Trip to Nashville

"On the road again!..." Here's our troop in the mini-van, heading north to Nashville, TN to visit Bill's family. We left on Wednesday evening and drove up to Prattville, AL (where we lived two PSC's ago) for the night. We arrived at Granddad Tom and Nana Carole's home, after meeting Carole at Chick-fil-A for lunch in town.

Ivan and Grant quickly made themselves at home. Here they are checking out Nana Carole's piano......and Granddad Tom's kaleidoscope collection. A favorite Nashville pasttime is a visit to the Adventure Science Center, now complete with the updated Sudekum Planetarium.

It was fun to see the new planetarium. It brought back memories for me of my visits to one in MN as a kid - those were actually some of my favorite field trips. The new star projector is digital and looks completely different from the old one, besides the fact that it's still a ball shape! The kids loved exploring everything - here they are learning about the body and how the skin and bones protect us. Just outside of the planetarium, there was a space exhibit. They even had a moon walk simulation - Ivan and Bill gave it a try. Grant is looking on in this shot (he didn't make the height requirement) - next year, kiddo! Playing on Granddad Tom and Nana Carole's backyard hill.A highlight for me on this trip was watching the old version of Pride and Prejudice (and relaxing, as you can see!) with my mother-in-law. It is about 4 hours long, so we had to watch it in two nights. For you P&P fans, this is not the Colin Firth version (which also beats the latest big screen version, in my opinion). I love this story. It ranks up there with Gone With the Wind as one of my favorite movies. Thanks, Carole!

Grant gets in some tickles from Uncle Roper!
Ivan and Grant learn to play Othello. Ivan actually was picking it up pretty well!
The trout farm! We split up on Saturday. The guys drove an hour and 15 minutes north (which is funny, because they thought it was a lot shorter than that!) to take the boys fishing at a trout farm. The girls went... shopping, of course!

Ivan, Grant and Thomas - cute lil' fishermen!

The boys thought Thomas was funny - he kept trying to wack the fish with the net!

Good job, Ivan! This place was pretty crazy - I guess when you walk over the the fishing trench, the trout just swarm up toward you! Lured to their death... oh well, they taste great!

Thomas looks pretty proud of their catch!

The fisherman, taking a break... waiting on lunch!

The poor, unsuspecting trout... I think the boys sure found is satisfying to eat their catch right there. And while the guys are away... the girls will play!

...and take advantage of some great sales during a tax free weekend at the mall! This is me and Mary, Carole, and my sister-in-law Vonda with my neice, Elaina.
Later that evening... everyone came over to the house and we celebrated Roper's 41st b-day. I love seeing our kids get to know their cousins better with each visit. My cousins are a very important part of my life, and I want my kids to have the opportunity to experience those wonderful relationships as well.
Tom, Roper (Bill's oldest brother) and Elaina!

Aunt Vonda had lots of help putting the candles onto the cake! Happy Birthday, dear Roper!...

And... some kiddos upstairs in the playroom...
Sunday afternoon was spent enjoying the pool in Roper and Vonda's neighborhood... then we had a pizza dinner at their home.

Mommy and Mary!

We had forgotten the swim diapers... check out the load! Those regular diapers sure don't hold up under pressure - we had quite a MESS afterward. Oh joy!

Swimming fun! Mary with her grandparents!

Grant calls this one, "Flying Thomas!"

and "Flying Grant!"

and "Crazy Ivan!" Ivan learned to do flips, belly flops, and anything else that can be done from the side of the pool!
The cousins!

My sweety-pie neice, taking a bath!

Thank you for a wonderful visit, Tom and Carole. Hopefully your home is still in one piece! We love you and will see you soon!