The Great Tennessee Air Show

On Father's Day weekend, we went to the Great Tennessee Air Show on Saturday.  Brian and I remember going to air shows when we were young and thought the boys would love it.

The show was to start at noon.  We factored in about 45 minutes of traffic to get into the airport and park.  We were way off - Smyrna police did a terrible job getting people into the airport (I think it would have been a lot quicker if they just weren't there at all).  Anyway, we finally arrived around 12:30 pm and were all a little worn out from "when are we going to be there???" and lots of whining from one child that is wearing me out lately (any guesses??? :) ).

The show was fine but I think Brian and I expected a little more.  The highlight was definitely the Blue Angels.  The boys didn't seem that into it at the show but for several days after it, I was constantly asked to print off pictures of jets so the boys could color them and cut them out.  So I think they definitely got more out of it than we realized at the actual show.

When we got there, we found a place to set up right away.  We had the double BOB for the boys and 2 folding chairs for us, as well as a picnic blanket.  Somehow it seemed like Rylan was always on my lap!  The temperature wasn't too high that day but there was no breeze and was just hot on the concrete.

We were about 10-15 yards from the fence and could see fine except for takeoffs when everyone in front of us stood up.

The beginning of the show was dominated by numerous small planes doing similar stunts.

Brian eventually took the boys for a walk to check out some of the other stuff at the show.  We saw this crazy truck on the runway a couple of times.  I'm not sure how fast it got that day, but it can go over 300 mph in a short distance.

The camera battery died so that was the only picture Brian took.  I believe they saw some planes, a tank, and maybe something else?

After watching a few more planes, I took the boys for their second walk with the main purpose of finding kettle corn.  We stopped by this small plane, and (with my spare battery) I took a picture of the boys inside of it.

The boys' favorite plane was Fat Albert.  Brian had seen this one advertised to be at the show and had told the boys about it before we got there.  I have no idea why it stuck with them.  Rylan even renamed it Fat Airplane (I think he actually just kept getting confused on the name).

Fat Albert is part of the Blue Angels and flew about an hour before they did.  It doesn't need much runway for takeoff and landing and was pretty impressive for a huge plane.

Rylan liked it :)

The Blue Angels were definitely the best part of the show.  Unfortunately they were also the last part of the show.  And by that time (4-ish, I think), Rylan was done (he really still needs a nap since he gets up so early).  We watched them perform for about 30 minutes, but we eventually put Rylan in the stroller and walked towards our car as we watched them (he passed out almost immediately in the stroller).  The Blue Angels finished up about 5 minutes after we got in our car.  The only advantage of this was that we beat out most of the traffic.  Plus their performance was probably 45 minutes so didn't miss much as we walked during the last part.

I didn't take many pictures and most of the ones I took were horrible (I was so hot and tired of fighting Rylan that it wasn't a priority).  Here are a few of the Blue Angels though.

Rylan transferred to the car and slept hard the whole way home (I love the arms straight down on both sides of him).

Fourth of July Fireworks

At the last minute, we decided to try the fireworks at Crockett Park in Brentwood this year.  We were planning on just viewing the Franklin ones that are set off from Harlinsdale Park and watch them from a distance (near BGA).

Brentwood has a band playing starting at 7 pm with the fireworks starting at 9 pm.  I know parking can be difficult though we weren't sure just how bad it would be.  We decided to park at the Brentwood YMCA and walk the greenway trail about 1.5 miles to Crockett.  We parked around 8 pm and put the boys in the double BOB.

Carter was very patriotic!

The boys loved the walk because the trail was littered with thousands of fireflies!

When we got to Crockett, we spread out our blankets just down the hill from the baseball field that is used to fire off the fireworks.  We had about 30 minutes to wait but we could listen to the band playing just a hundred yards away and the boys had fun running around.  I also had some glow sticks and necklaces which were a special treat.

The fireworks lasted just over 15 minutes.  They were good and very loud.  Rylan covered his ears a lot and laid on Brian.  However, when the finale started, he got really excited and loved the rapid booms.  He still says that was the best part.  Weird kid :)

When the fireworks were over, we loaded up the stroller and walked back to the car.  On our way to the fireworks, we didn't see many people at all on the trail.  On the way back, it was packed and took us awhile to walk behind all the people going slow.  Plus the people who'd ridden their bikes made it pretty hard, especially since it was completely dark and everyone was using flashlights.  But it was still better than dodging cars to get to ours in one of the parking lots and then sitting in traffic!

The boys passed out on the walk (it was super cool that night and I don't know how Rylan didn't freeze!).

The fireworks were great and the walk was good so I think we'll be doing the same thing again next year!

Miserable Kid

Too Much Swimming = Swimmer's Ear for Carter

Carter had complained that his ear hurt about once a day for the last several days.  He'd mention it and then not complain again all day.  Then he started complaining a lot more the last two days but a little Advil made it all better.  Finally this morning it was too much for Carter to handle so we finally took him to the doctor.  Unfortunately it is Sunday so we had to go to an urgent care clinic.

Most of the time I put Swimmer's Ear drops in the boys' ears after they swim but I do forget occasionally.  Poor kid is in a lot of pain, especially when the Advil wears off.  Hopefully the pain improves soon!  I have antibiotic drops to put in Carter's ears four times a day.

Luken Kids Fun Run

This morning Carter did the Luken Kids Fun Run.  It's part of the YMCA Firecracker 5K.  Neither Brian nor I ran the 5K, but I still signed Carter up for the kids run.  The race was advertised as a 1 mile run but it obviously wasn't.  I mapped it when we got home and got 0.56 miles.

On Wednesday I stopped by Fleet Feet to get Carter's shirt and race number.  The youth small was actually super small so he got a youth medium - he's getting so big!

It was beautiful here this morning - around 70 and sunny.  Definitely not normal Fourth of July weather!  Carter had on his cool sunglasses before the start of the race.

Carter decided he didn't want to run alone so I did the race with him.

Carter was not nervous at all and excited to run.  It took awhile for the 5K to finish up (there were some major stragglers) but we eventually did about 20 minutes late.

Brian filmed the start ...

Carter ran really hard.  He slowed down to walk a few times but picked it back up after only a second with a little encouragement.

He's in the middle of this picture in the white shirt ...

 

Approaching the finish ...

I look more tired than Carter!

Carter sprinted the end and finished at about 5 minutes, 10 seconds.  If I'm right on the race length, that's about 9:11/mile pace.

After crossing the finish line, all the kids got a cool participation medal and some refreshments.  Carter was breathing really hard so I knew he definitely tried hard!

The medals are cool dog tags with the race logo on one side and the Y logo on the other.

Carter was super excited to add the medal to his collection on his bedroom!

First Swim Meet

Monday night at junior swim team, Coach Victoria told Carter that he should compete in the swim meet on Tuesday. He wasn't so sure he wanted to do it, but after some encouragement (and the promise of Sweet CeCe's) he agreed to do it.

Carter was signed up to do the 25 meter freestyle and 25 meter backstroke.  The meet started at 9 am and Rylan had his annual checkup at 9:45 am so Carter only had time to do freestyle (I'm not sure I could have coaxed him into doing backstroke anyway).

When we got to the pool (it was a home meet at the Brentwood Y), we asked a random mom to help us figure out what we needed to do and where to go.  The Brentwood Y has an enormous team.  I'm not sure on the size but there were probably over 100 kids in the 10 and under divisions (the older kids race in the afternoon but have fewer kids).

We got to put Carter's name, "BY" for Brentwood Y, and his age on his back.

Then, on his arm, we had to write the race, heat, and lane number of his races.  Since he was only doing freestyle, he only had one race.

Carter did one warmup lap and then joined the other kids in the staging area.  He didn't see anyone he really knew so Rylan and I hung out with him.  About 10 minutes before each race, the parent volunteers pull the kids for the next race and line them up in order.  They then get to sit in the next staging area (in order) where they will then proceed to their race lanes.  It's very hectic but organized at the same time.  As soon as the last kid is out of the pool from the previous heat, the next one starts.  They have to move quickly to fit in all the heats.

The 6 and under boys freestyle was the second race of the morning and Carter was in the 4th heat so he raced close to 9:10 am.  He was nervous but actually doing really well at hiding it :)  Once Carter lined up, Rylan and I found a spot along the pool to watch Carter's race.  Carter was in lane 6 which was on the end.

I filmed his race but please don't listen to it!  I was so excited for Carter and cheering for him (which he later told me he couldn't hear) and it's obnoxious on the video!!!  (I split the video into 3 parts so it would upload.)

Carter got 2nd in his heat!!!  And by less than 2 seconds!  He was definitely in a race with the slower kids but who cares!  It was his first swim meet!  He had a time of 53.7 seconds and overall placed 16 out of 20 when the 5 heats were totaled.  I was cheering so obnoxiously because if you win your heat, you get a ribbon.  Since Carter is so obsessed with his medals and trophies, I knew he'd be over the moon if he won a heat ribbon - he was so close!!!

Carter was very proud of himself.  He was telling people all day that he got second place at his swim meet.  He also wanted to show off where we'd written on him.

After Rylan's doctor's appointment, we headed to Sweet CeCe's for Carter's celebratory treat.  He ate all but about 2 bites!!!

I am so proud of Carter for doing the swim meet.  It was a very scary thing for him but he faced his fear and did it.  And he did great too!  Last year he couldn't swim at all without floatation so this is some amazing progress.

Last night was the last night of junior swim team.  Carter was generally scared to go everyday, but this week he was finally looking forward to it.  Before practice last night, he said he was sad that it was the last day.  I'm so glad he made Carter stick with it (I felt horrible the first few weeks pushing him to do it when he was crying before and sometimes during practice).

More Swim Tests

Carter passed the swim tests at the other two YMCA's we go to!

Yesterday he passed the test at the Brentwood Y where he does junior swim team.

And today he passed the test at the Franklin Y.

He is so excited and proud of himself - we are super proud too!

Fishing

My dad came to visit us this weekend.  He's been trying to get here since Christmas but work and life just keep getting in the way!  We didn't get to spend as much time with him just "playing" since I was getting everything ready for Rylan's birthday party on Friday and Saturday morning (and then had the party on Saturday afternoon), but we still fit in a few things.

On Sunday (after all the rain that morning), we went to lunch at Big Shake's Hot Chicken.  Hot chicken is a Nashville speciality.  It's described as a portion of chicken breast, thigh, or wing that has been marinated in buttermilk, breaded, sauced using a paste that has been heavily spiced with cayenne pepper, and pan-fried. It is served atop slices of white bread with pickle chips.  We figured my dad would like to try a local specialty.  The restaurant we went to recently opened in Franklin and I had gotten a Groupon that needed to be used in the next few days so it works out perfect :)

It was all pretty good, including the deep fried oreos we had for desert!

After lunch we stopped by Westhaven to do a little fishing.  The radar showed a small storm about to hit us, but luckily it broke up and we stayed dry.

As usual the boys caught tons of fish.  Rylan's first was the puny little guy - can you even see it? :)

Rylan even threw one of his fish back in himself!

Carter's first fish of the day ...

Rylan's 4 Year Old Checkup

Rylan had his annual physical today.  We recently changed pediatricians so this was our second time seeing Dr. Huss (our first was Carter's ear infection about a month ago).

Basically, all looks good with Rylan! His blood work was all normal and his BP was 80/48. He's staying pretty much on the same growth curves for weight and height which is good. Here are his stats from today, last year, and Carter's 4-year-old appointment for comparison.

Rylan's 4 year stats:

• Weight: 39.25 lbs (77th percentile) 
• Height: 40 inches (44th percentile) 

Rylan's 3 year stats:

• Weight: 35 lbs (80th percentile) 
• Height: 37 inches (50th percentile) 

Carter's 4 year stats:

• Weight: 35 lbs (50th percentile) 
• Height: 40.5 inches (50th percentile) 

After getting all his measurements done, the nurse did a blood draw. There was one small whimper out of Rylan when she first poked him, but that was it. He was super brave!

Dr. Huss was very much not rushed with Rylan's check-up.  He spent probably 30 minutes with us.  He's very social sharing stories about his 3 boys and talking with the kids.  I'm very happy so far that we switched to him.  I didn't have many concerns - more just sharing things we had previously discussed with other pediatricians.  Like Rylan's cradle cap that is still difficult to control and Rylan's speech.  Dr. Huss wasn't very concerned about any thing he learned in the examination.  He talked to Rylan about eating his vegetables, wearing a helmet, and all those normal things but it was a very laid back appointment.

Until he left and the nurse came back with 4 shots to administer.  We could have split the shots up with Rylan's 5-year-old appointment but Dr. Huss recommended doing them all now because kids tend to do worse emotionally at 5 than at 4.  I 100% agree.  Carter's were split up.  He did fine at 4-years-old but was scared to death for a few weeks before his 5-year-old appointment because he knew he might have to get shots again.  The anticipation just about killed him.

When we laid Rylan down to do the shots he finally realized what was going on and started crying.  The nurse was quick at least but there was a lot of screaming still.  Rylan recovered after a couple of minutes though.  A reward of gummy bears helped :)

Swimming Videos

This is the last week of junior swim team for Carter.  He's made amazing progress!  Here are a few videos from tonight ...

Freestyle:

Backstroke:

Blue is a Berry Good Color

Last week's gardening class was called "Blue is a Berry Good Color".  It was too muddy to go into the garden but there were still some fun activities for the kids.

A local blueberry farmer came to the class to tell us all about his farm and how he grows blueberries.  The kids all behaved amazing well and paid attention (it's been a tough year so far with the unconcerned parents and poorly behaving kids!).

After listening to the farmer, the kids got to color paper with blueberries by squishing them.  Rylan didn't freak out too much about his dirty hands!

Next it was time for a little taste-testing.

Rylan didn't even want to try his blueberries which made Carter very happy :)

Before leaving the kids checked out their blueberry bushes through the fence.  It's still going to be a couple of weeks before their blueberries are ripe but the bushes looked pretty full!