Martin Visit part 3

We got back from Nashville on Wednesday, and spent Thursday at the Columbus Zoo.  It was good weather and we all got in for free with our pass, so it was fun.  I rode a camel with Lucy, and we waited in line forever to feed the giraffes only to have it be the one and only time they could not get the giraffes to eat!  Lame.  We still had fun though.

Friday was their last full day in Columbus, so we walked the Scioto Mile as we always do.  After that, we went to a new frozen custard place downtown that Janae found online called Whit's and it was amazing.  We will definitely be back!!

 It wouldn't be a trip to the Scioto Mile without stopping to swing on just about every big swing.

 Lucy doesn't let the "don't touch the fountains" signs stop her from having fun.  Oh well.

We took a little walk around the neighborhood before the Martin's left on Saturday morning.  Lucy didn't want to be done, so Ryan just pretended to hang her up without getting her out... which she thought was hilarious and obviously didn't help her want to get out but it was still cute.

And that's the end of the Martin 2014 visit!  Thanks for a great time, Mark and Janae!

Martin Visit part 2 (Nashville)

While Ryan's parents were here, Ryan had a business trip to Nashville that he couldn't change, so we decided to tag along!  The hotel was awesome and had two rooms in our suite, which made it really easy to take the girls and guests.  We drove down Sunday after church.

On Monday, we went and toured the Grand Ole Opry house while Ryan was at work.  This place was really cool- it made me want to put on some cowgirl boots and transform into a country star! :)  After Ryan got off work, we went downtown to the Wild Horse Saloon for dinner, which was a ton of fun!  They led us right up to the front and center table, so we were close to the live entertainment, the dancing, everything.  I loved it, however, Lucy sat with her hands over her ears the whole time because it was SO loud in there.  We finally bought her some ear plugs which she ended up liking and was finally able to feed herself her own dinner. Ha!  She is very sensitive to loud noises.  Janae and I even got up and did the line dance instructions and danced for a little bit.  Some nice older man saw Lucy dancing and asked if she would like to dance.  She got a little shy so I picked her up and we danced with him for a song.  We were the only ones out on the floor, so I felt a little awkward, but it was still fun.  The guy used to be a dance instructor for 30 years and was visiting from Texas, so he knew how to lead us around and not look too stupid! ;)

On Tuesday, we went downtown and checked out the Ryman Auditorium, tried on a whole bunch of awesome cowboy boots in a boot store (and waited out a long rainstorm in there, too), bought some good treats at a fun chocolate/candy shop, drove by the Parthenon replica, and just enjoyed the atmosphere of downtown Nashville.  We got caught in yet another huge rainstorm walking back to the car, but we survived.

Wednesday morning we just drove back home.  One other thing that was pretty fun while visiting Nashville was that Ryan got upgraded to the top floor, which is a private floor that has free snacks, treats, and drinks from vending machines 24/7.  So you better believe that every time we passed them we loaded up with TONS of free treats.  I can't even count how many candy bars, chips, and drinks we took (and ate... yikes... bad for our waitlines)!  But Lucy thought it was the coolest thing ever that we had a little mini refrigerator in our room.  She would run straight to it every time and pull out an orange juice, take a sip, put it back in, repeat 1,000 times.  It was for sure her favorite part of the trip (easy to please!). Ha.  It was cute to see her have so much fun with such simple new things.

Don't worry- this picture was taken while we were sitting still in a traffic jam.

This is where the stars check-om at the Grand Ole Opry when they are there to perform.

One of the many, fancy dressing rooms.

These are the mailboxes of everyone who has been indicted into the Opry.  They actually pick up their mail here (well, fan mail).  So obviously, Mark is looking for his fan mail. ;)

 Lucy was dancing away to the music they had playing outside. :)

At the Wild Horse Saloon.

Here was our table, front and center.  And Lucy covering her ears!

Something about Nashville makes every girl instantly feel like they need a pair of boots.  Am I right?!

 View of our hotel from the top floor, where we stayed.

 Free vending machines are right up our ally!  We even had the code memorized.

Martin Visit Part 1

Ryan's parents came to visit us back in June from the 5th-14th and we had so much fun!  They were here the exact same days as they were the previous year.  They flew in on Janae's birthday and we went straight to Tom & Chee for dinner and then stopped by the store on the way home to stock up on Graeter's ice cream for dessert.  After that, we went home and did our normal bedtime routine, which was way more exciting with someone new to read books with.

The next morning, on Friday, Lucy got a fun ride in the stroller with Grandma while she went running. Ryan still had to work this day, so we went to the pool in the morning and then towards the end of the day we went to Ryan's work and visited him in his Columbus office.

On Saturday morning, both Lucy and Claire got to ride in the stroller with Grandma Nae, but unfortunately it was a much more difficult ride since Claire wanted to sleep but they kept waking her up and then Lucy wanted out. Oh well, it was a nice morning break for me while I got ready! :)  Then we all headed out to the North Market in downtown Columbus.  This was a fun place that is a large, indoor farmers market, plus it had a bunch of little Columbus shops and bakeries and little restaurants, etc.  They also had a ton of food trucks lined up outside, so after we shopped a little, we went outside and got really good food!