Grandparent Tour - Part 2

Carly and I ventured out on the second portion of our grandparent tour this Wednesday morning. Carly started the day off bright and early with a 7:30 wake up. This left us ready to go by 8:45 and playing outside for thirty minutes waiting on the trash company to come so that we could put away our trash can before departing. Unfortunately, the trash company did not show by 9:15 and this eager mom and daughter duo were tired of waiting. We were able to sought out help from a neighbor who agreed to put our trash can away for us, and away we went. Our first stop in Columbia was to my favorite education store in search of some fun for Carly. Unfortunately, the items I was interested in were not currently in-stock...BOO!! We left there and headed to 5-points to meet my mom and brother. Robert was getting a pre-hooding ceremony haircut, so we thought it was a great excuse to meet for lunch. The remainder of our day was low key, but only in preparation for Thursday.

Thursday morning, Carly decided to start the day EXTRA early. She woke up before 6:30 and just stared at me. I awoke at 6:30 to the feeling of two little eyes staring at me. Hoping she would got back to sleep, I did not move. Finally around 6:45 I turned my head slightly, which of course she saw and began grunting and pointing. She apparently thought her diaper was too wet for her liking. After our early morning start we headed out to Riverbanks Zoo with a friend of my mom and her grandson (who is 1 month older than Carly). The two of them really enjoyed their time at the zoo; however, I am sure they both wished they could get out and run (instead of being confined to their strollers). Our early and long morning resulted in a nice 3 hour nap, which thrilled my dad. Carly woke up at 5:00 and was very fresh when he arrived home. They played together until almost 8:30. Carly especially enjoyed throwing her softball with him and begging for candy.

Thankfully, Friday morning did not start quite as early as Thursday morning did. Carly had a calm morning playing while I tried to help my mom as much as possible in preparation for Robert's hooding ceremony later in the afternoon. Dave was able to make it to my parents' house just in time to wake Carly up for her nap so that we could head down to the ceremony. Carly was very well behaved for the first portion of the ceremony. She really enjoyed watching the graduates walk into the auditorium and clapping during all the introductory remarks and awards. However, once the guest speaker began the Commencement Speech - she was DONE! Dave walked her around for a while, then it was my turn, then Dave came back to relieve me, during which Carly enjoyed climbing various sets of stairs and hugging the many other toddlers who were playing outside of the auditorium. This allowed me to watch Robert be hooded with my parents (my mom got AMAZING seats), while Dave and Carly watched from afar. After Robert was hooded and was done shaking hands, the Orr contingency departed from the ceremony. We were able to meet up with my parents for a quick Rush's dinner before getting on the road and heading back home.