A week ago, we hit the road for Maine, where our friends Cora and Uri were getting married. She was excited about this trip and about the wedding -- she didn’t get to attend the last one Michelle and I went to -- and she had a great time.
The night before we stayed over at Uncle Carl's house, where Sofia joined her dad playing drums. Here's the beginner lesson...
now Sofia takes the snare and we're picking up steam. No, I don't plan to turn her into Buddy Rich ... well, not the obnoxious perfectionist part, at least.
With basic lessons over, Little Lars Jr. and I take on "Seek and Destroy" with Uncle Josh...
Is there a drum set in Sofia's future? Very possibly.
The next day we headed up to the wedding in Old Orchard BEach
As you can tell, the idea of being in a pretty dress at a big party appeals. So much for getting her to blow off the prom.
And oh yes, she enjoyed hanging out with the bride. Who felt the same way.
Cora, being the thoughtful friend that she is, ordered chicken fingers for the young’uns in attendance. And they all sequestered in their own area to eat. She liked that enough that about 20 minutes later, when I came around to ask if she wanted to join her mom and I at our table, she said “no, I’ll stay here.”
Shot down by a four-year-old!
And of course, what would a wedding be without cake (note crumbs, which were all that remained)…
And dancing!
Here's Sofia's "I'm a tired ballerina at the wedding" interpretive dance, and it's tremendous ... what an artiste!
As we packed up to head home, thunder boomed in the distance (happily the rain that had threatened all afternoon waited until after Cora’s wedding was about over).
“That’s thunder,” I said.
“That’s not good,” Sofia replied.
The next day, because a full day of driving wasn’t nearly enough, we headed off to Ocean City, Maryland, to visit our friends Beth and Don at a condo owned by one of their relatives.
On the road, we saw this….the Meow Mix Mobile. This is on the New Jersey Turnpike, somewhere between exits 10 and 7 southbound…
I saw the tail and ears coming up on the right, woke up Michelle, told her to get the camera and slowed up to get a picture. I could not make it up if I tried.
Sofia handled the driving really well ... er, she handled ME driving really well ... and we arrived after about seven hours. But there wasn’t much time for resting … not when the Ocean City boardwalk was calling!
Don told us for weeks about all the rides for the small set on the boardwalk -- rides that he had been on when he was Sofia’s age. He was not kidding about that. Among the star attractions is the 1902 Herschell-Spillman wooden roller coaster, which has been operating in the same location since it arrived from the factory in North Tonawanda.
Sofia had a blast. She rode the rides, all right -- just about every single one built for someone of her age and height. She dragged us from one to the next, eagerly sat down, smiled for the camera at each one, then repeated the process.
And there was ice cream, of course.
Somehow, she stayed awake until way past her bedtime o’clock -- like, say, 11. And still, she was ready for more the next day -- Assateague Island and its pristine beaches and wild horses. We did not come up with any close encounters with feral equines (too bad), but we did have a tremendous time on the beach.
It’s been a few days since we returned and I’m still tired. Need a vacation to recover from the vacation. More photos and stories to come…
