A Trolley, Ducks, French fries and more

Dear Abigail, Daddy went on his annual trip to watch the NCAA tournament with Mr. Mike and Mr. Scott, or as you like to say "Daddy went to CinciMati to watch football"; therefore, WE had to go somewhere, right?! We decided to head to Memphis for a long weekend, but Mommy decided we weren't just going to do nothing, we were going to make a real trip out of it. First things first, we had to stop by the hospital so Sarah could do an ultrasound on the baby! At this point Mimi nor Papa Rob knew that you were going to be a big sister, so we had to kind of fib and tell them we were having a long lunch and then hit some traffic, when really we were just making a pit stop! Sarah tried to see if the baby was a boy or girl, but at 12 1/2 weeks, it was just too early, even for her. BUT, we got some really great pictures and you got to see your baby brother/sister for the first time!! After the hospital, we headed to Papa Robs for a quick visit (and to tell him the good news)! You had your "Big Sister" shirt, but Papa Rob wasn't the quickest to realize that, so you handed him the picture and said "I'm a Big Sister!!!" He caught on real quick, and of course claimed he had known for some time now, and we just let him think he's the only one who figured it out :) After a quick trip to the park to burn off some of that 'being cooped up in the car for hours on end' energy, we headed to Mimi's. At this point she is getting super anxious as she has been expecting us for awhile. She, of course, was sitting outside, waiting, when we pulled up and immediately came to the car to get you. You immediately handed her your picture and told her the same speech "I'm a Big Sister!!" Mimi was super excited, and while she was a little mad that we fibbed (and waited so long to tell her), her mood was quickly changed when she realized the baby's due date was her birthday!!! Now that Mimi and Papa Rob knew, we could relax a little, and of course, tell the rest of the world! So we did, via Facebook :) That was Thursday. We had another big day planned for Friday. On our last couple visits, your BFFL has been, well, left out of the visits. Not purposely, but the visits were either short, or the timing was off for both of you or something. So this visit, I made a promise to both of you that we would spend a WHOLE day together, all three of us! So we did... We headed out Friday morning and went straight to the doughnut shop. Now, you've heard me talk about your non-sweet eating self, right? And while, yes, for the most part, you don't eat the sweets, occasionally you find something that is sweet and will eat it. So, we decided to let you try a doughnut (and Mommy was dying for one and you never have to ask Sarah twice). I let you pick out your doughnut and low and behold, you picked out the largest doughnut there - the Bearclaw! Mommy didn't mind, because I knew I'd end up getting to eat it, but I was a little leery of you actually liking it and eating the whole thing! But, you came through, and just ate one claw! Let me tell you, one claw was all you needed. You, hands down, got a sugar high and then went straight into a sugar coma! It was actually pretty funny, and by the time we got to downtown Memphis, you were out of it. That's right - we went downtown, downtown! We decided to take the trolley around downtown and pass by the river and the bridge and all the fun places Mommy has worked, or eaten at, or just had fun! You loved sitting on your knees, staring out the window. After the trolley, we headed to the Peabody Hotel, to meet some ducks! See, the Peabody Hotel (a pretty famous hotel in Memphis) has a long standing tradition where ducks march into the lobby from the elevator and into the fountain. It happens every day, and today, we got to watch them. You had an excellent view right in front on the elevator on the red carpet they march down. You were so excited as they walked by and continued to be excited as they swam around the fountain. We watched them for a little while, found a couple goodies in the Duck gift shop, and headed to eat at another Memphis tradition - Hueys! Mommy and Sarah LOVE this place, and you've eaten at it before, when you were a little thing, but this time you got to really experience it, including the loaded fries (yes, today was not about eating healthy :). I will admit, you weren't on your best behavior, as you insisted on licking Sarah, or wiping your fork on her, or just being, well, not well behaved - but it was your nap time, and we had a busy busy day. After a delicious lunch, that yes, consisted of ice cream - PS, i did NOT know they were going to bring you ice cream..., we headed to Mimi's. Mimi got home right about the time we did and you guys played outside for a bit, and after a good dinner and bath, you headed to bed to get some much needed rest! Because... Saturday morning, we headed out to the zoo! Let's see, me, you, Mimi, Lynnie, Clara Lee, Ash-ash, Aunt G, Emily, John Michael, and Katie all met up at the zoo! We actually got to see a lot of the animals and the gorillas were being extra cutesy! One of them scared the mess out of me and Em!! And the bears came right up to the window while he was playing with his ball in the water! We had a picnic and even got to play on the playground - oh, and the weather turned out really nice. At first it was a bit cool, but soon enough that sun popped out and it was so nice. That night, everyone came over for Mommy's family birthday party - including the whole gang mentioned above, then Mammaw and Pawpaw and of course your BFFL, Sarah. Because it was so nice, we were able to play and play and play outside. Okay, you were able to play and play and play while the adults sat in chairs, eating pizza and ice cream cake!! You, little girl, are one smart cookie. I'm not sure how you've pulled it off, but you have convinced Clara Lee to always be the 'pusher' and you always the 'rider'. We can't for sure say it's all you, because CL loves you beyond words and would do anything for you, so maybe it's just her, but nonetheless, you sat like a little princess in the wagon or the car or whatever, and just let Clara Lee push and push and push you. Poor CL's face was so red, but she was grinning ear to ear the whole time! You kiddos had so much fun running around, enjoying the awesome weather. I know this summer is going to be great with Mimi and Ash-ash off for the summer! Sunday was a supposed to be a little more low key, and it was sort of, but I think you burned just as much energy if not more! After we got in a good walk, you and Mimi and Em went to Clara Lee's house to play while Mommy went furniture shopping with Sarah. I got home around 3, which was about the time you got home and by the looks of you, you had NOT had a nap, and I'm not even sure you had quit moving other than the car ride! You looked exhausted, so we stayed in for a little bit but the weather was just too nice so we had to go back outside for just a little bit longer. After a good dinner and a extra good bath, we went to bed, only to get up early Monday morning to drive back to Nashville... This weekend was an extra eventful weekend in Memphis, and I think extra fun, too! Love you Big Sister! PS - you may be asking "Mommy, why no pictures?" to which I would respond with "Mommy left her camera at home and when I took Mimi's camera on Friday, the battery was dead and then Mimi took the camera to the zoo and I haven't got any pictures" In other words, blame Mimi :) xxxxooooo