Memphis - Day One

Darrin and I decided to take a vacation by ourselves this year.  Darrin is in a wedding in New Orleans in June, so we are going to make a week long vacation out of it.  We decided not to take Miles b/c days upon days of "out of the routine" trips are hard on a 2.5 year old.  Instead we thought we'd take one or two weekend trips with him this summer. Plus, the idea of getting away, just the two of us, while it makes my stomach turn a little to think of leaving Miles, it also sounds like a much needed, fun time.

The three of us went to Memphis this weekend.  This weekend was all about Miles.  I planned the trip from advice from friends on Facebook and MemphisLovesKids.com.  Surprisingly there was so much to do, it was hard to choose.  We knew we wanted to go to the zoo on Sunday, so that only left Saturday.  I was careful not to plan too much.  He just can't handle nonstop all day adventures and it ends up stressing us out when he is out of sorts.  All week, we talked up all of the things that we had planned.  We even showed Miles the stuff we were going to do online.  He was definitely pumped about the plans!

First, was the Fire Museum on Saturday morning.  I think he was most excited about this.  From the info online, it looked like it would be fine for us, but that Miles would love it.  And, it was just that.  We only spent an hour there, but he loved every second of it. 

Next we rode a trolley around.  Simple for us, but I thought he would love it.  It was just ok in his book.  He got bored quickly and asked to get off.  On a side note, we used the self timer on our camera a lot this weekend (thank you Carrie!) and ended up with some good shots.  It beats always asking random people to take pictures....and then you never know what they'll take.

A stranger did take this one and I think she did a good job...

After the trolley ride and lunch, we went to Mud Island.  It was kind of hard to tell what all there was to do there, but we decided to take our chances, and I'm so glad we did.

We rode the monorail over, again b/c I thought Miles would like it, and he did.

They have a replica of the Mississippi River.  He loved it.  It was really hard on your feet.  I could only handle certain parts, and he has several cuts and scratches.  He loved it regardless.

I think he could have stayed there all day, but we decided to leave and go swimming at the hotel.  If I'm being honest, Darrin and I were a little bored.  It was neat, but it was all the same after a while. 

He took a very short nap on the way to the hotel...we tried to keep him asleep on the way to the room, but that didn't work.  So we went swimming before it was time to get ready for dinner.  We learned this weekend that water makes Miles happy.  His favorite parts of the trip all had to do with water.  More on that tomorrow.  He loved swimming and sobbed when it was time to leave the pool area.



The plan was to see the Peabody ducks when they march in the lobby at 5pm and then go to dinner.  The ducks were a bust.  I definitely underestimated how popular they are.  I'm not sure if Miles could see anything from Darrin's shoulders or not.  If he could, he wasn't impressed b/c he didn't say a word about them.

We ate dinner at Huey's right across from the Peabody.  Who knows if it was good or not, b/c all we did was try and entertain Miles...

Playing games on Darrin's phone...

We got ice cream and went back to the hotel room right after dinner, which was the plan.  After only having a 30 minute nap, Miles was done.  He watched Toy Story on his DVD player in his "special" bed (the pull out couch), Darrin watched the MBA playoffs, and I played on my phone and went to sleep really, really early.  Perfect end to a great day.