This past weekend was Eric’s cousin Michael’s open house. Michael graduated high school this year.
We packed up the car Saturday morning and drove north for the weekend. We arrived just as the party was getting started. Michael came out to the car to greet us. Eric was excited to see him. Grandma and Grandpa were already there. Aunt Bev and Uncle Mike have a large property with several acres. Eric loved running around the yard. We walked toward the back yard where Uncle Mike had all of his cars parked. Race Cars! Eric loved it! He kept saying “race car!” There was a red race car and a white race car. There were others, too, but these caught most of Eric’s attention. Throughout the day, Eric made several trips into the back yard to see the cars.
Michael brought out his old train set from when he was a little boy. He had a lot of Thomas engines and cars. Eric played with these for a very long time. I helped him set up the track. It had a bridge and a tunnel. Eric was fascinated by the tunnel, although he kept getting frustrated when the trains would get stuck. Later in the afternoon, he was focused on the bridge. He rolled all of the train cars over the bridge and into one big pile up. When all of the cars were in the pile, he started rolling them the other direction over the bridge until they were all piled up on the other side. The trains were a big hit!
Aunt Bev and Uncle Mike also have a new boat. They just bought it this spring. It is bright yellow and big! Aunt Bev picked him up to let him walk around in the boat. Eric loved it! He walked toward the back and sat in the driver’s seat, playing with the steering wheel. Aunt Bev turned on the power, so Eric could honk the horn. Aunt Bev showed him where the button was located for the horn. Eric pushed it, and it was very loud. It startled him, and he did not like it. After a few minutes, Eric said, “Eric ready to get out.” The rest of the day, Eric asked almost everyone to pick him up to play in the boat.
Eric’s cousins, Mario and Anthony, arrive later in the afternoon. Eric loves his cousins. They are closest to his age, 3 and 5. They played together for most of the afternoon. they walked around by the race cars. they played ball in the driveway. They played with the trains. They picked flowers in the front yard (with Aunt Bev’s help and permission of course).
It was a long day. We kept Eric up past his bed time. We packed up and headed to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house for the night. Eric was ready for bed almost as soon as we could get his pajamas on. I think he fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.