Annalisa and I met in 2004 when we both did stage management internships at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. For the last several years, we've talked about making a trip up to Cincy for old time's sake. So, crazy as it might have been, we did that this year since it's the 10th anniversary of our friendship. Seth, Evie, Annalisa, and I left at 8 am Saturday morning for the 4 hour car ride to Cincy. Evie was pretty good for most of the trip. I sat in the back with her on the way up and Annalisa had the forethought to download some episodes of Sesame Street on her iPad so Evie was thoroughly entertained.
We stopped around Louisville to stretch our legs and get a snack and then we were back on the road. There was snow on the drive up, but nothing on the interstate itself. It was pretty to look at.
We got to Cincinnati about 1 pm ET (we lost an hour) and after stopping for gas we drove to Ambar in Clifton, our favorite Indian restaurant in the whole world. Evie really needed a nap by then, so she was a little difficult to keep occupied, though she did enjoy the naan and some of Annalisa's chicken pakora. I tried to entice her with some of my chicken tikka masala, but she was kind of over being cooped up by then, so I took her to the lobby area of the restaurant to play while Seth finished his lunch and then we switched. Evie did have fun touching and standing in the snow in the parking lot.
After lunch, we drove to the Playhouse where Annalisa and I met. They were having a matinee so it was pretty busy when we arrived, but it made it easy to get in and look around the lobby. Annalisa and I reminisced about what a labyrinth the theatre building was. It was once just a shelter house that had been converted into a playhouse and as it grew, they built around the shelter house and added a second, much larger auditorium, connected to the original structure by some crazy stairs, hallways, and rehearsal rooms. Even the lobby has 4 different levels as they've added on areas for a bar and bistro. So we enjoyed roaming around and trying to think about how you would get from the lobby to the stage management office, the Marx performance space or the backstage of the Shelterhouse theatre. We also had to pause for pictures with the Tony Award that the playhouse received in 2004, just a few months before we started our internships.
Evie absolutely loved going up and down the stairs that were all over the lobby. There is a very large staircase when you come in, which she walked up, holding on to my hands, and then smaller sets all around the entrances to the theatres. Then we walked around the outside of the playhouse, which she enjoyed. She played with some more snow while we remembered the day that one of the acting interns who was driving the large moving truck they used on Annalisa's tour hit the building and put an enormous hole in the top of the truck. Evie just enjoyed walking around.
As we were leaving the playhouse, Seth and I thought it might be time to turn Evie's car seat around. I had wanted to wait until she was 40 lbs which is the limit for rear-facing, because it's safer. But we thought she might be happier with it facing forward, and, honestly, it never has seemed to sit quite right in our car being rear-facing. Seth turned it forward facing and it seems to be so much more secure that it feels a lot safer to me. But I'm no expert. So we spent about 10 minutes trying to get all that straightened out, and then we drove north to see Annalisa's old apartment building. We then headed to Hyde Park where we got Graeter's ice cream. Evie enjoyed eating some of Seth's cherry chocolate chip while we drove to Highland Heights, KY to see the apartments where Seth and I had lived. It was amazing to see how much the city had changed and how much has gone up in Highland Heights. There was a new center with a Target and several other stores that would have been so convenient if they'd been there when we lived there instead of having to go to Cold Springs to Meijer. It was fun to see how everything had changed.
We then headed home and stopped for dinner at Chuy's in Bowling Green, KY. For me, it was nice to see Bowling Green because that's where WKU is, where I'm taking some online classes right now. It's a pretty cute little town, I think. We finally got home at 9:30 pm and Evie pretty much went straight to bed. She did have a little nap in the car on the way between Cincinnati and Bowling Green, but nothing like what she'd usually have at home, and it was 2 hours past her usual bed time so she was very ready for bed. We had a good time, and Evie was such a trouper!
Sunday, Evie was really enjoying being in the comfort of home, with her toys and books, so Seth offered to stay with her the whole day while Annalisa and I went and had fun. We went to breakfast and then saw Philomena. Evie and Seth hung out and read a lot of books and watched a movie, and then she had a good long nap. That night, she entertained us with her version of "The Fox", which she refers to as "ning ning". I tried to capture on video some of what she does while watching that music video:
Sunday night, Edgar wouldn't walk. He just wouldn't get up. So Seth had to carry him downstairs and into the yard and back up. So, Monday morning, Evie and Annalisa and I hung out until close to the appointment time I set up for Edgar and then we took Evie to daycare and Ed to the vet. I was very surprised when, as we were walking into the daycare building, Evie let Annalisa take her and give her a hug. Evie usually gets kind of clingy with me when we're going to daycare, so the fact that she let Annalisa take her from me says a lot about how comfortable she is with her. It was really sweet. Annalisa left Monday afternoon so I was glad they got to have a hug before she went home to NYC.
The rest of the week has been business as usual. Evie's gotten a lot of new words this week, the most interesting, I think, is "seat". She'll say "seat" (pronounced as "see") when she wants to sit in the rocking chair by herself, or she'll say "seat" when she wants you to move so she can have the whole couch to herself, or she'll say "seat" when she wants to get into her highchair to have a meal. She's also taken quite a liking this week to a snack of apples and cheese. She used to always ask for cookies when we got in the car because I would give her some animal crackers after school, but now she asks for "apple" instead. She loves the Babybel cheeses and will ask for those, and also yogurt. But she says "lolo", which is interesting because it usually takes kids longer to be able to say the l sound than the y sound. I'll be interested to see if she can start saying other l-words soon.
She's also become fascinated with my water cup and wants to drink my water at every meal. So last night I poured just a little water into one of her open top cups and she did a really good job with drinking it. I don't think I'll be putting anything but water in them for a while, but it's nice to know she'll be able to use that kind of cup soon.
She has also taken a liking to Babar and has wanted to read it every night for the last three nights in a row. She can even say his name. We'll have to bulk up our Babar book collection.
1. I'm so happy that the hole in the van is memorialized in here!
ReplyDelete2. SUCH a fun trip. You guys are so very dear to me.
3. Evie letting me hold her outside of daycare is one of my most favorite memories with her yet.