For one of our last hurrahs of the summer, we made a grand trip to St. Joe to visit Baba and Grandpa. We took the train - the REAL train, Amtrak. Roman was so very excited. When we got to the station in Ann Arbor we had a few minutes to people-watch. What a place, Ann Arbor, to people-watch. In comes a late-teenage-years boy with his family to drop someone off. His apparel of choice was mostly leather or baggy-faded-black cotton. Large safety pin through his right ear, multiple earrings in his left. His hair? Very tall mohawk, a bright blue. Roman studied him for a few minutes, even while I was trying to distract with a book. Then Roman pointed to the boy, looked at me with a grin and said, "Peacock!" He wouldn't stop with his pronouncement until I agreed, "yes, honey, he DOES look like a peacock." On the inside, I laughed and laughed!

Once on the train, Roman told everyone we came in contact with what we were doing. "Train moving! Baba's house!" This was his mantra. He especially liked walking through the train compartments to the snack area, so he could talk to everyone we passed with a "hi! Train moving! Baba's house!"

He was even more thrilled when we arrived at our destination, and Grandpa was on the platform waiting for a hug, and Baba was taking pictures of his first train excursion.

On Thursday we attended the youth fair where he rode rides, saw the animals, and sat on some tractors. The animals we petted were rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs, and cows. In the afternoon, we played at the house and then went to a toy store. On Friday, we went to Curious Kids Museum. This time around we went upstairs to the science exhibits. He liked the planets (balls), the sit-inside fire truck and ambulance, and a "digger". He also really liked the apple orchard section, where you "picked" the apples from a tree, dumped them into a hopper, and the turned the crank to send them down the chute (back onto the trees).

On Friday afternoon after naptime we headed to the beach. The waves were pretty big - perfect for body surfing as an adult, not so good with a 2-year-old in your arms. So we walked along the water's edge, kicking and stomping. Played on the playground equipment. Then Grandpa went to the store to get some paninis and chips, and we had dinner on the beach! Headed home for some chocolate pie and to wait for Daddy's arrival.

Saturday Grandpa and Baba had plans of their own, so we went to the fair again and met up with our friend Sheryl. Her nieces showed rabbits (among a lot of other home-ec things) at the fair, and the girls were nice enough to pull a couple of their rabbits out of the cages and allowed Roman to pet them. He thought that was great fun. We did the tractors and the rides again. Mama had secret fun watching Daddy go through the animal barns, as he's not real big into farm animals.

Then Saturday afternoon we headed to my relatives' house in Niles for swimming in their pool and a cookout. Another aunt whom I see irregularly joined us, and Roman had a good time splashing and jumping in the pool. He actually was allowed to swim NAKED in the pool, and he loved the feeling!

Sunday came, with a big breakfast and then off to Oma's house. We took her out to lunch and had a nice visit, and then finally got home around 6pm (after getting my car from the train station). A little takeout pizza for dinner, bath, and bed! Now back to our regularly scheduled work week...