Toadfrogs and Elephants

It’s great to be home again. Being home on a Saturday means Wade does projects – in this case working on the bathroom. Madison entertained Alex:

I got really industrious and cooked a turkey. It didn’t seem right to have turkey without mashed potatoes, dressing, and green beans:

Here is a picture of Alex during his first bath at home:

Today he loves his bath:

He has always loved snuggling after the bath, but let’s compare then:

And now:

And what bath would be complete without Madison inspecting Alex for herself:

We finally went in for studio pictures. They qualify as 6 month pictures by one day. (Excuse the poor quality – these are scans of pictures and my scanner is old and sad.)

Now I have a few random pictures from the trip. While visiting Krista she took a few pictures of Alex when Wade gave him a barstool to play with:

While visiting Krista, Wade bought her old camera. She was upgrading to a newer one and her old one was a big upgrade for Wade. Wade had quite a bit of fun with it on the trip.

He also played with it in Piedmont Park when we visited with Emily.

And my personal favorite:

Happy Birthday Granny!

I think Alex knew he was at Gram’s house. Instead of sleeping till 7:30 or 8 like he has done the entire trip, he was up and ready to go at 6 am. Mom happily played with him while Wade and I slept a few more hours.

After six hours of driving we reached Chicago and made one quick stop – at the Threadless store. Now we all have new t-shirts.

Now we are back home and I have a baby to put to bed, a car to unload, and laundry to start.

We spent a little time exploring the Choo Choo since it was dark when we arrived last night.

We decided on a quick breakfast at Waffle House and then it was on to Nashville to see my sister and Chris. Melissa had a present for Alex and let him open it (with a little help):

Melissa and Chris unknowingly picked one of my favorite restaurants for lunch – Mellow Mushroom. I had no idea there was one in Nashville or I would have made a point to visit on numerous occasions. Alex fell asleep in the car, but I made Melissa and Chris pose for a picture anyway:

Then it was back in the car with a two hour drive to Paducah. The first stop was to see Granny and Papa:

The final stop of the day was at my mom’s house. The Upshaws joined us for dinner and then it was bedtime for everybody.

This morning we returned to an old favorite church – Buckhead Church. We hadn’t been to the new building and were impressed (especially with their children’s area). After church we met Marshall and Tarver for brunch at Rosebud in Virginia Highlands. Their little boy should arrive in about five weeks.

Then it was on to Piedmont Park to meet Emily. She drove over from Auburn to see Alex. Unfortunately it was quite hot and Alex was pretty tired and lethargic. She did hear a few giggles though.

We hopped in the car and drove to Chattanooga to have dinner with Nate and Michelle. The last time I saw Bryson he was only a few months old.

That would be a pretty full day, but Wade and I always manage to encounter drama. We had planned to spend the night in the Chattanooga Choo Choo – something I had done as a child and always wanted to repeat. We arrived around 7:30 and were told our room wasn’t ready. Evidently they were having trouble with the air conditioning in our train car. They eventually gave us the keys after offering us a room in the hotel. We turned them down (the whole point was to stay in a train car). They sent us on our way with a couple pitchers of ice water, a fan, free restaurant coupons for breakfast, and a comp’d hotel bill. We stayed in the room for a couple of hours and it only seemed to get warmer. Alex was down to a diaper and still couldn’t sleep.

We are now in a regular hotel room, but it is nice and cool.

No trip to the South is complete without a meal at Waffle House. A breakfast of cheese eggs, raisin toast, and grits tasted wonderful. The Gilmans joined us partway through the meal.

After a nap for Alex (the first in a crib since our trip began) we made the journey to Tech for the big game. Brad, Jen, and Jamie joined us on the bleachers.

It turned out to be a little warmer than Alex could stand so we hung out under the bleachers for most of the game.

Tech won and most everyone (except Karen) was happy. We started the hike back to our car and stopped for a few more pictures along the way.

Everyone took a nap (or at least a break) after the game. Then it was dinner at Jock & Jill’s for the Auburn game. Alex couldn’t get into the game (maybe football isn’t his thing) so he played on the floor or in Adam’s lap (note Alex’s yeti shirt - courtesy of Lyz).