Fall Break Friday!

May the force be with you!

Great shot at the zoo

The kids loved the decorations for "boo at the zoo"!

Up close and personal with the kangroos

Brushing the goat

We tried to take advantage of the last day of Fall Break.  First up was going by the doctor's office to get the kids flu shots.  It is a long story, but we were there 45 minutes and didn't even get them done!  The office had a power outage and decided they were not going to be able to open the refrigerators were the vaccines were kept.  That is fine and all, but I wish someone had told us that!  The kids have been begging to go to Toys R Us for weeks.  Since the pediatrician is so close to the store I agreed to let them go look.  I gave them each 10 minutes to look at whatever they wanted but they knew we were not making any purchses.

Since it was almost lunch time we met Paul at Newk's in Nashville.  It was crazy crowded and we had to park a long way away.  The food was good.  Next we headed to the zoo.  I actually had not been in quite a while.  Paul has taken the kids the past couple of times.  They had made a lot of changes.  The kids love the zoo and were excited to be back.  There is a lot of construction right now.  They entrance is being moved and getting a makeover.  They are adding a bear exhibit and expanding the lion exhibit.  We did the Jungle Loop today so we saw lions, zebras, ostrich, tortoises, flamingos, pandas.  We also went to the indoor reptile area.  It is definitely not my favorite -- pretty stinky!  We ran into another DA family so we hung out with them for a bit.

Both kids were exhausted when we left and fell asleep on the way home.  We got home about 4 and had to leave at 5 for Luke's football practice.  After his practice we decided to go to DA's last home game.  It was a poor turnout because it is Fall Break and a lot of people are out of town.  Bill met us there. He enjoys going to High School games.  DA ended up losing but the kids had a great time. Luke had a little friend there and they played and played.  They were both filthy by the time we left.  It was a very long, but fun day!

Cheekwood Harvest!

Striking a pose

Had to take a picture of the "JonJon" magnolia

Luke's favorite scarecrow

Minions!

She's a happy girl with ice cream!

Luke and I split homemade banana pudding

I was off with the kids today.  We went to Cheekwood for their Harvest celebration.  The grounds were gorgeous -- lots of mums!  There is a cool art exhibit right now. It is a lot of mixed metal sculptures that are on display on the grounds.  We also toured the mansion where some sketches and mixed media pieces were.  The model train tracks have been expanded and updated so the kids loved that.  They also enjoyed seeing all the Scarecrows that area schools had done.  There were some impressive ones as usual.

We were trying to come up with somewhere to eat a late lunch.  I happen to think of Elliston Place Soda Shop. It is a Nashville institution but I don't think I have ever been there and I knew the kids hadn't. So, we decided to try it.  It was good.  I had a pimento cheese sandwich.  The kids talked me into dessert -- it was worth it!  Probably the best banana pudding I have ever had. We did a few errands after that and stopped by Mom's to help her with a couple of things. 

Fun Hayride!

The chili simmered most of the afternoon

My two little kids!

That's a full wagon!

Mom and Mrs. Morris came for the fun

Tonight was our bonfire and hayride.  It was cold, cold!  We had a great time and good weather despite the cold.  It is a lot of work for Paul and me, but we always say it is worth it. Everyone seems to have a good time.  We actually ran out of chili this year -- that has never happened.  I will have to remember next year to make more!  There were hot dogs, snacks and s'mores so I don't think anyone left hungry!  It was nice to have everyone at our house this year instead of Bill's.  We will probably try having it at different areas around our house, but it worked well in "the grove" as I like to call it. 

Meeting Ruby James!

So thankful to have a healthy new niece!

Sweet girl

These two are over-the-moon for Ruby!

We are all so glad that Ruby James is here and is healthy and happy!  She was born yesterday after a long labor process.  Yay for Kristen as she kept to her intentions of having Ruby naturally!  Ruby is such a cute little baby.  We went over to Murfreesboro tonight to meet her.  We ate supper at Jason's Deli  and took the new mom and dad their supper as well. We didn't stay too long, but were so glad to finally meet her! 

Katherine's Field Trip

She's the little sheep on the left

The whole gang!

She found the perfect pumpkin!

I was glad to be off today.  Katherine had her first field trip of the year to a local pumpkin patch and activity area.  This is the first year for this particular one so everyone was anxious to try it out.  It was definitely well-suited for children Katherine's age. I think it would be a little young for an older crowd.  The kids had a good time going on a hayride, playing on the playground, riding the zip line and picking out their own pumpkin.  We packed sack lunches and ate their.  There were a few children whose parents were not able to come so they buddied up with us which worked out nicely.  It was fun spending the day with Katherine and getting to ride the bus with her.  She loved it!

Loving the Fall

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year!  I take every opportunity to do fun fall things.  Today we stopped at a local pumpkin seller to see what they had.  We picked out several pumpkins and a couple of mums.  It was a gorgeous day!

Now, that's talent!

Luke was helping me get ready for the hayride next weekend.  He got a little sidetracked with the cups!  I feel like we are in good shape for our annual hayride and bonfire.  Still a few finishing things to do and pick up!

Bear Tracks

Today was the annual school fundraiser -- Bear Tracks.  I was not able to go because I had been off from work earlier in the week for the conference.  Both kids were pumped. The parent association does a good job getting the kids excited about running laps. It was a superhero theme this year so there several super heroes who visited with the kids.  I think they both had a great time!

Nashville Conference Day 3

Today was the last day of FNCE.  Nikki and I hung out most of the day. She was exhausted as she had done two conferences back to back.  She just went to all the sessions I did. It was nice to catch up. This has been a very good conference and I have earned a lot of continuing education, but I am ready to get back in a normal routine!

Nashville Conference

Hello, Nashville!

Today was Day 2 of the Food and Nutrition Conference Expo.  It is overwhelming.  There are hundreds of sessions to choose from as well as a food show which is great!  I don't have to spend money for meals or snacks because there are plenty of samples to choose from. I am learning a lot about the latest research and nutrition hot topics.  I was so happy to run into one of my college professors from Tech -- Dr. C.  I was surprised to learn that she reads this blog from time to time -- hi Dr. C!  I wish that we had taken the time to get a picture taken!

It's Tradition

Our monkey!

Dinner and entertainment

Napping after a full belly

Nonna and the grands!

First group photo!

So sweet....

Love!

The kids were up early again today.  We went to breakfast at new place for us.  It was aptly named "The Breakfast Place".  It was really good -- there are lots of great breakfast/brunch places down here.  After that we gave the kids the option of going to the beach or the pool/lazy river.  Surprisingly they chose the lazy river.  It is fine with me.  It doesn't take near as much effort to go there as it does the beach.  There are two hot tubs, a kiddie pool, a pool with waterfall and the lazy river.  So, there is plenty to keep us busy.  Andrew and Mandi joined us around noon. The kids were so glad to have them there.  Andrew and Mom were on Harrison duty while the rest of us played.

Anytime we are together we try to get family pictures.  This visit was no different.  We realized we will not all be together again until Christmas so we decided to get some picture options for Mom's Christmas card.  Andrew forgot his camera so we ended up using my new phone which actually did a very good job.  We took quite a few shots and all the kids cooperated.  After the photo shoot we went to a nice Italian place on the water.  The food was fantastic but the service left a lot to be desired.  There was a wedding reception outside at the restaurant and we overheard a waiter comment that the should have scheduled more than three servers on a holiday weekend.  Overall the kids did really well, but we ended up being there about 2 hours!

We wanted to go to the lazy river one more time before heading out in the morning so we went back and got our suits on.  Andrew and Mandi went with us.  It was late but Harrison is content most anywhere.  Mom kept him and fed him a bottle while the rest of us relaxed in the river.  We have had a great trip!  It was so nice to relax and visit with Andrew and Mandi and the newest addition to the family!  It was so fun to see how much the kids already love him.  We are sad to think about how much he will have changed by the time December rolls around.  Thanks to technology we will be able to video chat with them so we can keep tabs on how big he is getting.  We said our goodbyes after 10 o'clock so it was a late night for everyone!  Our kids were exhausted and were asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow...

Soaking It All In

Beach time

Enjoying the splash park

She can't get enough!

Such a happy boy!

Family Divided!

The Baby Whisperer

The kids were up early this morning.  We have  a three bedroom unit this time which is working well so far.  The kids have their own space - a daybed with trundle.  Mom has her own room and then Paul and I are in the master suite.  The space itself is nice -- very large, but the condo is lacking in kitchen supplies and it needs some serious updating.  But, it is serving the purpose nicely. 

Paul cooked a great breakfast for us - pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage.  Yummy!  After that we were up and out early.  We went to the beach.  Our condo complex has a crosswalk across Highway 98 over to the beach. Paul and Luke walked while Mom, Katherine and I rode over in the van to take all the beach supplies.  We were over there before 10 and it was so crowded!  It was also very hot.  We only stayed a short while before the kids were asking to go to the splash park and back to the lazy river.  The splash park is really cool -- the adults liked it as much as the kids did.  We went back to lazy river and got some more time in there. 

We headed back to the room for a snack lunch and to get ready to go to Andrew and Mandi's to watch college football.  The UT and Auburn games were on at the same time so Andrew had all the TV's up and going so everyone could watch their respective games.  Andrew bought the kids each a Lego so they were able to work those while we were watching the games and playing with the baby.  Thankfully both UT and Auburn worn so everyone was happy, happy!

Supper was steaks on the grill, baked potatoes and salad.  We baked some cookies for dessert.  Harrison rarely makes a fuss unless he is hungry.  The kids are becoming pros at making his bottles and love to "shake, shake, shake" to get the formula mixed up.  Mandi and Katherine watched Tangled tonight, too.  Katherine thought it was neat that she got to hold Harrison while she was watching the movie.