Providence, RI

We spent this past weekend away from campus and in a new city! It was great to get away and have some family time. It was only one night away, and that was good enough considering all the planning it took to get everything and everybody ready. I must have packed (in list form) for a good week or so: disposable diapers, disposable wipes, swim diapers (the hotel had a pool but we didn't actually have time to enjoy it - silly isn't it?), a small bag of toys, pack and play, all the pacifiers, bib, tray, wash cloths, formula, bottles (can't wait til that's over!), and food just in case restaurant choices weren't going to cut it: fresh fruit, peanut butter and ritz crackers (he thought were strange), cheerios (also strange - so dry and crunchy!), and individual applesauce containers, That, plus the regular stuff like maps and camera make for a heavy diaper bag... Luckily, I count this as my exercise. 

Sunday morning was a bear since it was daylight savings time. Kent promptly fell asleep once we hit the road and woke up just as we pulled into the Children's Museum. I don't know who was more excited: him or me!!! They had so many cool exhibits there, many of which were too advanced for him, but I know we'll be back. Kent enjoyed crawling everywhere, pushing a cart of fake rocks around, playing with large magnetic shapes, crawling up the slide with Papa, manipulating locks and hinges (PS: wouldn't this be awesome to make??), and, of course, the water!!

After that, we had lunch at a Japanese place and shared our food with Kent, who loved it! We decided to go back to the hotel because we thought we could all use a nap, but Kent was not having it. I think he was overtired and totally weirded out about being in a new place. That, and the leaf blower outside wouldn't stop. He just cried and cried and knew we were just around the corner, so it was torture. We headed back into the city to explore downtown (such cool architecture) and little Italy where we found a great place to have dinner. Kent loved my veggie lasagna and flirted with the bartender. A woman next to us was so fascinated by his ezpz mat (and I was so thrilled to tell her about it) that she took out her phone and promptly ordered two of them for her grandkids. I should get something for that. 

Kent loved exploring the hotel room and jumping on the bed. He slept very well that night and we had a fantastic breakfast, where, again, he made noises to get the attention of a woman at another table and then smiled non-stop when she finally looked our way. Little ham.

After breakfast, we packed up and headed out to Brown University because Matt signed him up for a campus tour. We got caught in traffic but we managed to find the tour and joined in. Kent fell asleep in the car and continued sleeping in our arms for part of the tour. No worries, we grabbed a bunch of pamphlets for him to read in 2032. 

It was such a beautiful day - 60 and sunny with the prettiest muted colored trees against all of the stone and brick of the city. We had tea at a very cool teahouse with some very unique tea blends. I got a black tea with vanilla that was from Sri Lanka. After that, we ate falafels in one of the more popular college streets and headed home a little early. Kent slept in the car and transferred well to his crib. I'm so glad that he got some naps in, even if they were shorter, and that we didn't feel the need to rush back anywhere for him to sleep in a crib. If he's tired enough, he'll sleep wherever. That may not be true forever, but I'll take it for now. We're so glad he's flexible to tag along with us where we want to go. Hopefully that'll be the same for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!