Nashville in November

We recently traveled with Hugh to one of his conferences in Nashville.  The kids and I went out and did lots of fun things while Hugh attended the conference every day, and then on most evenings we ate out with Hugh at a different local restaurant.  I loved the trip because the weather was still pretty warm, the leaves were still changing colors, and there were lots of fun places to visit.  By the end of our trip though I was exhausted!!  You see, our little sleepers rise early and go to sleep late when we are all sharing one hotel room, and naps were a bit sparse.  Overall though, I'm glad we went with Hugh, and I think the kids really enjoyed it!  

One morning Alaythia rose really early, so she came and nursed herself back to sleep in my bed and added on another hour or so of snoozing, which was much appreciated!!

The Lane Motor Museum had a fun kid's play area.  We stayed there for a few hours, driving in the kid's sized cars, playing with the train table, coloring, etc.

I thought these little gas pumps were too cute!!

Of course, Enoch found some books and decided to read them atop his favorite car.

The TN Agricultural Museum had some neat outdoor cabins and large equipment that the kids enjoyed!  And there was a horse stable right beside it too where we got to pet the police horses and the barn cat.

We visited a few local parks.  Fannie Mae Dees Park  had some neat play equipment, like this giant see-saw.

One of the highlights was the local library's story time.  They have a team of actors who put this on weekly.  They had fun puppets, lots of songs, and a good story.  The kids loved it so much that we stayed and watched the show a second time.

The escalator... also a highlight for Enoch.

Everyone loved walking up the huge pedestrian bridge, out over the river.

And I thought the skyline was pretty.

There was lots of playing & snuggling in the hotel room.

sweet smiles

One other highlight - there was a construction site right outside our hotel room window!!  We got to see the construction by day and watch for police cars by night.  Enoch was especially riveted by the huge crane, which worked almost non-stop!

And we went back to Cheekwood Gardens to see their train exhibit.  This was one of the more expensive places we went, but the kids all enjoyed it so much!

Enoch was mesmerized!

Alaythia called this train the "punkin choo-choo" because it was hauling some pumpkins

Karis enjoyed taking selfies and talking with the other kids who were looking at the trains.

And last, but not least, there was a superb nature center just outside of Nashville (Warner Park Nature Center).  They had some neat displays inside, but the real treat was this play area out back.  Two huge dirt piles, a sand pit, and a cabin.  It was hard to leave this place... and even harder to wash off all of the dirt, but the kids had fun!

Karis headed straight for the cabin, and played there for awhile.

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Taylor's Big Red Fire Museum

We recently went to a Fire Museum in Louisville, MS that we absolutely loved!!!  They had some truly neat and rare antique fire trucks.  And lots of model airplanes and machines.  It was amazing.  The man who gave us a tour was also quite friendly and knowledgeable, and he made it very fun for Enoch. 

 Enoch got to sit on a few trucks and pretend to be a fire fighter!

 And to ring the bell

Enoch & Karis w/ Sparky the fire dog

We so enjoyed our visit!  Here are a few videos: 

One of the trucks still had a working siren, which Enoch got to wind (He still talks about this!)



And this was a truck similar to a Barnum & Bailey truck that still sang. 

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Visiting Nashville

In late May Hugh had a conference to attend in Nashville, so we decided to tag along.  Overall it was a fun trip!  The kids and I ventured out each day and did exciting things that we normally can't do in our small town, and every evening we walked with Daddy to have dinner in nice restaurants.  The only downside of the trip was that Alaythia stopped sleeping through the night.  :(  bummer!!  Here are some of our photos from the trip:

 Behold, our new stroller... comfortably holding 2 little ones side by side, and it even fits through regular, single doorways!!!  This was a life-saver in the city!

We strolled down by the river and admired the bridge (Enoch also loved the horse drawn carriages... unfortunately not pictured, but much petted)

Billy Graham statue

These trains were Enoch's favorite part.. mine too, I think!  This was a very impressive set-up at the Creekwood Botanical Gardens.  It captivated Enoch for at least 45 min!

Thomas and Annie and Clara Belle were even there making an appearance!

The tracks were high and low and the trains went in and out of all kinds of bridges, tunnels, and other features!

I also enjoyed the beautiful "color" garden

And some neat sculpture art

This was our lunch after the train exhibit... the best meal I ate in Nashville!!  We even brought back some peach preserves for the boys to enjoy.

Posing with Chet Akin (I think?)

So excited to be in a huge big boy bed!

 Do kids get much cuter than this??  I mean...

This was also an exciting part for Enoch - sharing a bed with Daddy!!!  Somehow he managed to fall asleep, but that first night was challenging because he was just soooo thrilled.  ;)

 

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FFF: Enoch Driving A Tractor

At the end of May we took a cross-country trip to visit some of our family.  Almost everywhere we went, Enoch got to ride on some type of machine.  :)  This is the only video I got, but I hope to post more pictures soon!

In the video Enoch is getting to control the front bucket, which he loved!

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Facing Forward in the Carseat - Why We Waited

Roughly two weeks ago (at approx. 23.5 mos), we turned Enoch's carseat to be forward facing because he ended up exceeding the weight limit for rear facing (35 lbs).  I know that most of our friends turn their babies around between 12-18 mos, but we held out because our pediatrician continued reminding us of the new recommendation to keep children rear facing until 2 years of age.

According to the AAP (see link above), this will soon be a law, not a recommendation.  Though I questioned Enoch's legs and feet being squished and possibly injured in an accident due to the rear facing orientation of his carseat, our pediatrician gently affirmed that his head and neck are much more important than his feet/legs and also that leg injuries are far easier to repair than head/neck ones.  Check out these stats from a CNN article covering the new recommendation:

A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention found that children under age 2 are 75 percent less likely to die or to be severely injured in a crash if they are rear-facing. Another study found riding rear-facing to be five times safer than forward-facing.

Safety for toddlers really does increase when they remain rear facing as long as possible!  Since I know that this is a big decision for most parents, I thought I'd list a few things that helped Enoch be content while rear facing for almost 2 years.

• removing shoes - This made it so much easier for him to move his feet around and find a comfortable position, especially on long car rides.
• riding in a high car/van - While I realize that not everyone can (or even wants to) go out and buy a minivan or suv, I honestly think that this made riding rear facing so enjoyable for Enoch because he could see out of the car.  Our minivan has high seats and lots of windows, which Little Man fully utilized.  In fact, Enoch enjoyed watching out those windows so much that even when Hugh would ride behind him in the third row, Enoch paid more attention to the passing scenery than he did to his own daddy.
• having special car toys - We have a bag of toys that are only played with in the car (or in waiting rooms when I need a quiet little boy).  It's composed of about half toys and half books, and it has helped us get through many long trips.

Back to that forward facing little man of mine, I just have to say that I feel like turning him around made him age by 2-3 years - just look at how old he looks in that photo above!!  In all seriousness though, I'm glad we waited as long as possible before turning him around.  Even though we didn't get into any wrecks in the past two years, my motherly heart knows that it's always better safe than sorry.

If any of you have any other tips for keeping children happy while rear facing, feel free to share them in the comments below!

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FFF: Our Fall Trip To Arkansas (& Oklahoma)

Here is a photo overview of our recent trip to Arkansas and Oklahoma.  It was quite the last minute trip, but I happen to thrive on a some rush-rush organization and planning, so I enjoyed every minute of it.  We also tried to keep the expectations low and the timing flexible with everyone, which also made it much more relaxing than having a strict schedule.  ;)

Granddad (my stepdad) drove to Memphis to meet us, where we parked my car and piled into his, literally.  This was such a huge help because everytime we needed to stop for Karis to eat, he took Enoch out and played to give him a break from the car.  Google says it should've taken 6-7 hours of driving, but I think it ended up taking us 11-13 both times because of needing to stop so much!  The pic below is of them at a rest stop checking out all the semi trucks.  :)

And then of course as soon as we arrived at Granddad's house, there was some wrestling and Otis playing.  You can imagine how excited Enoch was to have unlimited access to Otis.  :-)

Every morning at 6:30 am, this is the face that greeted me, calling "mama, mama, mama!?!?"

Enoch also got to help Granny Sandy (my mom) feed the chickens, turkeys, and ducks every morning.  

Karis did a lot of her normal routine (eating, tummy time, being sweet, sleeping, etc.), though I'm certain she loved all of the extra holding and attention.

This is typically how Enoch spent the first hour of his mornings since he woke up so early!  He got to play while Karis ate and I got dressed.

At Papa Steve and Granny Susie's house (my dad and stepmom), there were lots of helpers!  They (my niece & nephew) did a great job playing with the kids.  :)

Then we visited MaaMaa, PaaPaa, and Aunt Wanda.  Little Man really enjoyed their small dog, Sophie (look between the rockers, below) as well as MaaMaa's ice box pickles!

And sweet Karis was snuggled the entire time.  :)

As you may have gathered, Hugh wasn't able to come because he had to work, but it was still a good trip.  We were hoping to drive up to NWA and visit some friends who I haven't seen in over a year, but Little Man got sick the night before I was going to head up that way, so we decided to head home instead.  I definitely missed seeing those mountains and my alma mater along with some of our dear friends there, but Enoch fought the fever and cough/runny nose for over a week here, so I think it was good that we made it home quickly.

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