Back home from Tennessee

We arrived home from Tennessee yesterday. We had a great visit with Grammies (Don's mom). This was our fourth visit since she moved there in '02 and it was so weird driving our own car instead of flying on an airplane. Hannah enjoyed herself - she was mystified by the "upstairs" - she doesn't remember ever being in a 2-story house before! This was also our first time not visiting in December so we got to see the trees in her one-acre backyard filled with leaves - it was very pretty.

One of the days we were there we went into Nashville and did the "touristy" thing. First stop was Opry Mills, a huge outlet mall, to look for new tennis shoes for Don. But oh-so-important (much more important than shoes, don't ya know!) was a ride on the carousel - there are pix in the slide show below. True to outlet mall lore, we did find a bargain: shoes for Don and new tennies for Hannah (light-up blinkie Dora shoes, of course, for only $12.50). Throw in a Dora hat and socks (thanks Grammies!) and our girl was a happy camper.

Next stop was the Opryland Hotel - one of my favorite spots in Nashville (though I've only been to about 3 places in Nashville...). The hotel is huge and beautiful. It has three huge atriums (atria?) that house restaurants/bars, waterfalls, rivers (including a river boat ride), fountains, tons of plants and trees, and various levels of walking paths and skywalks to explore. We've been before at Christmas and the decorations are spectacular. It was fun to go this time since Hannah is old enough to run around, find fountains, throw in pennies, and just enjoy herself. If you have a minute, go here and check out some of the photos. Here are photos from the trip:

After wandering around the hotel for about three hours, we headed out to dinner at the Blackhorse Pub and Brewery. We've been there several times before and always enjoy it. By then we were all exhausted and looking forward to heading home. Once we got home, Stacye taught Grammies how to do Sudoku puzzles, and then it was finally (!) bedtime.

We had an uneventful drive home and are resting up before we have to start packing for our first airplane flight with both girls. We head to Texas to see the Marmolejos and meet the new twins on Wednesday. Keep us in your prayers for safe travels. Thanks for reading and y'all have a good weekend!

With lots of love,
The Travelin' Rays