Our Visit to the United States of Ohio

So we took Spills south of the border to Ohio this weekend, to visit my brother and his family. Spills was beside herself to be seeing her cousin, and told everyone we met along the way about where she was going. "I am four and a half years old, and we are going to the United States of Ohio to see my cousin for the weekend. And we're going to eat ice cream and play with Buster and Nosey, and I'm going to a soccer game."

It was a wonderful visit. The ice-cream was from Handel's, an institution in their town. Nosey, the hamster, lived up to his name. We met Freakboy the fish. And Spills and her cousin had a monumental play all around the large, leafy property with Buster, the long-suffering family dog. I caught the cousin whispering a couple of times, "Ask your Mom and Dad if you can have a dog for your next birthday!"

On at least one of those occasions, Spilly whispered back, "Daddy says we can't have a dog if we're going to TRAVEL."

My favourite part of the weekend though, was when they discovered the movie-making feature on the digital camera. What followed were several indy flicks, the best of which was entitled, "Sanjaya is Running Away from the Monsters." Spills was Sanjaya. The entire movie was of her running along hallways, looking behind herself in terror, shouting, "Oh, oh, there are the monsters! What will I do?"

Today we are home again, and life is drab for Spills. We have had tears and low feelings. We have made a special invitation for our cousin to come up here to visit, maybe in July. Fingers are crossed. And Spills has already decided all of the things we will be doing, the most important of which, apparently, will be Family Swim. Hope her cousin packs her bathing suit.