Callen and Crew

Keeneland

Doug and I have taken several trips to Lexington, KY, for horse racing at Keeneland and to visit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Keeneland runs horse races every April and October. Our fall is so busy that we opt to go in April for the 'big weekend' when the payout is the largest (not that we are betting enough to even come close to winning the big pay out!). The bourbon trail runs between Lexington and Louisville, and has 8 distilleries on the route. Taking tours and then ~~drinking~~ sampling the products at the end is always a good time! Doug and I have made the trip by ourselves, and also gone with our friends Lisa and Larry. Both trips were lots of fun, and we knew we wanted to continue going even after Callen was born. Three years ago we went up on a Friday and did a bourbon tour at Four Roses distillery the morning of the horse races. For the next trip, we knew we needed to get there earlier in order to enjoy more bourbon! So, we took off of work on Friday, and visited three distilleries that day before going to the horse races on Saturday. This year we stuck to tailgating at Keeneland only. We sampled our own bourbon at the tailgate!! It is such a fun and laid back time. Some girls get really dressed up with big hats and the guys wear bow ties, jackets, etc. It is always fun to people watch!

Doug took a half day last Friday, and we headed up to Lexington. By the time we made it to KY, checked into the hotel, and got unpacked, it was time for Callen to go to bed. We were going to try and go out to dinner, but he will so ill from being in the car for close to 6 hours, that we thought it best to go ahead and put him to bed and not make him get back in the car to find a dinner spot. (Traveling with a baby is a little different than what we are used to! We learned several things that we need to keep in mind for future trips and traveling with a little one. Cal did awesome the entire trip though and even slept in the closet of the hotel both nights without a peep!!).

We got up Saturday and headed to the track. We parked and got set up for a few hours of tailgating. The weather was beautiful!! We could not have asked for more perfect weather. We had a great time once in the track. Callen kept getting talked to by all the ladies...he was a little stud! He fell asleep for about an hour in his stroller. Other than that, he was wide eyed taking it all in. That boy is soooo curious about EVERYTHING going on around him. He likes to know what is happening.

Before we left for Lexington, Doug laid about wooden blocks numbered 1-9. He made Callen pick blocks for each race. We used those numbers to bet for him! We didn't walk away any richer from the trip, but we each won some of the races based on how we bet. It was lots of fun! We may not do this trip every year, but it is one we will definitely take Callen back to in the future. It will be really fun to go once he realizes what is going on with the horses, and can follow them while they are racing.