Yep, I'm a total slacker. I'll admit it. Well, not a complete and total slacker, I have been doing some work in my spare time. Okay, enough excuses. Here's our trip to Nashville way back in the last weekend of January.
Before I launch into the big long story, I have to say how nice it was of Heather and Michael to let us come invade their home for a few days. It was wonderful to leave the snow and cold behind and visit good friends. I love being with friends where there is no pressure for them to entertain them or for me to entertain them. We can just be together and enjoy each other's company. Which is a fantastic thing. Thanks again.
Here are all the photos from Nashville.
Somewhere in between Louisville and Bowling Green, the snow disappeared. It was covering the grass and then it wasn't. Interesting how that happens. Dylan was such a good little traveler. He only slept for an hour and a half in the car and woke up just south of Louisville. He snacked for a bit. And his only fit was because I wouldn't read the fishies book to him while I was driving. I managed to distract him with other things until we made a pit stop for running around and going to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the first rest area we stopped at had no water which meant no bathrooms. So, we stopped again a little farther down the road.
Heather pushes Olivia on the swing.
Michael and Sophie check out the slide.
Olivia balances on the edge.
The part of this photo that you can't see is the little rock climbing wall up to a platform. Dylan wanted to climb up, but he would only use his feet, so I'd have to hold him almost horizontally while he "climbed" to the top. Funny boy.
Heather started a trend of everyone going down the slide face first. Well, except for me and Dylan. I sat at the bottom taking lots of photos instead.
Dylan goes for the tackle at the bottom of the slide.
After walking back to Heather and Michael's house, the kids didn't want to go back inside. So, we played in the courtyard for a bit. We got out the sidewalk chalk and Olivia road her bicycle. Dylan was fascinated by her and followed her around for a bit. He especially liked her helmet and wanted to wear it. Instead, we got out Sophie's helmet and perched it on his head. It was just a little small for him.
Dylan in Sophie's helmet.
Saturday evening we went to "Mexico" for dinner (that's what Olivia calls the local Mexican restaurant). Heather had a yummy margherita (I did have a tiny sip...can't wait til I can have a whole one of those again). It was good food all around and the kids ate well which meant we could eat in relative peace *grin*. Afterwards we went to TCBY for ice cream, which only Olivia ate. I thought Dylan would eat an ice cream cone, but, alas, I ended up eating it.
Sunday we went to children's church with Heather and Michael. Which lasted all of a couple of minutes for Dylan and I. We ended up going to the nursery and playing with Sophie. That afternoon we went drove to a local park that reminds me a lot of the big playground on the Air Force base here. Unfortunately it was extremely crowded and started getting cold, so we didn't stay for a long time. We did have fun in the courtyard again before going in for dinner.
The next day was Monday, and Heather and Michael got ready to go to work and take the girls to school. We had a bit of fun before they left.
While they were at work, we went to a place just around the corner called The Monkey's Treehouse–a play place for kids. We had a lot of fun climbing, playing with the train table, trying on hats, finding play food, seeing big dinosaurs among other things. And that afternoon we went and did a little shopping before going to the bookstore to play with their train table. A two train table day is tops in Dylan's world.
Dylan climbing up the rope to the "tree house".
Olivia, Heather, Sophie and Michael at before bedtime.
The next morning was time to say goodbye. We packed up our stuff and hit the road. On the way back, we took a detour to Hopkinsville, KY, where my mom spent part of her childhood. My grandpa was a golf pro at the golf course there back in the 50s, and I thought it would be neat to visit the golf course. As we were driving into Hopkinsville, it start snowing and I realized that maybe the golf course wasn't open in the middle of winter. But, luckily they were open and we took a bathroom break and checked out the new clubhouse. We walked to the edge of the golf course, but it was too cold to do much else besides get back in the car. We stopped at a Kroger for gas and groceries and then went to our next stop in Hopkisnville–the Trail of Tears Memorial Park. Again, it was too cold to stay out too long, but we took a little walk around and checked out the Little River. We drove through downtown Hopkinsville to go to a burger place that's been around since the 30s. Ferrell's Hamburgers. It was not a place to go eat with a family as there only seating is a lunch counter. But, man, that was a really good inexpensive burger (wish I'd gotten a double). I imagine downtown Hopkinsville hasn't changed that much since the time my mom lived there.
Dylan and I at the Hopkinsville Golf Course.
Dylan watching the water of the Little River at the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park.
Ferrell's Hamburgers.
My tired little tropper on the stool at Ferrell's lunch counter.
We headed north again and it snowed almost the whole way to Louisville. Dylan napped well and we made good time until we got south of Cincinnati. Where we hit rush hour traffic. Which probably wouldn't have been too terribly bad if it weren't for the heavy snow. Traffic basically crawled from south of Cincy, all the way through the city. It took us 2 hours to get to our next pit stop–Ikea. Luckily, Dylan was a good little traveller, content to munch on strawberries and watch the cars. He started getting antsy into the second hour....as I had been antsy the whole time we weren't really moving. We finally made it to Ikea close to 7pm. And let me tell you, the best time to go to Ikea is during a snowstorm. There were maybe 10 cars in the parking lot and we practially had the place to ourselves. I had dinner (Dylan was too full from his car snacking) and then Dylan got to play in their little play area. We ran through the marketplace with Dylan chasing me and picked up a couple of things. We spent about an hour in Ikea, and when we left, the interstate was still deadlocked. So, I found an alternate route that was moving slow, but at least moving and as we got further and further north the road cleared completely and we were finally able to go above 30mph. Dylan fell asleep around 9:30. And then we hit a snag...an accident up ahead had stopped traffice. After waiting fora few minutes, I turned around and tried to find another way to go. I ended up crossing over the interestate and could see it was moving normally again, so I found my way to it and was able to zoom the rest of the way home. Thank goodness. We pulled in the garage at 10:45 pm and I had to lug my sleeping child through the now crunchy snow into the house and head back for some of the essential luggage. We had a wonderful trip except for the last part and were very happy to be home.
Napping through Kentucky.
Stuck in traffic.
So so happy to be out of the car.
Chasing me through Ikea.
We headed down to Nashville on Friday morning. The plan was to stop in Cincinatti at the Newport Aquarium for some run around time, have lunch with a college friend Kristen, and then get the bulk of the driving done while Dylan napped in the car. After lugging the rest of our stuff to the car through the 7 inches of snow on the ground, and letting Dylan make trails through the snow for a little bit, we got on the road. Unfortunately for us, the google map to the aquarium was not the best in the world and we got turned around a couple of times and didn't actually make it to Newport on the Levy until 10:45. And the aquarium cost quite a bit more than I was willing to spend for the 45 minutes we'd probably have until Dylan was ready for lunch. Lucky for us there was a Barnes and Noble next door with a train table. The ultimate in free entertainment for a toddler. Yippee.
After some play time and discovering a new book we had to bring home (The Pout-Pout Fish that we read several times a day now) we met up with Kristen and her husband for lunch. It was great to see Kristen again...I don't think we've seen each other since she graduated. Too bad for us that Dylan was tired, hungry (and not into pizza at all) and a wee bit cranky. He did not want to sit in his high chair any longer than he had too. Oh well, luckily Kristen lives close enough by that we'll get to see her again sometime.
We got back in the car and headed south. Dylan happily ate a pb&j before konking out for his nap and I enjoyed driving through snow and ice covered Kentucky. If I hadn't been on the interstate, I would have pulled over to take some photos. Instead, I blindly held my camera up to the window and snapped as I drove. I couldn't get over how beautiful the ice covered trees were as they sparkled in the sunshine. And how their sparkles contrasted with some of the more ominous skies in the distance. It was so lovely. And so cold...on my...I think it was 18º and snowing when I pulled off to get gas somewhere in Kentucky.
Somewhere in between Louisville and Bowling Green, the snow disappeared. It was covering the grass and then it wasn't. Interesting how that happens. Dylan was such a good little traveler. He only slept for an hour and a half in the car and woke up just south of Louisville. He snacked for a bit. And his only fit was because I wouldn't read the fishies book to him while I was driving. I managed to distract him with other things until we made a pit stop for running around and going to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the first rest area we stopped at had no water which meant no bathrooms. So, we stopped again a little farther down the road.
We made the final push to Nashville and arrived at Heather and Michael's house before they got home from work. We let ourselves in and Dylan took the lay of the land and found all of Sophie and Olivia's toys to play with. And when they arrived home, he took just a minute to warm up. He especially liked Michael. He really misses Denny and seems to like being around daddy-type figures a lot.
The first night, we had to make a few adjustments for bedtime. He woke up an hour after being asleep and I had to go lie down with him. And the rest of the time he did just fine with sleeping all night.
The weather in Nashville was lovely. On Saturday it reached 50 and maybe a little more than that. Which was like heaven compared to Ohio's below 20 and covered in snow. We even got to play outside. But first, we met another college friend of mine who lives in the Nashville area, Suzanne. And she lives not too far from Heather, which neither one of them realized before. We ate at a little southern restaurant, and yet again Dylan was a wee bit cranky. He and Sophie were both much happier when we let them run around a bit outside.
After naps, we loaded Dylan and Sophie in the wagon and walked to the neighborhood park. Olivia ran along ahead of us and we all enjoyed just being outside.
Heather pushes Olivia on the swing.
Michael and Sophie check out the slide.
Olivia balances on the edge.
The part of this photo that you can't see is the little rock climbing wall up to a platform. Dylan wanted to climb up, but he would only use his feet, so I'd have to hold him almost horizontally while he "climbed" to the top. Funny boy.
Heather started a trend of everyone going down the slide face first. Well, except for me and Dylan. I sat at the bottom taking lots of photos instead.
Dylan goes for the tackle at the bottom of the slide.
After walking back to Heather and Michael's house, the kids didn't want to go back inside. So, we played in the courtyard for a bit. We got out the sidewalk chalk and Olivia road her bicycle. Dylan was fascinated by her and followed her around for a bit. He especially liked her helmet and wanted to wear it. Instead, we got out Sophie's helmet and perched it on his head. It was just a little small for him.
Dylan in Sophie's helmet.
Saturday evening we went to "Mexico" for dinner (that's what Olivia calls the local Mexican restaurant). Heather had a yummy margherita (I did have a tiny sip...can't wait til I can have a whole one of those again). It was good food all around and the kids ate well which meant we could eat in relative peace *grin*. Afterwards we went to TCBY for ice cream, which only Olivia ate. I thought Dylan would eat an ice cream cone, but, alas, I ended up eating it.
Sunday we went to children's church with Heather and Michael. Which lasted all of a couple of minutes for Dylan and I. We ended up going to the nursery and playing with Sophie. That afternoon we went drove to a local park that reminds me a lot of the big playground on the Air Force base here. Unfortunately it was extremely crowded and started getting cold, so we didn't stay for a long time. We did have fun in the courtyard again before going in for dinner.
The next day was Monday, and Heather and Michael got ready to go to work and take the girls to school. We had a bit of fun before they left.
While they were at work, we went to a place just around the corner called The Monkey's Treehouse–a play place for kids. We had a lot of fun climbing, playing with the train table, trying on hats, finding play food, seeing big dinosaurs among other things. And that afternoon we went and did a little shopping before going to the bookstore to play with their train table. A two train table day is tops in Dylan's world.
Dylan climbing up the rope to the "tree house".
Olivia, Heather, Sophie and Michael at before bedtime.
The next morning was time to say goodbye. We packed up our stuff and hit the road. On the way back, we took a detour to Hopkinsville, KY, where my mom spent part of her childhood. My grandpa was a golf pro at the golf course there back in the 50s, and I thought it would be neat to visit the golf course. As we were driving into Hopkinsville, it start snowing and I realized that maybe the golf course wasn't open in the middle of winter. But, luckily they were open and we took a bathroom break and checked out the new clubhouse. We walked to the edge of the golf course, but it was too cold to do much else besides get back in the car. We stopped at a Kroger for gas and groceries and then went to our next stop in Hopkisnville–the Trail of Tears Memorial Park. Again, it was too cold to stay out too long, but we took a little walk around and checked out the Little River. We drove through downtown Hopkinsville to go to a burger place that's been around since the 30s. Ferrell's Hamburgers. It was not a place to go eat with a family as there only seating is a lunch counter. But, man, that was a really good inexpensive burger (wish I'd gotten a double). I imagine downtown Hopkinsville hasn't changed that much since the time my mom lived there.
Dylan and I at the Hopkinsville Golf Course.
Dylan watching the water of the Little River at the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park.
Ferrell's Hamburgers.
My tired little tropper on the stool at Ferrell's lunch counter.
We headed north again and it snowed almost the whole way to Louisville. Dylan napped well and we made good time until we got south of Cincinnati. Where we hit rush hour traffic. Which probably wouldn't have been too terribly bad if it weren't for the heavy snow. Traffic basically crawled from south of Cincy, all the way through the city. It took us 2 hours to get to our next pit stop–Ikea. Luckily, Dylan was a good little traveller, content to munch on strawberries and watch the cars. He started getting antsy into the second hour....as I had been antsy the whole time we weren't really moving. We finally made it to Ikea close to 7pm. And let me tell you, the best time to go to Ikea is during a snowstorm. There were maybe 10 cars in the parking lot and we practially had the place to ourselves. I had dinner (Dylan was too full from his car snacking) and then Dylan got to play in their little play area. We ran through the marketplace with Dylan chasing me and picked up a couple of things. We spent about an hour in Ikea, and when we left, the interstate was still deadlocked. So, I found an alternate route that was moving slow, but at least moving and as we got further and further north the road cleared completely and we were finally able to go above 30mph. Dylan fell asleep around 9:30. And then we hit a snag...an accident up ahead had stopped traffice. After waiting fora few minutes, I turned around and tried to find another way to go. I ended up crossing over the interestate and could see it was moving normally again, so I found my way to it and was able to zoom the rest of the way home. Thank goodness. We pulled in the garage at 10:45 pm and I had to lug my sleeping child through the now crunchy snow into the house and head back for some of the essential luggage. We had a wonderful trip except for the last part and were very happy to be home.
Napping through Kentucky.
Stuck in traffic.
So so happy to be out of the car.
Chasing me through Ikea.
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