Oak Ridge

I took the boys up to Oak Ridge for the morning.

I hadn't been back to my office since before I got pregnant with Rylan because they haven't had any part-time work for me to do (which I'm quite happy with). The office manager actually called me a couple of weeks ago to see how I was doing and I decided it was about time I introduced everyone to Rylan and showed off how much Carter has grown up.

We stayed about an hour and Carter had a great time showing off to everyone (someone found a ball and Carter was entertained for the hour). Rylan was in a great mood too and showed everyone his dimples and adorable laugh (which I still haven't gotten a video of because every time I get the camera out, he stops). Carter even gave everyone great big hugs when we left.

After my office, we headed over to the American Museum of Science and Energy. We have a membership there but this was the first time I have used it there. I have used it at a bunch of other museums that are part of the reciprocal program to get in for free, but never at the AMSE.

The museum is a bit old and the cool part is the section outlining the history of Oak Ridge (which is not designed for kids). But there is a small science section that has some interactive exhibits. Rylan fell asleep after about 15 minutes and Carter ran around from exhibit to exhibit. We stayed about 45 minutes and it was a bit of a stretch to keep Carter entertained that long.


This was Carter's favorite. He liked trying to catch the balls ...



Since Carter was too small for this bike, he pedaled it with his hand ...


There is a very small children's section with a few puzzles and a 2' x 4' barn ...


This is the one picture I took of Rylan (in the UV light section) ...


Outside of the museum ...


After the museum, we stopped by the UT Arboretum so I could try to take a few pictures of Carter. It was extremely windy and overcast so not ideal conditions for pictures. But here are some of my favorites.

NC Trip - Days 1 & 2

We drove to Raleigh on Friday, October 15th. I was nervous about the drive since this was the furthest we'd traveled with 2 kids (and a dog).

Brian was able to leave work early and we got on the road around 2 pm. I held off on putting Carter down for a nap and he fell asleep in the car almost immediately. He slept for an hour and then just chilled for an hour looking out the window. After that, Carter had some new toys that kept him entertained. And Rylan slept for the first three hours of the drive. It was SO NICE!

Rylan was fussy when he woke up so we stopped for dinner. We didn't want to waste too much time so we fed both boys while eating Chick-fil-A in the car. We gave Charlotte a pee break, got gas, and got back on the road.

After about 15 minutes, we hit some traffic because of a lane closure. It took us 45 minutes to go about 5 miles. Rylan was not happy about that at all. He screamed most of that time. We stopped at the next rest area after getting out of the traffic, fed Rylan again, walked the dog, and continued on.

Luckily Rylan fell asleep after that and slept the last 2 hours of the drive. Carter was a little harder to keep happy, but he wasn't too bad.

We got to Brian's parents' house in Cary around 9 pm. We unpacked the car as quickly as we could (we had a lot of stuff) and got the kids to bed by 10 pm.

It was awesome that Rylan slept so much in the car, but that meant that he was up early on Saturday. He was up for the day at 4:30 am. I let Brian get up with him because I was completely worn out and figured that since we were on vacation and Brian didn't have to work, we could share in the fun of Rylan's altered schedule.

Carter discovered the piano on Saturday morning ...


And this giant stuffed dog ...


After breakfast, we went to an amazing playground that is only a few minutes from Art and Cinda's house called Kids Together (link) at Marla Dorrel Park. This was the coolest playground we've ever been too. There were several distinct play areas separated by trees and bushes. The playground seemed to just blend into the landscape. The equipment was all in great condition and was fun.



Carter really liked playing in the sand with these scoops. I've never seen these before but they were everywhere we went in NC.



After playing, we took a short walk on the greenway that leaves the park.

Here's Art pushing the BOB ahead of us ...


The greenway crosses US-1 via a brand new pedestrian bridge. Carter enjoyed watching all the "go's" below us ...



Here's a picture of the bridge I took later in the day ...


Carter fell asleep in the stroller on the way back to the car. He only took about a 10 minute nap but it was enough to mess up his schedule for the day.

We went back to Art and Cinda's house for lunch (which was hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes from Cookout - yummy!) and then we tried to put Carter down for a nap. It didn't work.

We didn't bring too many toys for Carter to play with when we weren't in the car, but Brian found a box of his old cars and Carter was content for our entire visit.


As soon as he got up or we came home from whatever we were doing, he'd go straight to that box and start playing.

On Saturday afternoon we went to The Streets at Southpoint, a mall in Durham. Carter finally took a nap on the drive out there. Brian's parents bought Carter his winter shoes - a pair of fur-lined Crocs. They had also bought Carter his red and orange Crocs that he wore all summer.

After shopping and a stop at the house, we went to dinner at Noodles. Rylan was great and slept through dinner which is always nice. The boys got baths when we got back to the house and we got them to bed at a descent time. Brian and I were worn out so we didn't stay up all that much later.

Exersaucer

I put Rylan in the exersaucer for the first time today. I have it set on the lowest of the three heights but I think I may need to raise it up. Rylan was pretty content in there. I still had to stuff a blanket around him to keep him from leaning too far in one direction and hitting his head on something. He didn't play with any of the toys yet, but he was looking at them.


Rylan loves chewing on his fingers right now ...




Carter showing Rylan what to do ...


I tried to get some pictures of Rylan outside during Carter's nap ...



Rylan's hair is still looking like it's a darker blond color ...


I have a ton of things I want to post about Rylan, but I'll try to put it all together in a post I do for his 4 month update!

Tough Guy

Carter got his flu shot today and did AWESOME. He has always cried as soon as he gets pricked (though he gets over it about 10 seconds after I pick him up). The last couple of times we were at the pediatrician's office Carter got all clingy as soon as we went into the exam room because he knew what was coming.

Today Carter followed the nurse right into the room as I carried Rylan in the carrier behind him. When we got in the room, Carter told the nurse "hi" a few times in his sweet voice. I put him on the table, and he laid down with a smile on his face. He didn't even squirm or complain as the nurse held onto his legs and I held his hands. He made a little grimace as he got pricked but smiled again almost immediately. The nurse even seemed surprised that he did so well. I'm so proud of him!

Carter was very pleased to also get a huge Handy Manny sticker!

Home!

We got back this afternoon from a week in North Carolina to visit family. I have tons of pictures to post and will try to get them all up this week, but here are a few until then ...

This Week's Random Pictures

I attempted to get Carter to pose with our four decorated pumpkins ...


This picture shows off Carter's new haircut pretty well ...


I took the boys to a playground this afternoon. Carter was looking very monochromatic (his hair, shirt, and shoes all seemed to be the exact same color) ...


Loving the new swings that were just installed ...