Two Minutes Later ... Spoke Too Soon!

No Naps on This Road Trip

Great Grandma Anne

The last leg of our Ohio tour was a visit with Grandma Anne. That was actually the main reason we decided that Lyla and I would meet Mark in Ohio -- I thought Mark is teaching in Ohio and Grandma lives in Ohio -- perfect! I didn't realize that Ohio is a pretty big state and a nearly 5 hour drive from point A to point B.

We left the Madigans bright and early and got on our way. Sean offered us coffee before we left, but we figured we would grab a Starbucks on the road. No such luck! My Starbucks app showed that the nearest Starbucks was 26 miles away -- in the opposite direction. Thank goodness for Mickey D's. I clearly forgot that a "large" in Ohio is different than a "large" in New York.



Once we were caffeinated, we were on our way. A lot of this all the way to Youngstown:


Lyla caught up on a lot of sleep in the car and was ready to visit Grandma and very excited to see Pa, who made a special trip to meet us. Grandma and Lyla were best buddies almost immediately. Lyla loved pressing button's on Grandma's wheelchair and Grandma Anne did her best not to run over Lyla. They were two peas in a pod.


Who, other than a great grandma, would let Lyla have free reign in a cabinet full of porcelain statues. Lyla had her eye on a little porcelain cat.


They played with cat toys :)


They shared lots of kisses


And when all was said and done. Lyla literally packed up her toys, walked to the door and told us "all done." Who can argue with that? Just a few minutes later...


It was great seeing Grandma, Pa, Aunt Pat and Uncle Tom, Uncle Mel and Aunt Eileen. Thank you all for spending the day with us. 

And remember that porcelain cat I mentioned?  We somehow ended up with it back in New York.

We Love the Madigans

After leaving the comfortable confines of Miami University, we headed out to see Sean and Sara Madigan, Mark's friends from college and their cuties, Erin and Drew. They invited us to stay over on Friday night before continuing on to Youngstown. This may not sound like such a big deal but Sara was 9+ months pregnant when they extended the invitation. When I was five days from giving birth, I was not feeling that hospitable. And I literally mean five days -- Sara gave birth to sweet baby Kyle yesterday (right in between turns on our game of Words With Friends). Seriously, she is a rock star in my book.

I think Lyla's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the toy room in their basement. It definitely beats her single toy chest and barrel of stuffed animals.


Lyla quickly joined in the kids' anticipation for the new baby's arrival. She crawled right into the baby swing.



We went out to dinner at a hibachi restaurant, where Todd joined us as well.






The girls played on their respectice iphones.


And Lyla and Drew swapped a few kisses. They are only a month apart...maybe they will kiss under the Upham Arches and have a Miami Merger (Mark, did I get that right?)


Cute daddies after dinner:




After dinner, Todd treated us for ice cream. Erin got a cone, and then Drew wanted a cone and then, you guessed it, Lyla wanted a cone.







Thank you Madigans! You are welcome to stay with us in our 1 1/2 bedroom apartment anytime!

In Which Mark Relives His Youth

On Friday, Mark gave me the full tour of his school, highlighting the various backdrops for his stories that I have heard a thousand times. It really is a beautiful campus and the energy was palpable.  We soaked it all in and reminisced about the easy-going college lifestyle.  We were entertained by college kids reliving their Thursday night escapes.  We overheard a few good ones:  "I feel really good today.  I think it's because I threw up last night."  "I changed my sheets today for the first time in, like, months."  (Note:  It was parents weekend :)  And, of course, the simple but classic:  "What the hell happened to you last night."

He showed me the majestic:








And the less than majestic:






I got to indulge in a little campus bookstore shopping, which was so much fun. I used to love getting new notebooks and binders and pens before the school year. Seriously, it's as good as chocolate:


Just walking around was entertaining. College poetry:


Alas, Mark could not get away from his grown-up life. There was a big WSJ story that required his immediate attention.


So while he went from conference call to conference call, we played.











College feels good, even when you are two.

World Travelers

Sort of. Lyla and I took a solo flight last week to meet up with Mark, who was guest lecturing at his alma mater. It was a trip to Ohio, so we're not exactly jetsetters, but we survived on our own just fime. The blood, sweat and tears of getting past security at LGA at 5 pm on a Thursday was all worth it to see my little lady walk through the metal detector all by herself and give the TSA guy a high five.

Mark asked how the flight was and my response was that it was "tolerable". No crying but she literally did not stop talking for the entire flight (I even gave her a pacifier to put a cork in her but it didn't help). Here is how we kept busy:

More From Lyla's Two Year Photoshoot

A few more pictures from Lyla's photoshoot.

Lyla had been sick the week we went in and I was worried she was not going to be up for it. She fell asleep on the way to Union Square, which didn't inspire my confidence in the shoot. But Keiko and Monica were so sweet and so wonderful with her (Lyla called them "the girls" and got upset if they even left the room) -- she had a great time. They did such a good job bringing out Lyla's true personality.

Before we even got started, Lyla was having fun.


Some of my favorites

















I love this one because it was after the shoot was over. I was talking to Keiko and Monica and Lyla decided to make herself comfortable with a book. Keiko ran and got her camera and shot a few more.