1st stop- Memphis, TN

In planning this little last minute trip I was very grateful that we were able to coordinate an entire week in Memphis with my younger sister Katie and her family. Because our family is so spread out, I usually get together with my sisters at my parents' house or on a family vacation so it was a rare treat to visit Kate in her own home. Also, for those of you who don't know Katie, she and her husband Daniel recently bought a beautiful new house and had their second baby girl at Christmas, so it seemed like an ideal time for a visit.
Our first few days were low key to allow us to get over jet lag and we wanted to be schedule free for a little while. We had quiet mornings and lounged around Katie's bedroom letting the kids watch cartoons. My kids were totally overwhelmed by the t.v. and the fact that you could change the channels (our tv is just an empty box that is used to play dvds) and they both decided they like colored Cheerios more than those boring multigrain ones that I usually give them.

We tried to keep things laid back and low key so we went to the park, took walks around the neighborhood, played in Aubrey's fun playroom. The big events of the week were Uncle Daniel's soccer game and the Memphis Zoo. We used Katie's camera at the soccer game so to see pictures of our trip to the game you will have to check out the Banks family blog. I have a few pics of the zoo.
We didn't maximize our "photo opportunities" and neither Katie nor I realized this until after the visit was over. Ward is currently sitting on my lap and helping me choose photos for this post. He is fairly insistent about a few of these...particularly the one of he and Aubrey in the wagon and the one of "Aubrey's Daddy" (aka: Uncle Daniel).

Ward was mesmorized by the t.v.

Aubrey wasn't quite awake yet for this picture and wasn't entirely sure she like Ward taking over her favorite chair.

Emerson was always eager to hold baby Sloane.

Aubrey and Ward at the zoo...totally impossible to get a picture with them both looking at me.

Ward was looking at the horses wondering why he couldn't touch them.

Uncle Daniel and Aubrey

Emerson and Ward loving the zoo and Em exhibiting some of her excellent Big Sister qualities

Emerson was totally disgusted by the hippos...she is way to girlie for this.

Just a reminder to check out www.danielandkatie.blogspot.com for more pictures. It is Katie's post from March 26th. She has much better pics from the visit.