The Great Outdoors

Last week we kind of talked about going away for a fun, relaxing weekend since we have a lot of plans coming up in March and April. Friday morning, we finally called and booked a cabin for Friday-Sunday down at Red River Gorge. So much for being spontaneous! It was far, far from being fun or relaxing. :) [And now, combined with the toddler bed shenanigans and lack of sleep, Mama is wearing down. Early to bed tonight.]

We got down to the area around bedtime on Friday evening, but by the time we got checked in, unloaded, and had Lewis' room set up, it was close to 8:30pm. Needless to say, Lewis was totally freaked out and was not going to sleep--I finally gave up at 10:30 and went to bed with him and stayed until he woke up at about 6:15am.

Saturday I went out and surveyed the driveway that I was unable to drive up on four scary attempts in the dark (where I slid backwards in mud with no control of the steering...pretty freakin' awesome way to start the trip):

So not happening.

(We had to haul our bags and coolers and Lewis and the dogs up this hill in the dark, too.)

As I was making breakfast on Saturday, I heard a familiar sound in the ceiling above the stove--that of a bat! I jumped and ran over to the other side of the cabin. I'd wiped off a weird drip from the countertop already, not thinking about it (it was bat poop). I'm all for nature in nature, but when it comes inside it freaks me out!

The drip.

I put a paper towel down and didn't use that countertop the rest of the weekend. I didn't hear the bat again, so maybe he/she was just saying hi and letting his/her presence be known.

Onto breakfast:

The dining chairs wouldn't hold his booster seat, so we had to make do with a patio chair and nightstand.

Since we were up so early, we got out early (which was good because we wanted to be back by noon so Kevin could watch the Louisville game):

Nada Tunnel

Early morning turkeys

We took a few short hikes that morning:

On top of a natural bridge...

And under it.

Lewis rock climbing with Papa (to get in place for a family picture)

Cheesin' and Freezin' (it was chilly that morning)

What comes down, must go up?

The trail from the top of bridge down to the underside wasn't bad, but there were quite a lot of stairs we had to climb back up to get to the car.

This was a second stop to Chimney Rock and Half Moon:

Goofy Lewis

He kept saying 'Backpack!' He seemed to like hitching a ride on Kevin's back.

At Chimney Rock

Lew's face cracks me up here. :)

My handsome hiking buddies.

I took this one for Papaw Sonny--there was a cup at the overlook that we picked up as trash, and Lewis was very excited to put it in the trash can. Reminded me of you, Dad.

Back for the game (and so not napping:)

The boys' couch

During the failed nap attempt, Lewis DID manage to lock himself in the bedroom. To get him out we had to take the door handle off with a butter knife and corkscrew (since we didn't have a screwdriver). Such good times! The above picture was actually taken at the end of the weekend as Kevin was reassembling it.

After the UL game, we decided to go out and do some shopping--after a few stops, Lewis crashed, so we took an hour-long 'scenic drive' to let him sleep (some).

Sleepy buddy.

We got home and fired up the grill for dinner. The wraparound porch was great--we brought one of our gates, so we were able to gate the stairs and let the dogs and Lewis run free for a little while. The weather was nice (at least for awhile), so that was a positive. :)

The great outdoors.

Dinner.

The outside temperature did drop pretty quickly, so our food was kind of cold. It was still good, though. :) The beer was perhaps better.

I didn't even try to be patient Saturday night--I headed to bed with Lewis around 8pm. He woke up around 6:30am Sunday morning, and I was confused to find the dogs in bed but no Kevin. Once he heard Lewis waking up, Kevin came in from the couch (he'd been afraid to come to bed and disturb/wake-up Lewis). My plan had been for all of us to sleep in there, away from the bat! I guess Kevin wasn't as concerned/scared as I was. :)

We headed out soon after breakfast and made it home by noon.

What a memorable weekend! So long, cabin.

I think we were both wishing for another weekend to recover from this one, but alas, Monday is here. And Lewis did not nap today and was a fussy mess most of the afternoon/evening. He is asleep now, so hopefully he makes it past 5:47am this time. I will go to bed way earlier than last night which should greatly improve my threshold of patience tomorrow, as well.

Big Boy Bed, Round Two

After one heck of a bad sleeping weekend away (and another weekend away happening next weekend), we decided it is time to try to get Lewis sleeping in his toddler bed again. He did pretty well last night--he fussed a little bit but fell asleep (in his bed, not on the floor--yay!) a little before 8pm. We were dumb and stayed up to watch the Oscars (until midnight), so a screaming 5:47am wake-up call was unfortunate.

He is currently supposed to be napping, which isn't going well (he's making a mess of his room, I can hear it) and he is fussing. No nap days make me sad/mad. 

We did things a little differently this time:

First, we installed a door lock. His crib tent was all that we could do to keep him in his crib, so we decided to lock him in his room to keep him secure. (That was a problem last time--he'd just run over and open his door and 'escape.')

And I picked up a few things (Thomas and Mater) to make his bed into somewhere he'd like to be/to sleep:

Patting Thomas' face

I guess this will do!

Trying it out

Such a big boy!

(And I'd forgotten that I needed to slide the safety rail all the way to one end or the other to give him room to swing a foot up.)

I couldn't find any Thomas or Cars crib sheets, so I'm working on sewing a couple in transportation fabrics. I have the fabric cut, so I just need to sew them. 

Playing with Birthday Gifts

I think we spent most of last week recovering from birthday festivities. :)  I can't really remember what we did, but here are a few pictures of Lew playing with some of his birthday gifts.

Slicing Bread and Watermelon

(thanks, Gramma and Papaw Carter)

Deciding which pot/pan to use

(thanks, Grandma and Grandpa T.)

Catching Bugs with his Bug Catching Game

(thank you, Bergstroms)

We had a repeat gift that we exchanged for...

An indoor basketball hoop! (thanks Brian, Julie, and Van)

He loves it!

Slamma Jamma

Thanks to all!

Lewis' 2nd Birthday Party

Lewis has been into Cars and Thomas the Train, but he also loves all other modes of transportation (planes, bikes, concrete mixers (and other heavy duty trucks), motorcycles, tractors, etc.). Therefore I decided to just go for an overall transportation theme for his 2nd birthday.

The Invites

I used the same blank notecards and envelopes I've been using for a few years now and just double-sided-taped my cardstock invites to them. I found the perfect 3D transportation-themed stickers at Target, so I put those on and they were ready to go!

The Menu

Sweet Heat Molasses Meatballs

Chicken, Black Bean, and Cheese Quesadillas (cut into train shapes with a cookie cutter)

My mom's Party Sandwiches (with turkey/pepper jack and ham/provolone)

Sharon's Cheese Ball and Crackers

Stoplight Veggies and Dip

Stoplight Fruit Skewers

The Cake

 I decided to put together some ideas I found on Pinterest. The construction scene and farm have a bed of crushed Oreos, and the boulders/chunks of construction debris are chunks of candy bars. The cake itself is my mom's carrot cake with cream cheese icing.

Lewis seemed to like it, but he kept wanting to pull the trucks and race car and tractor off of it to play with them. :)

Also for dessert, we made a sweet and salty snack mix and had some mini chocolate donuts as 'spare tires.' And ice cream, of course!

Party Time
Lewis was very good all morning Saturday as Kevin and I prepped the food (Oreos helped). :) We'd moved furniture and started setting out some decorations on Friday night, but we put the finishing touches on during nap on Saturday. Also during nap, Kevin ran to pick up the balloons, so when Lewis woke up, he was super excited for the party to begin. 

Again, I couldn't decide between Cars and Thomas, so I got both. :) And the Cars balloon was gigantic--I didn't realize it was so super-sized when I ordered it. Oops.

After dinner, we headed to the basement for playtime and gift-opening:

 The boys ran and ran and ran around the basement for a bit before we opened presents. Lewis got to bed a little past his usual 7:30, and he slept until almost 8:30 this morning. He was one tired buddy.

 Opening one of his bug-themed gifts from Auntie Schwee, Uncle Joe, and Juniper

 Opening some food from Grandma and Grandpa Thompson

 And some food from Gramma and Papaw Carter 
(he ripped the tiniest pieces of paper off of this one)

Foooood.

He's been walking around this morning with a carton of milk and an ice cream cone.

 Time to make a wish and blow out the candle!
Kevin and I had to help--he just kind of stared at the flame.

Time for more playtime upstairs and cake and ice cream: 

 Smiling at his buddy, Van

 Scoring some of Grandma's cake

 Cheesing with Grandma and Grandpa Thompson

 Stealing a lick from Papaw Sonny's sucker :)

 :)

And cheesing it up with Uncle Scott

(I bumped a button on the camera to make this a little blurry, but Lewis' cheesy grin is just too cute not to share.)

Thanks so much to everyone for coming and for making Lewis' birthday so special!