Over the Labor Day long weekend, we drove down to Delaware with Autumn and Wes and their adorable baby girl Ailey. We stayed in Bethany, and went to Bethany Beach and Rehoboth Beach.
We enjoyed the boardwalk and ocean for a few days away and some great end of the summer weather. Although Rayleigh was too young to take swimming, Kelsey did put her feet in the water and let the waves splash her legs, and she loved it. She even pushed her feet down into the sand. We will turn her into a water baby yet!
The weather was great all weekend. We enjoyed several afternoons of beach bumming along the Delaware coast.
On our way back, we took the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, which was Rayleigh’s first boat ride.
The next weekend, we decided that we should take Rayleigh on her first camping trip before it got too cold. Mind you, it was still pretty cold – the overnight low was about 45 – but we figured we could all bundle up and we’d be fine. We dressed Rayleigh in a couple of layers, the topmost of which was a cute pink and orange job we got from somebody.
We camped out at the Hearthstone Campground in Lake George, about 25 minutes north of us. There was a classic car show in downtown Lake George that weekend, so we ended up having to fight the traffic of hundreds of old muscle cars in order to get to the campground. We set up camp and built a fire, which Rayleigh enjoyed, because the contrast of bright fire to dark surroundings is captivating for someone who can only see shapes and contrast.
We all packed into the tent for the night, and shared two zipped-together sleeping bags for warmth. Although the travel crib we bought was for the purpose of taking camping since it will fit in our tent, the fact that the temperature was in the 40s convinced us to share sleeping accommodations.
In the morning, we all got up and put on hooded sweatshirts and trekked into town for some breakfast at the Bank Cafe.
We came back Sunday after breakfast, and went to Hudson Falls’ annual heritage celebration, Sandy Hill Days. From 1810-1910, the village of Hudson Falls was called Sandy Hill. In 1910, the name was changed to Hudson Falls. (I argued that since it is 2010 they should change the name again, but apparently people rather like the current name.) Anyhow, the two parks in town are lined with food and craft vendors, so we walked around and got some food and bought some stuff. There was a pair of folks doing free balloon animals, so we got Rayleigh a giraffe.
This weekend we went to the Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds in Ballston Spa. We went with Natasha and Jim and their daughter Rory, who live in Saratoga; Jesse and Jessa and their daughter Eily, who came up from the Philadelphia area; Andy and his son Liam, who came up from Virginia, and various grandparents to the little ones who came in to visit. The festival was incredibly receptive to parents with small children – we were able to bring in a stroller, diaper bag, and camp chairs, and no one harassed us about it. All four kids had noise-dampening headphones to protect their little ears from the blaring Irish music. The festival was Friday and Saturday, and Saturday we left a little early to head back to Jim and Natasha’s place to sit around a bonfire for some “adult conversation” while the little ones slept.
Over the past week, we have been getting ready for Kelsey to go back to work. She starts her first day back tomorrow morning, bright and early, at 8AM. I will be home with Rayleigh all day every day, and will be taking her to campus with me on Wednesdays when I go down for class and meetings. I will be running her out to Kelsey at work probably once a day in order for her to breastfeed, and otherwise I will be giving her bottles of pumped breastmilk. We’ll post back again soon with how all of that is going.
We’ve stayed strong on the cloth diapering, and have even convinced Autumn and Wes to try it with their 7-month old daughter Ailey. Rayleigh seems to like the cloth diapers, and we haven’t had much diaper rash, other than when mom and dad let her go too long between changing.
The girls are in bed now, so I’m going to go and get Kelsey’s pumping supplies packed up and get a lunch ready for her for tomorrow, and then turn in myself.
Loved the update, you guys are amazing how you are getting out and about. She’s a trooper and so are her parents. Glad that you are having such a great time, thanks for taking us along!!!!!!