Memphis: part 1

We went straight from Thanksgiving in St. Louis to Memphis to visit with my family for an early Christmas visit.  Scott took a flight down Friday night to join us for a quick weekend.  He barely made it out on his flight for all the snow that was coming down.  He said he was the second to last person on his connecting flight in Atlanta. 

Here are some things we did:

Had a tea party after naptime--my mom is brave letting him drink from a real, open cup (she let him use her Norman Rockefeller Christmas mugs for hot cocoa, too).  I was a nervous reck.

Enjoying the brownies, pb crackers, and grapes (this was low tea, I guess--but kid friendly)



 Successfuly grabbing his tea cup "correctly," which was very important to him.

He liked to do "cheers" if a little too enthusiastically

Looked at a lot of Chrismtas lights--C loves the blowups--you can imagine what I think--but it's cute to hear him get excited about them--especially Santa in the airplane or in his rocket ship.

Helped my dad decorate the outside of their house for the holidays. C kept saying, "I'm helping Papa with teamwork." while he consistently got in the way.  No pic--sadness.

My mom and I shopped in this cute little town called Arlington with some fun gift shops and a cool feed store that has been converted to an antique mall.  I swear, if I lived in the south I would monogram everything.  Everywhere you go they sell the most random things monogrammed.  I guess people have a hard time remembering who they are?  Just kidding, I LOVE it, seriously.  I had to restrain myself.

Started the Elf on the Shelf arriving.  It's cute to hear C talk to Hermie.  He asked him for a green motorcycle.  He also lost a toy in the woods (but I found it during his nap).  He told Hermie thank you for telling the troll to return it to him (LONG story), but it was cute to hear.  We also began this year's advent calendar and treats. Trying to incorporate verses for this, but it's hard at this age.  I'm going to work harder on this next year, as what I found seems to be from the King James Bible and goes over his head. I just don't want him to think Advent is all about dinky gifts and candy. 

Went to the carousel in the mall--score for C.

My dad and I went to see Dream Girls at the Orpheum (Memphis' live theater venue--it's beautiful there).  The production was awesome--better than the movie--though the women in the movie were amazing, too, but you can't beat the live performance. Mom let C stay up late and watch movies, so he was in heaven-- and they decorated sugar cookies.  Score again for C.

The Memphis Zoo (so much fun).  C literally passed out on the way home--never seen him do that before.  He was pretending to sleep w/his eyes scrunched tight, and never reopened them.

See next post for the weekend festivities.