Memorial Day Splashes
We spent Memorial Day day weekend down in Columbus. We left Saturday and returned Tuesday. In between:
- On Saturday night M's family came over to our AirBnB, which had a screened porch large enough for all seven of us to enjoy our takeout together. M and I got food from Northstar. I threw Birdie's soccer ball around with our nephew L. It was a very pleasant event.
- On Sunday morning we met up with M's parents, sister and nephew at the Park of Roses for a nice walk. We eavesdropped on a nice Jewish wedding in one of the rose gardens and looked at a lot of flowers.
- Sunday afternoon we walked the half mile from our AirBnB to visit Kati. Birdie enjoyed petting Libby again, almost as much as she enjoyed playing with Kati's keys.
- On Monday morning we went to the Worthington Memorial Day parade. This parade has been a tradition for M's family for basically her whole life, and this was the first time it was held since the start of the pandemic. We arrived at the corner of High Street that her family traditionally hangs out at, along with some of their friends who I met in passing. The parade was quite good, with many marching bands and all sorts of social groups, scout troops and other organizations, plus a jet flyover. I had a briefly jarring moment when I was reminded that girls can join the Boy Scouts now. Honestly, in a lot of ways the parade was better than the Cav's victory parade, although it lacked NBA player, confetti cannons, Machine Gun Kelly and cheerleaders. Your tastes may vary. Birdie had a fine time at her first parade watching from her stroller and bopping along to the marching bands.
- After nap time, that afternoon we went to a splash pad in Dublin near my sister-in-law's house. This was Birdie's first time wearing her new swim suit, which was accessorized with a pair of swim shoes and a blue bucket hat for sun protection. Birdie loved running around in the water with M, her aunt, her cousin and her grandma. She showed no fear of getting wet and was happy to stick her hands in the many jets of water. She had a great time. Afterwards we took her up to the top of the hill by the giant bunny statues, which helped dry her out. From there we went to another park and had a picnic dinner of takeout pizza from Donatos and then ran around the playground.
- After we got Birdie down for the night, M went over to Kati's to hang out for a few hours while I held down the fort. This wasn't hard, because Birdie slept like a rock after her exciting day. We actually woke up before she did on Monday morning.
- We'd eaten all of our breakfasts and lunches at the AirBnB, but we still had a few groceries left after we checked out Monday so we dropped those off at my in-laws house, which was very close. From there, the group minus my father-in-law and brother-in-law convened at the Columbus Zoo, courtesy of my sister-in-law's family membership. It was very hot, but we managed to stay in the shade and hydrated for the morning. Birdie really liked the gorillas and the bonobos. We also saw some surprisingly active red pandas, and one very serene looking Siberian tiger. We had lunch at the zoo and headed for home. Birdie slept almost the entire way.
- On Saturday night M's family came over to our AirBnB, which had a screened porch large enough for all seven of us to enjoy our takeout together. M and I got food from Northstar. I threw Birdie's soccer ball around with our nephew L. It was a very pleasant event.
- On Sunday morning we met up with M's parents, sister and nephew at the Park of Roses for a nice walk. We eavesdropped on a nice Jewish wedding in one of the rose gardens and looked at a lot of flowers.
- Sunday afternoon we walked the half mile from our AirBnB to visit Kati. Birdie enjoyed petting Libby again, almost as much as she enjoyed playing with Kati's keys.
- On Monday morning we went to the Worthington Memorial Day parade. This parade has been a tradition for M's family for basically her whole life, and this was the first time it was held since the start of the pandemic. We arrived at the corner of High Street that her family traditionally hangs out at, along with some of their friends who I met in passing. The parade was quite good, with many marching bands and all sorts of social groups, scout troops and other organizations, plus a jet flyover. I had a briefly jarring moment when I was reminded that girls can join the Boy Scouts now. Honestly, in a lot of ways the parade was better than the Cav's victory parade, although it lacked NBA player, confetti cannons, Machine Gun Kelly and cheerleaders. Your tastes may vary. Birdie had a fine time at her first parade watching from her stroller and bopping along to the marching bands.
- After nap time, that afternoon we went to a splash pad in Dublin near my sister-in-law's house. This was Birdie's first time wearing her new swim suit, which was accessorized with a pair of swim shoes and a blue bucket hat for sun protection. Birdie loved running around in the water with M, her aunt, her cousin and her grandma. She showed no fear of getting wet and was happy to stick her hands in the many jets of water. She had a great time. Afterwards we took her up to the top of the hill by the giant bunny statues, which helped dry her out. From there we went to another park and had a picnic dinner of takeout pizza from Donatos and then ran around the playground.
- After we got Birdie down for the night, M went over to Kati's to hang out for a few hours while I held down the fort. This wasn't hard, because Birdie slept like a rock after her exciting day. We actually woke up before she did on Monday morning.
- We'd eaten all of our breakfasts and lunches at the AirBnB, but we still had a few groceries left after we checked out Monday so we dropped those off at my in-laws house, which was very close. From there, the group minus my father-in-law and brother-in-law convened at the Columbus Zoo, courtesy of my sister-in-law's family membership. It was very hot, but we managed to stay in the shade and hydrated for the morning. Birdie really liked the gorillas and the bonobos. We also saw some surprisingly active red pandas, and one very serene looking Siberian tiger. We had lunch at the zoo and headed for home. Birdie slept almost the entire way.