Memphis

My parents were out visiting in early October. We had a great time! For the first few days of their stay we went to Memphis: the birthplace of rock n' roll and home to the blues.

Overall City Shots:








We stayed at the Peabody hotel. They are famous for their ducks, who march out daily to wade in the lobby fountain. There is something very cute about ducks walking...maybe it's that ducks remind me of young toddlers with a diaper on. Who knows. But it was truly amazing to see how many people got off tour buses and came down from their rooms to see these ducks march from the fountain back into the elevator after a day in the lobby.

The Hotel:



look at all the people waiting for the ducks!


The first day we went to the Mud Island River Park. It is a nice park which has a topographically correct replica of the Mississippi River. We spent a long time looking up and down the river at all the barges. My dad couldn't get over the amount of goods being transported on these barges. He could have stayed there all day starring at those suckers if we'd let him!

Mud Island:





We also went to Beale Street and ate BBQ at the Blues City Cafe, listened to some good music (even from Rudy Williams who has a music note on the street), and ordered a pricey pay per view movie ($15!!!) in our shared hotel room. And no, it's not weird to share a room with your parents after you're married. I thought it might be, but it was actually fun.

Beale Street:







The next day we headed to Graceland and did everything Elvis. I loved it all. Did you know that Graceland is the second most visited house in the USA, outside of the White House? I loved the tour so much that I wanted to buy three Elvis CDs as souvenirs. Cody somehow conned me into buying zero, with the argument that the CDs were probably over priced and we could get them elsewhere. I'm the fool who two weeks after the trip still doesn't have any CDs. I really wanted the Gospel one too. Is it too late to be an Elvis groupy?

Graceland and Elvis:











Sun Studio's drive-by (where Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded):


Then we headed to Corky's for lunch. We also went to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The day was ended with a drive around the nice neighborhoods of Memphis, dinner at the Kooky Canuck (largest hamburgers ever and first time trying fried pickles (YUM!)), and another stroll down Beale Street and another movie in the room.

Lunch;


Civil Rights Museum:





Dinner (the table next to us ordered this!):


It was a fast mini vacation, but we packed in the sites.

Her Angel...

My Grandma Sprague (Bernice Eleanore Hardy Sprague, aka "Birdy") passed away recently on Sunday, September 19th. She was the perfect grandma: positive and loving. She had all the fun toys, the fun dress-up clothes - lipstick - and purses, the good food, the best "soft tickles" in sacrament meeting, and the most kind words after a recital or test or anything really. She lived a full life and was 90 years old when she passed.

I'm very lucky to have such an amazing family and enjoyed the time I had with my mother's side of the family the following weekend as we gathered in California for the service.

The service was tearful, meaningful, and beautiful. Here are pictures of the program table, the dessert table from the luncheon after the service, and the roses from my grandma's garden at the pulpit. She had a green thumb.




My grandmother always called us "sweet-hearts" or "angels". My nephew, Joshua, used to respond to her, "I'm not an angel Gigi (Great-Grandma), I'm Joshua LaMonte Davis and I'm 2." Identity was a sensitive thing for him at that age, he didn't let me call him a monkey or rascal or anything but his given name. Oh well.

I, on the other hand, always was happy to be called her angel. And now she's my angel in Heaven.

Carny

Cody and I went to the Arkansas State Fair last Monday. We saved big bucks because on Monday - parking, entry, and rides were a dollar each. It was a great steal.


We went to the products tent and I bought some baking stuff. We watched a Monkey show. We listened to an amazing country group. We saw a pig "Chelsea" give birth. We went on 5 rides and ate like we were asking for a heart attack. Corn Dogs - YUM!


I am a Carny at heart. Now I like all my teeth and would never want to live out of a camper, but I'm a Carny because I absolutely love the fair. More than the average person by leaps and bounds. People watching is unbeatable. I love the demonstrations, the animals, the thrill of going on a ride that could break in two any second, the colorful lights, the fattening-greesified food, the memory of Cody's proposal. All this plus Monday's dollar deal = perfection.

The baby chicks, ducklings, and piglets were so cute:




How'd you like to give birth in this tight space. Chelsea did. I felt so bad for her...she was in pain and biting any metal she could find.


On a ride:

"As deep as the ocean"

would have been a good response.

or even,

"to the moon and back,"

or

"too much to innumerate"

but when I asked Cody last night, "How much to do you love me?"

he said,

"The amount of thread count we have on our sheets."

Huh? Bet you've never heard that response...I sure hadn't.

My response was, "you love me 500? or are our sheets 600? Oh wait, those are the nicer sheets we have in storage in California. I think our sheets here are only 250 or 300 count. You love me like 250 what? 250 times? Oh Brother...that is a very low number Cody!"

So the randomness and unromantic streak continues...

We had a good laugh when I said under my breath, "I knew we should have registered for the Egyptian Cotton 3,000 thread count sheets."

Major Turn On...

Cody and I were talking the other day and somehow the conversation lead to what he does that (gross I know) "turns me on." The list is long, but simple really.

I like kisses on the neck. Long, close hugs. Cuddles and Compliments and thoughtful gestures. The list went on and on but I'll stop here and spare you the juicy details.

I know you were all saying "Robin, TMI" when you read the title alone.

So when I was finished answering, I turned the question on Cody.

"What turns you on?"

He started, "I get turned on when you don't buy anything at the store..."

Barf.

I ended the conversation there - it wasn't going in the direction I was hoping. Leave it to my husband to give such an unromantic response.