Grandma's Visit

We continued staying busy during the second half of my mom's visit. She also watched the kids several times in the evenings so we could go out to dinner. We were even able to meet up with our old friends from college, Dana and Jason, who also just moved to Nashville.

On Wednesday it was cold and rainy so we went to the Adventure Science Center. There is a new Animal Secrets temporary exhibit. Here's Rylan in an eagle nest ...


Rylan also crossed over the cargo net from the Adventure Tower to the main floor of the center for the first time ...


On Thursday Carter had preschool so my mom and I took Rylan with us and went shopping in historic downtown Franklin. We found a few cute things and had lunch at Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant. I had the best chicken sandwich there I've ever had. I can't wait to go back.

On Friday we went shopping around town for a bit and then drove out to Lucky Ladd Farms when it opened at 2:30.

Rylan was really good at feeding the animals ...





Rylan spent a lot of time on a little playset going up the stairs, through a tunnel, and down another set of steps. He did that again and again and again.





Our little pig and goat ...


My mom took Rylan down the giant slide (Carter refused to go again) ...


But he had fun banging on these metal pans ...


We spent a lot of time hanging out on a set of tractors. We even ate our snacks on these ...



I was able to get the boys to sit on some gourds for a few pictures ...



We took a hayless hayride before leaving. Rylan was a big fan and especially enjoyed the group of wild turkeys we saw along the way ...


This morning we went to the Lowe's Build and Grow and then over to Harlinsdale Farm for Family Day.

Carter sat of a fake horse and actually smiled for a picture ...


The boys took a little train ride with Brian ...



We also got to see some horses. We saw a 10-day old foal with its mother. I really hope that horse has grown some in 10 days!


After the farm we took my mom out to lunch and then off to the airport. We had fun during her visit and are all going to miss her!

Monster Truck

We took the boys to the Lowe's Build and Grow this morning to make monster trucks.


We had Rylan make his own again today and were quite impressed with his hammering skills!

Charlotte's Little Brother

We have thought that Charlotte is the most unique dog we have ever met. Until we met this one today ...


This 1.5 year old boy looks so much like Charlotte that I had to get a picture of him while he was playing at the dog park. We went to Harlinsdale Farm today for Family Day and the owner of this dog parked next to us. I'm not one for striking up conversations with random people, but I had to talk to his owner and ask her about her dog.

She said he's a mix of Australian Shepard, Border Collie, and Australian Cattle Dog. It's the Cattle Dog in his face (mainly with the ears) that makes him look a little different than Charlotte, but they have almost the exact same coloring. They both even have the same white spot on their heads. This boy was a bit taller than Charlotte making him probably about 10 lbs heavier.

We are still amazed that there's another dog out there that looks so much like our Charlotte!

Exterior Trim

We went to the house on Thursday evening to see that the exterior trim along the roof had been completed on the sides and back of the house.



Also, the drywall had been delivered and moved into the appropriate rooms.



We also noticed that a lot of caulking had been completed. There was caulking where the plywood subfloors meet the walls as well as between any studs that touch (or almost touch) other wood (such as around windows).


The builder left Brian a voicemail yesterday saying the insulation inspection had been completed and that the drywall would start going up today. He expected that by next Saturday they would be prime painting the walls.

Dance Music

Carter loves all the dance music that is on the radio lately. He's a big Britney Spears fan - his favorite song right now is I Wanna Go. (I can't believe I know a current Britney Spears song!)

Here's a video of him from today ...

And one from a few weeks back to the same song ...

This is usually what I see when I look back at him from the front seat. It's entertaining!

Lexington - Kentucky Children's Garden

Last Wednesday was our last day in Lexington. Mary Grace had preschool until 11:30 and then we headed over to The Arboretum to visit the Kentucky Children's Garden. It cooled off a lot on Wednesday but the rain held off so it was comfortable outside with a jacket.

There is only one entrance/exit to the Children's Garden so other than keeping on eye on the water, you can let the kids wander freely. There are a ton of little garden areas that provide kids with a great opportunity to learn more about the outdoors.

There is a pond were the kids can pretend to fish ...


There were some fall decorations set up ...


Rylan wasn't really into having his picture taken ...


Mary Grace and Carter spent a lot of time on the rocks and used paint brushes to paint the rocks with water.


The kids let us get a few good group photos ...



And then had fun rolling around down a small hill (Rylan mainly crawled) ...



We had a picnic at the Garden and then headed back to Sarah's house before driving back to Nashville. The boys napped for awhile and then pleasantly watched movies the rest of the drive.

We had so much fun visiting Mary Grace, Sarah, and Brent. We hope to see them again soon and can't wait to meet Mary Grace's little brother when he arrives in a few months!

Insulation

The insulation was installed in our house over the last couple of days. Hopefully the drywall will start being installed either today or tomorrow (it's still raining this morning so I'm not sure if they'll deliver it in the rain).

Here are a few pictures. Nothing too exciting.




They also went through and sealed all the small openings with foam.


They seem to be doing a thorough job. One of the selling features of the houses in our neighborhood is that they are Energy Star Certified. We were "promised" that we'd see a reduction of at least a $100 a month on our energy bill. We'll see!

Cheekwood

We've been keeping my mom busy while she is here visiting us. Yesterday the boys and I took her to the Nashville Zoo and today we went to Cheekwood. We packed another picnic lunch and stayed about 3 hours (we were at the zoo for 3 1/2 hours yesterday!).

The leaves are starting to change and fall to the ground. There are still lots of blooming flowers and the gardens are beautiful.




We explored part of the Sculpture Trail for the first time and saw some interesting art ...


We spent some time looking at the model trains ...


Tuesdays for Tots was going on today, which gives the kids the opportunity to do an art project in one of the art studios. The kids got to make a monster using a leaf.



The scarecrows are still out for the rest of this month and they were a big hit again.

Lexington - Louisville Zoo

Last Tuesday Sarah and I took the kids to the Louisville Zoo. It was an 1 1/2 hour drive from her house in Lexington. My Knoxville Zoo membership got us all in for free making me feel better about having both Knoxville and Nashville Zoo memberships.

One of the first animals we saw was a jaguar ...


The newest exhibit is Glacier Run. They have seals, sea lions, grizzly bears, and polar bears. It is a really nice new exhibit with both above ground and underwater viewing areas.


There is a baby polar bear that was recently rescued from Alaska after being separated from her mother and sibling.


Checking out the grizzly bear ...


The leaves were already changing more in Kentucky than they are here ...


There were a bunch of decorations set up through out the zoo that went with different children's stories. We weren't sure if these are always set up or if they were for Halloween. Carter really liked the lollipops that were part of the Hansel and Gretel display ...


There were a ton of gorillas ...



We had a lot of fun at the zoo and got to see some animals they don't have in Knoxville or Nashville.

All the kids napped on the drive back to Lexington. It was a really pleasant drive! When we got back, we took the kids over to the park in Sarah's neighborhood. Mary Grace rode her big bike and Carter got to ride her old tricycle. He has the same one in green but didn't mind at all that this one was pink (he did keep calling it red though).


Rylan LOVED the slide.


I think Carter was worn out from the zoo because he wasn't even close to keeping up with Mary Grace as they ran across this field!


Keeping the kids so busy meant both boys slept well every night. Carter slept in a playyard in Mary Grace's room and Rylan was in a playyard in my room. They both went to bed a little after Mary Grace each night since I kept there schedule on Central Time. I was hoping that meant they'd sleep in but they were up early every morning. Oh well.

Bicentennial Park & Frist

We wanted to show my mom downtown Nashville so we went to Bicentennial Park and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts today.

Bicentennial Park is adjacent to the State Capital and incorporates a lot of Tennessee history and geography into monuments around the park. I had packed a picnic lunch and we found a sunny spot next to some cool rocks that Carter loved climbing. It probably would have been better to picnic away from something so fun because Carter was way too distracted to eat lunch.


After lunch we walked around the park and explored. These pillars each have a bell on the top of them and they occasionally start playing music. They are huge - that's Carter on the left.


Carter and Brian are in the center of this picture walking toward the Capital Building up the hill ...


Elevated train tracks run through the park. You can sort of see the train through the tree that Brian and Carter were checking out ...


There is a huge map of Tennessee. It marks cities, water, major roads, and train tracks.


Where we live now ...


Where we lived from 2005 until mid-2011 (2003 for Brian) ...


And where I lived in 2003 and 2004 ...


I can't believe we've lived in Tennessee for so long and that we're now in our third city in this state!

After the park, we headed over to Frist for Family Free Day. The main temporary exhibit right now is an Egyptian exhibit from the Brooklyn Museum. Carter was actually really into the mummies and other artifacts.

The museum was doing a bunch of fun craft activities for the kids related to ancient Egypt today too. Carter got to make a mummy mask, amulet, boat, and more.


I love this picture ...