This year both grandmas did an EXCELLENT job selecting fun, meaningful, and even educational christmas presents for the girls. One of the cutest picks was a book called Go Ducks! In this little tale, a family of four visits the bookstore and campus, including highlights such as Johnson Hall. It was really too good an opportunity to pass up, plus Kevin needed his books for this term. So we packed the kiddos into the car and took off for Eugene. Here I would like to make note of the RIDICUOUS flooding we saw on our trip south. At one point, it appeared like we were on a large bridge with water as far as the eye could see, on BOTH sides of the freeway! Seeing as I don't remember a spot like that between Salem and Eugene, it was pretty trippy.
Anyhoo, when we reached Eugene it was lunch time so where did we go? Mucho Gusto, of course. Our old spot for a tasty burrito and home of the original "Crack" sauce. (Which I soon learned to create at home and now make whenever I can think of a halfway decent reason. It has spawned many a recipe, including the very original "Crack Salad." Ok, so I'm a big dork and I think it's fun to recreate dishes I fall in love with at restaurants.) The sad thing was we found it wasn't as good as we remembered, but the kids had fun and ate like it was going out of style. That's always nice. Especially when you have become accustomed to tricking your child into swallowing each and every bite. That gets pretty embarrassing in public.
We hit the bookstore next and it was weird to visit the old turf with your kids at your side. On the one hand, it felt like I had never left. (This has triggered several nightmares since about forgetting homework, missing tests, and a classmate spontaneously combusting. Ok, so the last part is odd. But I have the weirdest dreams. If you don't know this about me we should talk sometime. I had a legendary one in college about a carrot. The story still circulates in the music school as far as I know.) On the other hand, I looked around me through the eyes of a parent, noticing stuff I never thought twice about before. Like how they have a super cute kids area with rugs and chairs and a basket of toys.
After we bought the books and two rubber ducky bath toys, we checked out Kevin's classrooms. etc. The new business building was very impressive and the girls had a kick running around seeing "Daddy's college." They especially liked visiting the grad lounge, knowing this is where Daddy eats lunch and does homework. (Sophie is obssessed with the idea of homework.) I observed that Kevin has a "school pace" that he took on as soon as we landed on campus. The girls and I had to speed up to keep up until I had to say something. One long campus tour and five bathroom trips later, we got the kids a snack and headed home.
All in all, it was very enjoyable seeing where Kevin spends so much time away. It gave the girls a more concrete idea of what and where college is. This may help with future "why" questions that pepper your life as the parent of a four-year-old. I hope . . .
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