Gone West; Young Man
The good news was that my three days of charged leave was reduced to two.
The bad news was that the reason for leaving for the Barn (Chez Pampaw and Baboo[shka]) one day later was a nasty malaise that waylaid my spousal better yang. So to speak.
We left around 10 Saturday morning to get Ryan some Green Acres time, stopping at 10:30 to fumigate his diaper region. We found a 7-11 just off the highway, and after changing him, Ainsley went in for either a Slushee or a Slurpee, whatever they have there (not sure I've ever purchased one in my life), and I, being a semi-life lifelong dog owner, instinctively took my son over to walk in the grass.
Lunch upon arrival, Ryan ended up resisting a nap while the Fouldses and I hosed off and scrubbed the gazebo and furniture for weekend use. Strange location, too excited, who knows, but Ryan was rarin' to go sit on Grandpa's lap on the rider mower/tractor, then get chauffeured around the property in the back trailer. The heat of DC hadn't quite reached out to the foothills, but the bugs were annoying and unswattably omnipresent. Despite the long day without rest, Ryan still wouldn't go to sleep until 9:30 or so.
Sunday we drove into town to buy fruit and weeds at the farmer's market, then 80% of us enjoyed a lunch at a brand new place called the Oasis Cafe, specializing -- no -- adamantly exclusively vegetarian. This must be how Ainsley feels in every other restaurant on the planet, scanning the menu for something -- anything -- that suits her dietary wishes. But all the hummus soups and tofurkey sandwiches with veganaise and organic pita spinach leaf granola balls
WHAT THE HELL IS VEGANAISE ANYWAY
left a lot to be desired for this picky meatchewer. I was coveting Ryan's banana and almond butter sandwich, even with the raisins, especially after my wrap was missing the one thing I was looking forward to: cucumbers (or in Ryanspeak: Qbuggers). Ainsley suggested ice cream afterwards, though I offered that we should just go back to the Oasis Cafe for some cauliflower pie.
Sarcasm be damned, Ryan enjoyed probably his first real ice cream cone, taking lip-bites of a scoop as big as his head, as the rest melted down Mimaa's hand, the good sport.
The boy napped, thankfully, giving his mom some much-needed rest, as well. I again looked at old family albums and again fell in love with a 12-year-old Ainsley, who probably didn't realize how unbelievably hot she was.
The neighbors came over for a cookout, Col Foulds searing pork chops to perfection while Ryan and I chased each other between bug divebombs around the yard and "zebo." 10:30 before he went to sleep this night.
I had to return Monday to be at work Tuesday, but Ainsley and Ryan decided to stay behind an extra day since her folks were planning on coming in on Tuesday anyway. So while Ryan had one more day of tractors and deer sightings, I "bach"ed it with the animals for a night, absent-mindedly whispering to them at night, even though Ryan was asleep 106 miles away. It's a comfy habit.
The bad news was that the reason for leaving for the Barn (Chez Pampaw and Baboo[shka]) one day later was a nasty malaise that waylaid my spousal better yang. So to speak.
We left around 10 Saturday morning to get Ryan some Green Acres time, stopping at 10:30 to fumigate his diaper region. We found a 7-11 just off the highway, and after changing him, Ainsley went in for either a Slushee or a Slurpee, whatever they have there (not sure I've ever purchased one in my life), and I, being a semi-life lifelong dog owner, instinctively took my son over to walk in the grass.
Lunch upon arrival, Ryan ended up resisting a nap while the Fouldses and I hosed off and scrubbed the gazebo and furniture for weekend use. Strange location, too excited, who knows, but Ryan was rarin' to go sit on Grandpa's lap on the rider mower/tractor, then get chauffeured around the property in the back trailer. The heat of DC hadn't quite reached out to the foothills, but the bugs were annoying and unswattably omnipresent. Despite the long day without rest, Ryan still wouldn't go to sleep until 9:30 or so.
Sunday we drove into town to buy fruit and weeds at the farmer's market, then 80% of us enjoyed a lunch at a brand new place called the Oasis Cafe, specializing -- no -- adamantly exclusively vegetarian. This must be how Ainsley feels in every other restaurant on the planet, scanning the menu for something -- anything -- that suits her dietary wishes. But all the hummus soups and tofurkey sandwiches with veganaise and organic pita spinach leaf granola balls
WHAT THE HELL IS VEGANAISE ANYWAY
left a lot to be desired for this picky meatchewer. I was coveting Ryan's banana and almond butter sandwich, even with the raisins, especially after my wrap was missing the one thing I was looking forward to: cucumbers (or in Ryanspeak: Qbuggers). Ainsley suggested ice cream afterwards, though I offered that we should just go back to the Oasis Cafe for some cauliflower pie.
Sarcasm be damned, Ryan enjoyed probably his first real ice cream cone, taking lip-bites of a scoop as big as his head, as the rest melted down Mimaa's hand, the good sport.
The boy napped, thankfully, giving his mom some much-needed rest, as well. I again looked at old family albums and again fell in love with a 12-year-old Ainsley, who probably didn't realize how unbelievably hot she was.
The neighbors came over for a cookout, Col Foulds searing pork chops to perfection while Ryan and I chased each other between bug divebombs around the yard and "zebo." 10:30 before he went to sleep this night.
I had to return Monday to be at work Tuesday, but Ainsley and Ryan decided to stay behind an extra day since her folks were planning on coming in on Tuesday anyway. So while Ryan had one more day of tractors and deer sightings, I "bach"ed it with the animals for a night, absent-mindedly whispering to them at night, even though Ryan was asleep 106 miles away. It's a comfy habit.
posted by Dan at 8:39 PM
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