Samantha stayed with MamaLinda and Pop and saw all of her Burns side family all weekend. I think she had a great time. While we were in Memphis, we visited Sun Studio, The Peabody, took a Mississippi Riverboat Dinner Cruise, walked up and down Beale Street, and took a tour of the Gibson Guitar Factory. Memphis was farther away than I anticipated, so it seemed we spent a lot of time in the car, but overall, we had a good trip!

I guess I’ll start with our trip to the beach. We had a great time! Samantha slept for a whopping 45 minutes in the car ride there and back. I sat in the back with her both ways so I could occupy her a little bit. And of course, I wanted to show her what she should be doing in a car, so I “pretended” to sleep a lot. Thanks for driving, Brian! Samantha LOVED the water. She plays in a baby pool a lot (8″ deep) at home so she was used to laying in the shallow water on her tummy and floating. Thanks for all the help from MamaLinda and Aunt Lettie for watching her when my back was turned.

Her ears seems to be doing fine. She wore ear plugs while we were at the beach. She wasn’t bothered by them too much, but that could have been because there was so much else to see and do. She is teething again though. One tooth has broken through on the bottom (one of the pointy ones). She’s a bit lopsided because she has 2 more teeth on the left side than she does the right. I’m guessing they’ll come in at their own pace. Anyway, she’s been drooling, congested, and coughing a lot lately. Maybe the tubes will keep her well.

Here are some random facts about her. She is a great singer, having finished the whole alphabet song by herself yesterday. Wow! She is so incredibly independent these days too. She is learning that when we give her choices, she can say yes (and it actually sounds like yes) and shakes her head for no. She can almost put her Crocs on by herself. She opened the pantry door today (although I’m not sure if it was already cracked, but she sure was working that handle). She loves being chased by the corn popper. She can say I love you and has given several sweet closed mouth cheek kisses recently.

And lastly, Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We went to Gatlinburg last weekend. It was beautiful! You can see a view from the deck here. Alex (flickr and blog) did a great job picking out the cabin and the weekend. We were glad to be a part of it. We went on a few short hikes, but mostly hung around the house and played with the kiddos. We can’t wait to go again in a few years when hiking with children will get easier.

In looking back through past trips, we’ve been on Grotto Falls each trip. I think we can check that hike off the list now.