Mt. RushMORE!

Carl has been mentioning that he wants to go see Mt. Rushmore ever since we've been in Colorado. Last week he decided that it was our last chance if we were going to go camping at all this year and begged me to check into it. I looked around at the KOAs there and they actually looked promising. I say this because I don't camp. Want me to say it more clearly? I. Don't. Camp. My family was never an outdoorsy one and I am a city girl because of it. I gave in though and agreed since the KOA had a lot to do along with real bathrooms and showers. I'm okay with tents, just not tents while you are covered in filth for days at a time.

We took off early on Saturday, excited to go somewhere completely new to both of us. We told Carson about it a few days before so he talked about sleeping in a tent constantly. Luckily he loves car rides too so we just set off without worrying about time or anything. 

To start I will say.......how in the world does anyone live in the state of Wyoming??????

We decided that you could basically keep Jackson Hole, Yellowstone and mayyyyyyybe Cheyenne and give the rest to the aliens. I'm sorry to say it, but that is mostly a useless state. We stopped at this rest stop at a main turning point and saw a playground which we thought would be great. But it was so stinky and dirty with a broken playground. We couldn't wait to get out of there.

See the beautiful Wyoming backdrop? By the way, Carson is in love with his "Stoy Story" pajamas. I bought him Toy Story which he has watched once and wasn't even interested in, but he loves the PJ's for whatever reason. He wanted to keep them on for the trip; at least he was comfortable, but it looks funny!

Next we stopped in Torrington to eat lunch at a real park. Carson was thrilled to see real playground equipment. This was the kind of place where you can feel that everyone is watching everyone. You know, in that creepy small town kind of way.

Amazingly, about 20 miles into South Dakota it turned absolutely beautiful! It was interesting to be in the mountains, but it was different than the mountains we are used to. The rock, trees and overall look was just different. It was pretty funny going into the lobby of the KOA. We had to "check in" like at a hotel and it was nicer than some actual hotel lobbies we've been to! They had coffee shops, a wine and chocolate store, a pizza and ice cream shop, two swimming pools, water slides, miniature golf, a theater and on and on. It was about the most spoiled camping we could have possibly done.

The boys went to work right away on our tent and camp site. We were up on the top of a hill and pretty secluded (except for the obnoxious jerks in that cabin you see behind us that were up being so loud until 2am...). Carson loved every minute of it!

After it was all set up we went down to find all the fun stuff to do. We were hoping to swim, but it was 5:00 by this time and the clouds were rolling in. Carl wanted to cook hot dogs, but Carson and I were starving and I wasn't going to wait for it to get dark to start a fire. We went to the pizza shop instead, then headed over to the playground area.

They seriously had all their bases covered and couldn't have been more family friendly. This was an entire hill of sand covered in Tonka trucks. Carson=happy.

The playground was enormous. Carson goes straight for the slides right now. He's getting to be pretty fearless!

Next he wanted to get on this huge balloon that was buried underground for you to jump on. I was terrified that my little baby was going to get trampled. Nope. He totally held his own and squealed as he bounced back and forth. 

My guys after a round of mini-golf.

It was getting late so we headed back to our site. Just as Carl got the fire going it started to rain. And then started to rain really hard. While we were down at the gift shop we found a Thomas watercolor book. Carson has been painting a lot at daycare and I didn't have any for home so I wanted to get it. Luckily we did because I was able to grab the crayons and we colored in the tent while it was raining. I think this was my favorite time of the trip. It was so peaceful and fun to be out exploring with my family. I can't get enough of seeing Carson discover new things and just be a kid having fun. I was able to really take it all in while sitting there watching him in this moment.

The rain eventually let up and we all sat by the fire. Carl made us smores and Carson discovered his new love for marshmallows.

The next morning came way too early, but that was only because Carson slept great and was bright eyed at 6am. I hardly slept at all because of the aforementioned jerks in the spot above us. Well, that and the 30lb. sack of potatoes I had attached to my side all night. :) Luckily I had a hot shower and we went to have $2 all you can eat pancakes. 

We were only a few miles down the hill from the actual Mt. Rushmore monument. The way it's positioned is up at the peak of the mountain facing the backside so you actually have to go up there to see it. We both thought it was really surreal to see it in person since it's an image you grow up with and know, but it was really neat in person. You were able to get a lot closer than I thought you would be able to. They have a large area in front to look right up at it and then you can take a walkway down and get even closer. Carson kept telling us he could see the faces. 

I was FREEZING when we left camp so I stayed in my warm camping clothes. Luckily the sun is 100 degrees hotter up top so I was dying of heat. When we left I had to do an impromptu wardrobe change on the side of the road. Oops!

It wasn't anything new or unexpected, but I'm really glad to say that we have seen it in person. It would have been cool to see a real person up there for some scale because it is even bigger than you think it is going to be.

On our way down we stopped at a small lake (you know, where I had to change clothes...haha). There were quite a few fish in this area that you could easily see so Carson parked here for a while.

The amazingly great put-the-camera-on-a-bench-at-an-angle and set the timer shot. I really need some more timer practice. :)

The last stop on the way out was to see Crazy Horse. It was $10 to park at Mt. Rushmore which was worth it so we figured this would be the same. Umm, no, it was $28 just to drive in! No thanks. We pulled into the information lot way at the bottom and I grabbed this picture. I had to crop it way down to see it even like this, but it's pretty cool too. Apparently it isn't even close to being done and the rock under him will be his horse and much more of his body.

So.......that was our quick 2-day trip! I'd highly recommend going if you are thinking about it!

Potty training, take 1.

I got the bug last week that it was time to get serious about focusing on potty training. I am well aware of the whole "you can't force them" thing, but Carson has shown all the signs that he is ready. I would hate for my laziness to be the reason why he isn't going for it. He's had his potty chair for quite a while now, but we haven't had a schedule of sitting on it, we have just had it around when we felt like trying.  I have read a bunch and talked to the girls at his daycare. One of them said she got underwear for her son at Carson's exact age with his favorite characters. She skipped Pull-Ups altogether because he didn't want to go in his cool undies. I came right home and ordered some Thomas and Yo Gabba Gabba big boy underwear and patiently waited. 

They showed up yesterday during naptime. Carson spotted the boxes on the floor right when he came downstairs so it was really exciting for him to get to try them out. I have been stoked to potty train because of how ridiculously adorable his little bum would be in them.

He picked out Brobee for his first pair. They did not fail me on the cuteness factor.

He ran around the house in his new found Brobee undies and ate his favorite new treat, popsicles. 

I just love his pouty popsicle lips.

This all started around 3:00 and by bedtime we were in pair #6. He loves telling me AFTER he goes and he has yet to actually go in the potty. This morning it took two hours for us to be in pair #5 and I decided this apparently isn't the right approach for him. He literally gets off the potty and comes in the living room and pees. I switched back to a diaper and I'm trying to take him to the potty every 20-30 minutes. We really think that as soon as he goes that first time in the potty he'll get it, but until then I can't chase him around cleaning the carpets all day.

This was this morning with his jammies and his Caillou goes potty book. He thinks it's fun to be in there at least. I have stickers waiting for him when he finally goes which he's excited about too.

I'm open to any and ALL suggestions right now since I apparently have no idea what I'm doing. 
Anyone? Bueler?

My birthday in Nederland

When we were trying to decide where to drive for on Sunday I wanted to try somewhere in a different area than we normally go. Plus, my mom and dad were coming so I didn't think we should really go off-road. Carl had been on a bike trip up Golden Gate Canyon to Nederland and we figured that would be a scenic drive that was all real roads. The problems was that the canyon wasn't all that scenic and most of it had signs saying you had to pay if you stopped anywhere along the road. It was kind of lame. I jumped out of my seat and snapped one pic of a flower when we stopped at a bathroom. Lame-O.

We get up to the town of Nederland and it was actually pretty cool. It was full of hippies and bike riders (mountain bike and motorcycles...).  There were cool old shops and a big river running through the middle of town.

Door leading to nowhere? Check!

Random poster of a tiger? Check!

Then I spotted a sign that said there was a carousel. We walked over and there was an old train car and a huge working antique carousel. It was actually really cool. Carson couldn't have had more fun.

Next we found some of the oldest tractors I've ever seen. They were enormous, but once again, Carson was in heaven.

Me, Carson and my Mom and Pops :)

Then it came time to find somewhere to have lunch. Carl insisted that he has heard about the "German influence" in Nederland and that there was a good German restaurant there. Of course he spotted it as soon as we pulled into town. I don't like German food, but it said there was American too so I figured it would be fine......

Why not have a large plant and water feature in the middle of your German cabin/restaurant??? Huh?

Carl was in German beer heaven:

And they were so nice to Carson. They brought him homemade applesauce and candy. Then this REALLY old waiter kept talking to him and when I told him to just bring him some water he said something about a "moon man" and walked away. I didn't know what to expect after that. They came out with a Shirley Temple for him. Connection? Apparently that's what he needed, but it did keep him occupied for a very long time.

The bad part about lunch was.......my lunch. I ordered oven baked chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies. Sounds just fine, right? Wrong. The chicken looked like they caught a robin out back, cooked it and then gave me half of it. I got one little ice cream scoop of potatoes and there were two pieces of broccoli and cauliflower. I literally laughed out loud when they set my plate down. And it really didn't even taste good. My mom's lunch was really really bad too.

By the time 4:00 rolled around I was already starving. Carl made the fatal error in suggesting that I make a Digiorno for dinner. Um, no. Not on my freakin' birthday when THAT was what I had for lunch! We went down to Real de Minas for Mexican food that couldn't be any better. It was the right way to eat on my birthday. And yes, I get to be a spoiled brat for one day a year. :)

Carson and Grandpa after dinner:

Carson had a blast with his grandpa for the last few days. He brought him his first real baseball mitt so guess what we've been doing all day every day since!?!? My dad finally has his boy to play sports with. You know I sure wasn't doing it!!!! haha

And I KNOW I said I wouldn't post any more photos of the sky, but but but look at this one! This was the sunset when we got home that night.

Just us

Last night we all went out to dinner to celebrate the birthdays of me and our good pals Megan and Luke. I picked Red Robin because it's one of the only places we can take Carson and not be the outcasts. He outdid himself for even RR though while screaming at the top of his lungs for half of dinner. 

 

Before we left I tried to get a family photo so here we are... Heaven forbid Carson actually looks at the camera for once.

This one just made me laugh. I'm going in for a hug/kiss and he is going in for the punch.

 

I'm only posting right now because someone (Grandpa) isn't ready to leave yet. Hopefully it will really be in the low 70s up there and a nice day today!

Seriously, take away my spatula.

I am just recording this so I have something to refer back to the next time I think I should bake something. Don't let me. Really. 

Yesterday I decided it would be a great activity for Carson and me to make cookies. I had a bag of toffee so I figured I'd just follow whatever recipe was on the bag. The problem was that it said it was for 6 dozens cookies, which I obviously didn't need. As I start throwing ingredients together I decide I'll half it. But then I thought, well, I'll go with 2/3 the recipe. Somewhere between the butter to flour to baking soda ratio, and my lack of actual measuring, something didn't work. 

Oh, and let's also add the fact that my lovely son apparently took one of my mixer arms and I didn't know this until it was too late. Not the easiest thing I've ever done. My whole sink area was covered in flour.

I was preeeeeettttty sure something was wrong when my dough looked like this:

I kept working with it and actually thought they looked like they could be REAL cookies!

Until I took them out of the oven. And tasted them. I like to describe these beauties as "cake cookies". It was kind of like eating a dry cookie or cake that really needed some frosting. Not what I was going for at all. 

I brought one out to Carson in the backyard and he threw it on the ground after one bite. Go me!

Our little fighter has a little swelling and a good cut from his battle with the coffee table corner. At least it isn't a huge black eye like I expected. It's in the worst place though...no band-aids will stick there and he won't let me touch his eyes at all anyways.

I did have a little kitchen redemption last night though. One good thing about Carl not being here for dinner is my mom and I can freely make lots of vegetables to eat!!! I was grilling chicken and wanted to try grilling veggies in foil packets. I made red potatoes, asparagus, red peppers and onions with some olive oil and lots of herbs and garlic.

I honestly thought that since they were in the foil it wouldn't actually be like grilling them. But I can't believe how good they were! They were charred and had a good grill flavor. We had way too much, but YUM!

Daddy comes home tonight too! It's about time. Carson is very excited to get to go to the airport tonight. When Carl came home two weeks ago his flight got rerouted because of weather so we were waiting in the airport for a while and had to go back home without him. My dad is coming in Saturday night too. When I told Carson Grandpa was coming he said, "Yay! Grandpa's coming out of the computer!" Obviously he said this because he talks to Grandpa on Skype all the time, but I couldn't believe he said that. We are all heading up to the mountains on Sunday because Sunday is my BIRTHDAY! :)

Rain, rain

This afternoon we both wanted to get out of the house. Carl is gone again, my eyes had taken all the computer they could for the time being and frankly, I wanted to shop. We had some large clouds way out in the distance, but I was hoping for the best. I actually took some pictures coming out of our neighborhood, but at the time I didn't think much of them. Silly me. I won't post any more photos of the sky and bore you to death. :)

On our way!

I spent quite a bit of time in one store (and didn't find much that I liked. I am at home online shopping, can't wait to get my hands on some real stuff, try on an arm-full and hate all of it. I just love the experience of shopping even though I rarely actually buy anything. I have to LOVE something to spend money on it. Then they had all the dressing aisles blocked so I had to squeeze in the tiny room with Carson in a stroller while he pulled everything off the hangers and pinched my legs. Wait, where was I?) I hadn't paid attention to the weather since I was sort of in a zone. We head for the door to leave and I see that it is pouring rain. I mean really raining hard. I'd already spent close to an hour in this one store so I figured we'd wait just outside under the awning thingy to let it pass. I think we sat under there for at least 20 minutes. We were at a corner shop so I couldn't even run to another close store because there was nothing close! It was so dinner time and I wanted to go eat if I couldn't shop!

At least I had my camera in my bag so we could have a little fun while we waited.

And tonight's another night that it is 10:30pm and I'm still up attending to randomness. I have never been a night person in my life, but now that Carson is here I find myself craving the quiet alone time. Of course, I regret it once 6am rolls around which is what his internal alarm is set to. I would give some serious bank to sleep until an hour that started with an E or N.

And if any one reading is on facebook that I haven't friended yet, add me at facebook.com/rachaelwooten. I bit the bullet.

And I notice that I love to start my sentences with And. Sue me.

Sweet Dreams! (as Carson would say...)

Gettin' jiggy wit it

Last night we got out of the house for dinner so Carson was being really silly in the car. Carl decided to give me a headache and turn on the techno channel. Blech. The upside is that it looks like Carson likes it like his daddy. It makes him dance...aka makes you completely dizzy to watch. :)  And you can see a pretty good mad face at the end.

Other stuff from the week:

"Funny" faces! Sort of.

 

One night the boys decided it would be fun to put EVERY car in the car table inside of Carson's shirt. Carl then held him upside down while they all rained out which Carson loved. 

But I snapped this pic and when I saw it I couldn't believe how old he looks! Not my little baby anymore. :(