we laissez-ed les bon temps rouler

It's just so hard to resist a Zaunbrecher wedding. On Mardi Gras weekend. Yes, please! So the boys and I made a quick trip to Loozyanna last weekend for some facetime with the family. We even managed to spend a couple of nights in Birmingham with Reenie and Boopah while en route.

We spent a morning with cousins at Aunt Myra and Uncle Sonny's house, an afternoon at a dinosaur exhibit, and another afternoon at my grandparents' house, I had hoped to make a parade or two but tornado warnings and cancelled parades made that difficult. That's okay - king cake and a shrimp poboy more than made up for it.

Separation + DVDs and audiobooks + 7 straight hours = little boy bliss



Borrowed a jacket from Aunt Myra - doesn't he make a pretty little girl? ;)



At the foot of a T-Rex - "never in my whole life have I seen a foot so big!"



Waaaaay into pillow forts these days. You can imagine how much he covets my full body pregnancy pillow.



How on God's green Earth is this even remotely comfortable?!



The wedding was beautiful and festive and fun - exactly the reason I love my family so much. We have 3 more weddings this year; I'm crossing my fingers I can travel for all of them. I know this much - I won't be able to crawl to the back seat again to regulate until after BabyBoy comes. Let's just say I learned that the hard way!

Come on springtime!!

queen bee

peter has an announcement to make 

In an effort to make it a family affair, we had our ultrasound tech write down those three magic words on a card for Peter to read to us after school today.  While neither of us cheated, both Hayes and I thought we may have seen an extra little appendage when she was measuring the leg bones.  We are thrilled, Peter is excited, and Davis is too now that he's napped.  Ha!

chattanooga, take two

So we had such a good time last month that we decided to hit the road for another visit to Chattanooga.  This time with the added bonus of a hotel stay.  Peter’s eyes have never been so big as they were when we told him that we got to ride to Chattanooga in the minivan with a DVD on AND stay in a hotel AND go to the aquarium AND more surprises if little boys cooperated.  I mean, the only way it could’ve been better is if he got to hold the garage door clicker the whole way. 

So after our Saturday breakfast (where Hayes actually tried something new – kudos!), we hit the interstate with Hayes at the wheel.  I had the owner’s manual on my lap; we piddled and scrolled until we figured out how to have a DVD on for the boys and listen to our own music/podcast/quiet up front.  Once we figured that out, I think Hayes wondered why he didn’t convince me to get a minivan four years ago.  He really, really, really enjoyed the perks.  I really, really, really enjoyed two quiet boys in the backseats for two hours. 

Upon arrival in Chattanooga we treated the boys to the first surprise – a train ride.  The Tennessee Valley Railroad has a little museum from which you can take a ride on a real passenger train to another station at which point you watch the locomotive turn around on the turntable, see real trains in a workshop, and then ride back.  Did I mention bridges and tunnels?  Yes, Davis was so excited by the tunnel that he learned how to say it.  Unna.  We heard a lot about unnas this weekend.  Big hit -  I think we’ll be doing that again. 

Beside an old locomotive

An old red caboose!

We checked into our hotel for a late naptime.  Instead of the usual two adjoining rooms situation, we tried a Residence Inn that has a two bedroom suite with two bathrooms and a full kitchen and living area.  All for the same price (less, actually, than two adjoining rooms).  Any traveling families should take note – it was a relatively blissful hotel experience with little ones.  Ironically, the only one who actually got to nap is the one boy who never naps.  As tired as we all were, Davis was just too wound up so Hayes and I took turns with him while Peter slept.  After naptime came surprise #2 – swimming at the pool.  Now, I couldn’t seem to find my maternity swimsuit (bummer!) so Hayes was on his own with two boys who can’t get enough of anything that splashes.  I just took pictures and decided to order pizza for dinner.  Swimming, pizza, movies in a hotel?  Kid bliss.

To the pool!

Splish splash

His lips are blue because the water was so cold, but he would NEVER admit that.

Yeah, he looks like an angel....

All showing their muscles -- Davis hasn't quite grasped the "raise your arms" part

This morning, we woke to a full breakfast at the hotel.  Actually, Hayes returned from his early morning run and brought breakfast up to care for the kids while I slept in.  He’s a gem, I know.  After some cartoons and packing up, we hit the aquarium.  It just doesn’t get old.  Peter was as mesmerized now as he was a year ago, only his questions and observations were more mature.  We all learned a little bit as a result of his curiosity.  Davis just loved to press up on the tank glass and point and grunt at each fish that passed.  His expression of approval, to be sure.     

Do sting rays have mouths?

Can I jump in?

Shark bait

Up high on a bridge!

Since we had happened on a balmy February day, we decided to See Rock City before heading home.  We had nixed this attraction last year because we wanted Davis to be walking, as strollers are really inconvenient for this place.  For those who have never been, Rock City sits atop Lookout Mountain.  It was once a private estate but has become a botanical garden/amusement park.  No rides (except some for the gnomes you see all around), but there are huge boulders everywhere with just enough space to allow for small pathways.  There are caverns and tunnels and bridges and waterfalls, not to mention a lookout from which you can see seven states.  The boys hadn’t expected much, but they loved this place.  The tunnels helped. 

Entering Fat Man's Squeeze -- lighting was not conducive to many  other good photos!

Lunch at the grill, two tired boys and an increasingly impatient pregnant lady later, we waddled (or maybe that was just me) to the car and made our way down the mountain toward home. 

Surely this can't be comfortable?! 10 minutes in, I crawled back there and moved him from his booster to his big carseat. 

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

It's back to the old grind tomorrow but as Peter said, 

"It's nice to be away from home in a hotel for a night with your family." 

Yes, Peanut, it sure is.  

I think we have a Chattanooga, Part III in our future!