Sunday
- We made the trip without any problems. Ian did a good job sleeping/staying entertained during the 4+ hour car ride with me (we gave in and took two cars, so Doug and Zrbrt drove weren't with us). We sang songs, talked, and he played with trains in his carseat. He remembered that I told him he could run when we finally got to the cottage. As soon as we pulled in, he yelled "Running!". There is a big lawn here (see below) with a woodpile (which he is aiming to totally dismantle by the end of the week), and a stream across the back, so he's enjoying running around the yard several times a day.
- Sunday evening Ian got his first bee sting while climbing on the deck stairs. At the time he didn't seem too bothered by it (although he certainly noticed that it happened), but he has spontaneously told the story of it several times since (Bee here! (pointing to his toe) Ouch!)
Monday
- We loaded Ian and the dogs in the car and drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a short hike. The dogs carried their packs, and we loaded them up with a few gallons of water to make sure they got a workout. Ian enjoyed the hike, but he's not very content to ride on my back anymore, and he can't walk far, so we're not expecting to do anything longer than this hike (1.5 miles) on this trip.
- We continued on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the summit at Mount Mitchell. There were many scenic views along the way. We ran into a bike race (The Assault on Mt. Mitchell) on the way up, which slowed us down a lot, but was also interesting. We got to the top and watched the cyclists finishing for a while, then we got the dogs and made the short walk up to the summit, the highest point in the Eastern U.S. Driving up and back down was a several hour endeavor, but it was nice to get a good mountain view experience. Doug taught Ian to say "Allez! Allez!" to the cyclists. There was also road work on the parkway, which meant that we saw lots of "diggers", which is very important to Ian. Seeing them just makes him ask for more, and sometimes he has minor tantrums due to insufficient numbers of diggers on any given outing.
- We got burritos for dinner, and Ian ate an entire child size burrito himself.
- Doug got a haircut and Ian enjoyed watching. He said he wanted his hair cut, but based on past experience we found it hard to believe that he would actually go through with it.
- Doug and I enjoyed an evening sitting out in the yard talking and watching fireflies (and being amazed at how much the moon alone lights up the night).
Tuesday
- Ian and I went to the Western NC nature center, where we saw many animals native to the area (bears, hellbenders, moths, deer, otters). Ian liked watching the peacock, which came right up to us. Ian can now say peacock and described it later as "Big tail. Two, three, two, three (he counted the spots on its tail). Pretty!". Another highlight was the relatively tall and steep slide next to the otter exhibit. I explained to Ian that there was a slide in the water for otters, and this slide was made for kids. He climbed up the rocks to the top, but then didn't want to go down (he said: "scary"). Even when I offered to let him sit on my lap, he refused. As we were coming back down he said "Slide. Kids.", and went back up and down the slide by himself. I think he was telling himself that this slide is for kids and so he should go down. I was very proud of him.
- While we were at the nature center, Doug was out for a bike ride. Asheville is well known as a cycling destination, partly because of the many mountain biking trails, and partly because the mountains make for some miserable (read: satisfying to a cyclist) road biking. Doug had a good, very hilly ride out and around the are our cottage is in. Ian is very interested in all things relating to bicycles, and has learned several new things about Doug's bike while we're here (it's usually out of sight under our house, but here it is accessible to him). This morning he had fun wearing all of Doug's bike gear: helmet, shoes, gloves:
He likes to turn the flashing rear light on and off, and has learned that the bike shoes attach to the pedals in an interesting way. He has also discovered the pump, and would probably play with it for hours if we let him. This morning he enjoyed learning about the brake. Doug would lift the bike up and get the wheel spinning, and then Ian would squeeze the handbrake to stop it. Many times. Sometimes he's easy to please:
- Ian took a long afternoon nap, and we brought the dogs out and sat in the lawn chairs reading for hours. Ahhh.
- There are many restaurants in Asheville that allow dogs in their outdoor seating areas. So last night we went out to get pizza (Ian's favorite) and took Lilo. Ian ate a whole child-size pizza himself. Lilo likes restaurants.
Wednesday
- This morning we went to a nearby toddler playground, and Ian climbed and played in the sand. We discovered that the adjoining library was having story time, so we learned about brushing teeth via a puppet show there. Then we went to the visitor's center downtown to learn about what activities we should plan for the rest of the week. Ian was very adamant that we ride the "bus!" (i.e. trolley tour), so we'll be sure to fit that in. We walked around downtown and picked up lunch, then came home for naptime (which is what is allowing me to write this blog post).
- Along with all the special activities we've been doing, Ian is also enjoying his old standbys. Here his is playing with a train track he made with Daddy this morning:
Renting a cottage is nice for things like this -- we have the facility to maintain a normalish life (an equipped kitchen, coffee table for trains, washer and dryer, etc.), which makes it easier to travel with a toddler.Here is Ian being cool with his hands in his pockets as we were getting ready to leave this morning:
2 comments:
Sounds like fun. Ian is so big now!
wow..that sounds like an awesome trip so far! Enjoy every second! love Aunt Julie
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