Life with the Gilmore's: Vacation with Gran Gran...to Nashville We Go!!

November , 2012

A few weekends ago, Mommy and the kids packed up and went on a vacation with Gran Gran! Daddy had a lot of homework and studying to do for his (2nd) Master's program, so we left him to it at home. We went to Nashville and had a blast! We stayed in a hotel really close to the Gaylord/Opry Mills and didn't leave that area the entire time.

We drove up on Friday afternoon during the kids nap times so that they would sleep most of the way. (always a smart plan) So once we got there, checked in, and unpacked, all we had time to do was go out to dinner. We all headed out to the Opry Mills Mall to eat at the Aquarium Restaurant. Mommy and Gran Gran had been here before and were excited to take the kids. It is a really neat place to eat, it feels like you are under the sea. But the food- not great..you definitely go more for the atmosphere.

On Saturday, we got up and ate breakfast then rushed back to the room to change into swim clothes. The kids loved the swimming pool! After that, we went back to the room so Kailyn could nap and Mommy and Gran Gran got ready for the day. The swimming wore her out and she took a big ole nap. Then we headed back over to the mall for lunch and found it sooo crowded. We ended up getting a table at Chuy's Mexican and it was delicious. Unfortunately, fighting the crowds and waiting for a table took so long, after eating we had to head back to the hotel for afternoon naps. We had to wake the kids up from nap because we had tickets to Lorri Morgan's Dinner Show at the Gaylord Hotel. We rushed to get them packed up and dressed. Then the chaos began! We had a plan set to drive up to one side of the hotel to pick up tickets then drive to the other side where the show was. Well, Mommy walked in to get tickets and they said these tickets were at another desk clear across the hotel, so Mommy walked (really fast) to get them. Meanwhile, Gran Gran was in the car with 2 crying kids who wanted their Mommy and she was trying to navigate her way around to pick me up. We finally made it...about 20 minutes late. The food was not good at all and the show was not much better. We ended up leaving a little early to try and catch a horse and carriage ride. Little did we know that you have to pre-buy tickets to that, so we were not able to ride :( Caleb was very unhappy, as he has an obsession with horses lately. So we looked at a few of the Christmas lights inside and outside of the hotel and then headed back to our hotel. The kids were tired and Mommy and Gran Gran were wiped out!

Swimming with Gran Gran:

The dinner show:

Touring the Gaylord Hotel after the show:

On Sunday morning, we got packed up to go back home. After we got the car loaded up, we headed back to the Gaylord Hotel to eat lunch, go on a boat ride, and see the Shrek Christmas show. This was our best day!! It was tons of fun. Lunch was a little stressful because they only had 2 out of like 12 restaurants open for lunch, but we finally got a table, even though the kids were past hungry! The boat ride was great, both kids really enjyoed that. And then we were right in time to see the Shrek special...this was Caleb's favorite part of the trip. Super cute! Kailyn fell asleep on Mommy's shoulder during the show, which meant it was time to load up and head back home. It was a wonderful trip and we are so grateful to Gran Gran for creating wonderful memories with us.