Back to Pavillion!

As most of you know we were off on a short vacation this past weekend. I am usually very finicky about staying at Friend's homes. We have loads of friends and enjoy spending time with them. But usually we like to respect their privacy and stay in a hotel if possible when we visit. But then usually we combine these visits with a sightseeing vacation.

(Picture: Smokey Mountains-Tennessee)

This past weekend for the first time we went on a vacation not to see any sights but to visit friends! We were off to warmer frontiers - Tennesse! Our Friends R and L live there with their daughters Big A (5) and Lil A (1). R is DH's friend from college and had visited us in June for 10 days. However this was the first time we were going to meet his family. I was unsure how Nantu would adjust to new faces. He was looking forward to meeting Uncle R and even more excited about riding in Uncle R's Honda Odyssey Van! He was also looking forward to a play date with Big A!
We took a cab to the airport. All through the ride, Nantu held on to my hand and wouldn't let go! At the airport Nantu was very upset with the security scan. All the officials there were trying to cheer Nantu up as he took of his jacket, shoes and sent his backpack through the scanner!
At the airport, I bought him a happy meal and as luck would have it they gave us the hamburger. Now we are vegetarians, and Nantu had a fit when he realized what had happened. I was too tired to do anything about it.. I just threw away the patty and made him eat the burger with a little cheese after a lot of fuss!
On the plane we waited for an hour and a half before take off...and had to listen to the refrain "are we flying yet" and "are we there yet" till our ears were sore! Also we both had to give one hand each for the li'l master to hold on to...finally the plane did take off and our li'l monkey fell asleep.. and we breathed a joint sigh of relief.
Once there Nantu was all excited to see Uncle R and his car! And we started the long journey home with little Mr. Whiny who was again holding my arm and refusing to let go!! Also he was upset that there were no Hummers in TN, and that it was dark already and he needed to return to Denver to his bed!
Finally we did get him home and got him to realize that Big A was asleep, so he had to spend the night and wait for her to get up before he could play! Uncle R also showed him the empty fish tank and told him they could go buy fish the next day!! So eventually we got Nantu into bed!
The next morning, bright and early we were woken up by knocking at our door... and there stood Big A all eager to meet us! She is such a cute little chatterbox we fell for her charms right there... Nantu did too once he woke up.. and for the next 3 days Big A and Nantu were inseparable. I did not have to worry about Nantu at all.. he even ate all by himself chatting with Big A all the while. When we went out and got them popcorn, they sat apart from us and had a nice chat over the popcorn.

(Picture Courtesy: www.kidprintables.com)

Lil A is this cutie who is all smiles and oh so cuddly.. We had a great time with her.. Nantu could not relate to her though and tried scaring her away.. but since he is smart enough to know that he would be in trouble if he touched her, he would just put his face next to her and growl (!!) to see her scamper off!!
There was another friend there, Uncle A who Nantu looped in to play with him .. driving his toy cars and playing ball!! Poor Uncle A couldn't watch the movie the rest of us were watching... because Nantu declared "This is not my TV time, If I watch I will get scolded" As If!!
The 3 days just flew by ... and we were having too much fun we didn't even realize that it was time to leave already... R and L were so lovely and made us feel so much at home that it was hard to say good bye! Once we got on the plane back.. Nantu realized what was going on.. and wanted to get off and go back to TN. Lets move to Tennessee he says, I miss Big A. He also wanted to go back and buy the fish we forgot all about!!
We sure are waiting for Big A's next vacation time from school and more fun time!
Back Home...
Nantu got a visit from Santa and is very excited about all the gifts that Santa brought him. However Santa read his mind wrong and brought him the wrong version of Lightning Mc Queen (He wanted one that makes sounds and moves, but got a small mini version of it). However he was excited enough to stop fretting about that!
Also it snowed all night Christmas eve and all day y day.. so we had a white white Christmas.. Nantu is trying to extract promises from me to make the snowman!! We haven't made any this year yet!
Today it is back to school for Nantu. He rushed there to tell his friends B and C all about Tennessee and Santa. Unfortunately they aren't back from vacation yet. So Nantu for the first time in a long while had a long face when I dropped him off this morning. Am waiting for him to come back and tell me how it went!
Now I am off to plan something fun for New Year! Happy New Year folks... Have a wonderful year ahead!