Rogers Family: Bryson-Alisa-Elliana-Kade: May weekend fun

The Rogers family had a great weekend this week! Uncle Brodie came for another visit. Friday night we went to Golden Corral, which works out well with a baby because there are so many options for her. Elliana always eats so well when we go to a buffet. Saturday morning we got up fairly early and decided to go hiking at Dunbar Cave State Park. This was most likely our last visit since we'll be moving soon, which is sad because we've got lots of good memories going there. Hopefully where ever we end up moving to there will be a park nearby and we can makes some new memories. It was Brodie's first visit to the park and, minus the mesquitos, I think he liked it. Elliana always enjoys being packed around and she also loves the ducks and geese.
On our way home we decided not to waste such a gorgeous day inside (it was only about 10:30 a.m.). So, we decided to head up to the the Twin Lakes area, which is about 2 hours from home. Bryson and I went last year for Mother's Day and had a good time. There's a restuarant there named Pattys that is fairly famous and though we didn't eat there this time, Bryson and I did enjoy it last year. We really thought about going by there again just for the fact that they have a mini zoo behind the restuarant and we knew Elliana would love that. However, also on the way was an old homestead, 1850's old, that also had a farm that we could tour. For the sake of less driving we decided to just do the Homeplace this trip.
At the Homeplace they have a small gift shop, some artifacts from the 1800's with info. on how these different items were used back then. There also had a video you could watch that told you all about the history of the Homeplace before you went out to tour it. Anyhow, we strapped Elliana into the stroller and started walking through. It was very neat to see not only the house that was built in 1850, but the working farm that it was on. They had people working there dressed up like the 1800's people and they were going about tasks like they would if they were really working back then- herding sheep, chopping wood, caring for the animals, sewing clothes, etc... There was an old cat sleeping on the front porch of the house and Elliana squealed with delight when she saw it. She really seems to love cats. I'm hoping to get her a kitten once we move.
After going through the house we continued touring the farm. They had a smokehouse, different barns, another small house, a wood shed, and lots of farm animals to check out. I took a picture of most of the animals. I'm sure that was Elliana's favorite part of the trip, as was mine. they had two large draft horses in a pasure with a mule. Bryson, Brodie, Elliana, and I watched one of the horses and the mule play fight for the longest time. In fact they were still at it when we left. That crazy mule would not leave that poor horse alone for even a second! The horse was much larger than the mule and I kept hoping the horse would just kick the daylights out of the mule so he could have some peace. I guess the horse has more patients than me though. Anyhow, it was good entertainment. After about 2 hours on the farm we decided to head back home. Elliana was tired and crashed pretty hard on the ride back.
Sunday we decided go to Joey's (one of Bryson's favorite co-workers) church in Dickson TN about an hour from home. Joey and his wife were singing a duet and the whole service was going to be music. I knew Elliana would enjoy that. I had met Joey before, but never his wife. They are both really nice people. Bo and Lacie were also there with their 2 year old little girl Sara-Kate. Bo is another co-worker of Bryson's and Lacie (Bo's wife) and I have had lunch together a few times and hung out a bit. After church we ended up eating at Taco Bell with Bo and Lacie (Joey had a sick boy so they had to get home). Needless to say this weekend was extra busy with all the running around we did, but it was a nice change.
I've decided that it's starting to warm up a little too much for me here lately. I like summer time, but being pregnant in the summer is not ideal to say the least. If we had planned this pregnancy we definitely wouldn't not have chosen Sept. for a due date. That means I get to be huge pregnant throughout the hottest part of the year! Oh well, thank God for air conditioners, right?! Speaking of hot weather, I think Elliana is ready to go for a 'swim' in her duckie pool. Let's see how long big mama can stand to stay out there with her. :)