The Finn Files: Fun with Family

Finn and I spent a week in South Carolina to visit friends, family and get some much-needed R & R. The drive to Sumter is about 8 hours . . . when riding with a talkative two year old, it felt like about 16. I have decided that Finn needs his own "activities director" to accompany him on long trips. "I need this, I want that, can you do this?, where is that?" and on and on, for 8 hours. However, we did make it in one piece so I am thankful for that, but I think that trip is a two-person job.

Finn was so happy to see his Mimi and Bop and especially his cousins, Luke and Mary Daniel. He spent a majority of time in water of some kind: swimming pool, sprinkler, bathtub, water hose and mostly without clothes. Which is one of the great things about living in the south: no one cares if you take your showers with a garden hose and a bar of soap on the back deck. Well, no one cares if you do that and you are two. There would be a problem if I tried to do that.

Finn stayed on the go. He got to take a ride in the convertible, but was a little disappointed when he wasn't allowed to drive. Mimi founds Mark's Lego collection from when he was a kid. Which means those Legos are about 40 years old. He called them his treasures and loved playing with them. He jumped on the trampoline, ate popsicles, played with cars, learned to ride a scooter, but mostly he played with his cousins and when he wasn't with them, he was talking about them.

I was also very lucky. Mimi and Bop kept Finn a few days which allowed me to sneak down to Atlanta to see my mom and my friend, Kriya and meet her new baby girl, Bree. On the return trip I was able to swing through Greenville, SC to see Valerie and Bryan. It was such a treat to visit with friends and not have to worry about Finn.

Before we left, we went to the swimming pool one last time and then and there, Finn conquered the diving board. With floaties on, but he jumped off all by himself and then paddled over to the ladder. He will be swimming before I know it.

We had a wonderful visit and can't wait until we see everyone again. When we were leaving, Finn asked me "Ma (which is what he calls me now), where are we going?" And I told him we were going home to Washington, D.C. And he thought about it for a minute and said, "Can we just go back the other way . . . back to Mimi's house?" Here are a few pictures from our visit.

Mimi always has such good food in the fridge