Tennessee Titans

We took the boys to the Tennessee Titans preseason game against the Vikings tonight. We got tickets on Stubhub for $10 each (plus about $22 in shipping and fees). Not a bad deal considering the ticket face value was $45 each.


We parked, like most people do, in downtown Nashville and then crossed the Cumberland River on a pedestrian bridge to get to the stadium.


When we got through the gate, guys were taking their pictures with the Titan cheerleaders. I figured we needed to get our boys started early and get their picture with the cheerleaders too!


Our seats were in the upper deck, one section from the end. We were on the end of the third row and no one was sitting in front of us. We were really happy with our seats and had no trouble seeing the game.


The game started at 7 pm so we were a little worried about the boys being tired but they did awesome. Rylan sat on my lap most of the time and Carter switched between his own seat and Brian's lap.




Carter paid attention to the game for awhile and cheered a lot. He really liked the mascot and the halftime entertainment.


We left in the middle of the 3rd quarter because Rylan was falling asleep and since it was the first preseason game, the starters weren't playing much anymore. We had a great time and I hope we get to go to a game again next season.

Lowe's

After getting Rylan's hair cut this morning we took the boys to Lowe's for the Build and Grow Workshop. Today's project was a schoolhouse photo holder.




This Lowe's was a lot more organized than the one we went to in Knoxville. They made all the kids wait at tables and then they passed out the kits so all the kids started at the same time. They filled out all the certificates for the kids while they built the project and even had a glue gun ready to glue the patch the kids get for completing the project to their aprons. It made the Knoxville workshop look like a free-for-all!

Rylan fell asleep on the way to Lowe's and slept through the majority of the workshop. All the hammering didn't bother him at all.


After the workshop we ran by the kitchen and bath area to see options and make sure we still liked our choices for the house. Carter entertained us by pretending to take showers (which he's never done, only baths) ...

Bye-Bye Curls!

We took Rylan to get his first haircut this morning. We went to a little barbershop in downtown Franklin called Carson's. They have 2 chairs for adults and 2 cars for children to use.


The boys found some trucks to play with while we waited a few minutes for Rylan's turn.


Here is a "before" picture showing Rylan's curls ...


Rylan did a good job of staying still for most of his haircut. He got a little tired of being in one place near the end and I had to hold him in the car a little so he didn't fall, but Autumn was able to finish him up even though he was wriggling a lot.




Rylan looks so much older with his big boy hair!

Home Selections

We got to pick out all the details of our new house today. And we managed to do it in 2 1/2 hours. The designer we were working with said we were one of her fastest clients. That may of had something to do with 2 toddlers wanting a lot of attention and a need to be decisive instead of taking our time. Luckily no one broke anything and we are happy with most of our selections.

The showroom wasn't very large but there were several kitchens and bathrooms set up and samples of everything else.

The brick color we liked is already on the house next door to our lot. So we had to pick another color. We went to go see a house that uses that color after our appointment and aren't sure we like it. We have the weekend to think about our decisions so we may go back on Monday to pick out a new color.

I took pictures of some of our selections but the true colors are hard to see in the photos. Here are the brick and roof colors. The black metal square on the left is the color of some metal roofing we have over some front window, the tan square is the color of all our trim and garage doors, and the black rectangle is the color of our front door. The window casings are tan (like the one at the bottom of the picture).


This picture has tons of our choices in it. One of the hardest things for us to pick out was grout color. Luckily our designer was very helpful. We decided to go with brown cabinets except for the island which will be black (those are the two cabinet doors at the bottom of the photo). The granite countertop is at the bottom right with the tile for the backsplash behind it.


The larger tile in the middle right is for around the fireplace. Above that is sand and finish hardwood. The color we chose is actually the little square of hardwood. The paint color for the entire house is the paper on top of the hardwood. We chose a frieze carpet (center). The tile on top of the carpet is for the bathrooms and the tile on the left is for the laundry room. At the top of the photo are the bathroom cabinets and countertops. Everything looks a lot more yellow in this picture than it actually is.

For cabinet and drawer hardware we chose the top set in this photo for the bathrooms and the bottom set for the kitchen.


We picked out so much more stuff too. Including light fixtures and doorknobs and faucets and carpet pad thickness and more and more. We even got to go over the plans for the house and decide where cable and phone outlets should go.

By the end of the appointment we were worn out. But I feel good about our decisions.

Our realtor came by for a little while too and reviewed our selections and then watched the kids for awhile. Both boys really liked her. Rylan kept crawling up to her and asking to be picked up and Carter was pulling her around showing her things.

The builder is scheduled to start on our house on September 9th. Before that we'll meet with him at the lot and go over where the house will be located and review the plans one more time. Once they begin, it should take 3 to 4 months to complete. There is a chance we'll be in the house before the end of the year!

Nashville Zoo

I took the boys to the Nashville Zoo today. I went ahead and got a membership for $85. It's good for me, the kids, and one guest.

We stayed about 2 1/2 hours and saw 80% of the zoo. We walked a lot and everyone was getting grumpy by the end. Rylan never took a morning nap so he'd had all he could take.

The first animals we saw were 2 gibbons. The gibbons were our favorite at the Knoxville Zoo and they may be our favorite here too. We saw 2 black ones swinging high up in the trees.

There is one sort of in the center of this picture ...


Rylan was a big fan of the meerkats. He kept pointing them out and grunting. Carter took a picture of Rylan and me while we looked at them ...


Here's Carter pointing out some alligators (they are in the back) ...


One of the clouded leopards walked by the window ...


We liked the lemurs sitting in a row ...


Carter had a snack while we checked out the flamingos ...


The boys both liked the Critter Encounters area where you can pet and brush goats ...




It doesn't look like it in this picture but the elephants were really close considering they have so much room to roam ...


Carter and me taking a break while watching the giraffes ...


I liked this zoo. The paths were shaded in most areas and the animals seemed to have large enclosures. We had been to the zoo in Knoxville so many times that it was just really nice to go to a different zoo!

Brentwood Library

We went to the storytime at the Brentwood Library today. Even though it is in Williamson County (which is the county we live in), it's part of Brentwood city so we can't check out books there (we live in Franklin).

This was the most beautiful library I've ever been in. The children's area was amazing.




Storytime consisted of singing several nursery rhymes, reading a book, and doing a craft that went along with the book.


I liked this storytime the best of all the ones we've been to this week.

Earlier this morning we visited the preschool that Carter will be going to starting September 1st. We took a quick tour and asked some questions but we'll be finding out a lot more at orientation in a couple of weeks.


Then we went to Brentwood River Park across from the library to play a little before storytime began. It was really hot and I'm glad we didn't have too much time to kill.

Soccer

Brian has been playing soccer on Tuesday nights for the last few months. His league started their summer tournament last night. The boys and I went out to watch him (we also went last week).


Carter took this picture of Rylan and me ...


The boys were obsessed with a soccer ball they found and barely watched any of the game.



They did a good job of rolling it back and forth to each other for awhile ...




I can't wait until Carter is old enough to join a team. I think he'll really enjoy playing!

Suncatchers

I picked up a new arts and crafts project for Carter yesterday - he painted suncatchers. He had a really long attention span for it and painted all four of them in one sitting.



We hung them up this morning on the sliding glass door ...