Fun at Waterfront Park

Last week, we headed down to Waterfront Park with Tonya and Carlton to play and have a picnic. I learned a very important lesson that day--if a news crew walks towards you, walk the other way! Ignore, ignore, ignore. I ended up getting sucked into their friendly trap, and now Lewis and I are going to be on the news one night this week. We were the only people at the playground--if only they'd come out like an hour later, they would have had 25-30 people to choose from. Alas, I hope they edit me well or cut me out altogether. :)

Excavator!

This one was the taller version, but Lewis and I sat on the shorter version for a while and dug in the sand. It really does take a lot of coordination to work the scoop, but he loved it. He kept talking about it that afternoon, so I guess we'll have to go back for him to scoop and dump again soon. 

Riding the tractor

The mower in the background was very exciting, too. He watched it zip by a few times--it was one of those that goes really fast. 

The Belle of Louisville

We watched her take off on a cruise and then return back a hour or so later--she's the oldest operating steamboat in the U.S., built in 1914. (I had to look all of that up.) 

Lewis, of course, was interested in the 'Boat!' I had to hold his arm tightly because there's nothing down there keeping him from falling into the river. It made me more than a bit anxious, so we headed back up to the playground soon after. 

Bouncing with his buddy 

He was just tall enough to hold onto the shorter side of this, but he wanted to try it out. I spun him around slowly a few times without him falling (it's tilted), but I think it will be a few years before he can make it spin by himself.

And finally, lunchtime!

It ended up being a really pretty day, and quite a lot of people came down on their lunch breaks to have lunch or take a walk.

Mother's Day 2013

Yesterday we celebrated Mother's Day! We'd made plans to meet up with my family at Waycross, and I didn't have my stuff together enough to make it over to Kevin's parents' house in the morning to visit and wish Sharon a happy Mother's day. So, happy Mother's day, Sharon! Thanks for all that you have taught me and for all that you do for us and Lewis. We love you.

'Grandma, read books?'

(at least that's what he says to us when he wants to read nowadays...)

I ended up meeting Kevin and Lewis downtown, and away we went to the Waycross/Bloomington area for the 3rd time in a month. Waycross had its Mother's Day Dinner, and there ended up being quite a few of us from my family (13?), which was fun. It was good to see my parents and my aunts and their families and my uncles and grandma and cousin and so on. The food was terrific, as always, although Lewis didn't eat much. (Boy, you don't know what you're missing!)

Happy Mother's Day to my mom. We love you.

After lunch, we headed out for a walk and eventually ended up by the creek: 

 Mother's Day 2013

We have a similar picture from 2011, I believe. Here's the post. We didn't make it up last year because my parents were out on a road trip, but hopefully we can keep this tradition going in years to come. It was a lovely day.

 

Throwing in rocks and leaves with Maw

Kevin and I stood back and tried to resist intervening--although, we totally thought he was going to fall in. :)

Eventually Kevin did step in, JUST in case Lew lost his balance. :) 

It was pretty chilly, both in the water and in the air.

Two peas

This picture is kind of far away but made me smile, how they're totally in step.

After leaving camp, we stopped by Ben and Adie's house to see them and their families. In a totally unplanned and cute coincidence, all three boys (Lewis, Carter, Gordon) had on plaid shirts. All were totally precious. 

Lewis, trying his best to be gentle with 1-year-old Carter 

Lewis peeking in while I held Gordon

It was a fun and full day. Lew didn't nap and we totally missed bedtime by an hour, but it was a good day and well worth it. 

Buy Local Fair

Saturday afternoon we headed out to the Buy Local Fair down at the Water Tower. Kevin found it and 'sold' it to me by saying that it a) had a kids' play area and b) a craft beer tent. It was a gorgeous day, so we headed out after nap to check it out. The kids' play area was kind of a disappointment, but we still had fun walking around and seeing the booths of arts and crafts and local businesses.

The main thing we did while we were there was drink beer and watch their version of an Iron Chef competition. They let the teams choose a type of meat, and then they were each given eggs and a mystery box of produce from a local farm delivery company (like a co-op). The judges were a previous winner (chef), a food writer, the mayor, and the drummer from My Morning Jacket, so that was fun.

Mayor Fischer 

The drummer for My Morning Jacket, Patrick Hallahan

(with a lot less hair than his Google images suggest)

It was doubly exciting because we like them and we're going to see them perform on Kevin's birthday with Wilco and Bob Dylan. Pretty neat!

Lewis eventually got restless in his stroller, awaiting the end of the 30-minute cooking competition, so Kevin took him to walk around for a little while. They came back with a carrot cake cupcake, and Lew thoroughly enjoyed it.

Kevin stole a few bites, as did I. It was good! 

doot-doot-doot

Lew danced to the music. 

I eventually had to resort to tickling to keep him giggling while we waited to hear who won. 

Lew and Dada :)

Mama and Lew, sharing silly faces 

Dada, Lew, and the Water Ah-tur

Lewis kept saying Water Ah-tur, instead of Water Tower. Still today, he was talking about it.

We had a fun afternoon! I'm glad we went, even though I wasn't sure what to expect.

To the Zoo, Fun PJs, and Puzzles with Kevin

We headed to the zoo last week with Maria, Clara, and Amelia. It was a beautiful day and also one of the busiest I've seen there. Once we got through the initial rush of schoolkids, it was better. I forgot to take any pictures inside, so we took a couple in the parking lot before saying goodbye.

Clara giving Lewis a hug :)

None of the group shots have all three looking at the camera, so these were the best of the bunch: 

Clara knows what to do! :) 

Eyes closed, not looking, etc.--I think I said 'good enough!'

It was great seeing them, as always. They should be back in PA by now, but we'll see them when they come back in the fall.

Since we're still kind of in that warm/cool weather phase, we haven't yet turned on the air conditioner. It's been fine with keeping the windows open for the most part, but there were a couple of warm days last week that made the house pretty uncomfortable at bedtime. We brought in a fan and put Lewis in some short-sleeved PJs that my parents got him for his birthday, and he was too cute: 

Nice legs, buddy. 

This is blurry (because he was jumping around), but it still cracks me up.

They are 3T, and I know they're probably supposed to be close-fitting, but they still seem a bit small to me. The shirt, especially.

And finally, the other morning (Saturday?), Lewis 'made' Kevin put together so many puzzles. 

 8 down, 1 to go

Putting Dada to work :)

The one he is working on is of Finn McMissile (from Cars 2), and it is really difficult. It is car-shaped, rather than rectangular, and it's pretty monochromatic--it's really challenging! Neither one of us can put it together easily--Lewis will probably figure it out before we do. :)

Mow Grass!, Kevin to the Oaks, and Oh, How the Dogs Rule Our World

This is another conglomeration of pictures from Kevin's phone that I've fallen behind on posting:

First, Lewis' love for 'Water gar-deen?!' has shifted to 'Mow grass?!' Dada mow grass, Mama mow grass, and Lewis Pete mow grass! He gets reeeeeally excited to 'mow' inside, 'mow' outside, and 'mow' while we actually mow. It's too cute--he does get pretty upset when we tell him no (like when it's raining outside), so we're working on that (usually by diverting his attention to other fun things). We've also started keeping his mower outside for the most part, too, because he runs really fast circles with it inside the house, and it is SO loud (it has a ball popper built in).

:)

 

 

Starting 'er up!

This week, I've tried mowing the backyard with him outside with me, and that has gone surprisingly well! He sits on the back stairs with his mower and watches me mow, just waiting to be called on to help (it seems). He ventured out into the yard a few times, but whenever I came near with the mower, he'd sit again. I think the loudness is just enough to scare him, but he really (really) wants to help. 

Kevin had the chance to go the Oaks this year with his work! It sounds like they had a nice day--so-so food, free drinks, and great weather (unlike the Derby the following day).

His view of the tracks from the suite (the finish line is at the end of this straightaway).

Go, baby, go! (Not the Oaks.)

After spending most of the day there, he actually headed out just before the Oaks race to beat the traffic. Good plan--he was home for dinner!

Looking fly, guy!

They actually sent out a dress code, which I found to be very fun. (Pink is the suggested color for Oaks, hence the bright pink tie.)

Dada, Lew, and Lew's horse

I think Great-Grandma DeeDee got that horse for Lewis (Mom?). He must have heard us talking about horses or something because he all of a sudden started carrying it around. We even had to put it in a chair at the lunch table with us one day to stop him from freaking out. Another meal, Kevin had it sitting in a chair, holding the syrup bottle for us with its hooves. :) Lewis has also wanted to 'play horsey' which is when you bounce him on your knee or bounce him on the arm of the couch.

And finally, I took this picture of the dogs the other morning to approximate how much room they take up on our bed vs. how much room they leave us. If it's just Peter on the bed, he will stretch out diagonally and take up just as much space as he and Hattie do, combined. Hattie's usually a bit more considerate and will ball herself up in between my feet. :) Obviously we don't mind too much.

Our sweet pups.

Weekend Part II: WonderLab, Upland Tour, and Hiking

We ate a lot while we were in town--went to The Irish Lion, Chocolate Moose, Yogi's, Macri's, and The Village Deli (helllllo, banana Nutella pancakes, oh my!). Yum, yum, yum. In between eating and drinking, we did do a few other things. First, we went to WonderLab (a science museum) which I'd never been to before. I was pleasantly surprised to get us all in for free with our Science Center membership, which made it even better! It was a neat place.

Trying to climb the grape leaves

They were a bit steep and slippery for Lew, so... 

Kevin got in to help him through. They didn't go all of the way to the top, but they made it about halfway up. 

They had a water table which Lewis ran to, first thing. He didn't get nearly as wet as he does at the one here, so that was good. I did throw in an extra outfit, JUST in case.

Being hoisted up by Papaw 

Playing music, or at least listening to Dad play music.

Lew was more interested in putting the drumsticks back in their proper place. 

After WonderLab, we headed out to the west side to take a tour of the Upland brewery. They have a new, bigger location, and Mom found that they do free tours on Sundays. Lucky for us, it was also $2 pint Sundays, so we were able to enjoy a fresh pint while we waited for the tour. It was the best Bad Elmer's Porter I've had, and I can't believe how light the Wheat was that my dad got. It was the first one from a new keg, I think Kevin said. Yum.

Lewis and the Upland sign

And yes, I might have been holding up a yogurt-covered raisin to get him to look at me. It worked! :)

Dad with his Wheat and Mom with her Porter 

Lewis, listening intently on how you make beer.

He was pretty good on the tour--he got fussy a couple times, but we were able to shush and stroll him around a bit. The tour guide was great and didn't seem too annoyed that there was a toddler in tow. Lew seemed to like the malt grains that we tasted, too. 

The one-and-only bottling machine

I'm still amazed that this small machine bottles all of their beer! It kind of made me love them even more, to see what a small operation they really are.

The Beer Freezer

I think Kevin and Dad were both impressed by all of that beer!

As I mentioned, sleep was better Sunday night. Monday we headed in for breakfast at The Village Deli--again, the banana Nutella pancakes were to.die.for. We went back and checked out of the hotel, and then we took a hike before going our separate ways.

Lew riding in Papaw's Backpack (he kept saying that over and over) 

Forging the muddy creek 

We looked for morels along the way but found none. We did find the great oak that the trail is named after:

Dad and Lewis and the 175-year-old oak tree 

 

Giving the tree a hug

He doesn't give hugs with outstretched arms just yet--I guess he's more of a snuggler. :)

Thanks for a fun-filled weekend, Maw and Papaw! It was great!