Our Big Weekend Out!

After being cooped-up in our room all week, Randy and I decided that we should take Joanna out on the town so that we all could stretch our legs.

Our weekend began with a quick stop over to the East Chase Shopping Center since it was the tax-free back to school weekend here in Alabama (all clothing and shoes were tax free). Although it had been brutally hot all week, I figured if we got to the outdoor shopping center early enough in the morning, we would be able to stay cooler......boy was I wrong! Something about the Alabama sun makes you feel like a greased-up chicken leg frying in a pan, no matter what time of day it is (and this is coming from a girl who grew up in the Arizona desert)! Needless to say, we lasted about 30 min before we decided to retreat from the heat and grab a bite to eat at the Red Robin across the street.

Joanna loved Red Robin, I think it was because our waitress LOVED Joanna and would stop by our table every 2 minutes and have a conversation with her....not to mention, the waitress' hot pink acrylic nails seemed to hypnotize Joanna :)

Here is Joanna watching our waitress' every move...

On Sunday we went to the Montgomery Fine Arts Museum to check out their Children's Museum, called Art Works (touted to be the best in the country). We were blown away by the museum and its grounds! It is located in a beautiful park, apparently designed with the English countryside in mind. There is also this HUGE performing arts theatre on the grounds where the annual Shakespeare festival is held. When the Shakespeare festival is not going on, they run various shows for everyone to enjoy (Westside Story is playing there this month). I didn't get any pictures of the park (again the sun....) but I am sure we will be back to visit before we leave and I will be sure to take some then.

Back to the art museum.....

Joanna loved looking at all if the shapes and colors in the children's exhibits

That evening, we had a BBQ with Randy's flight here on base. It was nice to meet everyone and for Joanna to play with the other kids. Her favorite thing to do is to swing on the swings, here she is swinging and watching all the older kids run around on the playground.

After the BBQ, we settled in for the evening and, as you can see, I think Randy and I were successful in wearing our little munchkin out!

Thanks mom and dad, I had a great weekend!