It's Orchard Season!

One of our favorite places, Evan's Orchard, just opened for the season, and Griffin and I couldn't wait to go sink our teeth into a fresh pie! This year, they've added a few new attractions to the play area, and Griffin had the best time testing them out :) Thanks to the gorgeous weather, we were able to play all afternoon, and Griffin had his first taste of a strawberry rhubarb pie (YUM!!) Of course, the trip just wouldn't be complete without visiting with the animals! He loved feeding grass to the goats and bunnies, but didn't want anything to do with the big 'ol turkeys that were strutting around! After one "gobble", he took off running!

Perfect Picnic Weather :)

This past week, Griffin and I packed up our lunch and headed to the park for a little picnic in the grass. It was still a little cool outside, but it was a perfect afternoon! Griffin enjoyed sharing his pb&j with the ants...until they started to crawl up his leg!



After lunch, we walked ran to the playground, where the first thing he climbed on was the slide :)

This time, the "baby" slide just didn't cut it for long... so he ventured over to the big spiral slide to see what all the fuss was about. Once he found his way to the top, he peered over the edge to check everything out. Then, MUCH to my surprise, he let go of the sides and took off barrelling down the big slide. I ran around to the bottom to be there when he landed, and almost immediately, he started to cry! Once the shock wore off, he screamed, "I did it!" and felt so proud of his accomplishment.

We didn't go back to that slide for the remainder of the day (wonder why?!), but we did get in some QT on the swings :) I'm SO SO grateful to have the opportunity to spend these days with my boy again. Just thinking back to this time last year, when he couldn't walk or go down the slide on his own, reminds me of how quickly this time is passing by.

 

Keeneland!

"Really mom..we haven't even left yet!"

There weren't many warm, sunshiny days during the Spring meet at Keeneland this year, but we sure lucked out on the day we went!  Griffin and I met up with Kaz and his mommy, Melissa, for a fun afternoon at the races. We had access to the Clubhouse that day, and it was absolutely perfect in every way! Although it was a bit windy, the boys LOVED being able to roam around the Clubhouse Lawn at their own leisure. No crowds, no concrete, just gorgeous grass and lots of horses (cows, as Kaz calls them..haha)! We brought a blanket to lay out incase the boys wanted a snack, and turned them loose to play all afternoon. We had front row access to the track, which gave us a chance to get up close and personal with a few of the horses :) Here are a few pics from our outing... which totally spoiled us! This is the only way to visit Keeneland with a toddler, and we can't wait to do it again!

 

 

 

 

 

Blog, what blog?!

So, last week my good friend Melissa asked me when I was going to catch up on my blog. Apparently it had been so long since my last post, that I almost forgot I even had a blog...sad, I know! Feeling extremely out of touch and unsocialized, it seems our conversation went a little something like this...

"Lori, can you please get back on the blog wagon?"
"Blog, what blog?"
"You know, the blog you have online where you write posts about every day happenings and your adventures with Griffin as he grows up...you're gonna forget these things when you're 50, ya know."

She's totally right, and I really do hate that I've been such a slacker...so I guess it's time to get caught up.  Here it goes!

Since my last post (November 13th to be exact!) we've had SO many new experiences that I'm not even sure where to begin. I think the main reason I began to slack on posting was due to the fact that this Mama went Full-Time at work the week after Thanksgiving. That being said, here's a picture of our silly little turkey from Thanksgiving day 2012 that I neglected to post ;)

Since Griffin's Granny and Papaw were only able to keep him three days during the week, Griffin started daycare on Mondays and Fridays.


First day of daycare

So happy to see mommy after work!

Needless to say, the daycare scene was not quite what we expected, and Griffin really struggled with the change.  We accepted the fact that he was probably going to catch everything under the sun at first, but he ended up spending more time in the Doctor's office than he did in daycare.  We quickly realized that it was in our family's best interest for me to step back in to a Part-Time roll.

Poor lil guy! :(

In the midst of all that change, Griffin's second Christmas rolled around, and it was a blast!  He loved the lights and decorations, so much so that almost every tree ornament was ripped off and thrown across the room like a baseball (thank goodness for plastic ornaments!). We started several new traditions this year, and brought back some from last year. We had fun building a gingerbread train, visiting the Festival of Lights at the Horse Park, and making a yummy batch of cookies for Santa! He racked up from Santa and both sets of grandparents, scoring a guitar, train set, basketball goal, a tricycle, his very own chair, and too many other things to mention!


Gingerbread Train!

He REALLY wanted to eat the dough!

Making cookies :)

Festival of Lights with Daddy

My favorite picture...thanks Melissa!

After the Christmas hustle and bustle, we took a little roadtrip up to Northern KY where Griffin got to experience the Newport Aquarium for the first time. He loved the penguins and gators, and had a blast walking through the tunnels surrounded by sharks! He enjoyed it so much, that during our next trip to Red Lobster, we tried having him pet one of the lobsters from the tank, but he quickly let us know that he prefers they stay in the tank!

Our next big adventure was MOVING DAY! After seven long months on the market, we finally sold our house and moved to something with a little (a lot!) more space! I've moved a few times in my life, and it wasn't horrible. But I've gotta say...after moving with a toddler, I never want to do it again! Griffin was a trooper, though... and we're SO SO thankful to be moved in to our new house, with plenty of room for him to play!

Valentine's Day was great this year, because we got to spend the evening in our new house :) Griffin helped me decorate and we surprised Daddy with a yummy home cooked meal that tasted just like (or even better than) his favorite dish from Olive Garden! Griff also got a sweet home made card in the mail from his BFF Kaz!

Griffin's second Easter was so much fun. He went to an egg hunt with Kaz where they racked up on some yummy candy, and Easter morning came with a BIG surprise! This year, the Easter Bunny delivered a fuzzy yellow duck alongside Griffin's basket...and he LOVED her! Miss Kay (named after Duck Dynasty :) has been a fun little addition to the family! Since it was cold and rainy on Easter Sunday, we had our egg hunt inside, and Griffin had a blast searching for eggs around the living room.

Hunting eggs with Kaz!

Ready for Easter Service :)

Handsome boys..Griffin, Kaz, and Easton!

BFF's

Meeting Miss Kay!

So funny :)

Playing guitar with Uncle Logan after lunch!

Spring has taken forever to get here, so on one of my recent days off, we visted the Explorium in Lexington while it was cold and rainy. Griffin played non-stop for three hours, and threw a tantrum when it was time to go. He didn't care if his belly was growling or not!


Now that it's (finally) starting to warm up, we've enjoyed spending time outside playing. Here are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks.... I think it's safe to say we're caught up now! :)