The drive home

On the drive home from the reunion we stopped at a couple places. One was Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Kentucky. They have enclosed the cabin where he was born in a marble monument to preserve it. It sounds weird but it was kind of cool getting to see a cabin that was as old as this one. To get to the cabin we had to walk on this boardwalk through the woods. It was very nice to be under these trees on this hot day. Chance kept looking at the wheels on his stroller as we walked.

Another place we stopped was the Jack Daniels distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It was actually very interesting. We got to go through all the stages of making the Whiskey. Some rooms smelled horrible but we learned how it is made and the story of mister Jack Daniel. It actually makes me want to buy a bottle and taste it just to think of the real proccess that it takes to make that bottle. Lynchburg is in a dry county so I will have to buy myself a bottle here sometime.

Asleep under the tree

Chance was very good at the reunion and enjoyed all of the attention. Our family gets a pavilion and sets up food and drink all along one side. We all visit and eat and visit some more for most of the day. We had to get up a little early to go down to the spot where everyone was to meet for the reunion so Chance didn't get a long morning nap. When he started getting tired my Mom carried him until he fell asleep on her shoulder, that was so cute. Then we layed him down on this sleeping bag. Scott had a long drive the day before to get to us and so the two of them layed out on the blankets under a tree and took a little nap. It is a very nice spot where the reunion takes place. It is at Natural Bridge State park in Kentucky. The tree that they were napping under is very close to the pavilion where everyone gathers. Its great getting to see everyone, even if it is only once per year. Most everyone lives in Kentucky or Ohio except us who drive up nearly every year. We get a cabin at teh park which is in the woods and a great little place to hang out for a couple days. It's nice to have a Kitchen and all the extra room in the cabin plus all the nature and quiet that is all around. Fort eh last two years we have worked in a little Geocaching on our Reunion trip and this year was no different. We only went out after two but that is just enough to break up the day and learn a little more about the area. This year we found a drive-in theater that isn't very far from the park at all and it still shows movies. I for one am excited to go see a movie there next year. There aren't very many Drive-ins left but they are really fun places to go. The reunion is on a Saturday and every Sat. night they have a hoedown in another part of the park. A bunch of the family goes every year. After we go back to our rooms and rest for a few hours. We went down this year and Chance got to do his first Waltz and Hokie Pokie. He was an excellent dancer. He loves music and he laughed and watched the people and had lots of fun.

World of Coke

On the way up to the reunion we toured the World of Coca-Cola in downtown Atlanta. It was a wierd sort of Disney World for Coke but still it was cool to see all the different things they had. There were art galleries and memoribilia. They had a room that showed old Coca-Cola comercials and a place where you could see them bottling coke in old fashioned glass bottles. There was also a 4-D theater but Chance did not like that so we sat that one out. He was tired and it didn't just sprinkle a little water on you like most of them, the seats actually moved and everything so that was a little too much for him. The last wart of the tour was the tasting room where we could taste Coke products from all over the world. That was definately my favorite part. Chance even tasted a few from his own glass. He made the funniest faces. The first picture was taken outside the building and the last one was taken in front of a huge coke bottle in the tasting room. At the end they gave us each one of the bottles we had seen them bottling earlier for free, so now Chance has his very own collectors bottle of Coca-Cola.

Alseep in the Carseat

On the way home from picking up a few groceries getting ready for our trip on Wednesday Chance fell asleep in the car. He was so tired because we went a little late and it cut into his second nap. He didn't wake up at all when I took the car seat from the back seat and put it in the front seat. I took him out of the seat and carried him half way up the stairs before he woke up at all and then he went right back to sleep after I put him in his crib. You can see his feet hanging over the end of the car seat in the first picture which means it is time for him to move up to a convertible seat. I think we will get him one when we come back from the reunion. He really likes his blankets to sleep with. His sample blanket in the crib at home and his Ollie bear blanket when we are on the road. I soon as I handed it to him in the car he went right to sleep and you can see he is still holding onto it. I had to pry his fingers open so we could leave it in the car for next time.

Crawling

That's right it's official Chance can crawl forward. He did it two days ago and then he did it again yesterday. It isn't a full fledged hands and knees crawl it's more of an army style crawl on his knees and arms but he is definitely moving forward. I've seen him do it a number of times now but when Chance's Godfather, Dan came over yesterday he wouldn't do it. Before he left all Chance would do it rock back and forth but after he walked out the door he crawled forward toward his toys. Maybe he has performance anxiety. Because we have tile and hardwood floors throughout our apartment I put Baby Legs on Chance for him to crawl around the floor. They don't match his outfits but he is only at home and it doesn't really matter anyway. I will try to get a video of him crawling to post when he gets a little better.

Professional Pictures - the rest of us.

During our last full day in Portland we all got together and took pictures at the same studio where we had taken Chance earlier that week. These are the pictures.

The first one is Scott, Chance and Myself.

This one is of the four generations on Scott's Mom's side of the family. This is Scott, his Mom, Gaynelle a.k.a. Grandma G, Scott's Mom's Dad a.k.a. Grandpa Ted and Chance. It was great to be able to get this picture of the four of them together.

This is all of us. Grandpa Ted, Scott's step-dad a.k.a. Grandpa Von, Grandma G, Scott, Myself and Chance. This picture alone was worth doing the pictures in the first place. Just all of us being toether and having a momento of this time for ourselves and for Chance to look at in the future. He can see his family and all the people who love him. Even when he was this little.

Professional Pictures - Chance

I do not claim to know all the babies in the world but what I do know is that all the babies I have ever met or seen on Television or in magazines, Chance is the cutest little baby I have ever seen. We had profession pictures taken while we were in Portland and I just received my copies the other day. These are the proofs of all the pictures we took. I want a billion copies of each pose so I can one to give to everyone and still be sure to always have one for myself to look at any time. He was very good for his pictures and each one is so precious I can barely stand it. The smile that he makes in these pictures he doesn't really do anymore. He only made that smile for a couple weeks and now he has moved on to a more open mouthed smile. I love the little chair he is sitting in, it makes him look so grown up in a toddler sort of way. When the photographer asked if we wanted any naked baby pictures I didn't know what would happen but I thought if we don't do it now it won't be cool when he's older so we did it and he loved it he sat there and smiled just like he did before. The bottom line of this whole post is he's a total cutie no matter how you slice it.

Satchmo Summerfest

Today we went to Satchmo Summerfest. This music festival takes place just a block and a half from our house, with four stages and lots of food. It started yesterday with seminars and runs today and tomorrow with music and other festivities. We were going to go out midday after Chance;'s first nap but it was so hot I decided to wait till after his second nap and I am glad we did because then it was just right. The stages are all on the grounds of the Old US Mint building and we were able to get a wonderful spot on the grass in the shade of the building. We were just a few rows back from the stage and Chance loved every moment. He watched all the people and smiled at everyone. We listened to the Rebirth Jazz Band (second picture) and Soul Rebels both of which are very good. Yesterday I mentioned that Chance recognizes Scott's ring on my cell phone. Well, today when were listening to the bands, Chance was looking around but he didn't seem to love it or hate it at that point but then they started playing When The Saints go Marching in which is Scott's ring and Chance looked up and smiled and started bouncing up and down. He definately recognised the song. That really cool, seeing him make those connections. We stayed for almost two hours all of which Chance played and talked to people or we danced and clapped along with the music. He sat on my lap or his little blanket and generally had a good time. He may have gotten a little tired at the end as you can see in this last picture either that or he was telling me what he really thought of that last song.

Last Wednesday, Chance and I went to a playgroup. Meetup.com is a website for all different types of groups to meet in your area. There are a few stay at home mom groups and general playgroups in and around New Orleans. I signed up a month or so ago but this is the first time we actually went. It was at a McDonalds that has just been completely renivated only a few miles from the house. The other Moms were really nice and most of the children were around Chance's age. Another Mom who was there took these pictures as well as others and posted them on the meetup site. Chance got along well with the other children. He was very interested in what was going on but not sure what he should do. He was having a drooling day, in this second picture he actually looks kind of sad but most of the time he was bouncing around and smiling at everyone. We are going to go to the Children's Museum with this group next Tuesday which we are looking forward to very much.

Chance's Map

Since Scott is traveling a lot of the time I wanted a way to explain where Daddy is and where other friends and family are in the world Also, since we travel a lot I thought it would be agreatway to show where we are going too. On top of that it's a great teaching tool. I know right now he doesn't really understand what it is or what I am talking about, but he soon will.Right now he likes all the different colors. I think "Daddy" is starting to sound familier to him. Scott has a special ring on my phone which Chance knows and will look at the phone and get excited when he calls. He definately recegnises Scott's voice on the phone too. The map is laminated and I want to get some of those velum window type stickers to add to the map if I can find any that go with our theme. Right now I am writing on the map with dry erase markers. I took these pictures when Scott was in Newark, he is now in Portland, Or with Gandma G and Grandpa Von then he is taking a cross country drive to a bunch of stations to do follow up visits and we might just see him at the reunion after all.