Mitchell's Visit

We got home in time to unpack, get settled a bit, and then pick up my younger brother, Mitch, from the airport on Thursday morning. About 5 minutes after getting home from the airport I had him on the lawn mower mowing my backyard....aren't I a great hostess??? Actually, both my younger brothers get excited about getting to drive the riding lawn mower, so I'm always sure to leave some mowing for them to do when they come to visit. After that, we ventured up to Nashville with a few other friends to check out the CMA festival. We enjoyed lots of free food (the Dr. Pepper was the hi-lite with the ice-cream in a close second), activities, and fun. Mitch was able to buy some great souvenirs at great prices at one of the stores on Broadway Street. On Friday we went swimming at the Y and that night he and I went to see a movie. On Saturday (Daniel was on-call at the hospital) while I played the piano at a baptism, Mitchell took the kids, with Brian and his kids, down to the Cabin that my dad built and did a little 4-wheeling and such. That night we went up to the Opry Mills Mall and Opryland Hotel to eat dinner and walk around.

Mitchell's debut on the Cub Cadet. He did a great job except he ran out of gas, and we didn't have any of our cans filled, so the mower sat in the backyard for a day and a half. After we got gas in it, we realized the battery was dead, so we had to run an extention chord out to the middle of the yard to hook it up to the battery charger. Finally, he was able to finish mowing and then get the mower safely tucked back into the garage.

When we first arrived at the festival Strawberry Shortcake was finishing up her performance on the outdoor kiddie stage. Later, we were able to go to her booth where the girls all got CD's and got to decorate a picture frame. Strawberry Shortcake even showed up to get a few photos taken (I think Mitch had a little crush on her!).

One of the many free things at the festival. The kids got harnessed in and attached to bungie chords and used a small trampoline to push off of. I missed Tristan doing it because I was helping Mitch pick out souvenirs, but here's Alicia.

Another free activity at the Festival. It was a pretty hot and humid day, so the kids were excited to stumble onto this enormous slip 'n slide. Here's Tristan. He was so fast I had a hard time getting a good shot.

Uncle Mitch was a great sport and helped Addi get up on the slide over and over and over again so she could just run through it. She loved it! She also enjoyed getting Uncle Mitch to read her lots of stories at home every chance she could get.

Alicia, Tristan, and Mitch in the Opryland Hotel. This picture is fuzzy because I had to use the night option on my camera so you could see the scenery in the background. The inside of this hotel is a huge atrium...it is amazing and always beautiful.