Spring Break 2012 - Memphis

We headed to Memphis for a short Spring Break trip (Thursday - Saturday). I got a super-cheap rate at the Hilton Memphis on Priceline for 2 nights (thank you, Kelly Webster, for your tutorial all those years ago!).

James really did not like sleeping in the pack-n-play in the hotel room, so the nights were rough (like I wanted to pack up and go home at 4am), but the rest of the trip was a LOT of fun!

The front desk clerk had asked if we wanted a room down low or up high, and Maggie said "up high!". Here are the kids looking out the full-length window of our room on the 18th floor. Both of them loved the view and being able to look out at the pool.

 The weather was pretty awesome for Memphis. Both times we've been it's been 80+ and so swampy with humidity, but this trip it was 72, ZERO humidity. It made for a cold pool, but the hot tub was just right! Both kids had a great time swimming in there. And since we were there before the weekend there weren't any other families at the pool so we got it all to ourselves!

 Pool toys and water bottles are appropriate in-room entertainment. (this happy attitude, however, did NOT last through dinner). We went to Neely's BBQ for dinner. Tyler and I had been 8 years prior, and this time around it was alright but not fabulous. James let them know, too. He screamed through half of dinner and I was about to get my meal to-go. But, he piped down and we got to finish.

 Double-Bed Olympics. Lots of jumping between the beds. Here's a good shot of the take-off.

 And in-flight.

 Friday we went to the Memphis Zoo. It's set up really nicely. It was crowded because of Spring Break, but we did the whole thing at our own pace, and it was really enjoyable. The weather was so amazing, 70 and a light breeze. Cool enough in the shade that Maggie kept her long-sleeve shirt on, but not hot in the sunlight, either. And a lot of the animals were out where we could see them really well. 

Look at that lazy hippo. We were 3 feet away!!!

Never gotten to see pandas up close. It was hard to photograph through the glass. But this guy munched that bamboo with serious speed!

 With the elephants.

 Two happy guys!

 Here is Maggie at the wolf exhibit. Wolves figure prominently in her nightmares, so we were glad to see them lazing about and napping - docile and dog-like, not ferocious.

See? Sleepy. Not scary. We talked with her for a while there about them. I hope it helped her not be scared.

 

James didn't sleep well the night before, so we were all glad when he napped in the stroller.

Mama's silly monkey!

Saturday the Easter Bunny visited us in the hotel. Maggie thought that was pretty fun!

So did James.