Mike and Laurelyn had been invited to a wedding but children weren't to be included so I eagerly volunteered to help them out. As it turned out, I was going to be working just two hours south of Lake George so a quick trip north would be a breeze. In fact, I beat them to the hotel on Friday evening. When they arrived at about 10 PM, the boys were both wide awake; apparently, there had been little sleeping and lots of "Mama! Mama!" (see my previous entry) on the way in from Corning. We all fell asleep quickly once they settled into bed in our hotel room.
7:30 AM came soon enough and I offered to take the boys over to the little restaurant to get them settled for breakfast. They were excited! It was a beautiful day and we could already anticipate a day of adventures. We settled into our seats and peeked at the children's menu while we waited for Mike and Laurelyn to join us. I read the choices to Graham (Dean will eat anything put in front of him) and he excitedly announced his choice: he'd have the silver dollar pancakes. Yummy! I pointed out the handy-dandy syrup dispenser; it reminded me of one we'd had when I was a kid.Papa and Mama joined us in short order and I wanted to crawl under the table as Mike quietly reminded Graham (and me) that he can't have restaurant pancakes; they have wheat in them. I felt terrible. I looked at G and said, "I'm so sorry, Graham. I forgot." Mike quietly reassured me and encouraged G to pick from several other things on the menu. I'd never seen Graham well up with tears. He bit his bottom lip and his little cheeks got red as he held back the tears --- how could I have forgotten? Eggs and bacon it will be!
After breakfast, I asked the boys if they'd like to go for a walk to explore the village and shorefront. First, we all wandered down to the lake, just behind the hotel and restaurant. It was calm and lovely. And a huge lake indeed! We were staying in Lake George Village at the south end of the 32-mile long lake.
After an engineering lesson about how to open, and more importantly, how to CLOSE the super-high-tech stroller (have they gotten more complicated or have I just gotten a bit weak?), we strapped Dean into the stroller, and I was off with the two little guys for a morning walk. We knew there was a park nearby and that there was a walkway along the edge of the lake, but everything else would be a surprise!
Graham held on to the side of the stroller as he strolled along and kept leaning in to Dean every 15-20 paces with "Are you O.K., Dean? Doin' O.K?" A few times, his query was followed by a gentle kiss on Dean's forehead. Just too darned cute for words. And so genuine. Gotta love that kind of brotherly love! (Yeah, I know...they're not always that way. I'm not delusional!)
We passed by several steamboats and headed toward a large paddleboat that was coughing out HUGE plumes of steam. Made me think of "Little Toot"---one of my favorite books as a young child. Several of the large boats were offering 60 to 90 minute rides on the lake. I checked out the schedule and eagerly asked the boys if they'd like to go on a boat ride later. Yes! Yes! (Well, that was G's response; Dean will go along with just about anything!) After a few more minutes of strolling, we found a little bench, where we sat and called Grandpa on my cellphone; G spoke to him briefly but wanted to keep on moving. Bye, Grandpa! I love you!
We discovered a small playground right next to the lakeside and both boys were eager to try it out. It's always fun to explore new playgrounds; Graham lost no time climbing to the upper level and zipping down the slide. Dean followed him but needed a hand to come down the slide. Graham scoped out the fireman's pole on the opposite side, climbed back up to the landing, and asked me to help him down the fireman's pole. It only took two tries with Grandma holding on, and he was on his own! He quickly learned that if he leaned into the pole and swung his leg around it, he could spin coming down the pole. He was so proud of himself. Dean and I kept working with the slide and we all had a ball.Shortly thereafter we were to meet Mama and Papa back at the hotel room so that Dean could catch his morning nap. After such a late night and early morning, we knew that a nap would be a requirement for Dean. G gave up napping long ago, so once D toddled off with Mama for a nap, G scrambled quickly into the stroller for a little one-on-one time with Grandma! We took a different route down to the water's edge and as soon as G spotted the playground again, he was delighted! He climbed up and slid down the fireman's pole over and over and then announced triumphantly as he settled back into the almost-too-small-stroller, "We're off for another adventure, Grandma! I'm ready to SEE THE WORLD!"
This time we checked out some of the vendor booths (it was the weekend of the Adirondack Hot Air Balloon Festival--big doings!) and strolled by the storefronts on Canada Street. We spotted a Mexican restaurant where we decided we'd go for lunch---tacos have NO wheat - whew! After puttering around a bit more, G and I headed back to the hotel to collect Dean for lunch.
We cut it a little close, arriving (after tacos and homemade nacho chips---yummmmy!) at the boat dock just moments before the scheduled departure. There were only a few people on the boat. We parked the stroller out of the way, and I took the two boys out on deck. The captain narrated as we passed by some of the most amazing mansions I'd ever seen---just beautiful! Mike and Laurelyn would be attending the wedding reception later in the afternoon at one of those mansions; I wondered which one. We could spot a sailboat race up the lake off in the distance. Once it got too cold to be out in the open air, we maneuvered our way back into the enclosed dining room area where there was plenty of room for the boys to run back and forth from one side of the boat to the other. Dean has gotten tall enough that he was able to peer out through the bottom of the plexiglass window to spot passing powerboats and a few majestic sailboats. What a great time we had!
We returned to the dock and decided to head back to the hotel to get ready for the Balloon Festival! More than 90 balloons would take off at 5:30 and we wanted front row seats. The festival was being held at a small airfield in Glens Falls, only about 7 miles from the hotel. We packed up extra clothes and snacks (actually, Laurelyn packed them up before they left for the
wedding), and hopped into the car. Off we went! Rather than taking the highway, I decided to follow the signs and head to Glens Falls the "back way." About a mile down the road, Graham had already asked me 2 or 3 times, "When will we be there, Grandma?" I grinned and told him not too much longer. Another half-mile. "Are we almost there, Grandma?" I reassured him that we were getting closer. It was just about 3:30. The traffic started to thicken and no one pulled off to get on the highway. Great minds think alike, I realize. It won't be long now, I call out to Graham.Dean starts giggling. I check in the rearview mirror. He's giggling about nothing. And then he giggles at his own giggling. Louder and louder. Before long, the little guy is laughing so hysterically that he erupts into hiccups! Graham and I can't help but laugh along. Sure enough, after a few minutes of all-car-giggling, G calls out, "How much longer, Grandma? Are we there yet? How much farther?"
My giggling stops rather abruptly as I look ahead and all I can see as far as a mile or more ahead of us is a single line of cars. Lots of red lights. I grit my teeth. "Well, Graham, there's a lot of traffic. Everyone is going to the balloon festival. We'll be there in a bit!"
The traffic snarl continued for ninety minutes. That's 9 x 10. Ironically, it's the same number of balloons that are scheduled to take off at 5:30. At one point, when three lanes of traffic are attempting to dosey-do into one line, I hear a woman's loud voice. I push the button to roll down G's window so that I can hear her. "Oh! It's not you, lady! You're FINE! It's that idiot in front of me who just cut me off!" She continues screaming on the top of her lungs, at the Marine (he has a decal on the back window of his car) in the car in front of her. She doesn't hold back, and I quickly put G's window back up, and start a 'let's look through the trees for the balloons' distraction. Her voice can still be heard. I turn up the radio a bit. "Are we almost there, Grandma?" Grrrr...
Finally, it's about 5:20 and we round the last turn and approach the gate to the airfield! Hurrah! I point out the flashing blue lights ahead and G cranes his neck to see the policeman directing traffic. He's right ahead of us! Finally! I imagine myself announcing, "We're IN, boys!" and immediately notice the cars approaching from the other direction aren't being directed into the airfield at all. They're rolling straight by us. I roll down my window in time to hear the policeman call out, "It's cancelled! Too much wind! Keep going, please!"
Well, I won't include here what went through my mind at that moment, but it wasn't pretty. Graham asks in a rather subdued voice, "What happened, Grandma?" The pressure is on. How to explain this unexpected change of plans to this little guy. . .Remember: Dean is somewhat oblivious--he's 19 months old!
It's too windy, buddy. They can't put the balloons up because they could catch fire in the wind. We certainly don't want anyone to get hurt, do we?
No, we don't, he answers in a breathy voice. And then looking ahead, at the now-open-road, he asks, Where will we eat dinner? And we'll still get to see the fireworks back at the hotel, right?
I was stunned. What an amazing little man. We brushed ourselves off and headed away from the airfield to scope out restaurants back in the village.
We had dinner at what turned out to be a very popular watering hole. There would be an hour wait unless we were willing to eat in the bar. No problem! (At this point, I would have eaten in the car!) And off we headed to the darkened bar --- the boys tore through a half rack of ribs and a healthy serving from the salad bar. I had a yummy crab cake and a delicious salad.
We arrived back at the hotel at about 7:00, just in time for the opening scenes of "Finding Nemo" --- gotta LOVE the Disney channel. Coincidentally, G had watched the same movie with me back in Maine earlier in the summer. Let's watch the movie, Graham suggests and we all pile onto the queen bed. Within moments, G is mesmerized.
Dean, always the comedian, starts mugging with me. Before long, he's doing gymnastics on the bed and laughing as only he can do!
About an hour into the movie, we heard a huge BOOM! Yup, the fireworks had started. We quickly put on our shoes and ran out to the 300' stretch of lakefront to watch the beautiful display. Another hotel guest quickly grabbed us two chairs (how kind!) and we sat down and gazed upward. Dean stayed on my lap and after a few moments, must have remembered the Bar Harbor fireworks on the 4th of July; he relaxed and enjoyed the fireworks.
After about 15 minutes, there was a wonderful finale and we headed back to try to catch the very end of Finding Nemo.
"Hey, Grandma! The bed is wet!" noticed Graham. "And so is your shirt." Sure enough, in all of the excitement, Dean had sprung a leak --- Bad Grandma! Bad Grandma!
It was time for jammies. Both boys fell asleep within minutes. No fuss, no muss! What a treat! I turned the TV off, nestled in next to them, dozed off, and the next thing I knew it was after 11 PM and Mike and Laurelyn came into the room. They'd had a great time at the wedding and reception.
What a great adventure we had at Lake George Village! Sure hope Mike and Laurelyn have more weddings or other special events to go to---I love to travel and will sign on for ANY amount of "Grandma Time!" And rumor has it that Mike and Laurelyn enjoy occasional non-kid time, too.
