Happy Easter

Happy Easter to you all!  It was a fun weekend full of family, food, faith, and crazy sugar highs. 

I always have so much fun filling up their Easter baskets. The boys each got a Phlat ball, a Crayola Color Alive book, a yo yo, and some candy. Ryan got a new Blades RescueBot and Grayson a Thomas the Train. In Hayden's basket I may have repurposed a bunny and some Easter books from years past BUT I did get her some new girly toys! I can't say that she totally appreciated them but the boys sure enjoy playing with them. 

The Easter bunny even wrote them a note...but no one was really all that interested in it. hmmmm maybe he will send the same note nest year. 

Happy kiddos!

Chocolate bunny ears at 8am! woohoo!

The Easter bunny had to hide eggs inside since it was raining. I can only assume these boys were not fully awake when they hunted eggs. First of all, they didn't carry their baskets around with them so they would try and carry as many eggs as they could back to their baskets. Over and over again. Most of the time some would spill out. Oh and they also couldn't put down their new toys...so those were also in their hands. Good stuff. Crazy boys. 

After some quiche and bunny cinnamon rolls we headed to church.

We decided to try the Easter service at Munger Place (which is a sister church to HPUMC). The service was held outside under a tent where everyone was welcome. 

After the service we headed back home for naps and final preparations for our Easter dinner. 

The little chicks

And all the little peeps

Ready to hunt cascarones!

I think each kid popped one on Hayden...she was the most popular subject.

So happy to eat Easter dinner

Yummy carrot cake!

Of course we needed a family selfie!

So grateful for this family!

Nashville

I spent the weekend in Nashville with a super fun group of ladies! We had a fun-filled weekend jam packed with activities thanks to these ladies

After we picked up our super hot minivan from the rental place we hightailed it over to Hattie B's for some Hot Chicken and beer. It was delish! Afterwards we checked into our hotel and then headed down to check out Music Row. We did quite a little walk and ended up walking through a little bit of the Vanderbilt campus. We made it back home in time to get a little touched up for dinner then headed out to Puckett's for some good ol' Nashville cookin' and live music. 

And the selfie stick made an appearance. 

This guy was really good...he played 'our' kind of country music. 

More selfie stick fun. At least we think we are funny.

 

Selfie in the street. 

 

And then someone asked us if they could take a pic...since we looked so ridiculous trying to take selfies with our stick. 

 

On Friday morning we piled into the mini and Lindsey drove us out to the Loveless Cafe for some hot biscuits and country ham...

Just being a little touristy

Next up - Belle Meade Plantation. This venue was the perfect mix of beautiful scenery, history and good ol' fashion girl time.  The history behind Belle Meade is rich with thoroughbred horse racing and even played a significant part during the civil war.  We all loved the guided tour of the mansion - all of the tour guides were incredibly knowledgeable and even dressed in period attire.  The mansion has been restored and they have managed to acquire most of the first residents' items including family pictures, letters, furniture, ect. Afterwards we received a free wine tasting and ended up buying a bottle to enjoy out on the patio. Perfect afternoon!

 

Enjoying a little wine :)

When we left Belle Mead we drove through some of the surrounding neighborhoods and 'oohed and awed' at all the beautiful houses and large lush green lawns. Makes you wanna pick up and move your family there. Or at least I did.

Since we didn't get tickets for the Bluebird and we had time to spare...we did a drive by. In case you didn't know, it's in a strip center. It's possible that you might miss it because it's tiny. 

We headed back to the hotel and got ready for a fun dinner out at Cabana. 

Also known as the night I drank a bottle of wine. But I digress.

 

Martini flights - yes please!

 

  

Our reservations were at 6pm (that was the latest they had) and we had our own little semi-private cabana. Woot Woot! After dinner we headed out to check out Printers Alley. It kinda reminded me of 6th Street in Austin - lots of bars and lots of live music. We didn't last long...

On Saturday we started out by visiting the Ryman Auditorium. It is such a beautiful building with so much history! We opted for the self-guided tour (although I hear the backstage tour is worth doing if you have time) which started with a great video. Afterwards we wandered around and checked out all the original items they had on display. A definite must see if you are in Nashville!

After the Ryman we headed out to see the Grand Ole Opry.  I believe the shows were all sold out so we decided to do a tour. Another great tour with lots of knowledgeable people sharing all sorts of great stories. Wow that was vague. ha!

 

After our little country music tours we headed downtown to Acme Feed & Seed. Such a fun place right on the river

Mikes Ice cream was amazing. 

Lunch Acme Feed & Seed
We got dressed and headed out to Pinewood Social for dinner.

When we woke up on Sunday we headed out to The Southern for a little brunchy brunch before heading back to the Big D. Such a fun weekend with these ladies! Can't wait for our next trip!

Spring Break - Day 3

 

Little H and I were up early so we decided to snag a cabana for the family. It's some serious work...you can't just throw your belongings on one and leave...you have to man it! Totally understandable as it is incredibly annoying to go down to the pool and see chairs/cabanas that people have 'claimed' and they aren't even there to use them. Grr! Well, not here! If you leave your cabana unattended for more than 30 minutes, the staff comes around and removes your belongings. Oye! I witnessed two cabanas being reclaimed...however, most people stayed in theirs so there wasn't really any issues. Once the pool opens you don't really have to worry about it any longer...mainly because you are most likely there.

On this morning Sarah and her parents headed over to the workout center to do a little yoga. Kevin & Michael hung out with the kiddos and Hayden and I headed up for a little nap. When she was up we headed down and found the kids participating in the treasure hunt!

 

At 10:30 the kids club did pirate face painting and sword making (although our kids didn't get there in time for the face painting).

 

All the kiddos on the treasure hunt though the hotel...

 

Searching for treasure at one of the restaurants/bars. The last clue brings you to the pirate pool.

 

Where the good and bad pirates put on a little show for the kids!

 

Watching the show...pirates fighting...saving the pirate princess.

 

And afterwards of course there was a treasure chest filled with....candy!

 

Happy little girl hanging in her cabana

 

Getting a little tired....

 

Sweet cousins

 

Surprise bubble bath (on the patio) with balloons. The hotel put this together for the boys - it is one of the cute little kids things that they do for kiddos. The balloon was a big octopus that was sitting on top of the bubbles! The boys had a blast!

After baths we got dressed and took the boys down to the kids club to hang out for an hour. Kevin and I were kid free! Nope...just kidding. We still have little Hayden :) We walked around and had a nice little happy hour drink.

 

It was crazy windy

 

Walking back we came across this crazy looking animal.

 

We picked the boys up from kids club and headed to an early dinner with them at Bana (the Asian-fusion restaurant).   Grayson was a fan of chop-sticks.

 

After the kids ate we took them back to the room and left them with babysitters so that the adults could have another dinner sans kids. 

 

Kid free :)

After dinner we decided to explore a little of the night life... There was a big dance party going on in one of the open lounge areas so we hung around for a little bit...but it ended at 10. We tried another bar but as we got there the live music was wrapping up and the crowd was leaving. It seemed like wherever we showed up the party ended. woomp woomp. So we tried one last club...

 

apparently the party hadn't quite started

 

As you can probably tell...there weren't a ton of people there. We weren't sure where everyone was but we didn't last super long. 

 

We really needed a selfie stick. 

 

Although we couldn't find 'the party' we still had a fun night out!