The Cable Cars in San Francisco - 4/26/15

We headed into the city yesterday and took Harrison and Declan on a round-trip cable car ride through the streets of San Francisco. We ate dinner at Fisherman's Wharf after our first ride, and then took another cable car back to where we started. The boys loved it!!

The conductor even showed Harrison how to operate the cable car and let him pretend he was at the controls!

 Harrison looks like a natural! We got seats on the bench just behind him, so we had a great view of everything.

The end of another great vacation!

Visiting California - April 2015

 This weekend, we visited Nana, Aunt Karen, Uncle Devin, and cousins Nick and Sam in California. Harrison and Declan loved playing at the beach on Friday; and on Monday they  got to play on a ranch with chickens, bees, a vineyard, an orchard, and an awesome tree house. They had a lot of fun with their cousins!

Belle Meade Plantation - 4/19/15

On our last day in Nashville, we visited the Belle Meade Plantation for part of the day and stepped back in time to an old plantation that used to raise thoroughbred racing horses. We rocked on the porches around the mansion, investigated the slave cabins, checked out the dairy and smokehouse, had a great lunch, and even partook in a free wine tasting.

 Harrison and Declan had fun with southern-style fans.

 The carriage house was really neat. It was actually two buildings and housed the horse stables and some very fancy carriages.

 This is the back of the Belle Meade Mansion. The red brick building on the right is the smokehouse.

 The plantation even had a little play house for the kids that lived there so long ago. Unfortunately, kids today were not allowed to go inside.

 Rocking on the front, side, and back porches was very relaxing!

 "Can I stay here all afternoon?"

 The front of Belle Meade Mansion.

 These were the slave cabins and Harrison is playing a drum that was inside the cabin.

 This was the dairy, which apparently produced lots and lots of butter.

Thanks for the great history lesson!

Downtown Nashville - 4/18/15

After the LEGO Kidsfest, we spent the afternoon exploring downtown Nashville. Harrison and Declan had fun playing 'cowboy dress-up' in the boot and hat shops, we sampled candy at the Goo Goo Cluster shop, I checked out the Johnny Cash Museum while the guys wandered around the pedestrian bridge, we stopped for ice cream at an adorable vintage ice cream shop, and we found an awesome place for an authentic southern dinner! 

 "How do I get to the secret recipe behind this door??"

 We stopped for ice cream at a vintage ice cream shop that was absolutely pack with people!

 Harrison enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Thanks for a fun day, Nashville!!

LEGO KidsFest! - 4/18/15

On Saturday morning, we attended LEGO KidsFest in downtown Nashville!! Harrison and Declan had so much fun and stayed until the very last second of our 4 1/2 hour session. There were so many fun activities for building, playing, racing, posing with giant Lego models, competing and more. It was well worth the trip to Nashville!

The anticipation while waiting in line for the doors to open almost made Harrison explode!

 Right inside the doors to the KidsFest were lots of life-size Lego models built by the Lego Master Builders. And, you could even meet the Master Builders at the show.

The giant LEGO brick pile! Declan couldn't wait to jump in!

 Building their own LEGO cars and racing them down the ramps was definitely one of Harrison and Declan's favorite activities.

 A photo with Spider-Man! 

There were lots of freebies at the KidsFest, including photo printouts, several small LEGO sets, LEGO magazines, and more.

 Declan and his very own Mixel creation.

 Harrison and his LEGO work of art for the big art wall. His is the one with the orange 'H', the tree and volcano.

 Harrison built this helicopter during a 2-minute building competition where the challenge was to build "something you would see outside".

 "Watch out, it's a jungle out there!"

 My three super heroes!

 Darth Vader was very popular!

 "Come on, little brother....let's take this car out for a ride!"

 "Help, I'm being eaten by a shark!"

 This section was called 'Creation Nation' and as each participant built a LEGO creation, it was added to the map of the USA wherever the person wanted. We put ours in Colorado.

"Please don't make me leave."

(....and there is still more to come from our trip to Nashville)