Grand Times in Tennessee

I suppose I'd better finish blogging my LAST trip to Tennessee before we head back in a few days! We rounded out our visit to Tennessee with lots of opportunities to spend time with our "grand" relatives. Maura and Tristan thrived under the constant interaction with some of their favorite people!
On our last day there, Nan set up a "treasure hunt" for them in the fields and woods behind Grandpoppa's house. This is right up my kid's alley--we do these types of treasure hunts almost every day at home! Nan hid stuffed animals in the woods and the kids had an awesome time finding them!

The boys, meanwhile, bonded over football. It was the day of the UK vs. UT game and us UK fans came away disappointed. Bennett loved bonding with the boys and snuggling with Poppa.

What a crew! The kids sure do love their Nan and Poppa. Maura and Tristan ask almost every day when we're going back to visit Nan and Poppa. Just the other day, he said he wanted to go to Grandpoppa's house. When we asked him why, he replied "Cause I love Grandpoppa!" Aww.

I was really glad to get a chance to really visit with Grandmother and we enjoyed chatting while watching some Christmas movies.

One more photo before we left!
Below: We took a really chilly walk one day down to the historic home on my in-laws road. Brent and I thought it would be fun and the kids would enjoy it. Instead, the spent the whole walk asking when we were going home. I guess they were cold??

It's not often that all of us get together. We loved the chance to visit with Matt and Brenda. The kids really enjoyed their time with their aunt and uncle. I wish we could see them more often so that the kids could really get to know them. As it is, Tristan still talks about Matt all the time. He's the stuff that little boy heroes are made of--tall, fun and a pilot of a supersonic aircraft!

The following pictures are actually from the previous evening. Brent's grandmother has held a dinner after Thanksgiving for the past four years. It serves as her Christmas gift to the family and it's always a lot of fun. We meet at a local Bed and Breakfast and enjoy a wonderful meal and lots of laughter. This year, Nan offered to find us some babysitters so that we could just enjoy our dinner and we quickly took her up on it! The kids enjoyed staying with the babysitters much more than they would have liked sitting still and using their restaurant manners! I enjoyed spending some kid free time with my honey!

All the Chambers cousins, minus three. Two were hiking the Appalachian Trail, one was in Kansas. Brent really loves the chance to get together with this side of the family. It's always a lot of fun! We just had to stop and get some photos with Grandmother, the founder of our feast!

This historic inn was almost destroyed by fire earlier this year, but it's now been completely rebuilt and restored. I'm surprised that they still allow us to come here! We're a pretty rowdy bunch!

On Saturday morning, we went to have breakfast with Grandmother Chambers. She was glad to have some time to visit with the kids, who she had not seen yet of this particular visit. She folded newspaper hats for the kids and they LOVED them.

Such a cute little Robin Hood! The kids looked so cute in their hats. Hard to believe something so simple could be so entertaining!

Little Bennett Hood. I love this photo of my jovial little man! He obviously wasn't sure what to think of hanging out with Grandmother!

We love Grandmother and had such a great time hanging out with her. Good memories for us and the kids. We can't wait to see our Tennessee Grands in just a few more days!