Jason and I decided to go on vacation again this year and let Jackson spend some time with the grandparents...so we took a little trip to Nashville, then Chattanooga, TN.
This was the day we left as Jackson headed off with MiMi and PawPaw...I text MiMi minutes after they left and said, "I already miss him!" and that was the feeling the entire trip! At least it was good to know that he and both sets of grandparents were having a ball while we were gone.
Our first stop was Nashville...
...where Jason and I went for our first visit to the Grand Ole Opry!
We got to see Eric Church (among others) at the Opry. It was pretty cool, I do have to say...
The next day, we got up and headed to Chattanooga, but we stopped in for a visit at the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, TN on the way...
Touring the distillery...and no, there was no tasting involved in our tour! :) It was pretty interesting though... And, I am WAY taller than Jack Daniel. The picture at the bottom was a life size picture of him; I've got him beat by several inches! :)
And after Lynchburg, we continued on toward Chattanooga....
...and we found our very own-real life Thomas the train! :) I know, I know, but what can we say? We are parents to a toddler and we watch a lot of Sprout! :)
While in Chattanooga...
Our first stop was Ruby Falls.
Touring the cave!
At the underground waterfall! Just amazing...
Once we finally resurfaced, we got to see the view from the tower on top of Ruby Falls. Very pretty! (and I'm not just talking about Jason!) :)
Our next stop was the Incline Railway...
...where we road the train up (and down) the mountain!
Very steep!
While on top the mountain....
...we took a little stroll around Chattanooga. It was an awesome day to be outside; sunny, not too hot, and breezy!
Our next attraction was Rock City on top of Lookout Mountain...
Beautiful views! The one above is called "Lover's Leap" - it was my favorite!
Touring the gardens/seeing the sights!
There is one point on Lookout Mountain where you can see SEVEN states at once! Pretty cool.
Later that night...
...we went to dinner downtown and walked around the town and riverfront. The best part? Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream! Mmmmm mmmmm.....
By the time we got home, I/we were missing our boy something serious!
He seemed happy to see us when we picked him up from Granny and Poppa's house (lots of good hugs and kisses exchanged), but in true Jackson fashion, this conversation followed in the car on the way home:
Mama: "Did you miss Mama and Daddy while we were gone?"
Jackson: "NO!"
That does seem to be his answer for everything these days so I didn't take it too hard! You could ask that kid does he want ice cream and his first instinct response always seems to be NO! At least I know he had a good time with MiMi and PawPaw then with Granny and Poppa! :)
Even if he won't admit it....he was pretty happy to see us too!
He couldn't wait to wrestle with his daddy! :)
And after we got home (after supper of course)....
....Jackson got to eat one of his gifts we picked him up on our travels. His very first Moon Pie! And he loved it...what am I saying, of course he loved it! It's a Moon Pie! :) He also got a couple of t-shirts (not pictured) from the Grand Ole Opry and the Moon Pie General Store!
* * * * * * * * * *
And...what was Jackson doing while we were gone?
...the one thing I know for sure is that he did a little drumming on his new drum set that I made MiMi and PawPaw take BACK home with them after the birthday party! :)
Vacation was fun, but we are sure glad to be back home together!
