February 25-26 - David's House - Our First Stay

Our First Stay At David's House

We had been told about David's House sometime in the last month and had done a little research about it, so we thought we would check it out and see if they had a room for the night. If they didn't then we would go find a hotel room.

We got over there after a few minutes of getting a little turned around and went up to the door. It is literally spitting distance from the parking garage, but you have to take the right little cut off road to get there. We got buzzed in and talked to the manager. They did indeed have a room that we could stay in for the night. :) We filled out all the paper work and got a tour of the house. Then we settled down in the dinosaur room. After much stress we finally got Levi down for a nap. By the time we got to the room he was over exhausted and fighting the nap. Plus it was a different place and different bed. I settled down for a little rest myself and Jay took off to explore the house (he doesn't sit around well).

The dinosaur room. 

About 90 minutes later he told me there were freshly baked cookies in the kitchen, so I thought I would sneak out of the room and head down. But no such luck. As soon as I stood up Levi was wide awake too. So we headed downstairs for cookies. And then we headed down to play. The rest of the evening was filled with play time, house wandering, and meeting new friends.

Indoor slide

Ride on Airplane. 

At 6:00 dinner was ready. Tonight dinner was being prepared by the Aquinas house at Dartmouth College. The food was delicious and they made a ton of it!! Thank you!

The rest of the evening was spent wandering and playing. We did discover that the house has very few toddler books. Levi loves to read and be read to, but all of the books were really older then him. We would like to start a collection of Toddler books (board books with a story not necessarily the infant books with just a few words in them) to take up with us the next time that we go. So if you would like to donate a new toddler board book to the David's house please feel free to message us here, or drop it off at Michelle at work, Jay at work, or at our house. Thank you!

Not long before bed time the volunteer for the night let us into the quilt room and Levi got to pick a handmade quilt to bring home with him. The room was huge and they were stacked floor to ceiling. It took a few minutes but Levi settled on a quilt that was dinosaurs, M&M's, trains, frogs, and bright colors. It is beautiful!! The quilt was made by a member of the Ladies of the Lakes Quilters' Guild, Thank you for making something so beautiful for Levi.

Levi in our room. The folded quilt on the bed behind him is his to take with him.

Added Photo: Levi playing "Levi Burrito" with his quilt at home on 3/2. 

Levi had a quick bath to try to settle him down for the night and then we went downstairs for our last drink of the evening. The house insists that all food and drink be kept in the kitchen only. And then up for bed. Levi went down much easier for bed time then nap time. Jay and I headed back downstairs for a little adult time. We talked to some of the other parents staying at the house and just relaxed for a few minutes before bed.

In the morning we got up early to head back to the hospital. It was very nice to be able to get up at 6:45 for a 7:30 appointment. We headed out quietly so as not to wake any other families. Levi insisted that he lug Piglet and Monkey, they could not go in the diaper bag.

Half awake heading to the hospital.

We are very thankful for David's House. It made our night much nicer. Instead of staying in a hotel room with nothing to do, we had a huge playroom for Levi to play in. We got a nice dinner. And a much homier environment. It definitely helped to relax Levi. And from a financial stand point it was definitely much nicer too. So Thank you David's House!! I am sure we will be back over the coming years!!