as i mentioned in my last post, we have been traveling a ton through the end of february and first couple of weekends in march. this boy got very comfortable in his car seat...
but it was so worth it! we got to see lots of friends and family and experience some cool things. davis is finally to the age where he can appreciate some of the kids activities out there, so we make it worth our while when we travel to expose him to all that life has to offer :)
we traveled to raleigh a couple of times, one time meeting up with my friend ashley and her daughter cameron. ashley and i went to college together and cameron and davis are about 10 weeks apart. we met at moe's for lunch and then went for a walk around one of the greenways nearby. here they are getting ready to head out on the walk.
it was a two mile loop around a lake, and we had to stop and check out the ducks at one point.
ashley and i loved talking as we walked and got all caught up. we found a grassy spot at the end of the walk to let the kiddos run around and burn off some energy (before i had to put davis back in the carseat for the ride home.) davis was determined to push his stroller around or climb in the bottom rack of cameron's stroller.
i am so grateful for friends that you can easily pick up with, even if it's been months since you've seen each other! we hope to arrange more play dates in the future for these two (and the mommies!)
another weekend we were back in raleigh again, this time to meet up with my aunts and cousins. we met at the park close to brier creek elementary, which was just perfect for davis. it had a huge soccer field to run on, as well as a cute play set that was very toddler friendly. we had planned on going out to lunch afterward, but it was such a gorgeous day that we ended up staying there and just brought in pizza to eat at the picnic tables. so much fun!
he was a happy boy!
AND THEN we did a weekend trip to fayetteville. we hadn't been there since Christmas, so we were due for a trip there. davis always does well there, and we spent that rainy saturday exploring the children's museum downtown, fascinate-u. he was a fan of the pretend trucks and ambulances that he could "drive"
every other weekend, they open the top floor of the building up for children and families to check out the local group that does model train set-ups. davis is all about things that go--boats, trucks, buses, and now trains--so he was in his element. if only he could touch them!
he wasn't the only little one that was enthralled...
they had a thomas train that was featured on one of the sets. we haven't watched a whole lot of thomas (we get more exposure to "chuggington" on disney jr.) but he was the obvious star for other children.
our last major trip was the big one--we had been planning for a while to do a trip up to asheville to visit justin's sister, heather, who moved up there about a year or two ago. we worked out a weekend where we were hoping we might get to see justin's dad and stepmom as well, but they weren't able to make it. so justin's mom came with us, which was a huge help for watching davis, and we all enjoyed getting to spend some time together in the mountains.
we drove across the state on thursday night--a 5 1/2 hour drive, which actually went smoothly all things considered. davis fell asleep for the last two hours or so of it, and then he was wide awake when we got there around 10:45 and checked into our hotel around 11. we let him stay up as we unpacked the car and got ready for bed, and then we all went to sleep around 11:45. the joys of sharing a room with your toddler :)
the next day, we spent time with heather and when davis went down for his nap, justin, heather and i headed out to explore some of the downtown shops in asheville. such a neat place! they have a couple of truffle/chocolate shops that are just AMAZING, and we also enjoyed a tea and spices shop, as well as a gourmet potato chip place.
we headed back out in the afternoon to explore biltmore village, the shops and restaurants just outside of the biltmore house, and that included a quick peek inside the "grand bohemian hotel." gorgeous lobby, but definitely not kid friendly!
we finished the night at heather's apartment, helping her carb-load for her trail run race the next morning. thankfully, davis went to sleep easily back at the hotel and didn't mind us having the TV on in the background once he was out.
the next morning, we loaded up the car and headed into the pisgah national forest to meet heather at the end of her 8k trail run. she ended up placing in the top 3 of her age group, which was awesome! we drove further into the forest and stopped to do a quick 2 mile hike. justin and i had borrowed a backpack carrier from our friends brent and emelie, and davis seemed pretty happy in it. we found out later that we could have raised him up a little bit, but he did fine nonetheless.
here we are mid-hike. note that the sweatshirt was off at that point--it got warm once we got moving! and carrying an extra 25 pounds on your back will do that, too :) pepper's in the foreground--she made this trip with us, too (though she stayed at heather's apartment rather than with us at the hotel.)
the end result of the hike--a beautiful waterfall! i forget which one this is...but it was worth the trek!
then we stopped at a great picnic area for lunch and to let davis run around. it was the most gorgeous day, and we probably stayed here about an hour and a half, just enjoying the mountain air and sunshine!
me and davis playing in the field by the picnic tables
that weekend, he started doing his "thoughtful old man" walk--clutching his hands behind his back as he moseyed around. cute, but impractical for catching yourself before you fall!
we finished out the day with a quick drive on the blue ridge parkway, stopping at some of the overlooks for pictures.
here's one of the collages i made for the hike with diptec and instagram. again, i am an instagram fanatic and post most of those pictures to my twitter account. though i don't tweet much else, it's a good way of keeping up with us if you're on twitter :) as you can see, davis conked out at the end of the trip and slept for a couple of hours as we drove back to asheville (and once we got there--we had to take turns sitting with him in the car until he woke up.)
debbie and heather promised us a night out on saturday night, so we left davis at heather's place and drove into town for dinner. i loved capturing the sunset over the mountains from the top of our parking garage...
the next morning, we were dealing with the change in daylight savings, but still made it up in time to check out of the hotel and get brunch at tupelo honey, a well-known brunch spot in asheville. i had the best sweet potato pancake with toasted pecans and cinnamon... mmm... and after stuffing ourselves, we were back on the road. davis slept for a couple of hours in the car, waking up just as we were approaching durham and the streets at southpoint mall. i remembered seeing a toddler play area in there before, so we stopped for a late lunch and let him run around for a while before doing the last hour and a half or so home. (notice a theme here? travel with a toddler, be prepared to stop and let him run around.)
and then we've been home for the past two weekends. and it's been FABULOUS. as much as we love traveling, we needed some time at home to catch up! we're already starting to plan our next trips for late spring/early summer... can't wait to see where life takes us :)
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