A Boy and His Droid

Last weekend, Lauren and I flew to Georgia to visit a friend of mine and her family. Josh had told me that I should take a weekend off sometime, and she wanted us to come visit, so we did. Josh actually meant for me to leave both kids, but I thought this was a better compromise. It was actually very relaxing for me even with travelling by plane with Lauren, who, while a good traveller, didnt' sleep in either direction. Max was quite upset the week leading up to the trip when he realized that Lauren and I were going on a trip without him, and we dealt with a couple of days of bawling and begging to come along. I pointed out that he was going to have a special weekend with Daddy but he wasn't buying that. He wanted to go with us. I told him that he and Daddy would get to do special stuff, and had a few things in mind, but when I suggested them, he said they were things he did with me (zoo, museum, etc). I asked him what he liked doing with Daddy and he said "Working in his workshop" so I requested that Josh plan something for the workshop. We also promised him a nice dinner at his favorite restaurant (sushi, what every 5YO loves, right?). Finally, I bribed him with a trip to The Little Gym, which seemed to satisfy him, though we were still a bit nervous that Saturday morning would bring an anouncement that he was packed and ready to go. However, instead, he happily helped us check in and carry our stuff to security, gave happy hugs, and went off with Daddy. Phew.

While we were gone, they did have a great weekend. Max got to try a class at The Little Gym, which had been Lauren's thing (we have had to cut out most activities for financial reasons, including this, but hopefully we will be able to get back there one of these days), and he got his sushi and other fun meal experiences, but the highlight was working in Daddy's workshop. Max has been very interested in Star Wars. It is funny, as we have not let him watch it (you should have seen him when he discovered we had the original trilogy, but has accepted that we feel he is too young to see it) but many of his friends have, and so many kids are very interested in Star Wars. Max has been especially interested in R2D2, which kind of goes along with his interest in robots in general. It was a multiday project, from what I understand, and has gotten two coats of paint since these pictures, but both Josh and Max are rightfully proud. Now he wants to make an X-Wing fighter and a C3PO, which Max said is going to be bigger than him because the real C3PO is bigger than him (Josh is so excited about this, I am sure ;) ).

A side note: Max barely seems to have missed me while I was gone, which is probably a good thing, but it is very apparent that he missed Lauren. When we returned, he yelled "LAUREN!" as soon as he saw her and started running towards her (she yelled "Max!" and ran towards him while I cringed at the expected collision, but actually, they managed to hug without injuring each other) and couldn't wait to tell her all about his weekend. He was very disapointed when she fell asleep. I am glad they enjoy each other as much as they do.