another trip to Nashville

The boys and I are just back in from another fantastic few days in Nashville. For this trip, my friend Wexler and her son Isaac flew in from Raleigh to spend some time with us, too, so it was awesome to see a few of my girls and to watch all four of our four-and-under boys make a mess out of Brookie's AWESOME playroom.

While Wex went to visit her friend Casey, Brooke and I got brave, taking Jones, Freddie, and Ah-to-the-J to Opry Mills. We strolled around in the morning and then went to the Aquarium Restaurant, which was a HUGE hit. All three of the boys did laps around the massive, floor-to-ceiling fish tank. They even got to see a scuba diver feeding the fish and "vacuuming" out the tank. It was a huge hit. Next trip, we're gonna try the Rainforest Cafe.

That afternoon, they napped, and Brooke and I watched a movie. We did the same thing after dinner that nite, which means that I, who honestly cannot tell you the last time I watched a movie, start to finish, without falling asleep, watched not one but TWO movies, sitting on the couch beside one of my besties. It was paradise. 

But back to the boys - after their naps,  they went outside to ride the Gator in Brooke's backyard. Michael sweetly agreed to keep all three boys, so Brooke and I could meet our friend Liz for dinner. We went to this awesome little spot called Firefly, where I had what is probably the best mac and cheese in the world. 

AJ LOVED riding on Jones, and Jones
LOVED being his doggy.

The final stop of our quick trip was to go to the Pancake Pantry (when Brooke asked if he wanted to get pancakes, a cranky Freddie put his hands on his hips, stomped his foot, and growled an emphatic, "YES!"). Brooke and I used to go there pretty routinely on my visits to Nashville, and it was super fun to take the boys back. I'm so very glad they're getting to the age that I can show them around these cities we visit - and I'm even MORE glad I get to show them around Nashville with a couple of my favorite people on the planet! When we got back to Brooke's, they played on the Gator a little while longer. Freddie is probably the most reckless drive in the whole world, and AJ just rolled with it - Freddie'd drive wide open, intentionally running into people, fences, balls, whatever was stupid enough to wind up in his way, and AJ thought it was the funniest thing ever. 

I think our plan for our boys to be as close as brothers is working out just perfectly, and I am so, so thankful for that fact.

Now to plan our next trip ...

Because my boys can't sleep in the same
room without keeping each other up
all hours of the nite, Freddie's Pack
and Play often gets put in a bathroom,
which is always the case at Brooke ...
and for which I am SO grateful.