Another escape from reality: In Which Connor Sees More of Erie than David

One of the things that Tia wanted to do while she was still in town was take Connor to the zoo. So, the girls and Connor left David to relax and headed to the Erie Zoo - somewhere I haven't been since I was in high school. True to form, Connor slept through the first half of the trip but perked up enough to explore the children's area (read petting zoo) and a trip on the merry-go-round. The last being something I can't recall the last time I did. He seemed to treat it as an elaborate game of peek-a-boo, giggling and flailing every time we came around to Nana and Tia.

One of the things Nana and I wanted to do was take Connor down to Presque Isle, the peninsula that jutts out into Lake Erie. There are paved trails all around so you can explore both the bay and lake sides. So while David took advantage of the beautiful day to get one last ride in, we took Connor to look at the ducks, gulls and boats that he won't get to see in New Mexico.

When David was done we met him at one of the beaches so we could introduce Connor to the water. The Portland coast was a little too cold to think about taking him in the water, but Erie in August is a great time to get in the water. Unfortunately the little guy didn't think so. He was less than impressed with the texture of sand in between his toes and absolutely livid at being walked out into the water. He was so upset, in fact, that he required an almost immediate diaper change before we could leave. Looks like he is David's son in this, at least.

The last item on the agenda was a trip to the family home - the one I spent most of my childhood in. It's officially on the market and this may be the last time we are able to be inside of it, so we thought Connor ought to see the room his mom grew up in. Admittedly it hasn't been my room for about 10 years, but you get the idea. We played on my bed and sat in the window seat where I used to do all of my reading.