Rainforest Cafe - Nashville

Since Tony won't be in town for Eli's birthday, we decided to celebrate a week early. The Rainforest Cafe was the restaurant of choice & coupons for $1.99 kids meals didn't hurt either.


Here we are with the costumed gorillas. Hint: the gorillas are in the back!



Eli got a bowl of clam chowder which he has decided is his new favorite soup.

Of course, you can't celebrate a birthday without having some ice cream with a cherry on top!

Yummy, yummy, yummy, I've got love in my tummy...

A neighbor, who also goes to our church, invited some moms from her small group & some neighbors over to make spring rolls. Adrienne & I went & got a refresher course on this delicious dish!

Here Adrienne is rolling some for us to eat for dinner.

Coming out of the fryer.

Yum! Need I say more?

She also taught us how to make the peanut sauce that goes with it. Salty, sweet, spicy & savory all in one sauce. All in all, the rolls reminded me a lot of the lumpia that Sarah & I made in the past. As a bonus my neighbor took us to an Asian food mart that I would have never found on my own & I found out that the owner's daughter was good friends with Eli last year in school. (cue: It's a small world...) You just never know who you'll run into in this town.

Random photos

This is Eli's "Giant Squid". He has written books about the awesome power of this giant squid & now he filled our driveway with the IMAX version.

The good thing about the large canvas of the driveway is that it washes off in the rain & he can start over again. However, we had no rain here for the last month & the driveway got very full

After Bible study we went to the park with some of the other moms & decided to take a hike. As you can see, Adrienne found a fast friend.

Saturday Silliness

We had another fun Saturday. We started out at Lowe's & the kids made a fire engine. (Next month they can make glow in the dark skeletons & a stand-up pumpkin.) Then we went to our local library for a Read to Succeed party. They had free food, music, story times, a jumpy house, book giveaways etc. Lots of fun stuff!

Adrienne got to meet Max the bunny (from Ruby & Max).

Then she got her face painted to look like "a kitty with a red nose".

After naps we went to the fair with some friends of ours. It was about an hour away but I didn't have to drive so it was all good. The kids got to ride on lots of rides. More than they would have if I had taken them by myself.

Adrienne liked the train. She fit right in with her kitty face.

Adrienne & Eli on the bikes.

Eli rode the dragon roller coaster with his friends. No need for Mommy this time. Phew!

The kids even got to learn how to call a turkey.

It was a very different sound than the "gobble gobble" you hear on cartoons.

We had to take a photo of the ginormous fruits - the 492 pound pumpkin & the 189 pound watermelon!

And what trip to the fair would not be complete without being chased by big foot? Run Away!

Deputy Ward

Well, it's official. We now have a gun toting, badge wearing deputy in the house.

He finished his first week on Patrol & did very well with all the training. It came in very handy I'm sure on the first call of the first day when they had to move cows out of the road. That's Tennessee for you! The second was a narcotics bust which was probably a little more exciting.

He came home with 2 garbage bags full of stuff he's required to wear or have with him daily . It covered our bed & then some.

Needless to say we had several more talks about gun safety with the kids. Do you know the rules?
1. Don't touch it!
2. Run away from it.
3. Tell an adult where you found it.
Now obviously the kids can't run away from Daddy every time they see him so we really emphasize #1 in the house.
P.s. I read all the manuals & practiced loading & firing so I could know what's what - so don't mess with me! :)

Saturday Adventures

Saturday was a busy day for the kids. We went to the river & walked on the green way & looked at all the art on display at the craft fair. The kids got to make their own necklaces & marble paintings which they enjoyed a bunch.



Here they are taking a break by the river.

Adrienne looking for fish.

Then we went to the Stones River Battlefield where we decided to do the Junior Ranger Program. They had to wander around different parts of the battlefield & answer questions about what they saw. They also got to find out how a cannon works.

Here they are being sworn in as Junior Rangers.

They got certificates & a badge. Now they're official.

This is overlooking the National Cemetery at Stones River.
The short square markers are unknown soldiers.

These are the graves of the Union soldiers that died here in Murfreesboro. There is a separate cemetery for the Confederate soldiers.

The new pets

Let me preface this by saying that our neighbor is in high school & was doing a science project all month catching bugs that would be euthanized & mounted on a display. My kids wanted to help her & caught a lot of bugs these past few weeks.
I forgot to tell them not to name the bugs & a few recieved names & a place in our home now. Let me introduce you....

This is Brownie. This photo is almost life size.

This is Stripey. He is huge. He's about four inches & he can fly from our house to our neighbors house across the street with out stopping to hop at all!

This is Grassy. Adrienne's first catch. Grassy is much smaller than the other two & behaves very well. The kids have been taking turns feeding them all fresh grass & tasty lamb's ears leaves. Yum!

Time for Woodshop!

We went to Lowe's for a kids workshop & they got to make pirate ships. Both kids did 99% of the work themselves with me only starting a few nails that were cantankerous! I was very surprised at how adept Adrienne was with the hammer. She already put flowers & my little pony stickers all over her Lowe's flag to make it a "girls pirate ship". Go figure.









When they were done they received a certificate with a pirate patch that they can sew on to their aprons. It was pretty fun & Eli is already talking about the fire engine they plan on building next time. Oh, & did I mention it was free? Which is a good thing since the price of gas went up $1.15 in two days!!!!!!!!!!!

Goin' Fishin'

Eli went fishing for a school field trip & I got to go along!

We used corn as bait on the hooks instead of worms. A lot less messy!

Here's Eli pulling up his catch.

Eli with his first fish.

He was quite proud of it, but thought it was a bit slimy.

We had baked trout for dinner & it was yummy. The whole family enjoyed it.

This is Eli's first grade class with his teacher Mrs. Fitzgerald.

A bunch of firsts for the kids

Eli has decided to try & ride his bike without training wheels & is doing really well.

Adrienne has taken over the bike with training wheels & is loving riding down the street by herself.

Adrienne has also figured out to to pump for herself on the swing. I can now watch my children on the swings instead of standing in the path of flying feet!

We went on an adventure walk at the park & decided to cross the creek on wobbly rocks. Eli enjoyed it so much he went back & forth.

Adrienne made it across but didn't want to go through the slime again in her bare feet. (We took off her shoes because fancy sandals with heels don't mix well with wet rocks.)
I am loving watching my children become these not-so-little independent people who are able to do things for themselves or try new & scary things. I am also loving the snuggles & hugs I still get from my not-so-big kids who still need their mommy every once in a while. It's amazing that they can still be both of those things, but sadly, probably not for very much longer.

1 - 2 - "buckle" your shoe

Eli has learned how to tie his shoes all by himself. I'm slowly being phased out of my "mommy help me" jobs. We're so proud!