Amiee headed back to Tennessee on Easter afternoon, but Mom and Dad stayed until the next evening. Then, they AND CLAIRE boarded a plane to head to Huntsville, via Nashville, which was very exciting for Claire. Claire joined them so that she could attend coronation rehearsal a week before the real thing (very important for a 4-year-old). The reason Nashville was such an exciting event for Claire was because of this Brad Paisley song that is in Planes. He sings about making his descent "to the ol' BNA," BNA being the airport code for Nashville. When we made plans for Claire to fly back with Mom and Dad, I worked on getting Claire excited about it by making sure she knew she would be flying to the ol' BNA. She was so funny talking about it! I had to explain to MANY people what in the world she was talking about.
Mom bought her this preshy rolling backpack ages ago, and I cannot handle the cuteness. That's her bedtime lovie tucked into the tutu on the front. And the whole backpack is fuzzy. I want one.
Their flight was delayed several hours, but Claire was a trooper. So was Poppy.
Mom snapped this picture of us in the airport. I'm thinking it's Christmas card material, yes? You'd totally put us on your fridge, right? Mom took this right before they went through security, which was SO CUTE to watch. I'd actually "practiced" with Claire beforehand. She's a child that likes to be prepared for things (she doesn't fall apart if she's not prepared, but things often go more smoothly if she is), so we had practiced putting her bag on the xray belt (i.e. the garden bench on the patio) and walking through the metal detector (i.e. the doorway). We practiced following instructions from the TSA agents and even standing still in case they needed to be extra sure about things and use a special wand. She did great in both practice AND show time.
Mom sent me this after we'd parted ways. Apparently, Claire was a champ! Although, she did have thoughts on all the airport walking. I think she said something like, "I'm so tired of walking, and I can't take another step!" WE HAVE NO DRAMA IN THIS HOUSE, CLEARLY. The Ukrainian/Bostonian in me is all, "Suck it up, Buttercup." But then I remember she's little and has short little legs.
Cutie sweetie baby.
Claire enjoyed the whole experience so much that I've caught her "playing airplane" a few times. They flew Southwest, so they boarded in groups, my dad boarding in Group A while Mom and Claire boarded during Family Boarding. This is the part she reenacts: "Family Boarding! Families with children!" It's hilarious.
While Claire was living it up in Alabama with Mom and Dad, Brad, Lily, and I got ready to head out a few days later. I wasn't particularly excited about the prospect of traveling across half of North Carolina (long) + almost all of Tennessee (loooooong), but I was excited about introducing Brad to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society audiobook as we traveled. Whether he wanted to or not (he wanted to). Thankfully, we broke up our trip in Johnson City overnight.
This is Lily's FINALLY face. Bless her.
East Tennessee, you're so beautiful.
I whine about the cross-TN drive, but it really wasn't that bad for most of the trip. Thankfully, Lily napped for a few hours during the morning (not so much in the afternoon- that was when it became less fun), while Brad and I continued listening to our Guernsey friends. It rained off and on, but we finally arrived at Union, dearest Union. It was the end of the day on a Friday, so we didn't do anything other than swing by Amiee's office and pick up her apartment keys/see her office/meet her student workers.
Lily hanging in Amiee's office chair. She was pretty proud of herself, as you can see.
Saturday morning, we got to have brunch with our friends, the Crawfords, who we've unexpectedly gotten to see just about once a year since we left Jackson. It was so nice to catch up while our kids played. It's never long enough, but we're thankful for the time we get. Immediately after that, Mom had arranged to have pictures taken of the girls- by the photographer who did our wedding pictures! She did a FANTASTIC job, and it was so low stress! Look how great these are:
Oh man. I love the pictures so much.
Amiee had to deal with quite a few stressful and tense situations revolving around Variety Show, but she handled them with such poise and confidence. The show was great and was a lot of fun! We ended up taking both girls with us, which was totally a shot in the dark on whether or not it would work out, given that it was past bedtime. Thankfully, they both did great (actually, Claire was even more fidgety than Lily, which surprised me) and had lots of fun!
And, her sweet grad school bestie, Katy, flew in from Texas and surprised her as moral support for the weekend! It was so fun to get to meet Katy after hearing so much about her over the past 3 years.
Katy and Lily really hit it off! Also, my camera was smudged. Boo.
We got to eat lunch with SO MANY FRIENDS on Sunday! Kevin Z was one of Amiee's judges for the show, so we got to hang with 3/4 of the Z family + Katy from Texas + our friend Karl! He was in Jackson for the weekend, and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to see him for a little while.
Group shot! (photo snagged from Kristen Z- she had the good idea to get a picture!)
We stayed through until Monday so that Brad and I could see some folks up at Union. Brad had breakfast with Ben Mitchell, we took the girls up to see Sherry Tignor (my former supervisor), and Brad and I had coffee with Hal Poe. We also got to wander around the new library for as long as we wanted (because Mom and Dad were watching the girls). The library is mesmerizing. We were both so floored and impressed and jealous. Those young thangs have no idea how amazing the new library is! Do you even know what the library I studied in looked like?? Goodness. I was green with envy.
Please look at this. It's SO NICE.
Dr. Mitchell asked his administrative assistant to take us into the dome at the top of the library. It's unfinished but beautiful.
The belltower. We got engaged a few yards to the right of this shot. Aw...
Incidentally, we also both graduated right here. Three different occasions. :)
The library coffee shop has GOOD COFFEE. When I was in college, my friend, Amanda, and I would go and have tea with Dr. Poe in his office every few weeks one spring semester, and we would take our own supplies for tea time. Brad and I went and got GOOD COFFEE at the library and then walked one building over to hang with Dr. Poe. Things have changed, y'all.
On a couple of occasions, I ended up at Amiee's apartment alone with both of my children and both of hers: Winnie (the dog) and Elphie (the cat). Guys. It was like having 4 kids 4 and under. I was so tired. Bless it.
But, I did get some sweet cuddles from Winnie.
And Lily's favorite thing was to play in the recyclables. Of course.
We got to Huntsville Monday night and had fun just hanging out on Tuesday, including dinner with my aunt and uncle, and Wednesday. Mom's and Claire's big performance was Wednesday night, and it went very very smoothly! Mom's been streamlining the details of coronation for years now, and her hard work has paid off. Go, Mom! Claire did all of her parts so well, and we were very proud of her, too!
Claire (the flower attendant), Mr. Brent, Ellie, and Walt (the award attendant)
Ellie very sweetly gave Claire and Walt gifts for being her attendants. She made Claire's DAY by giving her Blade from Planes. Claire was so excited that I literally could not understand the words coming out of her mouth when she tried to tell me about her gift. And yes, she has asked several times if the helicopter could sleep in her bed. No, Claire. That's uncomfortable to even think about.
Lily was a good sport with all the travel. She had a little trouble with her nap schedule on travel days, and she kept waking up on Eastern time every morning while we were gone, which wasn't my favorite, but bless her. She couldn't help it, and I couldn't hold it against her. She had a lot of fun playing at Nana's and Poppy's, especially with the Cozy Coupe from my childhood/ days of yore. She also managed to crawl through the doll house at one point. I don't know how she fit through it, but I saw her do it, so it's possible.
She started in front of the house, squeezed around the staircase and then out the back. At that point, she found herself stuck between the doll house and the wall. Did I help her out? Nope...took pictures. Don't worry, though; she figured it out.
We split the drive home up by stopping in Johnson City again, getting to visit with a few of Brad's extended family, which is always nice!
And finally...we made it home (some of us with less cooperativeness than others. Ahem...Claire). WHEW. I was TIRED, guys. Glad for a fantastic trip! But so tired, nonetheless.
And then there was laundry. For days.
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