We took a trip over the holiday weekend to visit Jason's dad and his wife near Greensboro, North Carolina. Dad and Julee hadn't been able to make a trip up here to visit ever since Gavin was born, and they were dying to meet him. We decided to take the visit to them. Julee came up with the idea to make the trip a surprise, as their anniversary was Friday, and she wanted our arrival to be one of her gifts to Jason's dad.
So Friday we got up early and were on the road at 7:00. Gavin handled the trip fairly well, sleeping for the first three or four hours. After that he was fussy and didn't like being in his car seat so much. I spent the last half of the trip in the back with him, which helped, but didn't entirely alleviate, his boredom.
That afternoon we called Julee at her office around 2:00 pm to let her know where we were (near Winston-Salem). We were about an hour away from Greensboro at that point, so she asked us to come by her office. We would then proceed to their house, where we would hide our car, then hide us and wait for Dad to get home for the big surprise.
When we got to Julee's office building, we parked out front and unstrapped Gavin. I began to feed him, so he would be a happy bug for his first meeting with Grandma Julee. While we sat there, Jason's phone rang. It was Julee. Their conversation went something like this:
Jason: Hello?
Julee: WHERE ARE YOU?!
Jason: Right out front of your building!
Julee: Oh no! Drive! Drive! DRIVE!!
Jason: What?
Julee: DRIVE!
Jason: We can't, Gavin's unhooked... why?
Julee: Alan's HERE!
Jason: He is?
Julee: Yes, five minutes ago my door opened and I looked up and it was him. I said "What are you doing here?" And he said he was dropping off my present. I said "Gee, thanks honey" then I stood up and grabbed my phone and told him I had to run to the bathroom.
Jason: Ah...ummm...
Julee: Oh dear, well, hang on, I'm coming out to you.
And she did. Plans changed at that moment, so we were now going to surprise him right then and there. So Julee took Gavin and we followed her into her building to her office door, which thankfully was closed. She hollered in to Dad for him to close his eyes and face the door. He did. She opened the door and walked in and said "happy anniversary!" He opened his eyes and stared somewhat blankly at the baby in Julee's arms. It wasn't until he looked behind her and saw Jason and I that it clicked that it was Gavin. His face lit up and he was so happy - not to mention surprised, shocked, and amazed! Gavin was a bit overwhelmed by all the loud voices and laughing and new people. After about 15 seconds in Dad's arms, he started bawling at the top of his lungs and didn't ease up until I took him and gave him some Mommy Snuggles. Then he was okay and went back to Dad and Julee some more.
We spent some time at Julee's office with her and Dad, then he had to go back to work and we left to go to their house. That evening, we barely saw Gavin, as his grandparents joyfully stole him away from us and cuddled and snuggled and played with him until at last we wrested him from their grasp to put to bed.
Saturday we lazed around while Julee and Jason's dad played with Gavin, until he had to go to work. We took Gavin outside and enjoyed the afternoon, which was absolutely gorgeous. Looking up at the beautiful bright blue sky with puffy white clouds, it was hard to imagine a few hundred miles to the south that hurricane Frances was ravaging Florida. We visited Jason's dad at work later that evening and had dinner in the mall food court. Julee bought Gavin a really cute outfit for the fall, in which he'll be just stunningly handsome. Everyone loves a man in uniform.
On Sunday we had a picnic lunch outisde and celebrated Gavin's five monthday with a slice of watermelon.
Jason's mom and sisters drove up to see us and brought our three and a half year old nephew Sean (Jason's brother Thomas' son). It had been over a year and a half since we'd seen Sean. He has grown into quite a cute little boy. He discovered a nasty infestation in Dad and Julee's backyard: Dragons. So Jason and Anita and Sean spent many hours that afternoon hunting out the buggers and despatching them quite handily.
Monday was yet another lazy day. Julee watched Scooby Doo with Sean and Gavin watched Sean -- he was enthralled with his cousin!
Tuesday we woke early and dragged Gavin away from his grandparents and drove home. He did much better on the return trip, sleeping nearly the entire time. Of course that played hell with his sleep schedule and he was up nearly every hour all night long, and during the time he was asleep he was incredibly fidgety. All in all, though, he did much better with the trip than I expected. Now we're home and happy that all the grandparents have met Gavin!
Posted by allison at September 7, 2004 10:03 PM