For Valentine's Day weekend/President's Day weekend, the Tase-Clark family took a trip out to the south, that is Memphis, Tennessee to see the great grandmothers.  The husbands got away without doing much for their lovely wives for V-day, but the memories and fun spent seeing family far exceeded the typical Valentine's Day celebration.

GiGi (Sharon), Talon and I departed Thursday morning for Memphis.  We left early in the morning since it takes 5 hours to get to Memphis, with a stopover in Dallas.  Our first leg of the flight was full so Talon had to sit in my lap.  However, after giving him his bottle upon take-off, he fell asleep for about an hour.  With only about an hour left, my mom and I fed him the rest of his breakfast and played until we landed in Dallas.  We had about an hour in between flights, so the 3 of us went to the Admirals Club to relax.  Then, our flight from Dallas to Memphis was nearly empty, so Talon had his own seat (in his car seat).  Soon as we buckled him in, he was asleep again for almost the remainder of the flight.  We arrived in Memphis with my Aunt Romney greeting us.  She took us to my grandma's house, Jean-Jean, which is my mom's mom and Talon's great grandmother.  At Jean-Jean's house, my dad, Shane, Katie and Vaughn were waiting and playing.  We visited for a bit and then left for our hotel downtown.  We quickly checked in and left to eat dinner at the Rendezvous, which is a famous BBQ joint where my parents actually used to hang out.  

It was a bit difficult putting Talon down to sleep the first night, but I think it was mainly due to the fact that we were in a "strange" place, and not to mention he was not in his own crib.  It took about an hour to actually get him settled and to sleep.

Friday morning we all woke up leisurely and headed out to walk around downtown Memphis and ride the trolley.  For lunch, we ate at a swanky grocery store nestled into a quaint community, part of downtown but on the (Mississippi) river.  Afterwards we walked around the lil' town and went down near the river bed.  Then we headed to Jean-Jean's again.  While Jean-Jean was having the time of her life visiting with Vaughn and Talon, Eric was picked up from the airport.  As Eric arrived, my Aunt Pat, Uncle Michael, Aunt Romney and the Tase-Clark family gathered around the dinner table to fix BBQ sandwiches.  (Now, when I say "BBQ," I mean southern BBQ that is shredded pork.)  We visited for a while longer until the babies got tired and was bedtime.  

All the Aunts and Uncle, my cousin Mallory and her boyfriend Jonathan, my other grandmother (my dad's mom), and the Tase-Clark family decided to head out to the Memphis Zoo Saturday morning.  It was actually quite fun.  

That evening, we had dinner reservations at the Inn at Hunt Phelan.  This 1828 mansion has been restored into a restaurant and lounge.  Luckily, we had a private room for the 14 of us.  It was Talon's nap time as we arrived and I realized how sleepy he was so I rocked him to sleep while everyone chatted and situated themselves at the table.  Talon slept for about an hour and a half while we all recalled how we met our spouses, ate appetizers, drank wine and was merry.  Dinner arrived and Talon awoke.  Therefore in between our bites of dinner, Eric and I fed Talon.  After dinner we all decided to go to Beale Street, which is a long stretch of bars, restaurants, shops, music and loud people!  The street is closed off to cars so people can walk around and party on the street.  Beale Street is known for their "Big Ass Beers" or "King Kong Beers" so we stopped immediately to be part of tradition.  As people were yelling, singing, and partying Vaughn slept.  Talon, bundled in 2 layers of clothes and 2 blankets, was awake watching all the action.  I believe that night got down to about 30 degrees, so needless to say, we didn't stay out too long.  On the way back to the hotel, we walked pass the Peabody Hotel so we stopped in for a drink in the lobby.  By this time, Talon had fallen asleep, despite all the loudness!

Sunday morning we all decided to get some "real Southern food" (breakfast) at the Blue Plate Cafe before heading back home.  We filled our bellies and headed back to Jean-Jean's house for one last visit.  Then, it was off to the airport.  The first leg of our flight was completely full again, so Talon sat on my lap.  However, for the entire plane ride which is about an hour and a half, he slept in my arms.  Again we had an hour layover in Dallas and relaxed at the Admirals Club.  We were lucky for our second leg of the flight that the seat in our row was blocked for an infant, that being Talon.  Therefore, we were able to put Talon in his own seat, in the car seat.  He giggled and played for a little bit before falling asleep.  He slept for a majority of the flight.  As a matter of fact, I woke him up so he would be able to go to sleep when it was bedtime (at home).  So GiGi and I played with Talon until we landed.  Talon did such a great job on every flight, I was amazed.  In fact, passengers around us were even amazed and commented on what a good baby he was.  I was quite nervous to fly, because I didn't want to me "that family with the crying baby!"

I am so glad we were able to take the trip to Memphis and see the great grandmothers.  It was a trip full of great memories!  And not to mention, it was the best Valentine's Day weekend!