On Easter weekend, we took little Miss Madeline to her first horse race at Keeneland. I am not sure if you have ever been there, but it is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! I am a firm believer that you should absorb the culture around you when you move somewhere, so since we are close to Kentucky, the obvious choice is horse racing. 🙂 Look how cute Little Miss looked!!!!
This was originally going to be Madeline’s Easter outfit, but I decided to have her wear it to the races instead. I loved her in yellow, and her bonnet was a complete hit. Her bubble is by The Proper Peony, and her seersucker bonnet is from The Beaufort Bonnet Company. I know that you aren’t technically supposed to wear seersucker or white before Easter, but I figured that it would be okay with a baby. 🙂 We had more people come up to us and comment on her wardrobe, and she was totally hamming it up for all of them – LOL!!! She was even waving to everyone in the restaurant, which was hilarious. We were fortunate enough to snag some clubhouse tickets through a friend, which were totally worth the money. Not only were we given access to a really nice part of the facility, but we were also allowed to stay away from really large crowds. Since there is a strict dress code at these events (or in the clubhouse, at least), I decided to seize the opportunity and put Madeline in her fancy clothes. 🙂
We had SUCH a fun time, and I was thinking about some tips for my fellow readers concerning how to go on fun fancy outings with little ones. Here are my top tips for taking little ones to fancy events:
Make sure that the place you are going to is okay with taking young children. Don’t only check to make sure that they are okay with the baby, but make sure that they have “baby friendly” materials. Do they allow strollers, do they have high chairs, do they have a changing pad in the bathroom, etc.?.?.?. If they don’t have any of these baby friendly items, then it is probably not a good idea to take your little one there just yet.
This sounds crazy, but you probably need to pack A LOT OF STUFF (if you are going to be there for several hours)! Although I love to have a light diaper bag, this is not the time to do so. 🙂 We made sure that Madeline had her current favorite bunny with her, a few toys, and LOTS of snacks. You do not want a grumpy baby somewhere that is on the fancier side. Look how entertained little miss was during our lunch:
I finally remembered to put a bib on Madeline, but luckily, nothing got on her pretty bubble. 🙂
By the way – when you pack snacks for an event where your child will be dressed up, MAKE SURE and pack things that are “nice clothes friendly!!” Now is probably not the time to feed them strawberries or some other food that will drastically stain their clothes. 🙂
Make sure that there are indoor places to cool off, if your main event is outside. Madeline is super pale, just like me (we are Polish), so we can’t stay outside in the sun for very long. If you are outside, make sure you have some sort of a sunhat and glasses to protect their sweet little faces. I made sure that Madeline was snazzy looking and protected from the hot Kentucky sun.
The picture below is MY FAVORITE!!! 🙂
Be realistic on how long your little one can actually last without a nap. If Bradley and I had been there by ourselves, we would have been front and center for every race. However, we knew that there was NO WAY that Madeline could last that long, so we went ahead and prepared for that fact before we went. We were able to enjoy a nice lunch, a tour around the facility and two races, WHICH WAS FANTASTIC! We were in no way disappointed with our day, because we always knew we would most likely only be there for a couple of hours. Speaking of the two races, check out Miss Madeline watching a race with her daddy:
I love the above picture SO MUCH!! She looks so tiny and is absolutely crazy about her “Dada!!!”
The one below is super sweet too! I had to turn it to black and white in order to get the expression on her face to show. She looks so happy! 🙂
Madeline LOVES to people watch (AKA – stare at people), so she enjoyed taking a short trip to the paddock….
Luckily, Mommy and Madeline were able to get some cute pictures too! 🙂 I made sure that we had coordinating outfits and matching little sunglasses – LOL. By the way – I know that it is ridiculous, but it makes me happy! 🙂 My glasses were a sweet gift for my 5th wedding anniversary a few years ago, but I found Madeline’s at Crazy 8 on clearance for $4.00!! Yay!
Oh, how I do LOVE a baby in a bonnet!!!!!! 🙂
Madeline most definitely let us know when she thought that it was time to go (bring on the rubbing of the eyes and the screaming), so we packed up and headed to the car. All in all, we were there for about three hours and had a WONDERFUL family outing! She actually fell instantly asleep in the car, which is the sign of a fun filled day! 🙂
What advice do you have for taking your children to nicer places? Leave a comment below, because we would love to hear from you!
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