Keira finally got to meet her cousins in Cincinnati. My cousin Heather and her husband Ryan and their two girls, Emma & Kate, moved to Venice for a business opportunity recently and hadn't gotten to meet Keira before they left. Luckily they came home for a summer visit and G.G. (pronounced like Gigi, short for great-grandmother), Keira, and I made the trip down to Cincy to see them and eat at my cousin Sean's restaurant, Hugo. I learned an important lesson about traveling with Keira. I need to plan in more time to do it. She was fine for the first 2-3 hours because she took a nap. But when we stopped to feed her and stretch our legs, getting her right back into the carseat was
very unpleasant to day the least. She basically cried herself silly until she conked out again. I think if I was able to have her out and let her play for an hour or two in between legs, it might have gone better. Well, I'll know for the next trip.
The actual visit was a blast! My dad was on a business trip to Indianapolis and drove down to surprise everyone for dinner. We ate at Hugo and it was AMAZING! For those of you who don't know me well, you might be surprised to learn that I like food. No, scratch that, I love food. Perhaps I didn't type that right...I LOVE FOOD! One look at the Hugo menu and I found myself with a delicious conundrum. So much to try, with so little room in my stomach! Luckily, my grandmother & father were also having similar difficulties, and so with a little strategic ordering we were all able to try the delicious hanger steak with crispy fried onions & potato galette, the duck with crispy lentils and okra cake, and the pork loin with sweet corn & asparagus & truffle oil. (That's not even mentioning the amazing grits appetizer and watermelon salad & fried green tomatoes that I am definitely stealing for my next supper club.) Needless to say we all left stuffed to the brim, although I did manage to find a little room left over for the peach cobbler (sigh). Is it any wonder I'm not losing the baby weight? Then again I wouldn't have traded the meal or the company for the world. Maybe it is for the best though that I was unable to convince Sean to relocate to Chi-town...
By far the best part of the trip though was just hanging out with the girls. I am well aware of the attention span limitations of most 3 to 6 year olds. I was blown away by how well the girls played with Keira. For two whole days, they shared their toys, made sure that she didn't play with anything dangerous, helped her up when she fell, helped feed her, and kept her generally well-entertained! She loved it! I was so proud of them! The thing I was unaware of is the tenacity of a 6-year-old's curiosity. I was nursing Keira under a blanket and the girls came in and wanted to know what was going on. Heather and I tag-teamed the explanation and thought it was case closed. But for the next two days they kept asking if they could watch me nurse her. They were fascinated by what was happening under the mystical blanket. It was hilarious, but no matter how many times we explained that it was a private thing and that Keira needed to focus, they were not convinced that it wasn't going to happen. This unfortunately led to some disappointment and fortunately the need for a couch cuddle and more bottle feeding time. The best part of all this is that THEY'RE NOT GOING BACK! The project has shifted and Ryan can come home, so Keira can look forward to lots more visits with her fantastic cousins! Thanks to Aunt Victoria and Uncle Rob for opening up their home and helping to coordinate everything. It was great to hang out and catch up after the girls had gone to bed. I wish Cincinnati were closer! It was a great trip!
