Reconnaissance Trip

Elsa and I spent last weekend in Michigan visiting everybody over there. We hadn't seen Ellen, Dave, Carter, or Grandpa and Grandma J. since Thanksgiving, so a visit was well overdue, but our trip had a couple of other important purposes as well. One was that we wanted to see Ellen's, Dave's, and Carter's fabulous new house—they moved in just one week before we arrived. We got the full tour of course, and it really is a great place. The other purpose was basically to re-familiarize Elsa with all of these people and places prior to her big visit next week, when my family will be taking turns babysitting her while Bob and I are in Hawaii.

So, we decided to schedule our trip as soon as the Lake Express started running, and in fact we were booked on their very first crossing of the year. (Too bad that particular crossing, which was scheduled for May 1, didn't actually happen—to no one's surprise, "Old Unreliable" canceled all trips on May 1 and 2, so we left on Saturday, May 3, instead.) And we had barely even cleared port when I learned that Elsa did not inherit the famous Jernstadt seasickness-proof gene. She threw up her large breakfast of pancakes and peaches while we were still within sight of land. Since I never get motion sickness, this possibility honestly never occurred to me. I didn't even have a change of clothes for her, poor thing (our suitcase was checked). But I have to say, the Lake Express employees were all extremely friendly and helpful. Immediately after puking her guts out, Elsa decided that she needed a hug from the nice gentleman who was keeping an eye on her while I went for paper towels. Even though she was covered in vomit, he was happy to comply—how's that for service? : ) They also gave her those motion-sickness wristbands and promptly unbolted the seat that she puked on and hauled it away. The crew seemed to know the drill, even on the first crossing of the year. We did have another "incident" later in the ride, but I was prepared that time and actually caught it all in a container. After that, Elsa seemed to feel better, whether because of the wristbands or just because her stomach was finally empty.

In my effort to familiarize Elsa with each babysitting location, we stayed one night at each of the places she'll be staying later this month: Grandma B.'s, Ellen's, and Grandpa J.'s. We were at Ellen's the first night, and I was the first to stay in her luxury guest suite with private bath. Elsa and Carter were absolutely adorable together—they played, they chatted, and Elsa bossed Carter around. : ) Whenever Carter ran off (which was often), Elsa shouted after him, "Where you going, Carter? Come back, Carter! Come back!" (He didn't pay much attention to her demands.) One of our favorite moments of the weekend was when both of them woke up on Sunday morning in their separate rooms. Carter woke up first, and was babbling away in his crib for a few minutes when Elsa joined in. As soon as Carter heard Elsa say something, he started shouting, "Hello! Hello!" at the top of his lungs. Then they started saying each other's names. "Carter." "Elsa." "Carter." "Elsa." Then they started saying their own names. It was too funny.

We spent the bulk of that morning trying to get a few decent pictures of the two of them together. Needless to say, that was a challenge. First there was a minor shoving match ...
Then we got them to sit still but they wouldn't smile ...
Then they were so over the whole thing.So we gave up and went four-wheelin'.
Here's Elsa trying out Carter's battery-operated ATV. You push a button on the handle to make it go, but Elsa didn't quite understand that you can hold down the button in order to make it move continuously. She jerked along down the driveway instead.
That afternoon we went to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum to see their "Bob the Builder" exhibit. They seemed to enjoy themselves at that (and oddly, we kept running into another family there whose kids were named Carter and Ella—it was very confusing).
But the fun and games were over when Aunt Ellen gave Elsa a piece of pretend toast at the museum's play lunch counter. Elsa tried to take a big bite and burst into tears when she realized it wasn't actual food.
We spent Sunday night at Grandma B.'s. We hung out, had a few more visits with Carter, and Great Aunt Nancy came for lunch on Monday. Elsa seems well prepared for her upcoming days with Grandma B. and Grandpa P.—the question is, are they prepared for her? : )
Our final night was at Grandpa and Grandma J.'s. We stopped by the store on Monday afternoon to pay Grandpa a visit. Elsa made a couple of new friends in Grand Haven/Spring Lake—here she is with one of them, MarineTech's dog-lifejacket model:
And here she is with cat Lucy:
Here's Elsa and Grandpa taking a walk by the bayou. No doubt this will be a favorite activity during her time with them at the end of the month.
Fortunately, the trip home on the Lake Express was uneventful—it was very smooth and calm, and Elsa had her little wristbands and her gingersnaps, so there was no puking whatsoever. When we go back to Michigan for the babysitting hand-off next week, we'll be driving instead, so there shouldn't be any puking. Well, not from the humans, anyway—do they make those wristbands for dogs? : ) Elsa can't wait to see everybody again in just a little over a week!