Outdoor Life and A Surprise Visit from Gramma and Papaw Carter

Checking out the creek at the park last weekend with Kevin:

And off he goes! :)

SMILE!

Eating dinner. :)

One day earlier this week, my mom called and asked what we were up to that day. Dad had been out hiking the AT, and they were passing through Louisville on their way home. Lewis and I met them at a playground to play for a bit and went to lunch, and then they continued on their way. It was a fun, quick visit.

Trying on his new Lightning McQueen helmet from Gramma. 

Whee!

Dad was getting around pretty well for hiking 85 miles over 5 days! He is a beast.

Trying out the big boy swing

Kevin said Lewis wanted to try out the big kid swings at the park last weekend, too. His dismount isn't the most graceful and we don't push him super high, but he seems to like them.

Day Out with Thomas

Yesterday morning we met up with Keith, Maggie, and Colin and headed down to the Kentucky Railway Museum for Day Out with Thomas. It was a fun event--Thomas was there, of course, to take us on a train ride, and they had miniature golf, balloon animals (er, trains), face painting, a tent full of train tables, and a miniature train you could ride.

Thomas, Lewis, and Dada

I think Lewis was pretty excited when he saw Thomas--he pointed to him and said his name (Thomaaaaas!!). 

 Thomas with Kevin, Lewis, Keith, and Colin

Kevin took Lewis on the first miniature train ride, and Lewis seemed to like it. If you'll recall, he has been terrified to ride a carousel and a similar miniature train in the past. When Colin decided he wanted to ride it, we hesitantly tried to put Lewis on solo, too...I was saying please don't stand up, please don't stand up, etc., but I'm happy to say that he sat in his train car the whole time! I think he was glad to have Colin there--I saw Lewis look back a few times at Colin, and he seemed reassured to have him sitting behind him.

1st time around with Kevin 

2nd time around, riding solo

Here comes Thomas, back to the station! 

As the miniature train rides were wrapping up, Thomas arrived back, so he headed over to the boarding area:

All aboard! 

Mama and Lewis on the train

Lewis seemed semi-interested in the train ride, at least on the way out. On the way back, he was kind of fidgety and wanting to walk around. It was just around a 20 minutes round-trip, I think.

Our last stop was to meet Sir Topham Hatt:

Checking out his big shoes 

Sir Topham Hatt

It seems Lew has just started noticing Sir Topham Hatt and saying his name the past few weeks, so I'm glad he knew who he was in time to meet him!

It was a fun morning and great to see Maggie, Keith, and Colin. The museum itself is just under an hour from us, so we might go back sometime to check out other exhibits. They have special events for Halloween, Christmas, etc. and other cartoon character days (like Dinosaur Train, which we haven't seen yet). 

Jumping On the Bed and My, How the Garden Grows

As I mentioned the other day, we are easing into transitioning Lewis to a twin bed sometime in the next few weeks. For now, it's set up in his room where his crib used to be, and he is sleeping in his crib on the opposite wall. We now have construction truck sheets on it and his Thomas blanket, and he sits on it and lays on it sometimes during the day. I thought I'd post a few pictures of the day we brought it home and set it up--I think he likes it!

Big Boy Bed! 

Jumping on the bed

One of his favorite books is 5 (or 10) Little Monkeys, and he'll jump and say Jumping-on-the-BED (pause) Jumping-on-the-BED! Over and over...his sweet cousin Juniper taught him this particular skill over the holidays last year. :) He doesn't do it all of the time that he's on the bed, thank goodness. Though, I'm sure our little monkey will inevitably fall off and bump his head many times.

Things are going crazy out in the garden! We have picked/eaten a few tasty strawberries, which Lewis gets excited about: Eat strawberries gar-deen! And one night this week, I made our first batch of pesto--so, so good (thanks, Schwee, for introducing me to basil)! 

April 23

 May 29

Real, live broccoli!

I need to look up when it's ready to be harvested. It seems to multiply overnight, so we'll probably be eating it soon.

From the other side, since the peas and broccoli now partially block the view.

One row of green beans came up nicely and the other didn't, so I replanted the 2nd row and am still waiting for it to emerge. They're the row in the path of Lewis' front loader (hmmm, maybe that's what happened to the other row...). :)

Tomatoes (and hopefully perennials from seed in the smaller pots)

I'm pretty sure I told myself to only do one tomato plant this year, but I ended up with a 2nd. I forget now which one is which--one is a cherry and one is a Big Boy, I think? Hopefully Lewis will help me eat them this summer (since Kevin is not a fan).

We've made a lot of trips to Home Depot and Lowe's the past month for gardening supplies. For awhile there, when I would ask Lewis what he wanted to do on a particular day, he'd either say: a) Home Depot geet-geet (which is how he says forklift...he loves when we find a forklift and get to watch it in action), b) Lowe's geet-geet, or c) McDonald's Play (which means he wants to go to the PlayPlace). I've kept us away from those places the past few weeks to break the cycle. :)

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

We are coming down from a fun-filled three day weekend! Lewis got to help pick out his big boy bed (a twin) on Saturday. By help, of course, I mean bounce along top of all of the beds on display. I have a few pictures of it that I'll post in a separate post--he's still sleeping in his turned-around crib for now. We are eeeeasing into it this time around.

Some pictures:

A Jimmy John's opened up the street--yippee!

Sunday we headed up to the Runyon's house for a picnic:

Two of my favorite things, beer and babies (Gordon).

Lewis got to help feed and meet the cows.

And swim!

He seems to be getting better at kicking his feet (and splashing people around him). Still working on getting him to use his arms.

Tossing the ball (er, getting hit in the head) with sweet Avery.

Shivering on the sidelines

He'd get out and sit on the side or on the swing, and his teeth would be chattering. The air temperature was pretty cool most of the day, so it was definitely better to be in the water (or on dry land with dry clothes on, as I preferred).

So much land to roam and mow.

He borrowed Carter's bubble-blowing mower and ran all over the yard with it. I'm pretty sure he used up the whole bottle of bubbles.

Getting a push from Avery. :)

Sweet baby Gordon went swimming for the first time!

Lew found the tractor and mower and golf cart--he was in heaven!

Riding the golf cart with Kevin, Don, and Carter

So much fun!

We ran out to the splash park Monday morning, and it was packed. Lewis didn't really get fully into the water--he stayed around the perimeter and got very lightly sprayed. He also ran over to the playground part:

Whee!

And super wheeeeee!

That particular trip down the slide was super fast--his trunks must have dried off enough or something. His feet just about flew up over his head!

This morning, we hit up the splash park at the zoo, where he definitely got fully drenched:

Riding the seal.

I know we'll spend many more mornings there this summer.

Chicago!

We just got back last evening from a whirlwind Thursday-Saturday trip to Chicago! After last July's horrid flight to Boise, United gave me a voucher that I had to use by July 1st. With that deadline fast-approaching and no trips in sight, we decided to go ahead and plan a trip including most of Lewis' favorite things--planes, trains, buses, Cubs, and museums where he could play. I'll try to be short on words since this post is long on pictures. We had a great and totally exhausting time!

Thursday:

Climbing on Dada for a higher plane-watching vantage point 

Sitting so well like a big boy

Pushing buttons in the cockpit--the pilot said it was okay :/

We had a really nice flight attendant who gave him a set of wings and asked us if he wanted to meet the pilot. It was very cool--Lewis loooved all of those buttons and gadgets. 

The Bean

A very hand-smudged picture of our reflection 

Lewis laying down under it to watch his reflection

There were a few people laying around and under it, and, as we walked around, Lewis just plopped down like he knew what to do. Kevin and I both cracked up.

Chicago Children's Museum (which is free on Thursday evenings): 

Lewis was obsessed with the fire safety area. We visited it when we first arrived and then had to return as we were leaving (that's him driving the fire truck).

He also started placing safety cones... 

Lining them up, just so. 

Giving himself a round of applause when they were all in place. :) 

Another little boy came up to help and lined them up exactly as Lewis was--it was cute. They didn't speak, just finished the ever-important job at hand.

Lew is a big fan of water tables. Here, he was actually placing tubes and joints and figuring out how the pieces went together. 

Listening to bird calls in a tree house.

Friday: 

Kevin and Lewis, enjoying a cup of coffee and talking about the day ahead

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (which was free with our Kentucky Science Center membership--hooray!):

Another water table :) 

In the butterfly haven, which pictures can't do justice. There were hundreds of butterflies flying around us, landing on people, eating fruit, etc. It was very neat. 

Catching some playground time for our play-loving boy

A pretty walk down Fullerton to catch the train to...

 

Wrigley Field! 

Take me out to the ballgame!

Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the 7th Inning Stretch to sing that song, but we did make it through five innings, I think. Lewis was pretty good, considering it was right at the time he should have been napping. He didn't sit still for long and he kicked the guy in front of us a few times (by accident), but he still did pretty well.

Great seats

It was really chilly, though! We chose seats under the overhang because there had been a chance of rain, but the chance of rain diminished, and we were left sitting in the shade (in the 50s, I think). We survived.

Saturday:

Museum of Science and Industry (which was also free with our KSC membership):

Wow! I'm driving a huge tractor! 

It was SO big! 

Resting on one of the beds in the submarine area 

Checking out the model trains with Dada

He really seemed to like this area--he stopped and watched them for quite a long time (which is a rarity). 

This was how a lot of pictures turned out--as soon as we'd get into place, he'd squirm away and want to run onto the next thing. There was so much to see and do! 

Watching the freshly hatched chicks

(which I think I remember doing as a kid)

Hey, chickadees! 

He wasn't so sure about these balls hovering in the air. He kept his distance.

On the fake plane with Mama

We could have spent an entire day at the Museum of Science and Industry, especially as Lewis gets older. There really was so much to see and do, and we had to zip through it in just a few hours.

And then (after a bus and a train and a really long line to get through security), we were back to the plane, with just about 20 minutes until boarding time: 

Heading home

We did get kind of tired of having to find the elevators in the subway/everywhere and/or lugging the stroller and Lewis up multiple sets of stairs (why are your streets on different levels, Chicago?). :) I take for granted how easy it is to just jump in my car and go where I need to go. But Kevin reminded me that, through the bumps and mishaps and frustrations, we are making memories. He is such the rational and level-headed one--and that's why I love him. :) Great weekend, many memories.