Brian had to go to Mexico for most of last week and I was nervous about having the kids by myself all week. I'd been wanting to visit Sarah and luckily she was free the same week Brian was gone so I didn't have to find out how hard it would be not to have a break from the kids!
The kids and I drove up to Lexington on Tuesday morning after dropping Charlotte off at the kennel (I didn't think I could handle making sure she also behaved!). It only took us about 2 1/2 hours but they were a long 2 1/2 hours. Rylan was amazing - he slept the entire time. Carter, on the other hand, did not want to be in his carseat at all. He luckily took a 45 minute nap, but other than that, fussed the entire time. No toys, foods, music, or pacis could keep him entertained for more than about 5 seconds.
We got to Sarah's house around noon. Mary Grace has preschool until 1:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we hung out with Sarah and had lunch until she got home.
Mary Grace and Carter were so excited to see each other! When I had asked Carter before the trip if he wanted to go see Mary Grace, his eyes would get a little bigger and he'd shake his head vigorously. Apparently Mary Grace couldn't get out of school fast enough on Tuesday because she was also super excited.
Carter was so happy to see Mary Grace that he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He almost knocked himself out twice. Once he walked into a door because he was looking at Mary Grace instead of where he was going and then he did the same thing into a wall. Silly kid!
So once Mary Grace got home, the big kids played for a bit and then took naps. After naps, we set up Mary Grace's pool and let the kids play in the backyard until dinnertime. Mary Grace got a really cool playset for her birthday that Carter loved.
After dinner and baths it was time for Mary Grace and Carter to go to bed. Sarah and Brent were nice enough to move Mary Grace into their room so Carter could have Mary Grace's room. I had Rylan with me in the guest bedroom. It worked out really well for us and Carter slept well every night. Rylan on the other hand woke up fussy every 2 hours and I ended up feeding him every time. Rylan did good though for the first two evenings. He fell asleep on Sarah while we watched TV after the big kids went to bed.
Carter was up every morning between 6 and 6:30 am. He had started sleeping to 7 am for a few weeks, but I think that's ended. We tried to be really quiet in the mornings and watch a few cartoons downstairs.
On Wednesday we went to Explorium (a children's museum). There were only a few other people there which was awesome.
We really liked the museum. There were a good variety of exhibits to play with and the kids never got bored.
Carter liked the "neighs" ...
Playing on a dock ...
Carter let Mary Grace pretend to drive ...
Sending boats down the river ...
Carter loved this piano that he could dance on and make music!
There was entire room dedicated to bubbles ...
Taking a walk on the moon ...
Once again, Carter let Mary Grace drive ...
The Explorium is located downtown next to Rupp Arena. Around noon we took a pedestrian bridge from the museum over to the arena and had lunch in the food court.
After lunch we went to the Art Room at the museum and let the kids make some art. Carter loved the bin of glitter and it took a lot of work to convince him to not play in it!
We headed back to Sarah's house a little before 2 pm and tried to keep the kids from falling asleep before we got home. It didn't work for Carter and he ended up with a 20 minute nap in the car (we got stuck in traffic from a wreck). I don't think Carter slept at the house but he luckily wasn't too bad the rest of the evening.
After naps we let the kids make sugar cookies!
Carter helped a little but he wasn't all that interested. Mary Grace did a great job though!
We tried to make Carter at least look like he was helping!
After dinner and a bath, the big kids each got to eat one of their cookies. Carter didn't mind helping with this part!
Carter was being cute when I was trying to read to him before putting him down for the night ...
Brent was speaking at the University of Kentucky that night so Sarah and I watched "When in Rome" and went to bed early.
On Thursday Mary Grace had preschool until 1:30 pm. We decided to take Carter to Monkey Joe's, an inflatable play center.
Just before we left, Rylan fell asleep on the floor ...
Monkey Joe's was awesome! We need one in Knoxville!
Sarah was nice enough to sit with Rylan (who luckily slept the entire time) while I played with Carter. She even gave me a break and played with Carter for a little bit (that place can be tiring!).
There are even a few toddler areas with smaller inflatables that Carter could play on by himself ...
Carter's favorite inflatable was the one with this giant monkey attached to the front of it. Carter really liked the monkey (and especially his shoes) too.
Having fun (and giving me the silly smile he does when I ask him to say "cheese") ...
We had lunch at Sarah's house, Sarah picked up Mary Grace, and the big kids took naps. Carter got up before Mary Grace and got in some extra play time. Sarah pulled out Mary Grace's dress up stuff again and this happened ...
He loved it though!
Once Mary Grace woke up, the kids decorated the cookies they made the night before. Carter did not understand why he couldn't just eat the cookies and ended up throwing a bit of a tantrum. I got a picture though before his meltdown ...
Brent grilled for us that night so the kids played outside while we made dinner. Carter found a truck and was happy for a long time ...
After sliding down all the inflatable slides at Monkey Joe's, Carter was finally willing to go down Mary Grace's new slide. He's been very anti-slide at playgrounds lately.
Mary Grace ended up filling up a bucket with dirt and water and playing with it. I think it was payback for us having dressed up Carter earlier in the day.
After dinner and baths, we let the kids have a cookie again. Carter was very happy about this!
After the big kids went to bed, we watched the movie "Invictus". Rylan had been super easy the past two nights but was fussy for about an hour that night. We were still able to watch the movie and he fell asleep on me eventually.
On Friday we left around 9 am. Mary Grace had her dance class that morning and we needed to get back to Knoxville since our friends Johnny and Anakah were staying with us that night. Carter was much better on the drive home. He fell asleep about 15 minutes into the drive and woke up in a good mood. He was a little cranky the last 30 minutes, but we were so close to home that I could handle it. Rylan woke up around the halfway point and cried for 5 or 10 minutes but went back to sleep. He started waking up around the time Carter started getting cranky and would cry for a few minutes, then fall asleep, cry, sleep, cry, sleep, etc.
We had so much fun and are looking forward to visiting again soon. Thank you Sarah and Brent for having us and helping me out so much with the boys!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment