Our Visitors From Up North

A few weeks ago, we had some wonderful visitors from up north come to the great state of Alabama. Nick and Rachel and their sweet little kiddos came all the way from Ontario for a weekend of fun! We met Nick and Rachel on our honeymoon in Jamaica almost 8 years ago. We stayed in touch for the first year after Jamaica, but unfortunately there was a lapse of about 4 years where we didn't talk. Well, thanks to Facebook we were reconnected about 3 years ago, and we have keep in touch through emails and phone calls since then. We met them in Gatlinburg last fall, but they didn't bring their kids. So, this trip was for the whole family. They had never been to Alabama before, so we wanted to show them all the glory. ha ha

We started our trip on Thursday afternoon when we met in Nashville. We hung out at the hotel catching up and then headed out to dinner. We decided to leave Max at home during our night in Nashville, so Jack got to enjoy playing with Conner and Brooke all by himself. After dinner, the kiddos were all worn out, so I stayed in the rooms with them so the adults could enjoy a little of downtown Nashville. It was a great trip to the hokey tonk city!


Friday we headed towards home. We made a little detour to Lynchburg and toured the Jack Daniel Distillery. If you didn't know, the tour is FREE. We had a great time. The weather was nice a little overcast, but nice.

 Jack and Conner became best buddies instantly!

After the tour, we headed home. Max was excited to meet his soon to be new friends. Friday night we let the kids play and we chilled out.

 All the kiddos watching Toy Story 3 in Jack's room.

On Saturday, we let the kids play in the morning and then Nick and Rachel made lunch for us.  One of their favorite meals at home-Perogies!  Potato and cheese perogies were awesome!  After lunch, we headed out to Monte Santo park in Huntsville.  There is an awesome playground and hiking trails and the view isn't too bad either.  Here are some pics from our day on the mountain.

Max and Will swinging!

 

These boys were inseparable!

 

Conner climbing!

 

Brooke is such a doll!

 

Rachel and Nick

 

The Lefaive Family

 

Our Family

 

The whole gang

 

Brooke and Max had such a great time! They couldn't make it home!

Saturday night, I had some very sweet girls come over and babysit for all the kids.  All the grown up got to go to dinner and talk.  Rachel had made the mistake of telling me how much she loved Olive Garden and all the ones around them had went out of business, so I knew where we should eat.  Well, 7ish on a Saturday night is not the best time to eat at Olive Garden, so we decided to take them to Mikato's in Huntsville.  The last time they had eaten at a cook in front of you Japanese restaurant was on our honeymoon.  It was a lot of fun! It was a nice night out for all the grownups. And the kids did great too!! On our way to dinner, Rachel said that she must trust us alot because she just left her kids with complete strangers in a strange house in a strange town.  That is very trusting I must admit!! 

Nick and Rachel had a list of things they needed to see before they left Alabama.  You know the typical red neck stuff that you definitely can find in Alabama, but probably not something you want to admit is still here.  So, Will and I decided that one spot could find all the items on the list...Dog Day in Ardmore.  If you need a gun, chickens, goats, pigs, hogs, guineas, ducks, dogs, or anything you would find in an outdoor flea market, Dog Day is where you need to go.  To say they were shocked, is an understatement!! Rachel said at one point that this is the type of place kids get kidnapped.  ha ha  Here is Rachel checking out some chickens to buy.

After Dog Day, we headed home and Rachel, Brooke, and I left to do a little shopping.  Apparently our prices in the US are alot cheaper than Canada's so we decided to take advantage of that.  That night we had a grill out to celebrate our awesome weekend together.  Will's family came over to meet our friends before their voyage back home on Monday.  We even celebrated Rachel's belated birthday with a cake.  It was an amazing weekend. 

I can honestly say that I treasure our friendship with them more now that we got to spend an entire weekend with them.  To only spent a few days together almost 8 years ago, I consider them so close now!! Thanks for the long road trip to the great state of Alabama, Nick and Rachel!! I promise we WILL make it to Canada soon!!