Ouma, Oupa, and Rowan Visit

We had our second round of visitors last week! We enjoyed hosting Jason's parents (Ouma and Oupa - as the grandkids would call them) and our three-year-old niece, Rowan. Once again, one of Jaxon's grandmas spent their birthday with us. On Friday, Ouma's birthday, we went to the Waverly Mansion. It is a beautiful, old home with a lot of history. The most unique thing about the Antebellum homes in town is that they are all occupied. The owners of the Waverly Mansion took us on a tour and told us wonderful stories of the home's history, including stories of her and her sibling's growing up in the house. That afternoon, Rowan and I baked a birthday cake for Ouma, and then went out to dinner at Woody's on the Water; a very nice restaurant that overlooks the river. They serve fresh seafood and steak.

On Saturday, we went to a zoo in Tupelo, MS. Coming from Kansas City and having been to the Omaha Zoo before, we wouldn't actually call this a zoo. It's called the Buffalo Park and Zoo. It was more like an animal park for us. They did have a large number of buffalo and we took a bus tour out to the pasture where the buffalo roam (is anyone else singing the song now?). Sunday we went to church and grilled out steaks for lunch. Jason had some time off on Monday, so we enjoyed an afternoon downtown, shopping. That night, we took advantage of $1 bowling on base. This was the first time Ouma and Oupa had ever bowled together! Rowan was so excited about "bawling" (as she pronounced it) she could hardly contain herself. She got her "bawling" shoes on and was dancing all over the alley. Once the bowling began, she got quite frightened by the noise of pins falling. After watching us "bawl" a few rounds, she warmed up to it and from then on, we couldn't get her to stop. She started taking everyone's turns for them and when it was time to go, she was not happy. Side Note: Yes, Rowan had bumpers. Yes, I played in her lane with the bumpers. Yes, it helped improve my high score. No, I still could not outscore Jason (who was on a lane with Chris and Mae - no bumpers). Jason had his all-time highest score (after 5 strikes in a row) - 192.

On our last day together, we relaxed for most of the morning and then had lunch at Proffit's Porch. Perhaps it will become a tradition of taking our visitors to lunch at the Porch on their last day! After a taco dinner, we said good-bye and they headed off toward Kansas. It was nice to have some visitors, and we're looking forward to hosting again!



Jaxon with Ouma and Oupa on their last day in Mississippi.



Rowan loving on her cousin, Jaxon.



Kind of a dark, blurry picture, but here's all of us at Woody's on the Water.




Rowan and I baking a birthday cake for Ouma.



The Waverly Mansion. They do not allow you to take pictures (probably has something to do with the fact that it's their home and that it's filled with $100,000's of antiques), so this is the outside, coming up the drive.



So proud of her "bawling" shoes. She said, "Aunt Mimi, take pictures of my 'bawling' shoes."