New Year's Eve with the Peabody Ducks

After the whirlwind of Christmas with the family, we decided to take a little road trip to Memphis for New Year's Eve. I'd heard from a friend about the Peabody ducks and figured that Siena would love to see them. If you haven't heard of the Peabody Ducks, they're a group of five ducks who live on the rooftop of the Peabody hotel in Memphis. Every day at 11am sharp, the "Duck Master" rolls out a red carpet from the elevator to the hotel lobby fountain, and the ducks march out of the elevator, down the red carpet, and into the water to great fanfare. They splash around there until 5pm, when the process is reversed. It's hilarious to watch, and you wouldn't believe the crowds that gather to see them! I took some pictures with my new Elph camera, which aren't quite as great in quality as my big Canon EOS (but I loved being able to carry the Elph in my pocket!).

Besides watching the ducks, we enjoyed walking around downtown, eating yummy barbeque, visiting the Children's Museum, and watching the college football fans in town for the Liberty Bowl. A perfect little trip!

Siena checking out the ducks before their departure up the elevator

The ducks walking down the red carpet, on their way to retire for the evening. You'd think it was Oscar night!

The next morning... throngs of duck fans waiting for their return. The ducks were just exiting the elevator at this point, about to walk down the red carpet and into the fountain seen in the middle of the crowd.

The rooftop "Duckingham Palace" where you'd think the ducks reside...

... but they actually live in a little glass room in the back of the mansion facade.

Siena learns the proper way to brush her teeth at the Memphis Children's Museum

Siena has become quite adept at pointing out body parts lately. "Where is your nose, Siena?"

The highlight of Siena's trip was a toss up between running up and down the ramp in the hotel hallway, and...

... looking out of the glass elevator as it went up and down over the hotel lobby.