Tennessee....

On a whim (and I mean it!), we decided to take off to TN for Labor Day weekend. Bethany and Elijah drove over from St. Louis and we surprised my mom by bringing them with us. They arrived at our house on Wednesday morning and hung out with us while I got ready to go. The boys had fun--Amos had to learn to share with Eli again--and got their wiggles out before the ride ahead.

The trip down was pretty uneventful. After a good cry, Eli finally fell asleep. He looked so funny and yes, we laughed at him! Poor guy! Amos fell asleep soon after and we had peace and quiet for a little while.

When we arrived at our destination, The Meeksarosa, my mom ran out to greet us and gave the biggest scream of excitement in history after seeing Beth and Eli in the car. We all laughed so hard at Mom's reaction and let the boys loose for a minute of playtime.

On Thursday, we played, slept, ate and hung out, doing what we do best when we go home. On Thursday night, we went to Shakespeare in the Park, at Centennial Park, where my Uncle Joel's band, Stillhouse Hollow, was playing before "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" was performed. We had fun sitting in the grass, playing with Uncle Jesse and dancing to the music before the play started. Aunt Christen soon arrived and joined our little blanket party. After the First Act (which was pretty long, over an hour) ended and we had an intermission, we decided to head home, while the boys were still in good spirits.

On Friday morning, we had breakfast on the porch while the boys played. At some point, though, they had to be sat down for a "meeting" with GrrMama to talk about sharing. They still were having trouble getting along and GrrMama was being serious this time. Of course, Beth and laughed at how Mom sat them down!

Later that morning, Amos and Daddy went to play at Amos' favorite Franklin park, Pinkerton, and Mom and I did a little bit of shopping in Cool Springs. While we were gone, Aunt Abby made it home from school and so we were all glad to see her when we returned home.

Mom's partner, Cindy, also came over to see us and visit and we had a fun time sitting outside. I got the special treatment--Abby took my blood pressure and Mom got out her Doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat. We heard everything loud and clear!

Uncle Jesse came over for dinner, the boys played guitar and then we all headed to the pasture for a bonfire. Amos brought his fireman hat, because we were going to START a fire--he couldn't seem to get that Firemen STOP fires. It made perfect sense to him! He helped Uncle Jesse drive the truck down and stood far far away as the fire was lit.

The moon was full and very bright that night. I enjoyed taking pictures of it. We didn't need a flashlight or anything to walk back up to the house...it was that bright!

On Saturday, it was time for some Notre Dame football!! It was the first game of the season and we all got into the spirit of it! Notre Dame won, something like 40-3 and we had fun celebrating! Afterward, Amos and GrrMama had some quality swingin' time, outside!

On Sunday morning, we went to church all together and enjoyed worship. On Sunday night, Nathan and I went on a date, to celebrate our anniversary, and Amos had fun staying home with GrrMama and the aunts and bathing with Eli.

On Monday morning, we did those last minute projects that we talked about doing but didn't get to. Bethany painted new picture frames outside; I gave haircuts and the boys got more playtime with Aunt Abby in. We eventually packed up the car and headed home. I got to sit in the back seat this time, and found it to be quite comfortable. When we got home, the boys had another jam session, complete with the homemade Wahwah pedal that GrrDada made for him!

Our trip was really really wonderful. It was very restful, fun and peaceful. We didn't have any plans and made each day up as it went. One thing we didn't get to do was play with GrrMe Carole, since she was sick. Hopefully we'll all visit again soon!