Memorial Day Weekend in Franklin

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Franklin this year. We typically go for Labor Day, but since we have a full travel schedule in August, we bumped our trip up to May. The kids were out of school on Friday, so I was packing up for our trip around kid wrangling and finishing up Tyler's last swim lesson. Since they are still out of school between end-of-year and summer camp beginning, the kids went to Clarksville for the week on Monday while Russ and I headed back to Memphis to work. So I had lots of things to pack up for them for the extended trip.

Sweet Caroline coloring away at Tyler's last swim lesson.

We made good time to Franklin and the kids did pretty good in the car, though neither of them will really sleep much anymore. Caroline has actually become a much better rider that Tyler, who says he gets bored of watching movies. That should make for a fun drive to the beach in September! Aunt Carol, Uncle Mark and Granna were there waiting on us when we arrived...the kids were pumped to see them. When we took out gear upstairs, we were greeted to these hanging from the ceiling fan in our bedroom....Ha!!

A stuffed turkey and deer...both of which we have hit with our car
while driving to/from family functions on holidays. Bahahaha!

We love staying at Aunt Carol and Uncle Mark's because of all the room we have to spread out our family. Tyler slept on his cot in their bonus room again and Caroline in our room. In years past, she has slept in the pack-n-play in the walk-in closet. But she can easily climb out of it now so we opted to try her on a cot for the first time. Just like Tyler, she surprised us and did great!! She stayed put on the cot for naps and bedtime and didn't get up and wander like we thought she might. There were a few times when we found her on the floor...sometimes it would wake her up and she would climb back on the cot and other times she would just sleep through it on the floor! Since she did so well, the plan is for her to sleep in the toddler bed at Granna's house this week while we do some bed switch-a-roo'ing at home to get her big girl bed ready! I am so proud of her and excited to see her new room (that I have been planning for months!) come together.

Night 1 success! You see that she quickly claimed the
turkey and deer as her own. This kid loves stuffed animals!

Night 2 - We gave her a blanket and she rolled herself up
in it and off into the floor where she continued to sleep!

Our trip was really, really low-key and we spent most of the time just lounging around the house, playing, eating and visiting. It was a really mild weather weekend so we didn't get to swim, but we did a lot of playing outside and on their screened porch. Tyler learned how to play Go Fish and loved it, they chased and popped bubbles from the sound machine, we colored and watched movies...it was just easy and fun. We also ate like kings! Mark grilled enough food for a small army and we ate on it all weekend long!

Waking up to a pancake breakfast!

Caroline kept hugging this concrete bunny. It was hilarious!

In their matching jellyfish outfits! Tyler loves to match
with Caroline so I am milking it since it won't last forever!

The mini flags were in some of the flower pots...Caroline and Tyler
redecorated which pots they should go in all weekend long.

Fun with bubbles!

Opening their Easter surprises since we didn't get to see them on actual Easter weekend...

Caroline kept putting on her crown and saying "pretty princess"! Ha!

She also wanted these Frozen hair ties around her wrist as bracelets...
they kept cutting off her circulation so I had to hide them from her.

BIG fun with the Super Balloon from Tyler's Easter bag!!

Chef Caroline borrowing Uncle Mark's hat!

Tyler and Mommy playing Go Fish.

He had a hard time holding the cards in his hand, so we both just spread them out.

We tried the sprinkler, but the water pressure wasn't very strong to power it.

Caroline was scared of it!

This was as close as she got to it when we told her to run in it like Tyler.

Nothing like playing a little more Go Fish in your jammies before bedtime after a super fun day!

Sunday morning, I woke up not feeling the best, so I rested and slept a lot of the day, which was a bummer. But at least I was able to since the kids were in good hands! The biggest excitement of the day was finding a huge snake in the backyard!! As much as the kids were running around, I'm surprised they didn't step on it! They followed the snake around the side of the house until it went under their house. Ewwww!! Later, Aunt Carol broke out her bread machine and made homemade pizza dough for dinner and the kids loved helping make the pizzas.

Lots of sidewalk chalk art happened...I'm not sure it will ever come off! :)

The Super Balloon popped but I think these 2 had more
 fun running around the yard chasing it and each other!

Caroline kept sneaking bites of all the toppings...she is caught here with cheese in her mouth! HA!

Watching the pizza bake in the oven.

Enjoying their handiwork! :)

We had a date night planned with the Caesars and Daniels that we were really looking forward to, and we so enjoyed our night and visit with them! (We missed the Carters who were out of town with the Vandy baseball team!)

Ashley, Darci and Me - friends for 18 years!!

Monday morning was a scramble. It was raining cats and dogs (and had been all night) and Granna was anxious to get home with the kids to check on her overflowing pool. I was trying to sort out what went to Granna's and what didn't and it was a little chaotic trying to pack and load the car in the pouring rain. It all got worked out in the end and the kids were on their way with Granna to Clarksville and we drove him in 3 hours of rain to Memphis. It was definitely sad to say goodbye to the kiddos, but I am excited for a week of adult activities! We had mattress purchasing on the top of the list, followed a dinner/movie date night, some around-the-house things and Italian Fest. I am leaving for Dover for the FedEx 400 next weekend on Saturday and Russ will meet Granna to pick up the kids.