Friday, May 8, 2020

When was the last time you read a travel blog about potty training?

After isolating in Oklahoma's panhandle with 90-year-olds, we are heading east to spend time with family on the other end of the age spectrum. The skies were filled with interesting clouds when we made the 7-hour drive in our car to Kansas City.

We were driving to the Kansas City area to spend time with our oldest son, his wife, and our only grandchild.

When we were making our plans for the spring, we had this week scheduled for baby-sitting. Luke and Jordan had planned a ten-day trip to Switzerland, and we were in charge of our precious little Carter. But they had to cancel their trip because of the coronavirus. Because they had already scheduled vacation days from work, they looked for a more local trip. But with all the national parks closed and cities still in lock-down, there aren't too many alternatives. So they ended up taking a few days at the lake house while we were in charge of our granddaughter back home.

Can you tell that she has her Granddad wrapped around her finger?

We were delighted to get to spend time with Carter. She is a week away from her second birthday, and is at that stage where she is talking and walking and has an affinity for bubbles.

She is also doing big girl things, and we arrived on the fourth day of potty training. Keeping up with that training was quite a responsibility for a couple of wanderers that haven't done any potty training for over 27 years! But we had help from Daniel Tiger and his PBS cartoon videos that talk about going to the potty. Carter hasn't had computer or television screen time in her life, so she was mesmerized by those moving pictures on the TV.

Between Daniel the Tiger and our due diligence. we have had a very successful time at this potty training! So now we can go on with more pictures of our little girl in the backyard.

We have been off our regular regime of hiking and kayaking, so we had to start a creative exercise program. We suppose that we can count as exercise the sprints we have made to the potty chair. Did you know that your heart will rise to a cardio-level rate if you hold a 30-pound laundry basket in front of you and "fly" it all over the house?

Carter could be a fitness trainer, as she kept clapping and offering words of encouragement to keep this workout going.

We also went on walks everyday, but we can't say that they are at an aerobic pace. Carter was the only one getting good exercise, as she had to move her little legs fast to keep up with our sauntering pace.

All five of us went on a family bike ride on the nice trails that weave through Lenexa and Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Mark got our three bicycles in the picture as he brought up the rear on his bike.

Jordan got the most exercise, with her extra passenger on the back of her bike.

We all rode a little faster when this snake slithered across our bicycle path.

Mark rode back to take our wildlife picture of the day as this poisonous copperhead slithered into the grass.

Carter is rocking her bicycle helmet on this ride. But she finally got tired, so her parents turned around to pedal home.

That left Gram and Granddad to tackle a little more of the bike trail. We found out that Luke and Jordan chose a good time to turn back, as the trail definitely got steeper at this point. In fact, we found some 18% hills. While Mark made it to the top, Denisa feels no shame in walking her bike up that kind of incline.

Mark's a man after Denisa's heart when he takes pictures of wildflowers while Denisa pushes her bike up yet another steep section of the trail.

We love the exercise, but we especially treasure the time with our little granddaughter. Gram usually plays the piano with Carter on her lap. But this trip, Carter prefers sitting on the bench and playing the piano by herself while Gram sings from the floor.

It's hard to put a video on the blog, so you'll have to take our word for it that we have the cutest video of a 23-month-old playing and singing "Jesus Loves Me" at the top of her lungs. Precious memories!

After a week of fun that included 7 successful days of potty training, we're leaving in the car to head back towards Oklahoma and our home on wheels. Who knew that our travel plans this spring would include potty-training?

1 comment:

  1. We always enjoy your posts! Great photos, lots of destination tips, and witty commentary! Thank you!

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