Celebrating Grandma's Birthday with a Trip to the Cabin

My Mom's Birthday often gets lumped in with Father's Day, but this year it fell on the Thursday after so we decided to make an extended weekend and celebrate with her up at my parents' cabin. Jon was able to come up for dinner on Thursday night, but had to work the next two days so he headed home after our rib dinner and double chocolate cake dessert. The boys and I stayed through Sunday morning and had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa. Reed had such a hard time falling asleep the first night it was almost 2:00 am before he finally dozed off and despite a good first night Kieran fought with some sleep demons (also known as constipation) the next two nights. This meant that Grandma and I didn't get much shut eye during the nights (Grandpa slept through it all) but our days were so much fun and it was a treat to have someone play with the kids while I prepped a meal, did dishes, or took a shower since Jon is rarely home these days for any of those activities. I also had the luxury of them cooking for me as well.

 

 

On Friday we took a tour of Cat Haven, a sanctuary for wild cats including Jaguars, Lions, Tigers, Lynx, and Snow Leopards. Reed was very good during the tour. He of course asked lots of questions but didn't seem phased at all when a Tiger let out a huge roar right in front of him. Kieran was content in the carrier. I had thought he might fall asleep but I think the cats and people were just too exciting. He got a little fussy at the end, but overall did great.

 

 

On Saturday we took another field trip, this time to Grant Grove to see the Giant Sequoia trees. I tried out our backpack with Kieran and it was a huge fail. He cried so hard that I ended up going back to the car and putting him in the carrier which he immediately was fine with. Reed didn't seem too impressed by the trees and even told us the trees were small after he walked through the inside of one. He did enjoy the "hike" that we took to see the trees though.

 

 

It was great to spend quality time with my parents and the boys.  I think Jon enjoyed a little mini vacation at home to boot! I look forward to many more trips like this in our future. Maybe some with Jon and hopefully Dodger can join us soon too - as long as everyone gets a little more shut-eye!!!