Stone Mountain Spontaneity

Spontaneity - there's a word you don't usually see associated with DH and me. We are just not spontaneous people. Comes with being engineering types, I suppose. We are usually very methodical and logical, though ironically, it is logic that lead to this little spur of the moment trip in the first place.

We've been wanting to take Luke to the laser show at Stone Mountain for over a year now, but the consequences for keeping him up/out so late were not worth it. It just whacked out his schedule and his mood too much the next day. Lately, he has been up until 9 or so, refusing to go to sleep when he should. (We've been putting him to bed 8-8:30.) But he would start getting grumpy and unwieldy around 7. Given that the show doesn't start until 9:30, that just wasn't do-able.

Until today. Lately, instead of fighting him for an hour about taking a nap and then him only sleeping 30-45 minutes, we've been doing a "rest time" on the weekends. We pop in a DVD and he lays down on the couch to watch. He's usually pretty good about staying down for 90 minutes or so, but he never falls asleep on the couch. He's been that way since he was a small baby; he wants to sleep in his bed or in the car, and that's it. But today, after watching one movie all the way through, he wanted to watch a second one. That was about 3:00. He was asleep before 3:30, and he slept until nearly 5. He was very grumpy when he woke up, so we got him some quick calories (juice) and headed out to Zaxby's for dinner.

We chose to go to the one out in Stone Mountain. On the way there, DH commented that he didn't know what to do with Luke, since the very late nap meant he wouldn't be ready for bed until well after 9. Is there something that we've been wanting to do that required him staying up late that we can get to in time? At just that moment, the mountain loomed into view. "How about the laser show?" I asked. DH agreed that this was probably our best chance, plus it had been overcast most of the day, so it wasn't hot (humid, yes, but not hot). My only regret was not having the camera. We ate, picked up some clearance bath towels at Wal-Mart, and headed to the park. DH dropped us off to find a place to sit while he parked the car. Yes, there were lots of people there, but we only need a spot about 5x8 feet, and there were plenty of those available if you don't mind your blanket (or towels) barely touching someone else's.

I did have my cell phone with me, so I snapped a few pictures with it. They're not the best, but they'll do under the circumstances. Better than nothing, certainly.



Luke really did seem to enjoy it, though he was clearly fading about half way through the show. He has been commenting on things being "too loud" a lot lately. I was afraid that the volume of the music and the fireworks would bother him, but he grinned hugely with each explosion in the sky. I guess he's just throwing out the "too loud" because he hears that a lot from us. He stayed awake for the entire show, though, and didn't even fall asleep in the car on the way home. I do think he was asleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow when he finally got in bed at 11:20. All in all, an excellent excursion, even without any planning! LOL

I would also like to note that I tweaked and resized these online using Photoshop Express (it's free!). No affiliation, and I don't earn anything from posting that link, I just wanted to mention it. I don't have photo editing software on my new laptop yet, so I was very happy to have something free and online to use from the comfort of my recliner. I heard about it by reading a photography blog. Thought some of you might find it useful.
Currently feeling: illuminated