A couple weeks ago, Adrienne emailed me and told me that Jim was going to be in a wedding in Birmingham...and that they would be in town for a few days (this past weekend). Since Birmingham is not far from us, at all, we made plans to get together during some down time. We weren't quite sure what to do - it would be too hot to go to an outside park, but a children's museum might be too overstimulating for the boys (especially while the adults tried to get a small conversation in edgewise!).

Adrienne mentioned that their hotel had an indoor pool, so we figured that would be a great option, since both our boys love to swim. And after swimming, we would catch lunch (Adrienne was really wanting to keep Owen up for a late nap, since the wedding was to be so late that evening).

So Nathan, Iliya, and I loaded up in the car & headed over to Birmingham on Saturday morning. Jim ended up playing rugby that morning, so he wasn't able to join us...despite his absence, we had a great time! Adrienne is JUST as sweet in person as you would imagine her being from her blog...and Owen is JUST as precious as he is, "online"!!

The boys had a fun time playing in the pool (though half the time was spent wanting to get out and explore outside the pool!) and Owen wanted chips & salsa for lunch, so we found a delicious Mexican restaurant nearby for lunch. The adults were able to get in that "edgewise" conversation - which was very nice! By the end of the meal, Iliya and Owen were exhausted & ready for a nap (in fact, Owen came dangerously close to falling asleep right at the table! :)). You can tell - in the pictures that follow - that they were tired.

When we left, Adrienne took Owen back to the hotel for a nap (from what she said, I think she was able to keep him awake for the short drive) and we were able to keep Iliya awake for the much longer drive. He took a great nap that afternoon.

Here is a slideshow of a few pictures from the day. Hope you enjoy!