Visit with Abbey, Kim, Cady Lane, and JoJo

We were lucky enough to get a whole weekend with my cousin/sister, Abbey, on her way to moving in for her freshman year at Indiana University!  She, her mom (my Aunt Kim), and her little sister (Cady Lane), drove to Dallas from California, and then they kidnapped my mom and all drove up here for a visit.  We started the weekend with dinner at Pie in the Sky on Friday night.

Mom and Aunt Kim are hiding somewhere behind that toppings caddy!

Abbey helped Charlotte make all sorts of cool things with the pizza dough the restaurant gives out for kids to play with while waiting for their pizza.

Peter and Cady Lane played peek-a-boo!

The next morning, we headed to Cheekwood to see the train exhibit and the art museum.  Cady Lane and Charlotte were great buddies right from the start.

Trains!!!

All three of the little kids were exceptionally excited whenever Thomas whizzed by.

Frameworthy!  (At least Abbey and I are smiling . . .)

We walked around outside a little, but the heat and humidity drove us indoors soon after to see the art collection in the Cheek mansion.

At lunch afterward, Peter entertained himself (and the rest of us!) in the mirror behind the seat.

While Petey napped, the older girls swam with Aunt Kim and Abbey in their hotel's pool.

We're pretty sure Cady Lane is part fish.  That girl would swim all day, every day, if she could.

Then, the girls snuggled up to watch "The Wizard of Oz".  I can't believe Charlotte was able to watch all of the scary parts!

Poor Abbey resorted to the old toothpaste and band-aids method to deal with some nasty mosquito bites she got while strolling by the Mississippi River in Memphis a couple of night before.  Amazingly no one else was bitten.  Abbey must taste extra sweet to bugs.

Back at our house, Abbey and Grandma JoJo entertained the howler monkeys . . .

. . . while Cady Lane cooked us all dinner.

That evening, Aunt Kim, Abbey, and I went out on the town for some line dancing and sight-seeing.  Someday when Abbey is 21, we'll have to do it again and hit the honky-tonks!

Here is the obligatory shot with the weirdo horse statues at the Wildhorse Saloon:

Whew -- that was one fun, action-packed day.  It makes me tired just writing about it.  The fun didn't stop there though.  We spent all day Sunday running around too, but that's going to have to be a whole other post.