Michael’s dad, Don (Pop-Pop), turned 81 on December 2nd. We were fortunate to be able to spend this special day with him.

This was Claire’s second trip to Kentucky and second plane trip. She is becoming quite the traveler and does well on the plane. Standing in for Shenanigans as my emotional support companion, she does a superb job snuggled up next to me in the Ergobaby most of the time, but she also enjoys taking a snooze in daddy’s lap every once in a while.

This was a short trip but still full of fun and memories. We arrived home on Thursday evening to a yummy pot of chili. Claire got reacquainted with her Omi and Pop-Pop. It took the first night for her to get settled in to her new surroundings but she warmed up after that.

She was showered with gifts by Omi, as usual! She got some adorable new Christmas jammies, new toys, books, and other baby gear. Claire liked interacting with her new toys, and they also served as motivation for her to work on crawling.

She is such a different baby from the first time she met Omi and Pop-Pop. Our first Kentucky trip was at about 2 months. Now at almost 6 months she is turning into a little person who smiles and laughs. Omi learned how to make Claire laugh for pictures by laughing loudly – the laughter was contagious! And she is on the verge of crawling so it was nice for her grandparents to get to see that.

Pop-Pop liked kissing Claire on her feet and hands. Claire loves him so much and it is very sweet to see them talk to each other. Pop-Pop got to give Claire her baba and enjoyed telling us about his childhood while he fed her.

Omi also enjoyed feeding Claire both bottle & baby food, making her laugh, and speaking to her in German. Claire’s eyes light up when Omi enters the room!

Stories, Lunch, The Salon, & Coffee

Friday morning we hung around the house for a bit. Claire and I had the privilege of hearing Don talk about his childhood while Michael and Christel got to visit outside on the porch. I learned about a few new-to-me branches of the family tree from Don’s childhood and was fascinated to hear him speaking of times from 8 decades ago.

On Friday afternoon, Christel and I got out for a girls’ lunch. We went to a really cute restaurant called Back Home just down the street from their house. If Hobby Lobby opened a restaurant, this is what it would look like! There was a cute Christmas gift shop right in the entrance. The restaurant is very cozy with dining broken up into small rooms as it is an old house converted into a restaurant. There is a bathtub in the bathroom!

After lunch we headed to the boutique upstairs to browse. It was cute and fun just to take some time to shop for nothing in particular.

We popped by the salon of family friend Clarence to see his salon makeover. It looks so good and was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Next time we are going to go for massages at The Salon!

We decided to keep the fun going and stopped by an awesome coffee shop in downtown Etown called Vibe. I got a lavender vanilla latte and Christel got her usual large coffee with heavy whipping cream. This place did not disappoint and will definitely be our new go-to coffee shop in Etown. We ended up going back 3 times during our short visit!

Michael was a great daddy and son while we were out, taking care of Claire and spending time with his dad. He got to hear new stories while they visited, which he treasures.

Friday evening we enjoyed more visiting at the house. Claire played with her new toys and worked on crawling. Since the time zone is later, she stays up later. Then we stay up later. So it was a late night but still fun-filled.

Don’s 81st Birthday

Saturday was the big birthday day. We started out by heading to McDonalds to bring back breakfast – the birthday boy’s favorite. Michael got Don out on the porch to smoke his pipe since it was such a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed the cool, crisp weather.

We then packed up the family in the car for a short road trip over to Michael’s childhood home in Etown. Don had built a log cabin when Michael was in second grade and they lived there for 5 years. We pulled in to the driveway to take some pictures and hear a few stories about the old house. It is a gorgeous log cabin and so special that Michael’s dad built it himself.

We enjoyed hearing about how he taught himself to do the electricity, plumbing, air conditioning…everything! And stacked the logs as if their house were a Lincoln Logs set 🙂 I hope Claire and I one day get to go in to see what it looks like on the inside and hear Michael describe to us how it used to be.

Michael and I had prepared a video birthday surprise for Don. When we lived in Vegas, Michael borrowed a friend’s VCR (thanks Shirley!) and digitized the family’s VHS tapes from his childhood. We have been meaning to arrange them in a shareable format for years but it was one of those things we hadn’t gotten to yet.

Our original plan was to create a compilation DVD of all the home videos. Michael got me a DVD creating program and I loaded all the video files, thinking I would just create a chapter for each video. Turns out we have over 38 hours of content!

We weren’t able to edit all of that in time for the birthday present, but instead came up with a video about 38 minutes long with a “to be continued…” at the end. We also incorporated some of the old family photos from the 80s set to music in the video.

Our next plan is to create a DVD per decade and try to organize and share the photos and videos that way. We will be doing this for the Hurley videos eventually as well. As I often say these days, I cannot imagine a time in my life when I could ever be bored again. If you are ever bored, come see me and I will give you something to do 🙂

We finished off the birthday celebration with a yummy dinner and birthday cake made by Christel. In the absence of birthday candles, we held up lighters and serenaded Don for the 81st time. It was a sweet, special moment I hope none of us ever forget.

And then there was more porch time before bedtime (of course!). I laughed when Michael asked “What is this, Wisconsin?” after I bundled up Claire and I for our porch visit with Christel & Don’s neighbor & good friend Beth 😉

Photos & Fresh Kentucky Air

On Sunday we enjoyed the good weather again and got Don out on the porch for some fresh air and photos with Claire. Later, Christel headed out to Louisville for some much needed me-time. I went on a secret mission to Lexington for a painting class with my friend Nicole from high school. Michael once again was super dad back at home and managed Claire, making dinner, and hanging out with Don.

My Secret Mission in Lexington

I had to tell the white lie that I was going to dinner with Nicole in Lexington so I could make a secret Christmas gift for Christel and Don. They recently sent Michael a customized whole bourbon barrel. It is so nice! Nicole happened to be hostessing a bourbon barrel head paint night the weekend we were visiting. It worked out perfectly that I got to go see her one last time before her family moves to Italy for 3 years and make a cool Christmas present with some meaning to our family.

Our Porch Lighting Ceremony

Michael hung some cute white lights on the porch that Christel had gotten. Now we have to get some for our house! When I arrived home from Lexington we had a porch lighting ceremony and oohed and ahhed over the new look, complete with remote control and dimming effect!

Yoga, More Coffee, Cheesecake, & Christmas Decorations

Monday was our last full day. I snuck out for a relaxing yoga class at noon at the Karma Yoga Studio downtown. The studio is absolutely gorgeous (and Christmasy!) and the class was heavenly. I stopped by Vibe for one last coffee run and we enjoyed good coffee and red velvet cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, courtesy of Christel.

Christel and I headed out with Claire to visit family friend Aunt Ruby and we enjoyed seeing her Christmas decorations and catching up. We brought home a holiday meal from The Honeybaked Ham and enjoyed our last evening together for the trip.

It was a great time and we only wish we lived closer so we could spend more time together, but we look forward to the next visit soon!

Outtakes:

Since I wrote this entire post on my phone there were a few funny auto-corrects that made me laugh out loud that I had to share – enjoy 🙂

In the absence of birthday candles, we held up Don and serenaded him for the 81st time.

On Sunday we enjoyed the good weather again and hit Don out on the porch for some fresh air and photos with Claire.

(Since we had a 4 hour plane ride home and I can’t really do anything else but hold Claire and be on my phone while she sleeps, I was able to create this post. I have many more visits to catch up on posting for but I will do it! Also, more photos to add to this post as I collect them from other phones…and video clips!)