Opryland ICE and SNOW

This weekend we took a BIG family trip up to Opryland Hotel to the ICE and SNOW exhibits. All 12 f us piled into my Granny's traveling van and make the trip up there together singing Christmas carols, laughing at Landry, and yelling at the driver(Laray) to slow down and take the curves a little easier b/c 5 of us were sitting in the floor of the van. Don't worry though-Landry had an entire seat to himself and was strapped in his car seat. We all laughed that he was the smallest one in the car and had the most room-but he is precious cargo so we had to take care of him!
The exhibit this year was The original TV classics "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by Fred Astaire. This was perfect for me b/c that's one of my all time favorite movies to watch at Christmas and have watched it every single year since I was a little girl. Once we got to the Ice exhibit they gave us these huge heavy parka jackets to wear on top of your other clothes and jacket b/c the keep the rooms 9 degrees! Not only was it 9 degrees but they have the air conditioners running so there was cold air blowing in your face constantly. To say it was freezing is an understatement! I didn't know how Landry would do with it being so cold but we bundled him up as if he would going out to play in the snow plus the parka jacket they gave him which drug the ground. It was precious watching him walk around with his jacket dragging behind him. Bless his little heart one time he lost his balance-fell backwards and laid on his back like a bug unable to turn over. We got a good laugh out of it and he was a good sport and once he was pulled back up he was ready to go again. He enjoyed himself and even liked going down the ice slide. He was ready to go by the end of the exhibit and we ended up rushing through the last part b/c he was getting very cold.










After we left ice we shed about 3 layers and went into the hotel to eat dinner and walk around and look at the lights and let Landry ride on the escalators up and down abut 10 times. I would say this was probably one of his top 3 favorites of the night! He would get half way up smile and wave at me and say "Bye bye Momma!" If I would have know this would have been a favorite we would have saved our money and just went to the mall and let him ride all the escalators for free! :) It's funny how kids gets the most please out of the most simple and cheapest things!

This was my first time back to Opryland since the flooding earlier this year. They had done a great job of getting everything back to normal and unless you knew what the lights looked like on the inside all the previous years you would have never known that anything was missing. After dinner the party wasn't over yet so we headed back outside to go to the SNOW exhibit. They had an area filled with snow where you could build a snowman, roast s'mores over a campfire, see and pet Santa's reindeer Comet, play in igloos, and a snow ball fight area(which we stayed away from!) Comet was definitely Landry's favorite and didn't want to leave him but once we told him it was time for Comet to go "night night" he was ready to go and a much better sport about it.









We had a blast and I am SUCH a LUCKY girl to have such an amazing family that loves to get together and take big fun trips like this! Oh and on a different note Cirque de Soleil is coming to Nashville in June and we got tickets to go with Nana and Pops! So excited about this-can you tell I love going and doing things like this?? It's my favorite! I'm such a sucker for concerts, shows, plays, anything like this but especially when family gets to go and share in making memories with us!

SO behind...Fall and Thanksgiving 2010

I'm such a bad blogger lately. I know family that checks in daily is wondering if I have gotten lost or abducted b/c I have not been keeping up like I usually do. Things have been a little crazy around here lately and with me working PRN now I have been picking up extra shifts during the holiday season b/c full time workers have paid time off they have to use or they just lose it. So I have been a good employee and have been picking up there shifts for the extra money for the holidays. So here is a quick recap of our Thanksgiving.








With both of our families living in town we usually have 3 stops in one day-yes THREE! (I know right??!-WHEW!) However, this year was a little different. We had my dad's side of the family on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, my mom's side of the family on Thanksgiving day, and Austin's mom and dads the day after Thanksgiving. So I bet your wondering how we worked that one out so that were weren't so stuffed and worn out that we weren't able to move on black Friday. As it happened we had nothing to do with it. It just happened to work that way this year-however, I think from here on out we are going to always have my dad's family dinner early. They were gracious enough to move it up to the weekend before so that we could all come together and actually spend time and enjoy each other's company instead of rushing to eat and heading out the door for the next dinner. And then we had our dinner with John and Beverly on Friday night b/c John was on call Thanksgiving day. It was a great thanksgiving and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!
There are a few other random fall pictures I am late getting posted.



Landry is dressed up like a little Indian for his fall program at the Mother's Day Out program he attends. He was so cute dressed as an Indian and loves to sing the sing "One little two little three little Indians." He is constantly asking to sing the "inian" song now when I ask him if he wants me to sing him a song. Of course Landry had the biggest fan club there to support him that consisted of : Momma, Daddy, Nana, Byrdie, Dado,Aunt B, and Granny. He was so excited when he saw us walk in and ran straight to us and then didn't want to leave to go sing the songs they had taught them. He cried when the teachers took him from me to go sing with all the other kids but as soon as the first song was over and everyone clapped he immediately stopped crying and started clapping for himself-he was so proud and knew he had done something special and did perfect the rest of the 2 minute program! It was too cute! He was precious singing all the songs they learned and I am hoping to post a video of that tomorrow- Hope everyone had a good fall since it was over and I'm just now posting about it. Now if I can just get all my Christmas post done before Valentines Day! ha! Just kidding!







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Gatlinburg Retreat

We headed out to Gatlinburg a few weeks ago just to get away for the long weekend. It's was so nice to get out of town and spend some time with everyone. Nana, Pops and Grandma went with us and let's just say Landry was never lacking for attention all weekend! :) He had everyone at his right hand and enjoyed all the special attention especially from "MamMaw"(that's how Landry says Grandma) who he doesn't get to see very often.






Our cabin we stayed in was so nice and had the most amazing view! We weren't expecting the leaves to still be pretty b/c they had either turned brown here at home or had already fallen off the trees but they were so beautiful. For the most part we were just lazy and enjoyed our time off with each other by hanging out around the cabin, but we did a few special things while we were there. We took Landry back to the aquarium. He just loves fish so it was worth paying $50 again to see him enjoy his self.








We also went to "Christmas Village" so Landry could visit "Ho Ho" which is what Landry calls Santa Clause. It didn't go over so well. He loved to look at him from a distance but as soon as we would walk close to him and try to sit him on Santa's lap he would hold on to our neck with a death grip and would say "no" "no" "no." I didn't force him to sit in Santa's lap even though he was the prettiest Santa I have ever seen-he even had a real beard. So we all three got up there with him and took a picture. Landry's face cracks me up in all the pictures we got b/c he was not going to take his eye off Santa. just in case he decided to reach out in touch him. I hate to break it to him but I am going to have to have a picture with just him and Santa and I secretly think the crying pictures are so cute and fun to look back on in a few years.











We also took Landry to the "Track" to ride a few rides. It was like a very very very small disney world for him and he had a blast! I think it's safe to say his favorite was the train-but he really enjoyed them all. He always cracks me up when he is riding the rides b/c he puts on her very serious face but as soon as he gets off he smiles from ear to ear and says "Moe, Moe, Moe" Landry word for more.






I am so mad at myself b/c we never got a group picture of all 6 of us. So from now on Austin and I decided we are going to get one on the first day we are on our trip no matter what b/c it always seems like we get busy and it slips our mind. On the last day there Nana, Pops and Grandma had to head out earlier than us to get back home so we were able to capture a few family shots by using the self timer. I just love Gatlinburg and our family tradition of going there every year. We had so much fun and before we were even out of the driveway we were already talking about coming back again next year. The whole drive home Landry kept saying "Nana, Pops, Mammaw?" He was wondering where they were and couldn't figure out why they weren't with us anymore. Weekends like this remind me how amazingly blessed I am to have such wonderful in-laws and thankful for God's beautiful creations-mountains, trees, grandparents, and great-grandparents, husband, and baby boy! Thanks Nana, Pops and "Mammaw" for going with us and making this weekend so fun and special! We love yall!


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