Our First Official Family Outing

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Nick and I have been able to do a lot of fun things together.  Twice we’ve been to Greenfield Village (once to meet Thomas the Train), we’ve also spent a day at the lake, and done countess other things.  The one person missing from all of our fun times though has been Jason.  Every time we have plans to do things Jason has been scheduled to work.  Last week we made plans to go to Greenfield Village again.  We originally had made plans to go on Wednesday since Jason doesn’t often work that day.  We couldn’t believe it though when he got scheduled to work on Wednesday!  Luckily everyone could also make it on Tuesday. Tuesday turned out to be a perfect day to go too because the weather was gorgeous with a high around 82 and low humidity.

Our outing didn’t start how I had hoped since we left fifteen minutes late, and it took us fifteen minutes longer to get there than I had planned on.  I was a bit annoyed about being late, but I tried to not let it get to me (yes, tried is the key word here as I didn’t fully succeed).  My grandmother called a few minutes after we were supposed to be there wondering where we were.  I told her our location, and knowing that we still had a ways to go, she said she’d send the aunts and cousins in and she and my grandfather would wait for us at the entrance.

Luckily it wasn’t very busy that day, so we didn’t have to park to far away.  As soon as we had parked I went about getting the stroller and our stuff out and ready while Jason got into the backseat to wake Nick up and to get him out.  Once Nick was in the stroller we headed for the entrance.  Luckily it was easy to spot my grandparents, and after a quick restroom break we headed in.

As we headed towards the working farm house (always our first stop) Grandma called up the others to see where they were.  Not surprisingly they were well ahead of us.  It was decided that they would call us when they were ready for lunch and we’d meet up then.

I love going to see the farm house.  I especially love to see it now since the setting of it is only a few years after our house was built, so it always makes me wonder what our house originally looked like.  We arrived at the farm as they were preparing for dinner, and everything smelled really good.  After making our way through the farm house we headed out to the barn.  Nick loves walking through the barn and seeing all of the animals.

We had just put Nick back in his stroller when we got the call that the others were heading to lunch.  It seemed that the other little ones hadn’t had much breakfast and were hungry.  It was a bit early for all of us to eat (including Nick), but we figured that it wouldn’t be that early by the time we got to the restaurant and got our food, so we headed to the cafeteria.

For lunch Jason and I both choose the cherry chicken salad wrap which was really good.  We also decided to share a big chocolate chip cookie.  I had decided to pack a lunch for Nick since I wasn’t sure how much food we would find that he could eat that was also egg free.  He turned out to not be very hungry because he didn’t eat a whole lot.  Of course there was a lot of interesting things to see, and his incoming teeth might have kept him from eating too.

Once it was obvious that Nick wasn’t going to eat any more I took in into the restroom to change him. The only changing table was in the largest stall. Of course as soon as I laid him down Nick threw one of his diaper changing fits where he screams bloody murderer because you’re making him lay down. Since no one could see us in the stall I’m sure everyone was thinking that I was torturing the poor thing. I really hope he grows out of that phase before our vacation this Fall. When the torture that is diaper changing was over I took Nick outside to walk around some while we waited for everyone else to finish up.

When lunch was over it was decided that we would split up again since we still hadn’t been over to the industrial area and the others had.  Plus the rest were still finishing up lunch while our group was done, and Nick did not want to wait around any more.  We loaded Nick back into his stroller and off we went.  The industrial buildings are really cool because they actually have people making products in them (glass blowing, pottery, weaving, etc.).  It is so interesting to see, and you can learn a lot, but Nick wasn’t really into it today, so I didn’t get to stand around and watch.  I’ve seen it a lot of times though, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Next we went off to the Henry Ford area.  In Henry Ford’s house they had some wooden toys set out that Nick was allowed to play with.  He was really in a walking mood though, so he didn’t want to stand around and play for long.

We continued to head down the street to the area that is made to look like an old fashioned town.  We went into a little store that had some old toys.  They had a glockenspiel out that you could play with.  Nick loved it!  When we hit it with the mallet it he would get a gigantic grin on his face.  Then we put it on his stroller and he took the mallet and started banging away.  At that point we decided that he had to have one.  Good thing we got one too because he cried when we put it back on the table!

With purchase in hand we headed next door to the Wright Brother’s bicycle shop.  I don’t know what it is about this place, but Nick is always enthralled by the speaker telling about how the Wright Brothers built and flew the first plane.  Every time we hear it Nick’s eyes get big and he just hangs on the speakers every word.  When we left the bicycle shop we continued to see the town buildings and then we headed over to Edison’s lab.  There we learned that people used to pay for their electricity by weight.  It was a bit confusing, so I can’t even begin to explain it.  You really do learn something new every day.

By this point Nick was ready for his nap.  I tipped his stroller back and gave him blankie and binkie.  It took awhile for him to fully fall asleep.  He’d stay laying down, and then he’d sit up, then he’d lay back down.  Grandpa decided to be in charge of nap time, so he took the stroller and pushed Nick around while the rest of us looked into different houses.  Nick did eventually fall asleep and he got a decent nap in (although it was short for him).

Before Nick had woken up we decided it was time to start making our way to the exit (still making stops along the way).  Jason hadn’t thought to bring his knee brace, and all of the walking was starting to get to him.  Nick woke up before we made it out.  He was sleepy at first, but it didn’t take him long to get back to his happy self.  Of course a trip to Greenfield Village is never complete without a stop in the store on your way out for your taste of fudge.  Jason and I both tried the caramel peanut which tasted like a Snickers bar (yum!).

Once we made it to the walkways to the parking lots we said our goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa since we had parked in different areas.  By this point I was carrying Nick because he was done with the stroller.  It was a bit difficult though since he really wanted to get down and walk, so he was wiggling all over.  When we got to the car I put him down so he could move a little while we got the car opened up.  Sadly that turned out to be the only bad part of the day because Nick slipped out of my hand and fell hitting his head on the ground.  He cried right away though, and luckily while he had some blood come to spots at the surface he didn’t break any skin, so no blood came through.  He did end up with a tiny goose egg though.  Thankfully we had his blankie with us.  That always helps calm him down when he’s upset.

Except for the very end it turned out to be a great day.  Not only had Jason not been able to come with us on the past two trips, but he hadn’t been to Greenfield Village since he was a teenager, so he really enjoyed getting to see it again.  It was the perfect first family outing.  If it’s any indication I think we’ll all have a wonderful time on our cruise together this fall.