Anyone who knows my Peyton knows he isn't a big football fan. He likes it enough, and he sits through Bucs games. He even occasionally cheers them on. But, make no mistake he is not a football fan, he is a Peyton Manning fan. Maybe because they share a name, maybe because he is the best of his time, maybe because he's just an all around good guy when that can't be said for many NFL players. In any case, about 5 years ago, my Peyton decided he was a Peyton Manning fan. He got all things Colts, and his prized possession was his #18 blue Peyton Manning jersey. So, when the Colts fell on the Tampa schedule, we scooped up tickets as soon as we could. But then there was the injury which took Peyton Manning out for the year and ultimately out of Indianapolis. We went to the game anyway, but the closest my Peyton got to his Peyton was seeing them show him in a luxury box on the big screen. I made a promise, if they ever came back to Tampa, we'd go again. But, the schedule hasn't been so kind.
Then, there was the day that Peyton Manning was going to be released by the Colts. My Peyton wore his blue #18 jersey to school that day, saying he wanted to wear it "the last day Peyton Manning will ever be a Colt". When he went to the Broncos, Peyton wasted no time in loading up on his Bronco's gear, including a new blue and orange #18 jersey. Nobody was more excited when they made the Superbowl than Peyton. We all figured a Super Bowl win would put Peyton Manning, the obvious choice for superbowl MVP, at Disney the next day. But, when that went horribly wrong, and my Peyton sat in disbelief in tears on the couch tucked in with his Bronco's comforter and his Bronco pillow pet, wearing his #18 jersey over his 'all Colts grow up to be Bronco's' shirt, pulling his Broncos hat over his eyes, I wanted to do anything to make him feel better. So, I made him a promise. Knowing, Peyton Manning is getting older and the years we have to see him play are qucikly coming to a close, I looked at my terribly depressed Peyton and said "the closest the Bronco's come to us next year, we're going to see them play".
When we looked at away opponents for the Broncos, nothing was even close. The best we had? Cincinnati. It's a long trip, but at least we could stay with Cort and not have to pay for a hotel. So that was the plan, we go to Cincinnati. We crossed our fingers that it wouldn't be during a Bucs home game, but knowing we would miss one if we had to. But, then the schedule came out, and the Broncos play Cincinnati three days before Christmas, outside, on Monday night. None of that worked for us. The next closest option: The Saint Louis Rams on Sunday, November 16. The Bucs were away and we'd have a free paycheck that month. So, a plan was made.
A couple of weeks ago, though, the dryer broke. This forced a free paycheck to get pushed up, and took nearly $600 of the 'free' paycheck. I had to nix a promised trip to Universal (which I HATE promising something I can't deliver, and I never ever do it, if you're going to promise you kids something you need to deliver), but Asa and I were determined to make this Saint Louis trip happen for Peyton. We had another huge hiccup when Asa HAD to go into the office on Thursday, his day off, and we had to rent a car and rely on neighbors to keep an eye on Calib and Hayden to keep Peyton and me on schedule with our trip. We don't really have the money to do all of this, but we're making it work. Why? Because it's Peyton's dream. And some dreams have a shelf life.
Here's the thing, my kids all have bucket lists. Weather they know they are bucket lists or not, I'm not sure. But they do, and on the top of Peytons -- seeing Peyton Manning play. There is a time clock on that one. He also wants to go to all the president's graves, and I do my best to make those happen, too, but lets face it-- those aren't going anywhere. Besides all that, I want my kids to say 'why not?' in regards to going on adventures like the one we've been on this week.. not list all the reasons why they can't. And really, we might be poor for a couple weeks, but in a year, five years, ten years, nobody is going to remember that something got paid a few days late, or we had an extra breakfast for dinner night. But Peyton will always, always remember this trip I took him on. And childhood is about making memories, and there's something so awesome about standing behind your kid when you know this is something they'll remember fondly for the rest of their life. Checking off items on their bucket lists is almost better than checking items off your own.
So, on Thursday morning, Peyton and I set out for what we like to call Operation Peyton Manning. We were going as far as Hunstville, Alabama on day one to stay with one of my friends from Cedar Point. On the way though, we thought we'd stop by Tallahassee to check out the state house. We'd never been to the panhandle in the eight years we've been here, so I thought it was a good opportunity for a government lesson field trip.
(Disclaimer: get ready for A LOT of pictures!)
The new state house has actually been called the ugliest state capital buildings in the United States, we could totally see why.
Inside, you really had free reign to see a whole lot of the state house. We read all the inscriptions and Florida facts. It listed all kinds of crazy things: state butterfly (zebra longwing, in case you were wondering), state stage play (Cross and Sword), state beverage (orange juice), state shell (horse conch), state horse (The Florida Cracker Horse) . Apparently we even have a state soil! (Myakka fine sand)
Sadly, Congress was not in session so we weren't able to go into the gallery, but we could still go up to the glass doors. Here we are at the Senate. We noted some things that might be different from the house (less seats and such)
And then walked across the way to the Florida House of Representatives. Peyton said he'd love to go back when they were in session. It'd be great opportunity, so I might have to look into it. But, boy is it a trip!
We took the elevator to the 22nd floor where you could see the whole city of Tallahassee.
When we came back down, we took our picture in front of the Florida state seal.
Just across the courtyard is the old state building. We liked this one much better.
It is still open to go in and look around too. They even had a quick scavenger hunt for Peyton to complete while he was there. It followed along great, and I highly recommend it. Plus, I can put the completed worksheet in his portfolio for a fun addition this year.
This tree was part of his scavenger hunt, and would make a lot more sense later in the trip, so stay tuned.
Also, he had to locate the liberty bell replica in front of the capital, this would become more interesting later as well.
It wasn't particularly warm, but had we known this was the last time we'd see temperatures in the 50's we might have enjoyed it a little more!
On the way back to the car, Peyton spotted this monument, so of course he wanted to go over and read what it was all about.
Turns out it is the Tallahassee monument for those Floridians who died in the Vietnam war.
Not too long after we left Tallahassee we made it to Alabama. It was cold and rainy, but we had taken along Calib's Benny the Beaver stuffed animal (who in case you didn't know, talks in a thick southern accent, is from Alabama and has been elected President of all stuffed animals after his brief stint as a Walmart greeter. Oh, and his favorite dessert is apple pie.) Benny wanted to make the trip back to his homeland, so Peyton and I obliged. We also scoured the entire southern half of the country for Benny's wife Jenny the Beaver, but with no luck.
Since we did PB & J for lunch, I let Peyton pick dinner. He was loving all the stuff he got to pick, and didn't have to run it by his brothers. We ended up in a Panera near Birmingham. It was so cold at this point, I welcomed the soup.
We got to Rachel's around 9 that night, and the next morning Peyton was cuddled up on the couch with her adorable Beagle, Baxter. Too bad he had a horrendous sweater (though he did still look pretty cute in it)
Rachel took the day off so she could spend the morning with us at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. As a bonus our MOSI pass not only got us in for free, but Rachel too! They had a very cool exhibt of the 100 most influential inventions. Peyton paged through the timeline on the touch screen and read every single one of them.
Of course they had all kinds of space suits to check out.
And Peyton really loved this telescope. As you moved it, the sky moved around too as if you were really looking through one.
The also had a rock climbing wall, Peyton waited to do the hardest section first. He made it nearly all the way to the top.
Then he did an easier side, and had no problem at all climbing right up to the top of it.
Outside there are all kinds of rockets to look at close up, along with a section that makes you feel like you are on the moon.
Inside the next building, we got to get into all kinds of space contraptions.
And take some fun pictures.
I even got in one!
There's also a very col, very large space shuttle to check out.
It was a great home school field trip, we had government covered the day before in Tallahassee, Science covered at the Space and Rocket Center, and he even had a chance to show off his geography skills.
Thanks to Rachel for letting us stay with her for the night and showing us around.
It was nice to see her again after about 12 years, hopefully it won't be that long next time. (She's never been to Disney, so I told her she had to come visit us so we could go!)
We headed out of Alabama and up to Tennessee on Wednesday. Two presidents are buried in Nashville, and another thing on Peyton's bucket list is to see where every president is buried, so whenever we go near one we try and make sure we get there.
James K. Polk (our eleventh president) is buried at the Tennessee State House in Nashville. When we got there, we discovered a liberty bell replica. Apparently, that's a thing (we also saw one at the state house in Springfield)
His grave, while not super impressive compared to some we have been to, sits atop a hill and is very peaceful. But it was also very, very cold. Probably the coldest all trip with the wind blowing the way it was.
Another one checked off the list though!
I used the food network road trip finder to locate some local places to eat nearby and we discovered the window called 'Hog Heaven'.
Deciding to forgo sitting at the picnic tables, we had lunch in the car- but it was delicious. I highly recommend the pulled pork with white sauce.
Peyton also read just about the whole trip up, he loved this 'Everything Book' full of lots of fun tid bits of information, he shared all kinds of it with me on the trip.
Our next stop was The Hermitage. It's the land that belonged to our seventh president, Andrew Jackson (for you Fremonters - think Spiegel Grove times 10, it was HUGE)
After a video in which we learned Andrew Jackson was kind of a jerk to most people(but idolized by white work class men)-- you know, the whole Trail of Tears/Indian Removal Act and his strong support of slavery (he owned over 150 slaves) and his repression of women (I kind of wonder why he's on our $20 to be honest), we sent out to explore the grounds.
We had these great little audio players and when we got to some place of significance you just typed in the posted number and got a story about it. They even had a special kids number if you wanted something more interesting to them (apparently Andrew Jackson was very fond of his pet parrot)
Andrew Jackson, though, was a very good husband. He fiercely loved his wife, Rachel. After he was elected President though Rachel, was very worried about how she would be seen by the Washington socialites. She would never find out, she died just 3 weeks before Andrew Jackson left for the white house. She was buried in her garden, which she loved (thus the Magnolia tree planted in her honor at the Florida State house), and Jackson had her tomb modeled after the wallpaper she loved in their mansion that had a gazebo on it. When he got back from the white house he spent every day going out to her grave, until he himself died and was buried there as well.
So there you have a history lesson, and Peyton has another president off his list.
The garden by the way, is very impressive. The bricks we figure, have been there a very, very long time.
We actually got to go into the mansion too, but you could only take pictures outside. Here we learned that Andrew Jackson was also very full of himself. On the floor in his study lay huge books full of positive newspaper articles written about him that he collected, and he often sat at that very table and told the story of The Battle of New Orleans, which people said took longer to hear the story than to actually fight the battle of New Orleans.
It was an awesome tour, and Peyton asked some great questions, the historians who work in the mansion were very impressed with him and made sure to let me know. The other people on the tour with us were generally older people (Peyton was the only kid), and they made sure to let me know too.
We had hoped to stop by the kitchen cabinet for some hot chocolate on the way out, but it was closed. The restaurant, however, is named after Andrew Jackson's cabinet which routinely met in the kitchen of the White House, and was therefore nicknamed the 'Kitchen Cabinet'. How fun!
Oh, and Peyton kept track of our finances on the trip, so he even got some math in there!
It just so happened that my mom was in Nashville for the 40th Anniversary Conference of AMATYC (American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges). It's a national organization, and she is the President. Which comes with some perks, including the biggest/awesomest/most impressive hotel room I've ever seen (and probably will ever see in my lifetime). She was kind enough to let us stay for the night.
It even had a remote to the curtains and to bring up the TV from the dresser!
She had a kitchen, complete with her own ice maker, fridge, super duper coffee machine, giant TV, and microwave drawer.
There were three living rooms.
And five bathrooms.
This is the adjoining suite which she also had.
Another view from the bar.
Another living room area and the fireplace.
The entry way.
Big comfy bed in the Master Bedroom.
Giant tub in one of the bathrooms.
The shower that was bigger than Peyton's bathroom.
The light switches were even impressive. I liked the 'good morning' setting.
We just made ourselves comfy and waited for mom to finish up her meeting.
Then she showed Peyton her letter from the Tennessee Governor AND the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES commemorating the 40th Annual AMATYC Conference.
Signed and everything, pretty cool. She needs to frame that puppy!
Oh, Peyton was also a fan of the exercise room off the bathroom that had the treadmill in it.
And whats a walk on the treadmill without a TV.
The hotel itself was pretty impressive too, mom was kind enough to take us out to dinner at one of the many hotel restaurants, Stax, for some burgers and she even sprang for milkshakes!
We walked around a bit and enjoyed the scenery (and tried to find a stuffed beaver wife for Benny)
Then mom was off to do her presidential duties, while I took Peyton tubing. The Gaylord Opryland has a whole snow/ice thing every Christmas and we just happened to be staying there the first night it was opened.
He went up and down a whole lot of times before he was too cold and ready to head back inside.
But he had SO. MUCH. FUN! (I'm glad because it wasn't cheap!)
We went back inside and walked around a few of the giant atriums.
It was so pretty and all decorated for Christmas.
Peyton and I both threw a penny in this fountain and made a wish. I'm pretty sure it's a magically fountain because both of our wishes came true. I wished for Peyton to get his jersey signed by Peyton Manning, and Peyton wished for snow!
To give you some perspective just how big mom's room was, this is down in the atrium. Those three bay windows are all hers. In addition to that, there was two more.
You know it's going to be an impressive room when you get double doors!
Even Benny enjoyed himself. How could you not? That was a once in a lifetime experience for sure! (We later found out it can run $10,000 for the suite!)
Benny's also a drinker. (Actually things were out so mom could host some people in her room later, which was fun to meet some people I'd heard so much about- and they were all so nice to Peyton!)
Just a normal Friday night.
When Peyton fell asleep on the couch, mom had to snap a picture. I did too, but I thought this one was funny.
Peyton was all tuckered out from the days events.
The next morning we had some breakfast,
and took a self taken picture before heading out. We'll see mom again soon, no worries.
When we got to the car we discovered frost.
And since I'm a Floridian, I don't have an ice scrapper. So we just had to wait until the defroster and the windshield wipers did the work.
We had planned to go to Springfield, IL to see where Lincoln was buried Monday after the game, but as it turns out it's only open Wednesday thru Sunday in the winter. Peyton asked me on the way up if there was anyway we could fit it in. I told him we could take a three to four hour detour and go up there before we went to our hotel in Saint Louis, and he was totally on board. It met more driving, but besides Ulysses Simpson Grant, Lincoln was the one he was most excited about. Lincoln is buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery, and we made it there in just about six hours from Nashville.
We finally made it!
The building is pretty impressive.
People apparently rub Lincoln's nose for good luck.
Peyton and I both gave it a go.
Then we went inside, there are statues of Lincoln at different stages in his life all along the hallway leading to the tomb.
A sign gave us lots of information. Usually, a ranger is sitting there to give you information- but we were the only ones there that day, maybe because it was so cold.
Lincoln's final resting place.
Peyton has another one checked off his list. I think I figured he has 14 out of the 38 Presidents who have died. Not too bad.
"Now he belongs to the ages" is inscribed in the wall.
And of course his famous Gettysburg Address is posted right next to the room.
Even the hallways are impressive.
I think going to all the President's tombs is on my bucket list now too. I've been to all the one's Peyton has, and I think it's a really cool thing to do.
Springfield is an interesting city, it has tons of Lincoln touches all over the place.
After we left the Cemetery we went to the Lincoln Museum that my friend Janet had suggested.
The museum was probably my third favorite part of the trip (You can't beat the once in a lifetime opportunities to meet Peyton Manning and stay in that hotel room!) There were a couple different "experiences". One was a VERY cool hologram show (you couldn't take pictures). The next one took you through the log cabin Lincoln grew up in.
Walking through the log cabin, you got to see Lincoln's life including working as an apprentice in the cloth shop, his work as a lawyer and marrying Mary Todd Lincoln.
That experience took you all the way up to the White House. Our favorite part had to be the the CNN news broadcast on the TVs (like if the election was taking place today).
The next experience took us through the Lincoln White House.
It covered the inauguration.
The succession of the southern states,
along with some of the harsh words people had for Lincoln depicted in these political cartoons.
The tragedy of Lincolns son, Willie, dying in the white house. Lincoln is even holding his son's favorite doll in his hand.
It also took you through the Emancipation Proclamation. Each person at this table had a sign saying who they were and what they thought about the Proclamation.
You walked through this very cool tunnel with holograms of people yelling their onions of the Proclamation.
There was also a video called 'The Civil War in Four Minutes' that was very informative.
It ended with Ford's Theater,
and the Funeral Train back to Springfield, which gave the Union it's chance to say goodbye to the assassinated president.
The whole museum was pretty amazing. We loved it, so thanks for the suggestion, Janet!
And of course we stopped by the gift shop for some fun pictures, a pen for Peyton (he collects them), and a magnet for me (I collect them!)
And we just HAD to put on the Lincoln tall hat.
We stopped by the Springfield state house, which also has a liberty bell replica, by the way.
It was too cold for Peyton to want to get out, but we did pull over to snap his picture.
Another food network stop suggested the Cozy Dog Drive In on Route 66.
A late lunch was in order for us.
It was totally worth the stop!
Then we drove about an hour and half over to Saint Louis. Peyton snapped some pictures on the way in.
Our room was no Gaylord Opryland suite, but it was pretty nice.
And Peyton got his wish- it started snowing!
We also discovered Panera Bread comes from Saint Louis and in Saint Louis is still called the Saint Louis Bread Company.
It was Peyton's pick for dinner.
He was so happy to see the snow, he was trying to eat it as it fell.
But it really was more sleet and ice than snow.
We stopped by Walgreens to get some poster board to make a sign for the game the next day.
We tucked ourselves in early so we could relax a bit.
We were all ready with our Bronco's gear for the next morning though.
We got up on Sunday morning and Peyton was SO EXCITED. We took advantage of the free hotel breakfast and then headed out.
We wanted to make sure we got there early, and I think we succeeded. We didn't have any traffic on the way there.
Peyton, however, left his hat in the car and so I gave him mine. It was snowing, windy, and cold-- so very cold, and we had to wait about 25 minutes for the doors to open.
Our seats were in the corner of the Rams endzone!
And I let Peyton get whatever he wanted for lunch, I figured this was his dream, he might as well live it up!
We were just six rows up from the field, and Peyton Manning actually threw a touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders right in front of us!
If you look close, #18 is back there. It's Peyton AND Peyton!
Ready for the game to start..
But still keeping tabs on the Bucs (who WON on Sunday, can you believe it?!)
We were so close we could feel the heat from the flames during the starting line up.
The coin toss!
And, were ready to go.
Peyton kept saying "Look mom, Peyton Manning is RIGHT THERE!"
Yes, Yes he is, Peyton.
The Broncos were backed up, a lot. And things weren't going that well for them. At one point Peyton looked up at me, tears in his eyes, and asked why all the games he goes to the teams he roots for lose. I felt terrible.
Peyton Manning threw one touchdown pass... just ONE. Which luckily happened RIGHT in front of us. However, it's the fewest touchdown passes he's thrown since 2001. 2001, people. That means that is the fewest he's thrown in my Peytons LIFETIME. Asa said "it's just like that time Calib went to see the Steelers play the Browns, and the Steelers lost".
We tried to regroup at halftime with some nachos, but that was only a temporary fix, and with just about 5 minutes left in the game we decided to leave.
We walked out of the stadium, and in a last ditch effort to save the day, I asked Peyton if he wanted to go over to the Bronco's team bus to see if we could maybe get his jersey signed. I explianed it was a long shot, and that we'd probably have to stand out in the snow and the freezing weather for at least an hour. He said he wanted to go, so we used the directions Asa had collected on reddit a couple weeks ago from a nice Rams fan. We got over there just in time for Peyton to squeeze up to be right at the fence, and I was just behind him. It quickly filled in behind us, and there was at least 15 people deep everywhere. Some people said "I don't know if anyone is going to come over here after a loss" and some people said "Peyton Manning will come over here for sure". We waited, and we waited. After about an hour, Peyton wanted to go- he REALLY needed to use the bathroom. But, John Fox (the Broncos coach) had just come out, so I knew Peyton Manning wasn't too far behind.
Unfortunately, my camera died. And my cell phone turned off and wouldn't come back on. I charged them both all night last night, so I have no idea why that would happen. I was SO bummed, but I also thought our chances of Peyton Manning coming over to the fans was pretty slim, none of the other players had done so. John Elway drew large cheers and didn't even acknowledge the fans. Plus, I'd never had luck waiting at the buses before.
A few minutes after Peyton said we should probably go, because he needed to use the bathroom, and I stalled.. Peyton Manning came out. He stood at the tunnel enterance for awhile while everyone SCREAMED 'Peyton! Peyton!' and then he looked up and his whole demenor changed. Like he realized we had all been standing in the snow for him, and he came over and started signing things all along the fence. This SUPER nice lady behind me, a total stranger, took some pictures and sent them to me. Because of course my camera stopped working just as Peyton Manning was directly in front of me.
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(Really big shoutout to Natlie, whoever you are, for following through on the pictures-- there are nice people out there!)
Peyton Manning came around to us, took Peyton's jersey from him while standing right in front of him and signed it. Peyton was more excited than I'd seen him in his whole life.
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Natalie didn't get a picture while his jersey was being signed, but she did take a couple of my Peyton with Peyton Manning in the background after he got his jersey signed!!
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As we walked away, Peyton (totally unprompted) said to me "Mom, this is my favorite day ever." Thank you, Peyton Manning, for saving the day-- and the trip. I think he does know how much just signing a jersey means to a kid, he was the only player to come over and go the extra mile- and he was very gracious about it-- which is exactly what I've always heard about him. We got out of the way so people behind us could get their things signed, as Peyton Manning went all the way to the end of the line and then back again. Meanwhile, My Peyton was practically skipping. He was SO. EXCITED. But, he still had to use the restroom-- desperately. We turned the corner of the stadium, and I peeked my head in glass doors of the stadium and asked if there was a bathroom. The security lady looked at Peyton and said 'no, I'm sorry we don't have a public restroom', and then a much older gaurd looked at her and nodded and she said "ok, come with me". We got to go back past the locker rooms, and we got to see the field view from the tunnel. She pointed it all out on the way back (Peyton was in a hurry on the way there), and gave us a mini tour. We got to see them taking out all the equipment and everything. She was very nice, and thanks to her for the behind the scenes tour! (Again, I totally wish my camera had been working--- uggghhh!!!)
But you know, somethings are better to just enjoy than to watch through my camera lens. And I, too, got to see Peyton Manning RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Better than that, I got to see Peyton's dream come true. He's told me SO many times tonight that he doesn't even care that the Bronco's lost.
When we got back to the hotel, housekeeping had made up our room complete with Peyton's Bronco's comforter and pillow pet.
And Peyton laid his jersey out too and just stared at the autograph forever. I thought he was going to sleep with it, but instead he FOLDED (Peyton never folds anything!!!) up and asked me to put it somewhere safe.
I had to take a picture first though. See this big smile? It's not nearly as big as it was when Peyton Manning was actually signing it. I really thought Peyton was going to cry he was so happy.
The next morning we got up, had another free hotel breakfast (don't you love those?) and checked out.
It was eight degrees when we woke up Monday morning, and I was ready to nix a trip to the zoo. Peyton, however wanted to go. Of course I obliged, I mean it was free so I didn't mind if we didn't stay too long, and I wanted to make sure to fit in everything he wanted to do. It's the trip of a lifetime after all.
Most areas were roped off because of ice, but we did find an awesome insect house (well, as awesome as an insect house can be)
Peyton read everything and looked at every single bug.
He was especially fascinated by the ants.
It even attached to a butterfly house.
There were butterflys EVERYWHERE, it was kind of amazing.
And it was warm, which was also kind of amazing.
Peyton spent a good hour looking and reading at insects. I tried not to hurry him, as that's not something he usually gets to do when his brothers are along, but holy geez that's a long time to look at insects. A lot of snow had fallen the evening before, so he also had that to enjoy.
He especially thought the icicles on the elephant fountain were cool.
We did see some other animals, seals and such- and then he had a lesson on foxes, beavers, and raccoons.
We stopped by the gift shop, with no luck in finding Benny a wife.
The zoo seems really nice, I just wish it had been warmer and we could have seen more of it.
We drove back downtown and got to see the baseball stadium. It was strangely empty considering it was a Monday. I thought we were going to get stuck in lots of traffic.
It was really hard to find our way to the arch due to construction though, and we ended up circling in the area a lot.
Peyton noticed we were back down by the stadium, and told me I should stop to get my picture in front of it to add to my collection of NFL stadium pictures. We had left in such a hurry, and we were so excited we had forgotten all about it. I told him it was ok, and he said 'We came all this way, you should do it!' Good attitude, Peyton!
Then he asked if we could drive around to the other side of the stadium on Cole Street to see the spot where he met Peyton Manning. Of course I obliged.
We finally parked somewhat illegally, and made it to the arch.
I forgot his national park book, but he got the stamp to add to it later.
We also visited the Westward Expansion Museum, which chronicles Lewis and Clark;s expedition.
Why hello there, Meriweather Lewis. (It's William Clark, btw, in case you were wondering)
We learned all about Peace Medals that explorers would give to Native American tribes.
He also got some great visuals for next week's theme week: Native American Week.
Of course we've already covered the Louisiana Purchase.
There was also an awesome timeline of events on the wall. Peyton really likes reading things in museums/zoos/monuments-- it reminds me so much of my dad. I love it!
We headed out around noon, hoping to stop by the Loveless Cafe in Nashville on our way to Huntsville to stay with Rachel one more time. Unfortunately, a trailer carrying 70 cattle overturned on the highway and we were STOPPED for four hours. When we started going again it was dark and snowy. Instead of going all the way to Huntsville, Asa found us a hotel about 40 miles away and booked it for us. I was over being in the car. But, I couldn't be that mad. At one point Peyton said to me "I know you're frustrated mom, but it was totally worth it. Remember that time we met Peyton Manning?"
We stopped for dinner and Peyton ordered a HUGE salad.
And to my surprise he ate the whole thing!
The hotel room was nice for a quick stop along I-24 in Kentucky. Good on Asa for booking it for us! He did a good job.
It too had free breakfast, so we got up early on Tuesday morning and took advantage of it. We had a LONG drive ahead of us.
We had plans to hit both the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and CNN on the way back, but given the time constraints and wanting to be out of Atlanta by rush hour, I told Peyton we could probably only do one. Since the Library is inexpensive and something the five of us could do, he opted for the CNN tour.
We got our tickets and then waited for our tour start time by window shopping and getting some lunch.
Peyton sat there and identified all the flags hanging around the building. He knew almost all of them!
Then it was time for our tour.
We took the long escalator up and got a lesson in the history of CNN, teleprompters and green screens.
Then we got to look in at all the behind the scenes workers doing their job.
To the left of the aisle you have the news gatherers to the right, the writers.
We got to peak in on the international desk too.
We also got to view the floor from the balcony, see how the tiles actually form the world?
There are even markers to show where there are CNN affiliates throughout the world (Atlanta, though, is the global headquarters)
We made a stop at Fazoli's for dinner. We don't have any in Florida, but there is one on I-75 just over the state line in Georgia that we know well.
It was a super fun trip, one for the record books- but we were still pretty excited to hit the 'Go Home' button on the GPS.
We did stop at the state line. Think he's overdressed for Florida, think again. It was 38 degrees.
We got home at 10:00 and Peyton couldn't wait to show off his jersey!
And Calib was pretty happy I brought him some breadsticks!
Asa was super helpful today and unpacked for us, helped me coupon, did the laundry and the dishes, cooked all the meals and has been super awesome (not anything out of the ordinary) Peyton lined up all his pens (he got quite the collection this trip)
And I added to my magnet collection.
It's nice to be home for sure. The trip was pretty amazing though. Peyton has told me several times that he thinks this trip will always be his favorite childhood memory. It was worth every dollar spent, every frustration when I got lost, every white knuckle I had gripping the steering wheel driving in the ice and snow, and every single minute we had to wait for the cows to be removed off the highway.
And lets be clear, this is every much Asa as it was me. He paid for the trip. He held down the fort, and made sure Calib and Hayden got their schooling done this week. He put up with my frantic phone calls when I needed something, and even worked an overtime overnight shift. He made this happen just as much, if not more than I did. He deserves kudos for that and so much more, as always. As for what happened while I was gone, I hear there was lots of carbohydrates, loud music, and a season and a half worth of Madden games.
If you ever, ever get event the slightest chance to make one of your kids dreams come true, do it. You won't be disappointed. And always make sure to follow through on your promises. I said to Peyton when we were going to sleep the night of the game "When I told you during the superbowl we would go see Peyton Manning, no matter how close he came, did you really think we'd be here". He replied with a simple "yea, of course". He knows I'll deliver, and that makes me feel almost as good as this whole trip did. *Almost.
Next Up: Native American Week.
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