Beddy Blog: Tennesse Vacation

The kids, their Aunt Amy and I outside of Lucky Ladd Farms

In July Scott went on a 10 day mission trip to Ecuador, so the kids and I took the opportunity to go with my parents to Tennessee to visit Amy and Chris for a week. My Mom made pretend boarding passes for the kids and my Dad handed them out as we loaded up in his suburban. Our first fun stop on the trip was in Memphis at Mud Island, which is a miniature replica of the Mississippi running alongside the river itself near downtown Memphis. We got to ride a monorail from the parking garage over to the river and then took off our shoes and walked along the replica. All the ridges were a little rough on our feet, but the kids thought it was pretty neat. On our first day in the Nashville area, my sister took us out to see her horse Kola at the stable. The kids had been really looking forward to seeing and riding Kola ever since we decided to go to Tennessee. Avery almost missed out because there were some bees that would not leave us alone and she is deathly afraid of them. At the time we thought the bees were hanging around because of the watermelon that Amy had brought for Kola, but I later remembered that Judson had dropped his syrup-covered fork on his clothes at breakfast and I never cleaned it off, so I'm sure that didn't help matters. But, thankfully, Avery eventually decided to be brave and not miss out on the fun. Avery and Kendall rode some with their Aunt Amy and rode some by themselves as well. Judson got a little scared on his ride because Amy thought he was laughing when she made Kola trot, but he was actually crying. It was kind of funny to watch. He still enjoyed his ride though and loved watching Kola and petting her. After Amy fed Kola some watermelon for a treat, we headed over to a petting zoo called Lucky Ladd Farms. We saw sheep, lots of goats, ponies, donkeys, chickens, and some very load peacocks that scared us to death with their loud yelping! The donkeys were in a pen right next to them and when one of the donkeys started braying, those peacocks really let loose! The kids all jumped a mile and Judson started crying I think. After a picnic lunch and some practice on milking a cow, we went back to the hotel to enjoy a little swim. Another fun thing we did while we were there was go to the Johnny Cash museum. They had lots of audio stations set up that the kids enjoyed and the girls also liked looking at all the dresses and costumes they had on display. My favorite part, besides the music of course, was the letters and poetry the Johnny had written to and about his wife June. Another day we did a little shopping at one of the malls and then met my sister for lunch at Mellow Mushroom in downtown Franklin. After lunch, my parents took the kids back to the hotel to swim and Amy and I got to look around in the shops downtown and then went on a tour of the Bellemead plantation. We had some really good sister time. Amy and Chris had us over for dinner twice while we were there- once for grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and once for Chris's delicious wok cooking. He made chicken, steak, vegetables, and fried rice that was as good or better than eating at a hibachi restaurant. The kids loved going over to their house to see their cat Pongo and their dog Luki. Judson even named his little stuffed dog he got as a souvenir Luki, and Avery named her leopard stuffed animal Pongo. We had such a fun trip and a great time visiting with Amy and Chris!

Avery, Kendall and Judson receiving their boarding passes for their ride on the suburban to Tennessee

got their boarding passes and all ready to go

Catching a ride at the hotel in Little Rock. We broke up the trip and stayed in Little Rock coming and going so it would be a little easier on the kids.