A Simpler Way of Life

We spent the weekend in bucolic Geneseo, NY celebrating my youngest cousin's graduation from high school. It was really nice to have a few days off and we enjoyed spending time at the bed and breakfast and spa owned by my aunt and uncle.

It was our first road trip of any significant length with both girls. The time away was worth the six hour drive in each direction. The girls actually behaved wonderfully during the drive, although they didn't nap at the same time. Figures, right? LP was so excited to get to Uncle Barry's house that she started crying on the way up when we stopped for lunch, "I don't want lunch, I want to go to Uncle Barry's! I want to eat at Uncle Barry's!"

We stayed in a large room at the "inn" with AK in a pack-n-play and LP supposedly sleeping on a futon on the floor. Unfortunately, the only way we could get LP to go to sleep was to let her lay in the king-sized bed with us until she passed out. At one point as I attempted to get her to sleep in the bed next to me, I turned away so she wouldn't be breathing in my face and she just snuggled closer to me and said, "It's okay sweet pea. LP is here." Okay, that part wasn't so bad.

As we drove home yesterday, the Hoos and I considered what our lives would be like if we lived in a small town instead of a suburban city. My cousin is a great kid, really polite and amazingly sweet to his entire family and baby cousins even in front of his friends. We aren't sure if he is always like that, but I would like to think so. The pace of life in Geneseo is certainly different. If only we could find a small town, with jobs that we loved and only required us to work 9-5, and fabulous homes that we could afford.

Oh well.

When we asked LP what her favorite part of the trip was, we thought for sure she would talk about all of the animals that we saw (a doe and two fawns, a tree frog, chipmunks...). Instead she said, "Grandma and Papa and Uncle Barry." At least she knows what the important things are in life.