We brought everyone on this trip, Buffy and Ollie and we had a great trip spending quality time with my parents as well as my brother, his wife and their daughter, my wonderful niece.
Spending time at my parent’s is really nice. We have our own bedroom suite. They put a crib in my dad’s office so Ollie has his own space and Buffy enjoy the different couches around the house that she turns into her own beds. She has her own dog bed over there but I have to do some herding to get her off the couch to come into our room and sleep in her dog bed.
We enjoyed some really nice moments on this trip. Diana, Ollie and I went to the Pacific Science Center. While the Dinosaur exhibit, which is more than thirty years old, may seem outdated to some, but to Ollie it was fascinating. I had a nice lunch with my dad, Diana got to go shopping with my mom and we had some quality time with my brother’s family. Also my brother and I got to geek out and play the X-Wing Miniature game, which truly is an awesome, though comically entertaining experience because of our lack of skill at the game.
One of my favorite moments was when Ollie and his cousin were taking turns performing songs. Now toddlers singing is one of the most entertaining things you will ever see. At a certain point Ollie’s cousin was playing the tambourine and Ollie was singing along. He felt it necessary to hold a music book in front on him while he was singing so he would run to the piano, grab a songbook, run back to his cousin, open the book and start singing. Never once in the numerous times he did this, did the songbook actually have the song he was singing. One time I calmly told him his book was upside down, so he stopped singing, turned the book right-side-up and continued singing.
Then there was the moment when Ollie sang “Puff, The Magic Dragon” for my mom. This was my brother’s favorite song when he was Ollie age and it is one of my son's favorites. Watching Ollie sing this song for my mom was like taking a look into the past of what it might have been like for my mom to hear my brother sing this song to her. My brother and I are her sons and my mom loves us as adults but she’ll never have us back as little kids and it felt really special that she could relive that moment of my brother as a toddler through Ollie.
I take for granted that I can hug my son and kiss him. I can pick him up and cuddle him and as much as this is for Ollie, I enjoy it as a parent. There was a moment when my dad tussled my hair when saying goodnight and I initially felt annoyed and then I immediately remember how it feels touch Ollie's head. Then instead I felt love through that gesture.
Another new year’s trip done, back to “reality.” While I’m tired from the plane ride, my heart feels refreshed from the love of my family.
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