Labor Day in Franklin

For Labor Day weekend, we packed up the car, the kiddos and the dog and headed to Franklin. We had been planning this trip all summer and stayed with Aunt Carol and Uncle Mark. I seriously think they had been looking forward to it all summer...well, at least Aunt Carol had been for sure! Granna came down for the visit, too.

We did a lot of visiting and eating...Carol and Mark really went all out and had enough food to feed a small army. We took naps (a luxury for Russ and I!), went swimming and Caroline had her very first pedicure courtesy of Aunt Carol. Bonnie got lots of extra attention and loving, too.

Caroline got a lot of loving from Aunt Carol.

Tyler ate at the bar on a bar stool for the first time and LOVED it!

Caroline is becoming a champ at sitting up!

Reading books with Granna before bed.

Tyler slept on this folding cot in our room at night and for naps. This was the first time he slept
anywhere but in a crib or pack n play and is how he slept most of Sunday night. He did stay there
until we told him he could get up. Oh, and Caroline slept in the closet in the pack n play. Ha!

Caroline's first pedicure, courtesy of her Aunt Carol (with help from Granna!)

Trying to grab the polish!

Look at those pretty tootsies!!

All ready to go to the pool!

Caroline was not super excited about the water...I think it was too cold.

Doing better since on dry land. I love this picture!

Blowing bubbles and trying out the kiddie pool.

Daddy and his kiddos.

Swimming with Aunt Carol.

Baby girl warmed up a little bit to the water.

Me and my babies. Love them so much!!

Snug as a bug after swimming.

Tyler kissing Caroline's toes on the walk back to the house from the pool.

Russ, Granna and I took Tyler to see Thomas the Train on Sunday morning. The day started out rainy, but at least it cooled down the temps. Tyler was a little crabby and was not super impressed with the slow train ride. And he hated Sir Topham Hat...in his defense, he was a little creepy looking.  He did enjoy some of the other activities like getting a Thomas tattoo, playing with all the train tables and looking at all the fun things in the gift shop. Granna treated Tyler to a new train (Kevin, who is actually a crane) for his table at home that he loves!! While we were gone, Caroline stayed with Aunt Carol and was a perfect angel, apparently.

Walking to Thomas under the umbrella, which he loved...though the picture does not show it.

He loved driving the trains up and down the hills. Maybe he needs a few new pieces for his table?

Sitting down watching a little Thomas...

Watching very intently...he was the only kid that really did this.

Getting his Thomas tattoo.

Showing off his tattoo!

Playing a little mini-golf...it was tough for Russ to help our little lefty.

Eating popcorn while waiting in line for Sir Topham Hat.

Not so sure about Sir Topham Hat...

Yeah, Tyler was not having it...

Waiting to board the train!

Being silly! He was getting restless waiting so we were trying to be creative.

Our attempt at a family pic on the train...just keeping it real, folks!

Sitting with Dad on the train.

The highlight of the ride was passing the bus "graveyard" and going under a bridge.

De-boarding the train!

Walking to the front of the train to see Thomas!!

No smiles, but at least no tears!

Waiting his turn in the inflatable caterpillar...he was in 2 seconds before he got scared and wanted out! Ha!

In the bounce house. There were lots of big kids jumping, so again, he only lasted a few seconds.

We also got to visit with several college friends that now live in Franklin, as well. It was so awesome to catch up with the Casear, Daniel and Carter families...between all 4 families we have a combined 11 kids with 2 more on the way! We so missed seeing Mark (who was on a family hunting trip) and Ashley and baby Caleb (who are still in the hospital)...hopefully next time!!

7 boys and 3 girls!! This was the best picture I could manage! Ha!

Russ was particularly proud that she kept putting her mouth on the bottle.
She's teething and the bottle was COLD!!

Darci, Me and Emily - love these girls!! We were all Pi Phi's together at Memphis.

All 3 of us (plus Ashley who isn't pictured) will or have already had 2013 babies!!

Zack, Greg and Russ were all fraternity brothers. And all wet to Alaska together several years ago.

On Sunday night, Russ started feeling pretty bad. He caught a little stomach bug which made packing up and driving home not so fun for him. Caroline had been fighting a bug for almost 2 weeks herself, so maybe she was the source? Sweet baby girl also had some issues on the car ride home - she had such a huge explosive poop AND throw-up incident that we had to pull over to take care of it! Ahhh! In the 2+ years we've had kids, we have never had a blow out like this!! I seriously wanted to leave her clothes and carseat on the side of the road. We did leave her diaper, et al....I felt bad for littering but Russ said he left it right by all the other "trash". Ha! So considerate of him! We were sooo glad to get home.