does it work?"
The owner got up from the register and showed him the combination lock and the huge mechanical lever. That, of course, to Lewie, was the start of a new friendship where he continued to fire away questions about the door and tried to figure out how the lever worked.
Another memorable moment was at the Harney and Sons Tea Shop. While we were waiting to taste several brewed teas, Lewie plopped himself down on one of the benches and proceeded to have a made-up conversation with Daddy on his cell phone. He was the voice of both himself and Daddy, so we got to hear in detail this two way conversation. Customers of the tea shop were enthralled by his antics, and since he had an audience, he began to make up other funny conversations with his play phone too. When any of the customers had to leave before we did, he made sure to use his manners. "Bye. See you next time. or See you soon," was the normal farewell.
I could provide so many more examples, but what really surprises me is his ability to take on different personas. He's sweet and charming for elderly people, cool and funny for teenagers, and a casanova for pretty young girls (anywhere between 14 to 25). I do have my hands full. All in all, it was a fun, relaxing, and entertaining weekend. I'm vowing to have more of them in our future.
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| Another great picture of them...Their smiles are REAL. |
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| Lewie having something to drink at an outside cafe. |
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| Swimming, swimming, and more swimming. |
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| Just lounging around... |
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| The famous door to the old bank vault. |
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| I'll admit. It is pretty cool! |
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| Lewie entertaining everyone in the tea tasting room. |
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| And the entertaining continues... |
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| Watching Snoopy before packing up to leave the hotel room. He cried when we left. |
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