Columbus week before Columbus Day (go figure)

A very pleasant week of family vacation with the Columbus kinfolk. The week included trips to playgrounds (despite occasionally cool and rainy weather), the Zoo with Uncle Stu, volleyball for Tim and Stu (woohoo!), dinner in Westerville with Sue and Stu and the beloved cousins, a day at the magnificent outdoor/indoor mall Easton's (and lunch with AA at a Turkish restaurant), German Village in downtown Columbus to see Mom's beautiful butterfly painting followed by lunch at Schmitt's (and a marvelous Bahama Mama), an afternoon at the Franklin Park Conservatory, lunch at Aunt Amy's... a very good week indeed.
The afternoon with Mom at the Conservatory was very enjoyable and photograph-worthy. Shown is Sam in a "whispering cave" in an outdoor bonsai garden boasting trees over 100 years old. Also Sam in the most beautiful room, a jungle room with streams burbling through it and huge coy. And throughout the conservatory, among the plants, were gorgeous, bright and colorful glass sculptures by a sculptor named Chihuly.
While Sam enjoyed the whole place, a highlight was an area for children. Sam was the only child there, where one could play with pieces of plastic which looked exactly like the priceless pieces of glass in the sculptures. And the best part were the looks of horror on the faces of the elderly visitors wandering by who thought we were letting him play with the real thing!
Stu was, as usual, a big hit with Sam, for his willingness to rough-house with Sam. Here is a typical shot of Sam gaffawing with Stu.
We also had a great time eating lunch at the Worthington Inn while Aunt Amy and Nana watched Sam, today at lunch. You will understand why there are no photos of that!

Each morning he got up much earlier than Nana and Grandad, and often I'd have to find some way to get him out and use up some energy. One morning I suggested to him that we go to a playground and he looked alarmed and said, "What about Nana and Grandad? Why are you not going to let them come?" (I explained they were welcome to, but were currently sleeping...)

The day at the mall we took Sam to a matinee of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. I am sure it would be a fun movie for someone older, but it was too scary for Sam. He was reluctant to admit it, since he knew this was His One Chance To See A Movie, but finally it got bad enough that we left. That was when a main character with a peanut allergy was going into anaphylactic shock. Ugh!

All in all a great week, despite some cold weather. Always great to see family! Sam was his usual talkative self. One evening we were playing around on his bed, and he plopped down on his back and told me unselfconsciously that his bed was "inhumanly hot" (as usual, I quizzed him and indeed he had a reasonable definition at hand). At the end of our Conservatory visit we sat in their cafe eating ice cream which Sam described as "scrumptious." And his brain was as fertile as usual--one morning he told me that he wanted to rename our cats, currently Alex and Zoe, as Norman and Ginger. We may never know why.