Two Sundays ago, my "little" brother came all the way from Germany to spent a week with us. While Derrick was on a business trip, the kids and I loved having him here. Uncle Lenni is very hands-on and both children constantly asked to play with him. Their favorite game was hide-and-seek. But he is also great in building Lego or playing Firemen Sam with Elliot.
While I worked the first part of the week, he also installed new faucets in our bathrooms and painted an accent wall in my master bedroom.
Thursday and Friday I took off so that we can spent some quality time together while the kids are at school. Amelia's school also hosted their annual Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday and invited all family members to join the students for a traditional turkey meal. My little girl was beaming from ear to ear because her uncle from Germany was there to share a meal with her.
After the lunch, Amelia showed us her classroom and had uncle Lenni practice some spelling words on the Ipad. And then it was time to head out to our next adventure.
Since my brother is an avid paintball player and wanted to do something unique "American", we decided to visit a nearby gun range for some target practice. I was just there to translate and watch but then he convinced me to try my aim. (This is not the first time I shot a gun. 14 years ago in Florida, we practiced with a police officer from Campus shooting down some cans with a shotgun and a small handgun at his property.) While I do not support our gun laws in the U.S. and I'm not in favor of having guns in a home where children reside, I do think that gun ranges are a great option for people, such as my brother, to shot a gun in a safe environment with instructors.
The next day, my brother and I went shopping at Opry Mills Mall here in Nashville. Unfortunately, I was not able to convince him to purchase some cowboy boots but we were able to find some sneakers in shoe size 15.
For lunch, we stopped by the Bavarian Bierhaus and enjoyed some German Pils and tasted some foods from my home country.
Afternoon entertainment
For the weekend, we did the touristy things and went to see some sights here in Nashville. We met my German friends for a late lunch at Burger Republic on Saturday, which had me swooning over their burgers.
That evening, our YMCA hosted their Family Fall Night. Due to the cold weather, they moved most of the activities indoors, except for the fire pit. We made S'mores and drank hot cocoa by the fire before calling it a night.
We have 7 murals here in downtown and one of the most famous one was only a few steps from the restaurant. It is called WhatLiftsYou and is the perfect backdrop for some unique pictures.
And some little wings:
Amelia also found her own truck:
Next up, a quick stop at the former train station, now a hotel, before we made our way to the Parthenon.
The Parthenon in Centennial Park is across from Vanderbilt University where the football team played against UK that afternoon. Thus, my brother got to see and hear what noise a college crowd can make and what tailgating looks like.
The Parthenon:
When visiting Nashville, a trip to Broadway to Honky-Tonk is almost a must. Unfortunately, we didn't had a babysitter and bar hoping with two little ones is a no-no. So I was only able to show him what is going in Nashville after dark while driving by. Given that it was super crowded that night, we actually didn't mind not to fight our way thru the crowds.
Next time he comes to visit though, I will make sure that we will go out night one Lenni. And I don't care if he likes country music or not. More about our weekend highlights will be in the next post.
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