Nashville

 Little known fact.  I'm kind of obsessed with Nashville {even though I've never been there before 2 weeks ago}.  And Tennessee.  Although I guess I should clarify that this fact is NOT so little known to Scott.  Seeing as to how I'm always telling him we really need to find him a job there so we can move.  Hahaha.  He LOVES it when I'm on a Tennessee kick.  :)


It only made sense to me that if we had the chance to stop in Nashville on the way back home, then we should TOTALLY do it.  Haha.  So, after a truly nightmarish drive up from Gulf Shores on Friday afternoon, we finally found a hotel that would take us, and settled in for one last night away from home before exploring the city the next day.  As luck would have it, a good friend of mine from high school lives in the city, and we met up late in the morning on Saturday to visit and catch up, and let our kid run around together for a little bit.  And you know what?  Our whole Saturday in Nashville was pretty much the funnest ever!!  Obviously that only convinces me that much more that we should move.  :)  Hahaha.

Before meeting up with my friend, we went on a little Field Trip of our own {and yes -- I did frame it that way for the kids} to Belle Meade Plantation.  We forked over the money for a tour of the house, and even though Alex and Jane did NOT last and had to be taken out, I think Ethan, Grace, and Sophie really enjoyed the tour!  {Just as a side note, 3 year olds and antique, historically preserved furniture don't mix.  Almost as soon as we entered the house and the tour guide started her speech, Alex unwittingly climbed up and plopped down on one of the original couches in the foyer, which was clearly marked with a "Do Not Touch" sign.  You should have SEEN the tour guide jump.  Hahaha.  Whoopsie!}






 {They picked out these fans as souvenirs, and boy did they LOVE them.  Hahaha.}






While I finished up the tour with the older ones, Scott took the younger ones outside to the beautiful grounds, where there were all kinds of games to be played.  Once we were through with the house, Ethan, Grace, and Sophie were keen to jump on board with a little lawn game action as well.  There was horse shoes {quite apropos considering Belle Meade was all about horses}, bocce ball, corn hole, and croquet.  We played a few games and managed a few more family pics before heading out to meet up with friends.





 Believe it or not, not everyone loves taking pictures for me.  :)



Get ready for Felfie Overload:
 






 Okay, we're done!

After visiting at their {gorgeous} house for a bit, we all headed over to Centennial Park, where the intermittent poring rain didn't stop us from enjoying the live music concert going on OR the food trucks.  :)  We ate, played, listened to some music, chatted some more, and took a couple final pictures in front of the Parthenon before FINALLY heading out on the LAST leg of our journey to get back home. 




 Franklin Falcons Forever!  :)

 
These were so bomb diggity.
 

 Half Cherry, Half Vanilla Toasted Coconut.  This snowball MORE than made up for my disappointment at Plum Street.  It was so good.  Seriously so good.  I was SOOOOOOO mad when Alex took it from me (while it was still about half full) under the pretense of wanting a bite, and then threw it in the garbage in the hopes of speeding things up to get going on the way home.  I contemplated digging it out of the trash for a few seconds before coming to my senses and just fussing at the Lover Boy instead.  He was not happy about that.

 "Ironman" snowball.  :)  Hahahaha and NO -- I didn't even notice his finger until Scott saw the picture and couldn't stop laughing.









It was quite the whirlwind week!  As fun as vacationing is, there's nothing quite like being able to sleep in your own bed once again.  :)  I'd like to say that life has returned to normal since we've been back home, but of course, that's never the case.  Hahaha.  Last weekend saw us taking a quick trip to visit the cousins in Indiana to see one of them graduate, and since then we've been down 2 girls and up 1 boy as Cousin Swap Summer 2015 has taken place.  We've swapped everyone back out tonight, so hopefully NOW we can finally get a normal summer routine hammered out.  A mom can always dream, right???

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