Up North

Mals & I took a road trip “Up North” with my mom this past weekend. The weather wasn’t super great but we did get a little beach, water & boat time in and we had a WONDERFUL time with my aunt & uncle and their yellow lab Tucker. It is always such a treat to visit them – they have a beautiful house with a great deck overlooking Walloon Lake; one of my favorite things is “cocktail hour” on the deck, enjoying the company and the view. Mallory was a great little girl all weekend – cute and charming and smiley and laughing for everyone. Tucker is only one and I was a little nervous he might be too rough with her but after a few little exploratory open mouth tastes of Mal’s arms, he decided she was way too sweet to eat and wound up planting big slobbery kisses on her instead.

We paid a visit to a high school friend of my mom’s, who also lives on Walloon Lake. This woman’s house was spectacular – straight out of a decorating magazine – with an awesome covered outdoor fireplace, great porches and a big sandy beach on the water. She had my mom in tears recalling the time she peed in a McDonald’s cup in the front seat of my mom’s black Carmen Ghia when they were in high school.

The lake up north is a little colder than our lake but Mallory didn’t mind. But the lake up north is crystal clear unlike our murky water so when Mallory & I were wading in, I wasn’t paying attention, and she stood up sputtering…I think she was trying to reach down to touch her toes and got a faceful of water. Fearless as she is, she tried again! I couldn’t stop laughing.

Mallory is proving to be a rather resilient travler – she was hardly fussy all weekend and just went with whatever we threw at her (screwed up naptimes, screwed up mealtimes, cold lake, etc). My uncle joked that maybe we could leave her for a few more days and just ship her back. She ate tons (must have been all the fresh air) and had her first taste of asparagus! We had a good time playing all weekend and now have to undo all the togetherness she got used to.

Speaking of kisses, I think Mallory is learning how to give kisses of her own. I can ask her for a kiss and lean in and she will turn her mouth towards mine and accept my kiss, which means she is open-mouth-drooling on me. I’m sure Rick is super excited for his first kiss from Mallory, seeing as how he used to avoid Lauren’s “kisses” with a quick “how ’bout a high-5??”. Other developments — Mallory will crawl over to her shoes and try to put them on her feet – I guess it’s her way of saying “I have places to be ~ LET’S GO!”.