Peep's first adventure

Peep and I had a really great time on Sunday - it was such an adventure!

My good friend Dan had invited me over to his house to learn how to sharpen and wax my skis (he's pretty smart about things like that), and Peep, though he's a dinosaur and has never been skiing, asked if he could come along to learn something, too. Of course, I said! When Peep is traveling with me, he usually stays in my bag where he's safe and warm - the world can be a dangerous place - but Dan is kind and I was sure he wouldn't mind if Peep came to watch.

I never knew Peep was such a curious dinosaur!

Ready to go!

The drive went by quickly! Peep asked about skiing and wanted to know what it was like and how to stay warm. He is a very small dinosaur, after all. He asked me if he could come skiing with me one day, but I said we needed to ask his family first.

Finally, we arrived at Dan's! 

Dan's house is very big and has a ballroom. Right now, Dan stores his kayak and his skis in the ballroom, so it was very exciting for Peep because he got to run around and explore lots.

Look! I'm on a boat!

I think this boat might be too big for you, Peep.

Dan must really like skiing. Look at all these skis!

While Peep explored, Dan cooked us some breakfast (isn't Dan nice?). As you can see, Peep discovered a red kayak and a lot of red skis. That's because red goes faster, and Dan likes to go down very fast rivers and very steep mountains. (We're not sure what the grass seed was for - possibly a sacrifice to Murphy for snow this year?) 

At last, breakfast was ready. It was so delicious, we forgot to take pictures, but we did get some afterwards:

Peep thought maybe he should dress for breakfast.

Clean plate society!

Dan and Peep got to know each other a bit while I finished my tea.

New friends!

After breakfast, we got to work on my skis. Dan showed us his favorite pair of slalom skis, which Peep really liked a lot.

Can I go skiing now?

While Peep explored about a bit more, I learned about ski edges, how to sharpen them, all about the tools used, and how to wax skis. My skis are now very shiny and ready for skiing. Peep was really excited to learn this as he still thought coming with me to a mountain to ski would be really fun.

Then it was time to go. 

As I hadn't driven from Dan's house to my house directly before, I got out my GPS unit. Thank goodness for that! I also hoped to find an ice cream stand for a little treat for us, but I promised Peep that if we didn't, we could get ice cream at the grocery store on the way home.

Peep didn't want to get back in my bag for the ride. Instead, he wanted to sit up front next to me. I explained he would have to wear a seat belt. Safety first!

All buckled in!

And off we went!

The drive had a lot of turns and twists and hills. As we went along, we drove over a lot of railroad tracks. Peep wanted to get out and see them, so we did. What a curious dinosaur!

Peep wants to make tracks! Let's go, Kate, let's go!

Peep thought it would be faster to get to the ice cream if we took the tracks, so I had to explain that only trains can run on the tracks. He was very excited about learning this, and found a track switch and wanted to know what it was for. I explained that it was for guiding trains onto one set of tracks or the other. Peep thought we should try the lever and see, but there was a big lock on it so we couldn't.

Look at that huge lock!

After tromping around for a little bit, we got back in the car. Peep wanted to know how much longer the drive would be. Good thing I had my trusty GPS unit!

Consulting the GPS unit.

We drove on a bit further and saw a really beautiful swamp. It was a very busy road, so I told Peep it was dangerous enough that he'd have to stay in the car - I'd take a picture and he could look at it later. (He loves this picture.)

A swamp on the side of the road.

A little further on, we stopped and looked at some cows!

And the cows looked at us.

These cows reminded us of milk, which reminded us of ice cream. So, off we went!

We drove and drove and drove, until finally we came to a big, beautiful lake. Peep wanted to see it. He'd never seen such a big lake before. I pulled over and Peep investigated the lake from afar. So pretty!

You could put a lot of boats on that lake!

We sat for a minute and talked about boats and what kind would be a good choice on this lake. Sadly, Dan's red kayak wouldn't work so well, but I said that if Peep wanted, I'd show him my red boat in the springtime.

There were two fishermen nearby who were curious about Peep. We explained all about our adventures of the day and one of them offered to let Peep sit on the bow of his boat! Peep was so excited!

Look, Kate! I'm on a boat! I'm on a boat!

Peep says he can't wait for the spring so he can go boating, too!

Then I reminded Peep about our plans for ice cream. We hadn't found an ice cream shop yet. It was starting to get dark anyway, and we thought it would be nice to go back to my warm, snuggly apartment for our treat. So, on our way we stopped at the grocery store. Peep liked it very much and wanted to go right to the aisle with ice cream. On our way, we spied Santa, so I introduced him to Peep.

Santa looks a little on the small side...

Peep was very cordial and said kind things. He's very polite. But afterward, he said he wasn't quite convinced that that was the real Santa. That Santa looked a little small. I explained that Santa actually came in many shapes and sizes all over the world, and that he represented a part of the spirit of Christmas. Peep looked a little dubious, but also thoughtful. 

We walked and walked and walked though the grocery store trying to find the ice cream aisle. Peep was astounded at how large the building was, and also very happy he could ride in my bag. Finally we arrived! Peep went to investigate the ice cream immediately. He really, really wanted chocolate.

I know you love chocolate, Kate, and it's on sale!

But then I reminded Peep that we had peppermint hot fudge at home and we both agreed that that was best on vanilla. Peep climbed back into my bag and I put a pint of vanilla ice cream in our basket. 

On our way to the checkout counter, I suggested we stop in the produce aisle just to make sure we didn't need some fruit instead of ice cream. Peep was thoughtful. I could tell he really wanted ice cream, but he went along anyway. We looked at pineapples, oranges, bananas, carrots (Peep loves carrots) and then some pears.

They're probably tasty, but they're not ice cream.

Peep had a point. Pears really are not ice cream, and we both wanted ice cream. So Peep and I wandered on to the checkout aisle to pay for our treat. 

On the way out to our car, Peep saw some beautiful Christmas decorations. They were really festive and smelled so nice! Peep took a nice big whiff. They smelled just like Christmas!

I wanted some, too, but I explained that we just don't have the room at the moment. I needed to tidy up the apartment first. So we left the Christmas decorations there and continued on home.

When we got home, it was so warm and snuggly that Peep crawled onto a soft blanket, made a small nest out of it and fell fast asleep. While he slept, I tidied and took out the trash and did some dishes (very quietly) and cooked some lunch to bring to work with me the next day. After a while, I was tired, too! But my apartment was finally tidied and things were in their places. Just as I was admiring how tidy my living room looked, Peep woke up from his nap. Ice cream time!

Vanilla with peppermint hot fudge - YUM!

It was a perfect treat to end such a wonderful day! We had so much fun and saw so many fantastic things, we can't wait to do it again!

We hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures! :)

Peep and Red Kate