Last Saturday, after getting all moved into our new apartment, we decided to go on an adventure. We packed our gear and headed north to the tip of Lake Michigan, where they have a Maple Syrup Festival. I'm not sure if "Festival" is the right word, but they make maple syrup there, and will teach you exactly how to do it yourself. It was pretty interesting, actually. We learned all about the necessary tree diameters and day/night temperature variations in order for the sap to flow, and then the process necessary to make syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. And it takes way more than that to make maple sugar (which we decided is super yummy and something we wish was cheaper). It had been a warm day in Lafayette, but apparently N. Indiana missed the memo, because it was FREEZING up there. Jess somehow thought to bring a coat and beanie, but I had barely thought to change out of my sandals. Caden didn't seem to mind too much, but he refused to keep his hands inside, and I hadn't brought a coat or mittens for him (or shoes, or a hat, or anything, for that matter). Despite the cold, we had a fun adventure, and are now on the lookout for any little "festivals" that are close enough to go to. (Thanks Amelangs for the guide book!)
Jess and Caden in front of the buckets collecting sap
Maple Sap being turned into sugar the old fashioned way.
Jess and Caden in the "Sugar Shack" where sap is being boiled into syrup
Caden trying to claw is way out of Daddy's coat
Daddy and Son
A very cold Rose family warming up by the fire
By the way, it's not that Caden doesn't smile. He just doesn't smile for the camera. As soon as we pull it out, this is the face he puts on. He will stop mid-laugh and stare/glare at it. This is why almost all of his smiling pictures are taken from the side with him not looking at the camera.
That Maple Syrup post made me feel cold every time I looked at it, so I needed to add some warmer pics. The last couple of days have made it into the 80s here. I had to pull out some shorts from Caden's bigger sizes so that he had something to wear. He loved not having to be so covered up!
This is Caden's golf outfit from Grandma Rose- I think he's quite the handsome little man
Caden will stand at the couch like this for pretty much as long as we will let him. Now, how do we get him to roll over...?
Jess and Caden in the "Sugar Shack" where sap is being boiled into syrup
Grandma Rose came out to Indiana to visit us for almost a week, and the whole family loved it. Caden was thrilled that he had Grandma to play with all day long, and we were excited to see her again. It feels like Christmas was so long ago (it is in Caden time). Although we didn't go on any grand adventures, we sure enjoyed a lot of quality time in Lafayette. Thanks to Grandma, Caden has a new favorite pastime: this play mat. He literally can spend an hour grabbing and sucking and kicking and cooing in complete satisfaction (it was a life-saver when I was packing up our old apartment).
We spent one afternoon on Purdue campus, which was actually mine and Caden's first time doing so (Jess only spends a couple of hours a week on campus since his lab is off-campus). Although we've had a number of warm days, that day was not one of them, so we had to bundle up to wander around campus.
Grandma's visit was topped off by us starting to move apartments. We have had some messy issues with the plumbing, and the last incident was the last straw. So, we moved out of the basement and into a near-by 2nd story apartment which will not flood if neighbors decide to flush rags down the toilet. Jess and I have decided that we will not miss apartment life once we are done with it.
Wow! Our baby is starting to become a little boy! His growth has slowed down just a bit, which is fine by us. Four month stats are as follows:
Apparently, he was done with outside, because he was snoring away in his carrier
