Introducing… Elliot and Winston!

We had Thanksgiving a little early this year since Uncle Art and I have to work the holiday. Also, we combined the celebration with Art’s birthday!

Uncle Tom, Logan, Elliot, and I got to Tullahoma late after fighting Knoxville traffic. Fortunately, Elliot (and incidentally Tom) slept most of the way. When we got there, Elliot was ready to play for a bit before going to bed.

Saturday, Logan got up early with Elliot and let me sleep in a bit. Elliot played with blocks and “Arthur Bear” who repeats everything you say. Then, my mom, Elliot, and I went clothes shopping at Peebles. Elliot liked playing with the three boys in the dressing mirrors. We met up with the family and Marm at Fazoli’s where Elliot enjoyed the endless breadsticks!

After lunch, Grandpa, Tom, Elliot, and I went to visit Nell and Mosley. Elliot fell asleep on the way there, but woke up again to show them his new tricks. He even at one point, rested his head on Mosley’s lap. It was very cute!

That night, we had Thanksgiving. Everything was delicious! Logan made a turkey for dinner and I brought the chocolate fountain the the left over chocolate from the wedding shower! Marm, Mary, Craig, Suzanne, Robert, and Matthew were all there.

The Vols lost later, but Elliot was already asleep. Uncle Art went out and got a Wii U at midnight. Logan and I decided to wait until Elliot is old enough to not break the touch screen right away.

The next day, Elliot got everyone up early. We had delicious left over ham and biscuits for breakfast. Then we went for a walk around the house and even played on the trampoline some!

We met Marm for lunch at Arby’s. Elliot enjoyed the curly fries. Elliot took a quick nap while Logan and I got our things together and tried out the Wii U. Then we let him play for a bit before loading up and heading home.

Logan did not have court this week and Gingy was off on Fall Break so we decided to go to the beach! Grandpa, Uncle Art, and I took off a week from work for a fun trip to Gulf Shores, AL, a beach that Art, Tom, and I went to when we were kids. Logan, Elliot, and I left from Knoxville on Friday after work and headed to Tullahoma. We met Gingy, Grandpa, and Marm for dinner at Cracker Barrel in Manchester. We showed Elliot around the store and looked at the toys. When we got to my parent’s house, Gingy had a present for Elliot. It was a backpack with his name embroidered on the front and “Gingy loves me” on the inside. There were also some overalls that said “Grandpa’s Little Helper.” Too cute!

Saturday, my friend Sarah and her daughter Claudie came over to do a 6 month photo shoot of Elliot. We put him in his sweater vest that makes him look older and his skeleton pjs from Gam Gam. He was a little tight lipped this time with the smiles but we got a few good shots out of him.

That evening we went to Craig and Suzanne’s lake house for dinner of elk stew. Elliot surprisingly liked the stew. He also liked the graham crackers from the s’mores.

Sunday, we loaded up and got on the road to Art’s place in Birmingham. Elliot did pretty well on the ride there. I worked on part of his Halloween costume on the ride. When we got there we met Art, looked around his apartment complex, and went to Jim and Nicks for BBQ. Logan really liked their T-shirt that said “If pigs had wings, I’d eat those too.”

Monday morning we loaded up for the beach!

The four hour trip was the longest car ride Elliot had ever been on. Thankfully, Logan loaded several Baby Einstein videos on to his tablet for Elliot to watch. When we got there, Logan grabbed Elliot, slung him over his shoulder, and raced towards the beach! I dashed after them with Elliot giggling at me, and once we made our way through several gates we were running through the sand on the gulf. First to take him to the beach! Then we went back to help unload.

We got our suits on and headed back to the beach. Gingy took video footage while we helped Elliot experience the beach. Logan sat him on the sandy shore and after a wave washed over his legs he started crying! It was a bit cold and loud. I carried him and we walked into the water and sat on the shore together to try to get acclimated to the water. Then grandpa and I went for a walk to show Elliot some kids that were having fun in the water. Uncle Art, Logan, and I took him to the pool and swam around some more.

We went to Lulu’s for dinner, which was not a buffet but was owed by Jimmy Buffett’s sister Lucy. Elliot was a “pistol” at the restaurant. He was climbing all over the table and getting into things. The waitress brought us sample disposable cups of the honey ale microbrew and Elliot got some empty cups to play with. He managed to drink a small sip of water from one. We each took turns walking him round and showing him things, from the Halloween lights to the musician playing songs about being retired and the AARP.

The next day, Logan and I took Elliot on an early morning walk towards a pier. We didn’t get close. Turns out, the pier was 2 miles away. My parents made a similar attempt later that morning without success.

We went to the Original Oyster House for lunch. Logan got the oysters and I got the fried green tomatoes topped with shrimp. Elliot enjoyed pickled okras until they fell on the floor.

We explored the nearby shops and Elliot rode an Alligator. Also, if the price had been a little better, Elliot would have left with Beatles and Ramones onesies.

We got back to the condo and Elliot went down for a nap. My parents kindly offered to sit with him while Logan and I went to the beach. We actually got to sit for a little while on the sun and read! It was fantastic!

Then Elliot awoke and we took him swimming again. We also flew a kite and Logan and Art threw a football.

When Elliot wasn’t swimming or going out on adventure, he was practicing standing and watching Yo Gabba Gabba!

That night Logan heated up a pork butt that he had smoked before the trip. It was delicious!

Wednesday we took a drive to Mobile in the morning. We drove up around the bay. I was hoping the car ride would knock Elliot out since we were having trouble getting him to nap that morning, but he thwarted my plans. We got to Mobile and ate at Wintzell’s. I got the po boy with shrimp, which was yummy. We walked around Bienville Square with a fountain. We bought some roasted nuts and fed them to the squirrels. The museum for the Senior Bowl was on the square, so we stopped in to take a look. I played Minesweeper on one of their touchscreen computers.

We headed back to the hotel and Elliot napped some! Gingy and grandpa offered to babysit, so Logan and I went on a date to Louisiana Lagniappe. I had the eggplant topped with crab and Logan got a big piece of yellowfin tuna. It was nice to discover that Logan and I could still have an adult conversation. When we got back, Elliot had missed us and we missed him. I started to head off to go to the bathroom, but Elliot would not let go of me until I fed him! We played and then went to bed.

On Thursday, we went to the souvenir shop with the giant shark and took some pictures and Elliot’s Grandpa got him a dolphin.

Then we drove down to Orange Beach and into Florida a bit. We stopped in some boutiques to look around and then went to King Neptune’s for lunch. We had another beach afternoon once the clouds cleared.

Elliot played around in the sand and even tasted some while mommy was detangling the kite! Can’t leave him alone for a moment!

Friday we got up early again and packed up to go. We dropped Art off in Birmingham and decided that Elliot could make the whole trip to Tullahoma. So we continued on. The last hour was rough, but we made the entire 7.5 hr trip in one day! Aunt Mary and Marm met us when we got back and Elliot was so happy to see them and be out of the car seat!

Saturday, we relaxed and got ready for the party! Elliot and I ran errands with Gingy and then we went on a walk with Logan. We saw Peggy, Kenny, Nell, and Mosley. Tom and Art came in to visit. That evening, the Vols lost to Alabama, as expected.

The next day, we got packed up and ready for Nell and Mosley’s 60th Anniversary Party! Elliot got to meet Aunt Amy and Janie and Cousins Barbara and Robbie. We saw some pictures from my grandparent’s wedding as well as of my dad and his sisters growing up. We unfortunately had to eat and run since we had not been home in a week. Now we are heading back to Knoxville with Elliot peacefully sleeping beside me.