Forrest City Marathon

Although we were in town for the Triathlon, it was truly a Marathon weekend. The drive was great, Mason and Braden both did great! That doesn't mean we got there without tears or meltdowns, but they were minimal.


While Braden and Blake headed over to Pop & Nan's, Mason and I stayed put at Nana and Papa's so he could get his nap in. Before nap he decided to color with Braden's new colors, which last about a minute before he decided to eat them.



Early Saturday morning, Mason got very quiet. . . he had found his wipe container and decided to do a little cleaning.



Of all the pretties at Nana's house (believe me he got into everything) his favorite "go to" was poor Taco's doggie bed. Taco is Nana and Papa's chihuahua, and was more than happy to see us go. Mason was not deterred by Taco being in the bed he would plop down anyway!


Braden was thrilled to spend some time alone basking in the "yes you can have chocolate ice cream for dinner" mentality of grandparents, while we went of to Memphis.


The Memphis skyline from the new bridge. Blake wanted Rendezvous Ribs, and he definitely deserved them!



His youngest brother Dean was able to join us for dinner. His wife Carli and baby Cameron were actually in F'ville for a family reunion.



Nan & Pop have a beautiful coi pond in their backyard, with pea gravel around it and pea gravel paths. I remember all to well how stressful this was when Braden was one, and it hasn't changed for Mason. He wanted to get in the pond or eat the gravel. Nan told Braden he could throw one or two rocks in the water and he thought this meant one or two at a time.


Pop instructing Mason on throwing the pea gravel.


On Friday night, Braden got the very special treat of going to a play with Nan. I think it was called "Into the Woods" and it was a compilation of classic children's stories. One of her friends played the Wicked Stepmother, and Braden was very impressed to meet her after the show. He loves plays and this was very special unexpected treat for him!



One of the highlights for Braden was helping Pop dig potatoes out of his garden. They insisted we bring some home, so the boys helped Pop bag some up.




Their yard is so pretty I wanted to try to get some good shots of the boys. Not sure how sucessful we were, but here are a few good ones. Nan had her camera and I had mine, between the two of us there are a few framers!



I do believe this is a framer!







Our final goodbye to Nana and Papa. We literally feel like a tornado swooping in and as much as they love to see us coming, I'm sure they're exhausted by the time we leave!