Columbus Day One: Travel and Technology Tykes

by CajunKate

So Day One began at 9:00 PM on Sunday. That’s when we backed out of the driveway of Chez Hovel de Kable and took off for Columbus. People, it has been a long, long time since I did the drive through the night thing. And, people, you know something? I am way too old for that s**t.

I drove the first leg of the trip from Lafayette to Nashville. With Baby Bro asleep in the passenger seat, it was a long, long drive through the state of Mississippi. The “Dueling Banjos” theme ran through my head several times as we hurtled through hillbilly country. At about 3:00 in the morning, I thought I was losing it. My eyes started getting that gritty feeling, and they were all, “Duuuuuuuude, this is not working for me.” I was never so happy to see a sunrise.

After switch off, I tried to get some Z’s. But I don’t sleep well in cars, so when I awoke I had been asleep all of an hour. I just gave up and kept Bydee company the rest of the way. He got the shi**y weather and traffic jam part of the journey. Ha! Sucks to be you!

We pulled into Jen and Tim’s at about 1:30 PM. The boys were still at daycare so we shot the breeze for a bit then at 3 PM, we came back to the hotel, had a snack, and took a two hour nap. I don’t think Bydee wanted to get up from that nap, but I was all, “You get you’re a** out of that bed, mister! You can sleep when you’re dead! I’ve got nephews to eat up with hugs and kisses.” And he was all, “This is gonna be a long friggin’ week. *sigh*”

Back at Jen and Tim’s the boys came flying out of the house to greet us. Is there anything so delicious as adorable nephews who are simply apoplectic with glee over your arrival? I think not.

We played for a bit, then I pulled out my camera, and I’ll just put it this way. Nothing changed from last year. It was all, “May I see your camera?” every five minutes after that. Here’s some of their handiwork:

Blue Horsey- Up close and personal!

Uncle Bydee- Up close and personal

Blue Horsey- Distant and impersonal

But I hadn’t brought my video camera, so I had to throw my new iPhone into the mix so they could trade off periodically and I wouldn’t have to hear, “Is it MY turn?!?!?” every thirty seconds. This turned out to be a genius move since when Colin, who’s three, gave it back to me, he’d managed to move all the icons around. Something I hadn’t been able to figure out how to do over the course of three days, he figured out in about five minutes. So I asked how he did it, and he was all smug about it and sighed and said, “Let me show you, Nanny Kate.” Outsmarted by a three-year-old. Well, not the first time and won’t be that last, I’m sure.

Tim’s friend Paul came over with his girlfriend Heather, and we all sat around visiting and, of course, there were horsey rides, basketball, Frisbee, and Monsters, Inc., as well. But I think the highlight of the night was when I went to the bathroom, and Colin was all, “I have to pee and poop; I’ll come with you.” And so it was that we ended up taking turns sitting on the edge of the tub, watching each other do our respective businesses, while planning our adventures. A short recap:

Colin: Nanny Kate, I want you to come back to my house tomorrow. (*grunt* plop!)

Me: Oh, I am! I’ll be here tomorrow and a lot more days.

Colin: Yeah. And, Nanny Kate, tomorrow can we ride on your back again? (*grunt* plop!)

Me: Yep. And play Frisbee.

Colin: And hide and seek? (*grunt* plop!)

Yeah, like that. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing at the absurdity of it. Then, when it was all said and done and I had helped with the wiping and the re-dressing and the washing of hands. He looked at me and said, “Nanny Kate, I love you. You are so beautiful.” And I devoured him whole.

The rest of the evening was filled up with lots of playing and laughter and visiting. And of course, supper! (My favorite part of the day! Right after breakfast and lunch!) We had this deliciousness:

MMMMMMMMM! Papa Murphy's stuffed crust pizza!

I’m not the only one who thinks this is heaven on a plate. Check it:

Shortly after supper, it was time for the boys to go to bed, and Byron and I were beat so we headed back to the hotel where we both managed (barely) to brush our teeth before collapsing. And I dreamed of Thurminators. Hmmm, what’s a Thurminator, you ask? Oh, you’ll see. You’ll see! And when you do, you’ll be sooooooo jealous of me. Or disgusted with me. One or the other. Stay tuned!!!

What that? No, I didn’t decide to spare you the pics! HA! Fooled ya! Shpladow!

Classic Quinn: "Let me just explain this to you, Nanny Kate"

Colin and Blue Horsey

Quinn playing basketball

Colin: "Can't talk! Figuring out this iPhone thing!"


Quinn doing his "I'm AH-dorble! You are powerless to resist me!" face


and Colin doing his "I'm AH-dorble! You are powerless to resist me!" face.