A Minne dAddie dAte.

I was in New Hampshire on Thursday, coming back from a TDY.  When I landed I had a bit of a surprise for Michelle and she wasn't quite expecting it.  One thing I have learned, if not poorly, is that Michelle handles change really well when she is expecting it and very poorly when she is not.

On my drive home from the airport, "Guess what babe?!  I bought five live lobsters in Maine and we are coming home right now.  We have to cook them this afternoon or they'll go bad, AND I want to take Mackay on dAddie dAte so we've got to leave in two hours.  Could you start making the clam chowder?"

I invited over Grandma Susie and KK and Ava and SJ.  We had quite the big kid consortium and they found the concept of boiling a live lobster both fascinating and horrific at the same time.  They unfortunately named the lobsters and so eating them became all but impossible.  All the same it was pretty cool and they learned a little about life and death. 

Then Mackay and I ran to the airport again.  It was the first official one-on-one dAddie dAte, like I had intended them. 

We were given the last two seats on a flight to Minneapolis where Brady picked us up at 12:30 am.  We played with baby Lucy and chatted over breakfast, and then on his way to work Brady took us to the Mall of America.  I'd only intended on spending a few hours there to see the mall a bit and then go tour the rest of the town but things changed--and we spent 8 hours there. 

I texted Joe and he brought out Becky's kids, Savannah, Dayton and Taylon.  The kids rode every ride they could.  And the Lego Store, holy-moly.  It was like a spiritual trip to Mecca for Mackay.  At 5:30 or so, we met up with Brady and Laura again and took them to a British Pub in downtown Minne where they have a professional bocce ball field on the roof.  We ate fish and chips and bangers and mash while they rolled the balls down the field under a beautiful setting sun.  It was really cute to watch baby Lucy.  She is a doll.

Oh, and Mackay built a bear for her.  We were at the store and went through all the steps of getting it set up.  We were worried she might not like it but quite the opposite, she clung to that bear for almost two hours straight.  It was fascinating to watch.  CMB put a beating heart inside and a record-able device in his hand that said, "Lucy, I'm your Pretty Bear and Mackay is your favorite cousin!"  Then the birth certificate said her name was Pretty Bear.  Oh and the scent stick inside was bubble gum.  And she had a football on her wrist.  And she was really soft, which is why I assume she got so many hugs from that little girl. 

We spent the night at Grandpa Joe's playing 'Smart A', a board game.  Early the next morning he took us to the airport and we got to our plane with no problem.  We even were upgraded to Comfort Plus.  It was a quite a treat. 

I started these trips because I just wanted to spend time with my sons.  This one was a success and very fun.  Perhaps a bit too fast and poorly planned; although that might just be an appropriate tag line for my whole life.  I love my Mackay terribly.  He is a remarkable young man and very smart.  I wish he were a bit more confident and assertive in life.  He's only eleven, who knows what he will become today but I can promise that it will be both great and fascinating.  Thanks for being with me today boy.