Because my family is amazing and we just really, really love each other enough to deal with 4 small children and a lot of driving (not for us, for everyone else) for a less than 24 hour trip, we met up in Chattanooga to celebrate Noni & Bop's birthdays!
Aunt Manda always ends up with the cool kids at every function.
Par for the course, Max & I ended up playing hide & seek in the bathroom during lunch.
I love, love a 19 month old WHO DOES NOT WEAR A PATCH, but I do not love taking him to restaurants/stores/public/etc.
Aunt Manda was literally surrounded by her nieces/nephews the entire time. This is NOT how I would plan to spend my days when my kids can feed themselves, so we appreciate her!
My mom is truly amazing and wonderful and all of those things I said in the blog post on her birthday, so she is very deserving of this trip!
Aunt Manda & Lily.
*Funny story-when we were in Bham over Thanksgiving, Lily & Amanda were snuggling in Amanda's bed, watching a movie. I went in there to crash and after about 10 minutes Lily realized I wasn't her mom and I was allowed to stay, but the decision was made very reluctantly. Nobody gets in the way of this girl and her Aunt Manda time.
As usual, there was a bit of eating.
We also hit up an AWESOME Children's Museum that happened to be FREE that day! I was excited, but not surprised. We always win the bargains.
It was really awesome. They had an indoor sandbox! Max would have stayed in that part all day.
Anderson got to be the volunteer in a Science show & he helped make a cloud.
*I am not entirely sure about this because I missed all of it due to chasing Max. Noni said he did awesome and knew all of the answers.
Anderson's favorite part was an indoor "ice skating" rink where you could have snowball fights. The kid is intense when it comes to physical competition and will seek one out anywhere.
Giant bubble thing! He is such a cutie here, I think.
Max, true to form, was crazy and intense and everywhere, but it was all designed for kids, so it was PERFECT!
Giant bee hive!
Enough about the museum-back to the story.
We stayed in a hotel & Anderson was PUMPED! At one point, I left him with Nicole & Mom and he apparently was trying to attack Minnie Mouse so Lily had to save Reese.
Baby Boy is going to rock some worlds in the Hughes' house, I think...
Sister Picture!
My parents love plays and all things fun, so we went to a Murder Mystery play called, "My Italian Redneck Wedding."
Mom & Pops were called on stage and then called on again (they got to predict the murderer) and were basically the stars of the show.
Because my husband is awesome, he stayed behind, trapped in a small room with 2 kids at night.
They totally deserve to be recognized.
My nephews are such troopers and went along with everything. At one point, I did notice Kyler trying to sneak a nap in the booth, but that ended when they got a shout out later in the play.
It was really an exhausting time.
Pops won an award? (? because we are not sure how it was decided) But, also! because that is fun!
The next morning at 5am we began the desperate quest to entertain small people in a tiny room.
Small people in matching pajamas at Christmas= a win, no matter what
We did hit up breakfast a few times.
Also, the pool opened at 6am, so you know we were all over that.
He is like a little muscle man.
Ferg & I played many rounds of "hide in the blankets"
I took the bigs on a scavenger hunt and was trying to stretch out the adventure, so I started making up stories about lost staircases that made noise.
Lily is so sweet and precious and so concerned about many things that Anderson says/does. Fart jokes are apparently inherent for boys, but not so much for girls.
He is mad about something and she is telling on him for something. I totally captured true life, right here.
We had such a FUN time and are so grateful that our family rocks.
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Absolutely one of the best birthdays ever.. I had so much fun. It was a blast. Thank you all or the planning you did and sacrificing your time at this busy time of year. Love you all. Again, thank you also much.
ReplyDeleteThere are no words for how awesome this is! I want to be a "Noni" granma someday....someday! Of course Anderson knew all the answers! Brain-child!
ReplyDeleteThe video of Max and Reese coming down the little rubber ramp is a perfect juxtaposition of a boy vs a girl. Max plows down that thing and Reese daintily tiptoes down it. I LOVE that.
ReplyDelete