Another Visit from Alex

Alex and Papa during the early stages of railroad construction

   Alex came for another visit this weekend and, as always, we managed to cram a lot into a relatively short period. One of the first things he likes to do when he gets to our house is set up an elaborate set of train tracks in the family room. The picture above shows only the beginnings of the railroad work that took place; it expanded around most of the room by Sunday morning.

  On the agenda was a haircut ("and then I get a lollipop and then we go to McDonalds"). Since Chuck was not with us and I'd gotten one just a couple of weeks ago, we were in and out of the barber shop fairly quickly, lollipop in hand, and on our way to an afternoon snack at Mickey D's.

  Alex took plenty of opportunities to sing us his favorite songs -- "I've Been Working on the Railroad" is becoming one of his standards -- as well as plunking on the piano. We had three rounds of playing with Play-Do (twice with Papa, once with Grandma) and three rounds of painting pictures (with the opposite split). And we drew an extensive set of roads outside on the driveway so that the fire trucks could rescue a monkey in a tree, drive past a field of giant pumpkins, and have lunch at McDonalds.

  It was a busy couple of days for Papa and Grandma, but doubly busy for Alex, who fell asleep within minutes of getting into the car and had a nice nap on the ride home.

Alex shows off his spiffy haircut while enjoying one of Grandma's mini-cupcakes