My Little Traveler

We sent James home with Nana and Pop-Pop on July 15th. Yep. We sent him on his first road trip right after his 6th birthday. He stayed until July 29th. That is a LONG time for a just-turned-six-year-old. It's also his first real trip away from home. Oh he's stayed with MawMaw and Didi plenty of times but they live near by and I don't think he has ever stayed for a whole week. He was eager to go. What an adventure!

I went away when I was little. I'd go to my cousin's house for a week during the summer. My sister would go with me. But we never got care packages from home. I think I got my first one when I was in college. The university sent out letters to the parents encouraging them to order care packages for their students right before final exams week. James has had a different life experience! The day after he left, I knew I needed to put together something for him. I had to use Google. I packed favorite things from home, a cool t-shirt, a book, candy, toothbrush, hair gel, vitamins...and Treats & Challenges. I created that. I wanted him to have something to open each day he was there. I put candy (of course) and a "challenge" in snack baggies- things like bible verses, count to 50 by 5's, count to 100 by 10's, tell Nana and Pop-Pop his address and do the Gangnam Style dance...just for fun!

We skyped (is that a verb now?) or talked on the phone almost every other day. I think we only missed one day. And when I skyped with him, we've talked for over an hour each time. He got homesick during the first weekend. It broke my heart. Nana said he cried when we hung up from Skype. I cried when I read the text. I knew something was wrong. I knew he was sad. She said he was fine all day until we got on Skype. Ugh. I know that feeling. Chris wanted to buy me a plane ticket to go down there and get him. It broke his hear too. But we took a few deep breaths and knew that he was really ok.

He's had an amazing time though! He now LOVES Legos! I have mommy friends to thank for that. They bought Legos Hero Factoryy sets for him for his birthday. He and Pop-Pop sat out on the back porch and put together TWO Hero Factory packs! He got another set when he went to LEGOLAND!!! How cool is that!?! I went online to see what it was all about and I cried so hard! The videos show all these happy families with little boys and I suddenly missed him terribly.

James went to a Bird of Prey sanctuary, outdoor/lake popular sites around Orlando, the Orlando Science Center, several restaurants and an Orlando Predators game to see his Uncle Mark play arena football. He had a great time! My gosh! Aunt Ruth even got in on the fun! She sent him homemade cookies...blue whale and great white shark cookies! Awesome! He went swimming in the backyard pool and went to a birthday party for a boy his age. The boy's grandmother lives next to Nana and Pop-Pop. Those guys had a great time together. James called him his new best friend.

Before James left, I joked with him that he better not change or grow while he was in Florida. Naturally, he would defy me. :) He graduated from pull-ups! He didn't want to sleep in pull-ups the first night so Nana and Pop-Pop said OK. He did that every night for 14 nights! Amazing! I am so proud! We rewarded him for it. He wanted a sword to go with his ninja costume. You bet I got it for him!

A ninja and his sword!

James also decided to change what he calls Pop-Pop. He has a couple of nicknames now. James calls him G-Pop or Pops. You gotta be pretty tight to get a nickname! And James loved Nana. He called me Nana for a few days after he got home! It was really cute! I can just imagine HOW many times he said, "Nana!".

Nana and Pop-Pop weren't too worn out either. They want to do it again next year! And so does James. :)