A Visit from an Iowan Friend, Part One

I've been very busy the last few days. My friend Gardenmom came to visit us from Iowa with her eight-year-old son, and we had a blast. I'm oh-so-deeply exhausted, but in a good way.

She came to see the baby and have a mini-vacation. Gardenmom also spent a lot of time holding the baby. Henry is a cuddler, so he really liked that.

Gardenmom and I have been friends since college. We've tried really hard to maintain our friendship, and visited one another about once a year since she moved way out to Iowa. Usually we go to lots of exciting places, but this year I just had a baby, so we took it kind of easy. For Nick, it was enough to have someone to play with. He didn't remember Gardenmom's son from last year, and he just called him "that guy" for the first two days. As in, "I don't want to take a sleepy nap. I want to stay here and play with that guy." (pointing)

Nick has a new role model now. I'm all for it, because Gardenmom's son is eight, and fairly well-behaved. We went to the outlet mall, and out to eat on Friday. I made a colossal mistake, though. I didn't think to bring Nick's stroller, and I forgot the tether (leash) for him. He used this as an opportunity to head for the hills whenever possible. We were a funny sight: Nick running, with Gardenmom's son following behind, and me chasing them both. It was a full day of shopping. Henry, thankfully, slept in his stroller most of the time.

At one point, though, we got to a dressing room area in a store where we were the only customers. So I let the boys run wild. Hey, you've gotta pick your battles, right?

The boys entertained one another, and frankly, having an extra child ended up being less work because the older one entertained the annoying one, to a certain degree. 

We visited Mimi's Cafe, one of my favorite casual places, and had a nice lunch. Nick stayed in the booth most of the time, but then again, he had entertainment. And dessert. That was the "reward" for sitting.

Then we went to Houlihan's for dinner. We ordered some fancy fries for Nick, and at one point Gardenmom decided to sample one of them. Nick gave her the dirtiest look I've ever seen. I didn't snap the worst of the dirty look, but this is the face he made when she took another french fry.

My boy gets possessive over his fries. I was really tired that night, but I know I worked off all of the food, chasing after Nick. I am never going to forget the leash and stroller again! It was very nice to have company, though. I wish there was a faster way to travel to Iowa, so we could visit more often.