What I Did on My Summer Vacation

Photo © Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center

Last week Tom attended a conference for work, and we tagged along with him.  The conference was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

It was a long car ride, but Tommy and Ellie did really well,
watching DVDs, giggling, and napping.

While Papa was going through the HUGE check-in line, we explored
the hotel.  This was some of the artwork in the lobby.

Photo: © Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center
We stayed in the area of the hotel called The Cascades, named for the beautiful indoor waterfalls.

We found these horses in the shopping district, called the Delta.
Lots of very pricey shops with cute stuff.  A store full of cute
children's toys and train sets that I had to steer begging
children away from for the remainder of our visit.

While Papa was attending his conferences, we went on lots of explores.
They loved the roaring waterfalls.  We also enjoyed the swimming pools.

Photo: © Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center
As if the cascades weren't enough of a water feature, the hotel
actually had its own riverboat ride.  Inside.  The river also had
catfish, carp, and a few koi swimming around.

We enjoyed a ride on the riverboat.

And our kiddos were good little passengers, oohing and aahing at all the right spots.

I got lost so often that the kids started running
to the maps every time they saw one to help me
figure out where we were.

I packed a box full of toys and entertainment from the dollar store.
One afternoon my kids entertained all of the passersby with whoopee cushion.
And may I just say that people of all classes laugh at fart noises.

We had caricatures done of the kids.  They kept each other and the artist smiling
with their whoopee cushions.  It was fun, but I don't recognize my kids in the final product.

  

We enjoyed the pools, but other than that, the hotel was really geared
towards adults.  All that entertainment, but no playground in sight.
So we left our little world inside a world and took a break at a city park.

We had some fun, but Ellie was ready to return to air conditioned luxury.

Every evening, the hotel puts on a show with its water fountains. We watched
 the water dance all the way to the top of the atrium to the rhythm of international music. 

I guess my kids have learned to use the words show and movie
interchangeably, because they kept calling the water show
 a movie, even while they were watching it.

 On the way home, we made a few stops.  One was a spur of the moment stop at a train museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  The boys enjoyed the train tour, but I was feeling hot and claustrophobic and couldn't wait to get out of there.  It was definitely NOT the same as the vacation we had just left behind, and  I won't be traveling by train any time soon.  I didn't even take any pictures.

Our next stop was at the Florence Mall, just south of Cincinnati.  They have a two story carousel, so we ate dinner at the food court and took a ride before and after.  On the first ride, Ellie rode a hopping bunny, and Tommy chose just the stable seat that he always likes.  On the second ride, they both went for the spinning cup, and kept it twirling for several minutes before the ride started and through the whole turn, stopping only briefly to let in a few extra passengers.

They walked away without getting dizzy.

Tom hung out with a dragon next to the spinner.

On the way home we also stopped by Grandma Lux's house for a visit, and of course we took her some UDF ice cream for us all to enjoy.  It was getting late, so we didn't stay long.

A few more hours and we were home again, home again, jiggety jog.