bamboozled

Auntie Ems and Uncle Jacob came for a visit ... strictly for fun.  E&J are project people and this was Jacob's vacation time off work.  We were instructed to force them to have fun and try not to let them do any projects. okay with us.  And it was a little easier since Ems is pregnant and sick.  (although her sick self is still probably more productive than me on my best day)

So, we conned them into revisiting the beautiful Greers Ferry Lake once again.  We really enjoy that place.  It's our favorite Lake in the south - clean and glassy with cliffs and hikes and this time we even found a beach with perfect sand.

Jacob, Joey and Luke took a guys trip to a climbing area in Arkansas called Jamestown Crag. Luke's first rock climbing.  The girls (ems, lucy, maryanne and me) stayed at the lake house for a relaxing day of watching cable (luxury), naps, games, princess dancing and sister bonding.

Getting warm after a rainy boat ride.  Jacob & Ems made and brought us sandwiches to eat in the tub.  Now, that is vacationing.

Joey's Chicken Cacciatore on the deck

Of course Joey had to find a turtle for Luke.  He hung out with us for awhile in the lake house and Luke gave him hugs and kisses and then sent him back to the forest to find his mom.

Back to Tennessee....

"The Nest" playground at Shelby Farms

Joey met us for a lunch at the Memphis Botanic Gardens

we did some hulu hooping

and played in "my big backyard" playhouses

The chrysalis swing in the butterfly section

The "candy land" garden.  The best smelling place on earth.  I could stay there all day.  They planted flowers that smell like every kind of fruit.

Memphis Bridge

Paddle boats on the "Gulf of Mexico" at Mud Island River Park

The Kooky Canuck - home of the 4lb burger

Trolley Ride through Memphis (our first time)

Quick moment to say - Jacob is quite the uncle.  My kids all love him so much.  All three of them.

And he was nice enough to watch them a few times while Emily and I went shopping.  One day while we were out Emily called him to see how things were going and he said he was at the park!   I was pretty impressed because it's quite a feat to get three kids dressed and out the door for a walk to the park. We met him there and he had Lucy dressed in a fancy sunday dress and ugg boots.  Luke was dressed really snappy with a button up shirt and coordinating shorts.  That morning we had straightened Lucy's hair just to see what it would look like.   I mentioned I couldn't believe that it was still straight after a whole day of playing.  And Jacob said casually, "Oh, well, I touched it up before we left."  :)   What a guy.  

Oh so this is what her hair looks like straight. (a few glamor shots taken that morning)  She looks like a totally different kid huh?  It probably doesn't help that she put on some blue eye shadow.  And she picked out the dancing outfit.  This other kid is cute and all but I must say I'm partial to curly haired Lucy.

 

And finally - BAMBOOZLED!  This is Emily and Jacob's homemade and personalized board game just for us!  They created a combination of 2 games from "Friends".  And it was hilarious.  It included a lightning round (with awesome sound effects  from Jacob's phone), personalized Wicked Wango cards (ie: Joey got to play 72 holes of disc golf in one day move forward one space or Maryanne woke up 13 times last night, go back one space.),  a hopping challenge and lots of funny, funny trivia questions about each other.  (Joey won.  He knew the name of my first District Leader on my mission! and the names of all 4 of my roommates when I graduated from college. I was impressed.)

Such a funny night. I love that they took the time to make a game all about us.

PS: I guess I shouldn't end before I say that they DID sneak in a few projects.  These homies can't be stopped!  So, Jacob painted our shed and cleaned out our van.  And Emily couldn't keep her organizing wizardry at bay.  My worst spot in my house was under our sinks in our master bathroom and the day before she left she organized my whole bathroom. (remember how she is sick and pregnant!?)  Here is a picture of "during" and an "after" of under both sinks. (we forgot to do a before)  She also did a magazine basket, our medicine cabinet AND the countertops.  We now have a place for everything and found a bunch of stuff we didn't know we had.  So yeah, emily jane organizing strikes again.

With a stylish, organized, passionate mom and a happy, kind, loving dad - Baby Hanks is going to be one lucky kid.