Weekend Get-Away

As I mentioned in my last post, Ben was off from football last Friday. Since we didn't go on a summer vacation this year, we decided to head "up the road" to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN for the weekend.

Our original plan was to arrive around 2-3pm, check-in at the hotel, and spend the afternoon/evening and dinner at the Tanger Outlets. Since we ended up at the dr with Aidyn, we didn't arrive until closer to 7pm.

We decided to go to the hotel, feed and change Aidyn, and go shopping. We began our "adventure" at KT's Bar and Grill. I wasn't sure what kind of mood Aidyn would be in, so we asked to sit out on the patio where there was a guy playing his guitar and singing. The less quiet Aidyn is expected to be, the better. And ofcourse, the more happening around him to keep him entertained, the better.

Here's a quick picture of him in the high chair "dancing" to the music. He loved it and was such a good boy all through dinner!

We left dinner and Ben put Aidyn his the backpack carrier. We only had time to visit 2-3 stores, so we knew the backpack would be easier for tonight than the stroller. Once we got back to the hotel, it was time to feed him and go to bed...or so we hoped.

Here he is playing with a pack of diapers that he just dumped out of the bag. Fun, fun.

Ben and I debated to whether or not to take the pack-n-play and ultimately decided not to. I'm still not sure if it would have made a difference or not.

However, Aidyn's "normal" routine goes as follows:
Bath (on Sunday or Wednesday only)
Lotion, Skin Ointment
Clean Diaper and PJs
Bottle
Rock a few minutes
Laid in his Crib
(Lullaby music and dehumidifier)

Normally, we just lay Aidyn in his crib. Sometimes he's asleep already, and other times he lays and talks to himself a few minutes and goes to sleep on his own.

At the hotel, it took us over an hour (both nights) to get him to sleep. I couldn't just lay him in the bed and walk off. He'd climb/fall off. Ben and I were visible so he thought we wanted to play. There was no rocking chair. Etc, etc, etc.

However, other than our crazy bedtime "routine", our weekend get-away was great. We were able to stroll up and down Gatlinburg on Saturday evening after we ate dinner at No Way Jose's. We found lots of good deals at the outlets for ourselves (and a few for Aidyn).

When we went out walking Saturday evening, it was cool and almost like a "mist" in the air. Aidyn was tired (as were we) of being in the room, and he definately wasn't going to bed anytime soon. So, after much "deliberation" between Ben and myself about whether or not to take Aidyn out into the "mist", you can see we ended up going. In the end, I was glad with our decision. We saw many parents out with their children (some not bundled up at all!!!) and Aidyn enjoyed "people watching".

He had his pajamas on, with his orange fleece sweatshirt over it, a baseball cap on to keep his head dry, and he was wrapped in a blanket. Needless to say, I do not think he got cold. :)

The view from the balcony before we left.

We ended the weekend by "sleeping in" (if you want to call it that) until 7:45am when Aidyn woke me up. We showered, packed up the car, and had a WONDERFUL breakfast at Flapjack's Pancakes. Ben and I each had the "#2 breakfast":
3 buttermilk pancakes
2 scrambled eggs
2 pieces of bacon
1 side of hashbrowns
1 large glass of orange juice

(Even Aidyn had a bite or two of pancakes!)

...all for $15.00 total. Yum-o!!!!

Hopefully we'll be able to take another "weekend get-away" to a different location after football is over and before the basketball season begins. It won't be long.