Eldredge Family Vacay (Part 2)

After a hearty breakfast of donuts and coffee Saturday morning, we headed down to the river front before leaving the city. After all, you can't visit St. Louis, MO and not see the world famous arch. What we didn't take into account was that it was a Saturday, which meant there would be tourists everywhere. And there were. The ticket line was at least a mile long (if you think I'm joking, I'm not), so we knew right away we wouldn't have time to go up to the top. Thankfully, our guests weren't that upset about it, so we toured the museum, took a few snapshots, and decided to hit the road.

Taylor wanted nothing to do with wearing a bonnet or taking this photo. 

She really enjoyed the old man that took it though.

After making our way through the maze of construction that was downtown, we were on our way to Tennessee! We made our usual stop in Metropolis, Illinois so that Mindy and Will could see the giant Superman statue (to which his response was something along the lines of, "That's it?"). Ha! I feel ya, kid.

Just as we began to see the Nashville skyline, another torrential downpour came. And it was a doozie! I was clawing the seat, slamming on my imaginary passenger-side brake, and praying to God that the other cars wouldn't slam into us. My nerves were completely shot by the time we arrived in Smyrna. Thankfully, our sweet little niece, Lindy, was a nice distraction!

It was fun to see the girls side-by-side compared to the last time they were together! Back in March, Taylor had just begun to sit and Lindy was learning to crawl. Now, Taylor is on the verge of taking her first steps while Lindy is running through the house like a mad woman! It's amazing how much our babies have learned in such a short amount of time.

We spent our time in Tennessee without schedules or agendas. The mornings were spent playing with the kids and lounging in our pajamas while the afternoons were typically filled with shopping, swimming, and trips to the splash pad. It was refreshing; it was relaxing.

And on not one but two occasions, Jake and I were able to leave the house tot-free and spend some quality time by ourselves. We had a quiet dinner at a local steakhouse one evening, and we spent another morning touring the Opryland Hotel and Resort. Both were much needed (thanks again, guys)!

 The hotel and resort is so beautiful. I highly recommend taking the time to see it. Baby-free, of course.

On our last night, we attempted to take some family photos for Jake's mom since she was unable to make the trip (next time, Nancy!). We had attempted to take a few shots of Will and the girls earlier in the day, but our attempts were failed to say the least. Apparently, all we needed was some southern comfort food to put us in the mood, because after dinner at Cracker Barrel we were able to capture some pretty decent shots. Frozen yogurt and a trip to the park didn't hurt either.

Wednesday morning we loaded up the truck and said our goodbyes. It's hard living so far away from family, but we really try to make the most of our time together when possible. Unfortunately, life is just different now that we've added little ones into the mix. And after a week of missed naps, new surroundings, and constantly being on the go, I think we were all ready to be in our own homes and back to our normal routines.

And we were able to capture this precious gem until we can all be together again.

No worries, Nancy. We can Photoshop Monica & Jacob in here somewhere!

Until next time, Eldredges!

XoXo