DAYS 20-24: Shopping and EATING!
Ali flew in on Monday and the rest of the week was a whirlwind of shopping and dining. We had a blast!
Ali’s flight was a bit delayed because, on the last leg of her trip, somebody stood up while the plane was on the runway, about to take off, and raced for the bathroom, saying he was going to be sick. The flight attendant got him to sit in a seat but then he passed out. They returned to the gate, but ended up taking off with the ill person on board. I wasn’t happy to hear about that. Ali pointed him out when she got off the plane and he, quite honestly, looked just fine to me. Not sure what the story was there.
Max and Mason were so happy to see Ali that they didn’t want to go to bed. 
The next morning, we got up early and went shopping (one of Ali’s favorite pastimes). When we arrived, a huge flock of ducks approached us. Ali found a cracker somewhere (in her pocket?) and gave it to Max. He offered a few crumbs and then we all laughed for several minutes while they converged on Max and followed him.
After Max ran out of crumbs, we shopped and bought some fun goodies for the loved ones back home. Ali’s favorite store was a HUGE candy store she’d seen on the Food Network. We found types of candy we’d never seen before! They had a very impressive Jelly Belly castle and we had a hard time dragging Max, Mason AND Ali out of there!
That night, we had a very nice dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse. Ali is majoring in culinary arts and she enjoyed that quite a bit. We planned to visit several nice restaurants during her visit so she could try different foods on her trip. Yes, we must make these types of sacrifices for our children. Heh…
On Wednesday, I had to work a bit in the morning but we then left to have lunch at a fantastic bakery…and then more shopping! There are, of course, far more places to shop here than there are in Bangor, Maine. Ali and I found a store that featured lots of cooking products and that’s where we spent most of our shopping time. After we finished shopping, we were heading back to the car and Max noticed a small bird on the sidewalk that didn’t move when he walked close by. I took a picture and noticed the bird just looked at me, but didn’t move. I pulled a glove out of my pocket, put it on and gently picked it up. It had a broken foot but I couldn’t see anything else wrong with it. I placed it behind some bushes, out of the wind, and piled up some bark around it for more protection from the wind. We returned the next day to check on him but he was gone. I’d like to think he was just stunned after his injury but that he happily flew away later that evening. (That’s what I told the boy, anyway!). 
We went out for a very nice dinner again that night. I was starting to think I might have to buy some pants with elastic waists if Ali stayed extra days!
On Thursday, we did it all over again but we started out with a HUGE breakfast (ug!!!), and then went for our very first helicopter ride! Mason calls them “Kelihoppers.” That was great fun and the Kelihopper didn’t crash so we were happy.
The shopping place we found that day wasn’t as nice or as large as the other two we’d visited. We still had a great time and even attended a wine tasting. That was interesting and fun. Mason fell asleep in the car after we shopped and we went searching for the restaurant we wanted to take Ali to. It took quite awhile but we finally found it. The GPS was way off!
The dinner was amazing! Max and Mason liked the restaurant because they had pillows in the booths and they could kick back with their ipods while we enjoyed a very fun and filling four-course meal.
On Friday, we had to get up early to take Ali to the airport. Max cried when she left, but smiled later when I reminded him that Zach is coming for a visit next week!
I’ve posted even more pictures HERE.
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