This is me, Flo. I'm standing by the Charles W. Morgan Whaling Ship at Mystic Seaport. The boat is in dry dock undergoing repair. You have to climb three flights of stairs to enter. I'm afraid of heights. Thank goodness Judy, my daughter, is with me. She takes my niece and my nephew up to visit the ship, a genuine whaler, while I wait and wait. I wish they'd hurry up. I'm getting bored.
As Cousin Judy tells the kids about life aboard a whaling ship, Zach feels like he's really there. Maggie thinks it's a bit frightening.
After the kids get pried away drawing tattoos on the cardboard cutout in the tattoo exhibit, we go home.
After supper, we walk the three dogs along with Uncle Larry. We live on the one of the tees of the Public Golf Course. We make our way to the second tee where mostly there are no more golfers. Zach likes to run with our chihuagle, Shaq. Shaq goes a little nuts trying to get Zach to give up the small squeaky tennis ball. Our dog Maya likes Larry to carry her. She's kind of weird that way. Meanwhile, I carry the poop bags. Bodie, Judy's dog, chases the ball but that's about as far as it goes. So ends our firs day of Zach and Maggie's visit. Only nine days left to go.
On Saturday, we take the kids on our traditional Saturday morning outing, to Stew Leonard's supermarket, where there are animatronic animals and groceries that sing and dance. Zach always comes up with new and interesting things he needs to eat, like these jumbo marshmallows.
Later, Cousin Ned comes over. If I wasn't so busy making homemade pizza, who knows, I might even have been able to relax. The kids always enjoy his visits because he's a stand up comic and lots of fun.
On Sunday, Uncle Larry and I take the kids to the Connecticut Science Museum. There, they spend most of their time playing with legos in water. Later on, Maggie would hurt her knee, so she limps for the last half hour of our time there.
When we come home, Maggie and Zach play legos on the pool table. Zach builds an elevator. I don't know why they had to play with legos at the museum. Maybe it was the water that made the difference. Most of the kids in that room were pretty wet.
Later, we take our nightly walk with the crazy dogs. Finally, the kids end up in the jacuzzi with massive amounts of toys. Maggie always counts the seconds that Zach can stay under water. I make sure they stay in the bath for as long as they want to. I drink tea and work on my computer in the next room.
Monday, it rains. I take the kids to the Rain Forest Cafe in the mall for lunch. It's not enough that it's raining outside, but it's raining inside as well! In fact, it's an entire thunderstorm. I try not to look scared when I hear it, but I don't think I much fool the kids!
While we are eating, the animatronic animals keep making noises. I asked the waitress if they could stop. She says no, can I take your order.
Maggie asks Zach if one of the animatronic gorillas had farted. He says no. She says did too. He says did not.
Zach got his hand stuck in the animatronic alligator. I start dialing 911 when he says "just kidding!!"
After the Rain Forest Cafe, I take the kids to the Sweet Factory. Maggie starts eating candy out of the bin. I say to her that she can't do that, that we have to pay for the candy. She says I don't have to worry because it's really not from the bin. The candy she was eating came off of the floor. Nobody's going to buy that.
That evening, we watch Dr. Who on BBC America. The kids have already seen the episode. Maggie assures me that even though the creatures on TV look like vampires, they aren't really vampires. Zach informs me that they are really Fish people. By gosh, he was right! Who writes this stuff?
Zach notices one of his green apple jawbreakers from the Sweet Factory is missing. He blames the dogs, but it was me. I stole his green apple jawbreaker.
Goth Scouts
