Nashville

Seth's parents took our family and Seth's sister's family to Nashville for a long weekend. We drove up Friday afternoon and stayed until Monday (the weekend before Thanksgiving). We stayed at Opryland and they had just decorated for Christmas. The hotel messed up our rooms- we were supposed to all be near each other and we were completely spread out. This hotel is HUGE!!! It feels miles long and miles high so being near each other is key. To apologize, they upgraded us all to hospitality suites. There were two HUGE rooms that overlooked the garden areas below. It was fabulous! We definitely got spoiled by their error. It was perfect with the kids!

 The living room- fold out couch, a small kitchen area, and a bathroom

 Our bedroom (with another bathroom)

The curtains opened and closed with the flip of a switch. You could see all the gardens, restaurants, and people wandering below (we were on the 6th floor). It was awesome!

We went to eat at Aquarium Friday night. It's in the Opryland outlets next door. This is the best place to take kids to eat. There's a 20,000 gallon aquarium in the center. Diners can view from any table in the restaurant. 

On Saturday, we ate at the hotel (an overpriced buffet) and then went to see How the Grinch Stole Christmas at the Grand Old Opry. It was the perfect play to kick off the Christmas season! We all loved it!

After the play, we took advantage of all there was to do at Opryland. The kids went snow tubing. 

 James can be hit or miss with things like this. This was a major hit for him! The other 3 had stopped snow tubing but James kept going. He could have done this all day long. The joy on his face was so awesome!

Next to the snow tubing was snow ball throwing. The other 3 kids did this while James kept going down on his tube. 

Seth is showing Adelyn how it's done

It was drizzling and COLD outside so drinking hot chocolate in the warm building definitely hit the spot!

Next, we saw the ICE exhibit. They gave everyone these lovely, heavy blue coats to keep us warm. It was 9 degrees inside! They had some pretty amazing ice sculptures!

We couldn't resist sliding down the ice slide. Here's Bert with his legs up! Ha!

The nativity scene was my favorite. It was so pretty with the blue lights.

After this, we met the gingerbread man!

The kids loved decorating their gingerbread cookies

And of course, the ate them afterwards. None of them could finish the whole thing. This was pretty much their lunch :)

That night, Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to an early dinner while the four of us got a real treat! We ate a fabulous dinner at The Farm House (and we had pork belly and cow tongue for appetizers. For real. And it was surprisingly good). Then we went to The Ryman!! It was so neat! We went to Tootsies afterwards just because. It was a fun night out!

On Sunday, Seth, Brenda, Emily, Adelyn and I went to Brentwood Baptist Church. It's a huge church where a lot of famous gospel music comes from. It was a nice service. We met up with the rest of the group at the Johnny Cash Museum. Seth's dad LOVES Johnny Cash and the grandkids enjoy his music too.

Adelyn jamming out to Ring of Fire

James is stuck in Folsom Prison

We walked around downtown Nashville and had some ice cream for an afternoon treat.

James ate his and moved on to Daddy's.

When we got back, the kids went ice skating.

James tried ice skating, but it was too hard. No adults were skating to help him (we only got the kids a pass that included all of the activities I've mentioned). Luckily, the nice fellow that ran the snow tubing let him do that instead of ice skating at no cost. Seth got to join him because another lady didn't want to finish her rides. James was 100% the happiest boy on earth! :)

Adelyn loved it! She can't wait to do it again! That night, we ate out in downtown Nashville. The restaurant had a band playing and Emily and Adelyn requested Johnny Cash. They went up front and danced and danced to Folsom Prison. It was adorable! They were definitely a hit!

We spent Monday morning just walking all over Opryland hotel. There is so much to see, especially with all of their Christmas displays. Aren't these horses hilarious?

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Family shot in front a giant Christmas tree

My handsome boys

Cousins

James said, "Take my picture" (which he never requests). I guess he had it in his mind he wanted to look like a Nutcracker.

Poinsettia tree

I loved these baby poinsettias that they had planted in the ground

The kids wanted to make a wish in every single pond or fountain!

Bert and James practicing karate

This elf fishing was so cute!

This was a great weekend getaway! I can't get over how much there is to do in ONE hotel. Nashville is a great city to visit with or without kids.