Trip to Tennessee

This will be a long entry as we had a packed, fun filled week in Tennessee. Let me first start by thanking both my parents and Stephen's parents for helping us come by paying for a part of our plane tickets. Julian is now two so he has to have a seat so you can imagine that flying anywhere can get expensive quick. Flying with two kids on my own isn't a horrible experience. D'arcy and Julian are always asked if this is their first trip, and the answer is always a resounding NO as both have flown many times to many places. They are pros and are very good on the plane. They are extremely friendly, and never fail to make many friends along the way. The conversation usually goes something like this...
"Hi, My name is D'arcy, and this is my brother Julian."
Julian echoes in the background, "Yeah, my name Jewian."
D'arcy continues, "We are flying to Tennessee to see our Grandma and Grandpa. Where are you going? Will you be on our next flight? This is my new IPod. I'm listening to a princess story." etc etc etc.
So the problem with flying isn't the kids, it's the stuff. I have to bring my big camera bag, my laptop bag, toys for the kids, a carseat (key in keeping my sanity with a two year old who would easily wiggle out of a plane seat), and a double stroller on the plane. To get to my connecting flight, I'm pushing or carrying all of this plus two kids and a third on the way across the Dallas airport by myself. It worked, but it wasn't a pleasant stroll in the park.
Once we got to Tennessee, we got to see some of our very favorite people, Grandma & Grandpa Clark, Kristin & Addison Bedi, Laura Allen, Grammy & Poppy Williams, Uncle Alex & Meagan, Uncle Josh & Emily, Great Uncle D & Great Aunt Lauren, Max, and GG (Great Grandma/Georgia Grandma). Here are our top ten memories from the week:

1. Hearing Julian tell Stephen over the phone that he saw an elephant at the zoo, and that the elephant went the bathroom right in front of us. He thought that was funny and "silly".

2. Hearing D'arcy and Julian tell my parents who was running for President; D'arcy, "John McCain! Bob Barr!" and Julian follows with "Barack Obama!"

3. D'arcy listening to the tour guide headphones at the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's Plantation) and promptly telling us that it says we should be careful when we pick cotton because if you do it all day your hands will start bleeding.

4. D'arcy restating that Andrew Jackson is dead on many occasions. She surprises me by how comfortable she seems with the idea of death. Although, she has told me on several occasions that she likes being alive.

5. Having D'arcy line up the Wilson/Williams family in a line after taking pictures to do a "parade". She was talking about having a parade for several days and she finally got one!

6. Watching D'arcy and Julian relate to their long distance family. They sure aren't shy with them. They wake up and immediately say, "I go see Grandma and Grandpa?"

7. Watching D'arcy make friends on the trip as described above.

8. Hearing D'arcy call Josh's new girlfriend by his old girlfriends name. This makes me giggle a little. (I need to insert here that we really like both current girlfriends very much!) She also gets Josh and Alex mixed up quite often...I even almost hugged Alex thinking he was Stephen. If you aren't paying attention this can easily happen.

9. Hearing D'arcy explain to Poppy that her Grandma Clark gives her Apple Jacks for breakfast when we visit her, and she likes this very much.

10. Walking in fall weather where there are actually leaves on the ground and a chill in the air. (Although, I'll admit that I was glad to get back to 75-80 degree weather)

We used my parents little camera at the beginning of the week, so I don't have those pictures yet, but I will post some of the pictures from our official Williams family photo shoot.