Nashville!

We visited Jamie and Jeremy in Nashville over Labor Day weekend and had a great, relaxing, fun trip!  

On Saturday we went to separate "girls" and "boys" lunches :-)  Mom, Jamie, and I went to a cute little restaurant called The Picnic where of the walls were lemon yellow, and there were tons of beautifully arranged blue and white china plates hung on the walls.  I'm a sucker for blue and white, so I loved how they had their restaurant decorated!  We enjoyed chicken salad, tomato soup, pimento cheese, lemon-artichoke soup, and The Picnic's signature fruit tea.  The boys went to a local sports bar called The Sportsman where they ate the best burgers in town while gearing up for the start of football season.  Max was in heaven surrounded by his daddy, his Sugar Maury, and his Uncle Jeremy! 

The weekend continued from there with a little shopping, a lot of football watching, some Thomas the Train riding, and tons of EATING!!!  Rae and Bruce, Jamie's parents, made us a tailgaiting feast on Saturday evening, and one of my favorite things were the hamburgers that Erin, Jamie's sister, marinated in ketchup, Worchestershire sauce, and Montreal Steak Seasoning--YUM!  We also had hot dogs, chips, potato salad, and a sundae bar for dessert.  In addition to a scrumptious "pull apart" Monkey Bread that Jamie made on Sunday morning, she also cooked brunch on Monday morning, complete with a sausage/egg/sundried tomato casserole, noodle kugel, fresh fruit, and biscuits.  We went out to eat on Sunday night at a Greek restaurant, although we were barely hungry again after our huge meal at Monell's restaurant on Sunday for lunch--see pics below.

On Saturday night, Jamie's parents, Rae and Bruce, hosted us at their home for a delicious and fun UGA football tailgate meal.  We had such fun with Jamie's niece, Rena, who just turned a year old :-) She was wearing an adorable Georgia cheerleading outfit!  Here she is doing "touchdown" with Erin (her mom), Jamie, Sue, and Maury.

Sue and Maury enjoying the tailgate party.

On Sunday morning, we went to "A Day Out With Thomas" at the TC Railway Museum.  A huge Thomas engine pulled us as we rode on a real train!  Thanks to Rae for noting the event in the paper and letting us know about it.  Max was in heaven!!!

"Look, a REAL train!"

Riding the rails with Uncle Jeremy, Mommy, Thomas, and Gordon!

Group Shot :-)

After the train ride, we ate lunch at a popular Nashville spot called Monell's.  The restaurant serves family style southern fare, and we dined on: fried chicken, shredded pork, pea salad, cole slaw, watermelon slices, biscuits, corn bread, apple butter, gravy, stewed apples, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, cheese grits, green beans, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, and pecan pie (and, believe it or not, I think I'm forgetting a few things!).  It was a fun experience!

While we waited for our table at Monell's, Max enjoyed playing on this bridge in the courtyard waiting area.

He even made some friends who played with him :-)

This is my good friend from high school, Carrie Biter Allen, who lives in Nasvhille now.  Her son, Houston (bottom left), is only a week younger than Max.  We have spent many hours on the phone discussing each step of the boys' first three years!  It is always a treat to see them when we are visiting Nashville or when they are visiting Atlanta.

Max and Houston are fascinated with "Flo" from Cars.  Max was working toward earning Flo for staying dry the whole day.  I think Houston was hoping I might cave and let him open it early!  Sorry, buddy--gotta stick to my guns :-)

The four of us together :-)  We have pics like this of us from several of our visits, and it's neat to track how the boys have changed since we've been getting together to play!

Here is Max spending some quality fun time with Uncle Jeremy.  I'm pretty sure Max thinks Jeremy is a human jungle gym!

Jeremy is getting his workout by doing pushups with a 34 pound "monkey" on his back :-)

Lookout Max!--Jeremy still has some wrestling moves up his sleeve...