Part 1 of our Kentucky trip here. |
Burger with Spanish cheese and brussels sprouts:
Back in the room. We had a much more restful night. In matching pajamas.
For breakfast we went back to the Highlands neighborhood for egg sandwiches and coffee with bourbon cream at Highland Morning. We walked for a bit and then drove to Lexington. As we neared the city Luke asked, what are we going to do for a few hours? "Walk around the city center?" I said as I googled "things to do in Lexington, KY". Kentucky Horse Park was a first hit and about 2 miles ahead on the highway - we made a beeline there.
It was a bright and cold day otherwise we would have stayed longer. The park is beautiful and extremely stroller friendly: here we are visiting the Big Barn which houses the draft horses.
We saw 2 shows: the Hall of Champions - retired champions are walked around the ring and their careers recounted - and the Parade of Breeds - riders in traditional dress rode a horse while the announcer discussed that breed's origins, uses, etc.
Clementine was very anxious about this English Shire in knight costume.
"Is it a real dragon??"
"Will the dragon costume come off??"
A golden, shimmery horse from Turkistan.
On to the Crawfords' house! Laura and I went to high school together in Texas and now have girls almost the same age. As Ellie said: "there's a girl who's five, who's four, who's three, and two!"
Moana. The Crawford girls know all the lyrics - even the Polynesian parts!
Mediterranean takeout.
I call this "we spent way too much on a swanky hotel and they liked being in this dog crate a thousand times more."
There really isn't anything like someone else's dress up clothes and toys.
Our Airbnb was a two bedroom apartment in a student housing area (flags on the windows, random couches on porches, you remember those parts of town) and luckily wasn't too loud though when we arrived for the night I heard Party Sounds and groaned.
We met the Crawfords at the Keeneland racetrack for the morning kid activities there - face painting (which we just missed), photos with the costumed mascot, Buckles*, photos against a green screen in jockey attire, petting Shetland ponies.
*later C said this was one of her favorite parts: "hugging the horse who walked itself."
Doughnuts from North Lime - not your average doughnut! Absolutely delicious.
This gray horse was just magnificent. Out on the track the horses were warming up. I would love to go back for a race. And mint julep. And fancy hat viewing.
Back at Laura and Pete's horse, Laura painted their faces while Pete boiled eggs for dyeing.
Josie admires her horse (and wasted no time getting back in Someone Else's Dress Ups).
We dyed eggs, picked up Local Taco for lunch, and took a long drive for a Car Nap. Laura's street is every parent's dream - several families with similarly aged kids who get together on a lawn while the parents laugh and talk and have a beer. The kids played while we chatted - Clementine decided she wants a scooter and I decided we need to find a street like this!
Pete made burgers for dinner, more swing set time, Moana singalong, and back to the Airbnb. Thank you Crawfords for sharing your weekend, home, and every.single.toy in your house with us!
Morning cuddles before we drove back to St Louis. The girls watched their iPads and we listened to the Jason Isbell Spotify station and I read Oryx and Crake. We were home early in the afternoon - time to throw out the food in the fridge (this is when I renew my pledge to decrease our food waste), shop for staples, and get ready for Luke to head back to Texas.
We had such a great trip - Kentucky is so beautiful and even better with great friends to visit there!
I'm having trouble uploading photos from my phone to Blogger - luckily Luke took a bunch of photos with the Real Camera and I can't wait to see them!
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