What Makes a Weekend?

Dan and I have been really trying to make the most of the weekends he is able to be home. One of our fave things to do of late is to go to Opry Mills and shop around. It's sort of like a little teeny vacation (especially since it's on the other side of town!) In case you've never been, Opry Mills is much more than just your average shopping mall. It's part shopping mall, part county fair ( a really cheap one) part lesson in cultural diversity.

The first time we went we let Drew ride on the carousel with Dan. He loved it! And he loved waving to me as he whizzed by on horseback. He will "talk" about it from time to time. So, yesterday when he got up from his nap, I said, "Do you want to go shopping with Momma and Daddy?" And he promptly made the noise for a horse!! Good thing we were planning to go to Opry Mills!! As we were shopping around, out of nowhere this little train comes barreling along full of little kids and blowing its' whistle. Drew practically jumped out of his stroller! I think I was as excited as he was!! We found out where the "depot" was and went to wait our turn to ride the train. When I first saw the guy driving the train I thought, "What a great job!" But then, I realized that parents were a little nuts about this whole train thing. If there wasn't room for their child they got a little bit testy. Luckily, Drew and I hopped right on (after I shoved several families out of the way...just kidding!!) This was one of those times that the look on his face was SO fun!! I would've stayed on that train all night-except that I might have incited a riot!

He also did the usual riding the horse with Dad and we went to TGI Fridays to have bite bites. Luckily, so far, he is a good restaurant kid. He ate a GIANT portion of mac and cheese and some mandarin oranges. We got him some "dirt cake" for dessert. It was his first encounter with a gummy worm. He was not impressed!

Here are Drew and Dan on the carousel:


Here's the dirt cake!