Kay Kay and Pa came for a visit this past weekend, just as Caroline was getting over her feverish week and we were wrapping up The Longest Week of Our Lives. What is it about having a sick baby that makes the days crawl by? And more importantly, how can we channel that to happen during the weeks we are on vacation?

They insisted on taking care of her on Friday rather than her going to daycare. (For those of you keeping track, yes that means we paid for a full week of child care during which our child received the sum total of zero care. I told Mike we had to think of it as we had the daycare “on retainer.”)

For the first time, I was not intent on staying home with the three of them. I really wanted my mom (Kay Kay, as she is called by all the little people in our lives) and Pa (my dad, who was christened his title a few years ago by my now four-year-old nephew), to have Caroline all to themselves. To go on their own adventures, to make their own memories with just her, that didn’t involve me.

Adventures were had and memories created. Text message alerts flooded in, with accompanying pictures: Caroline at the park! In the swing! At the library story time! Relaxing in the wagon! Asleep in the stroller! Playing on a blanket! They did more by 11 am than I did all day.

We all reunited that evening and decided the weekend events must also feature hanging a baby swing for Caroline in a nearby park so we could walk to it whenever we wanted. Not surprisingly, she is a big fan of swinging. This little lady loves the feeling of wind in her face. Is she my kid or what??

Off to Target we went, where we selected this little gem:

Then we headed to Home Depot where a very nice 100 year old man named Earnest gave us the 20 feet of rope we’d need to hang the swing from the tree.

It was rainy. It was cold. It was grey out and did I mention it was one day after Daylight Savings time, when darkness sets in around 3 o’clock? A perfect day to hang a baby swing in the park. Pa stayed behind to watch the sleeping swing recipient and Mike, Kay Kay and I headed out for the Big Assembly. Thank goodness Mike is 6’4″ because neither Kay Kay nor I ever thought to bring a ladder, which we most certainly would have needed had we gone at it alone.

We looped the rope through the branch, tied it, and then Mike burned the end of the rope so it would hold tight and not fray. The second side needed a little more tender loving care in order to get the twp ropes even, but Kay Kay is a pro and Mike is a good listener and in no time, the second rope was tied. Mike went to burn the end on this side as well, and that’s when things got exciting. The rope had already started to fray and Mike tried to smoosh them back together with the burning ends. Which was a tricky feat, compounded by the fact that he only had his bare hands. The rope was in no mood to be fused back together and instead, the little flame got larger and larger until it was a fire. A real fire, on the rope, of the baby swing. Kay Kay, who has more experience with pyro-activities than she will admit, quickly grabbed a wet branch and swatted that fire right out. No way were we going to surrender all that hard work to that silly flame!

We returned home and loaded up Caroline for the inaugural swing session. When we slid her into the swing, her face broke into a huge smile. She squealed with delight when we gave her the first push. She loved it! She may have also enjoyed the audience since there were no fewer than four grown adults clapping and cooing and cheering her on as she swung higher and higher, her hair bow holding those little baby curls flapping in the wind. She was in baby swing heaven!

And this Lucky Lady is the only baby I know who has swung in a swing that survived a fire.