A picture that should speak for itself. I honestly don't know how I missed it in the Sunday post. Anyway, feel free to come up with captions in the comments.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Behold the cuteness!
A picture that should speak for itself. I honestly don't know how I missed it in the Sunday post. Anyway, feel free to come up with captions in the comments.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Freakin' Friday
On Friday, I went for the first time on Grandpa’s morning walk with Samson. We picked up trash and chatted and met one of Grandpa’s friends, a nice lady named Laura with a cute little dog named Scamp (but Grandpa called it something like “Squawk”!). Grandpa had given her my blog address, and she was very complimentary of my writing skills...blush.
After the walk, we ate breakfast and Daniel showed Grandma and Grandpa some of his computer science achievements. Then Grandpa took me swimming. It was early in the morning, so I had hopes that the lanes would be long, but nope, they were short as ever. Still, there was a bit of excitement going on. Five or so ladies were doing aerobics in a roped-off area, and they were playing music, which was fun to listen to—especially the Chariots of Fire soundtrack! I think it must be a standard track for aerobics classes, as I’ve heard it more than once in the Orem Fitness Center pool. Anyway, it’s one of my favorite movies and I love the music, so I had no complaints. Actually, I did have a complaint—how was I supposed to swim and listen to the music all at once!?!?
Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s, I ate a sandwich for lunch and packed a sack dinner of sorts—it was a banana, apples, a sandwich for Daniel, crackers, and a few cookies, as I recall—to eat at the airport. Then I went upstairs and packed, cleaned up the room a bit, and just sat in the living room and talked with Gma and Gpa until the Hughes came to pick us up. We said good-bye and drove away.
The drive to the airport was all too short, and soon we were checking in our luggage, then hugging Aunt Shelly, Uncle Billy, and Andy good-bye, and then we were going through security, and then—poof! We were stuck in the Nashville airport for a boring 2-hour wait before our flight. I read my scriptures and started Fablehaven 4 and somehow the time passed. The flight was long but not too uncomfortable. We got a lot of interesting and varied snacks—animal crackers, cheese crackers, oreo crackers, and peanuts—and two rounds of drinks—extravagant for Southwest, really. There was also a cute guy on the plane who offered to help me put my suitcase up in the overhead bin and passed me in line at the bathroom, but—errmmmm, *blush*—that’s a bit of a tangent.
In Phoenix, we ate our food and I got on the Internet in the exact same spot as the last time we were in Phoenix, and the time went by fast. I was surprised by how suddenly it got dark outside. There was some confusion about our gate—it changed about 30 min before departure time—and it was about 8:35 pm by the time our plane started moving (we were supposed to leave at 8). However, the airplane wasn’t crowded at all. We sat towards the front of the plane and had no one in the third seat, and there were plenty of empty rows towards the back. Uncrowded flights are the best!
The flight went by pretty fast; we barely had time to finish our Sprite and peanuts! I was glad to get in Salt Lake City safely, and even happier to see Mom and Dad waiting for us at the end of the now-familiar walk through the airport. For the first time ever, our suitcases were waiting for us on the carousel when we got there. Despite being pretty tired, I managed to stay in a chatty mood all the way home, and was even hungry enough to eat some leftover chicken pot pie when we got there. It was great to see everyone again and fall asleep in my own bed at last. To top it off, I had a long dream involving characters and scenarios from Fablehaven. Ahhhhhhh!
After the walk, we ate breakfast and Daniel showed Grandma and Grandpa some of his computer science achievements. Then Grandpa took me swimming. It was early in the morning, so I had hopes that the lanes would be long, but nope, they were short as ever. Still, there was a bit of excitement going on. Five or so ladies were doing aerobics in a roped-off area, and they were playing music, which was fun to listen to—especially the Chariots of Fire soundtrack! I think it must be a standard track for aerobics classes, as I’ve heard it more than once in the Orem Fitness Center pool. Anyway, it’s one of my favorite movies and I love the music, so I had no complaints. Actually, I did have a complaint—how was I supposed to swim and listen to the music all at once!?!?
Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s, I ate a sandwich for lunch and packed a sack dinner of sorts—it was a banana, apples, a sandwich for Daniel, crackers, and a few cookies, as I recall—to eat at the airport. Then I went upstairs and packed, cleaned up the room a bit, and just sat in the living room and talked with Gma and Gpa until the Hughes came to pick us up. We said good-bye and drove away.
The drive to the airport was all too short, and soon we were checking in our luggage, then hugging Aunt Shelly, Uncle Billy, and Andy good-bye, and then we were going through security, and then—poof! We were stuck in the Nashville airport for a boring 2-hour wait before our flight. I read my scriptures and started Fablehaven 4 and somehow the time passed. The flight was long but not too uncomfortable. We got a lot of interesting and varied snacks—animal crackers, cheese crackers, oreo crackers, and peanuts—and two rounds of drinks—extravagant for Southwest, really. There was also a cute guy on the plane who offered to help me put my suitcase up in the overhead bin and passed me in line at the bathroom, but—errmmmm, *blush*—that’s a bit of a tangent.
In Phoenix, we ate our food and I got on the Internet in the exact same spot as the last time we were in Phoenix, and the time went by fast. I was surprised by how suddenly it got dark outside. There was some confusion about our gate—it changed about 30 min before departure time—and it was about 8:35 pm by the time our plane started moving (we were supposed to leave at 8). However, the airplane wasn’t crowded at all. We sat towards the front of the plane and had no one in the third seat, and there were plenty of empty rows towards the back. Uncrowded flights are the best!
The flight went by pretty fast; we barely had time to finish our Sprite and peanuts! I was glad to get in Salt Lake City safely, and even happier to see Mom and Dad waiting for us at the end of the now-familiar walk through the airport. For the first time ever, our suitcases were waiting for us on the carousel when we got there. Despite being pretty tired, I managed to stay in a chatty mood all the way home, and was even hungry enough to eat some leftover chicken pot pie when we got there. It was great to see everyone again and fall asleep in my own bed at last. To top it off, I had a long dream involving characters and scenarios from Fablehaven. Ahhhhhhh!
The Post that was Thursday
For the record, this is the only day in the vacation that I didn’t really take notes on, so sorry if this post, er, turns out to be a lie or something…
Very very early in the morning, Grandma picked up Aunt Susie and took her to the airport to catch her flight. When I woke up eons later, I went running around the neighborhood for 30 min. It was cool and pretty and I saw a lot of dogs and said “Hi” to random nice Southern people. It was great!
After breakfast, I decided I wanted to go bike riding again, and Aunt Shelly and Daniel decided to come too. We rode through the neighborhood again, and made our way safely down Concord and to River Park. I was feeling a bit cocky since I had gone before on my own, and rode down the big hill on Concord without using the brakes hardly at all. It was super fun, but probably unsafe. The bike ride was mostly fun, but there were one or two instances where Daniel acted in the manner of a jerk.
Afterwards, we splashed in the river again and met a nice guy with an even nicer Labrador dog. It made me miss Yeller…
We biked home and ate lunch at the Hughes, and in a little while Aunt Shelly picked me up to go swimming with her at the rec center. I’m pretty sure I was the only person this vacation to go swimming with Daniel, Joseph, Aunt Susie, and Aunt Shelly! We looked in the locker room for Aunt Susie’s watch, which she had lost somewhere during her stay, but didn’t find it.
After swimming and showering, I’m….not….really…..sure what happened. Anyway, I know that I got to show Grandma and Grandpa and the Hughes my NMWA magazines, and signed two copies for them. I kicked myself for forgetting to show Aunt Susie a copy, but at least maybe someone can take her a copy when or if he or she goes to Mary’s wedding in November. Hmmm….did that sentence make sense?
Back to the day. Dinner was lovely as usual. We had strips of steak with peppers and rice, and the usual array of garden vegetables. There was probably some side dish too, but I’ve forgotten it—aaaarghhh! This will haunt me for the rest of my life!!!! Or at least the next five seconds.
For dessert we had Grandma’s delicious “Laura Bush” cookies. I don’t know why they’re called that either.
After dinner, Julie, Aunt Shelly, Becky, and Daniel went to play tennis. Uncle Bill (who had just come home that day from a trip) took Andy to scouts. I wreaked havoc in the empty house. Just kidding. I actually just fiddled for 20 min. with the DVD player trying to make it play “Secondhand Lions,” another movie recommended by Aunt Susie. The phone rang sometime in the night, and it was Mary! She and I chatted for a little bit, and she tried to help me out with the DVD player, but to no end. It was nice hearing her voice anyway. Finally, Andy and Uncle Bill got home and helped me figure out how to watch the movie. It was a great movie—really sweet and interesting and just fun to watch. It’s about a boy who goes to live with his two old, crazy great-uncles, who are rumored to be very rich and (duh) crazy. I still have no clue why it’s called “Secondhand Lions,” but it’s a great movie anyway.
Julie and Becky said “good-bye” to me before I went home, and I was sad that it was my last night and glad that I had had such a wonderful time. And I was mad because...well, actually I wasn't mad. I just like that it rhymes with "glad" and "sad."
Very very early in the morning, Grandma picked up Aunt Susie and took her to the airport to catch her flight. When I woke up eons later, I went running around the neighborhood for 30 min. It was cool and pretty and I saw a lot of dogs and said “Hi” to random nice Southern people. It was great!
After breakfast, I decided I wanted to go bike riding again, and Aunt Shelly and Daniel decided to come too. We rode through the neighborhood again, and made our way safely down Concord and to River Park. I was feeling a bit cocky since I had gone before on my own, and rode down the big hill on Concord without using the brakes hardly at all. It was super fun, but probably unsafe. The bike ride was mostly fun, but there were one or two instances where Daniel acted in the manner of a jerk.
Afterwards, we splashed in the river again and met a nice guy with an even nicer Labrador dog. It made me miss Yeller…
We biked home and ate lunch at the Hughes, and in a little while Aunt Shelly picked me up to go swimming with her at the rec center. I’m pretty sure I was the only person this vacation to go swimming with Daniel, Joseph, Aunt Susie, and Aunt Shelly! We looked in the locker room for Aunt Susie’s watch, which she had lost somewhere during her stay, but didn’t find it.
After swimming and showering, I’m….not….really…..sure what happened. Anyway, I know that I got to show Grandma and Grandpa and the Hughes my NMWA magazines, and signed two copies for them. I kicked myself for forgetting to show Aunt Susie a copy, but at least maybe someone can take her a copy when or if he or she goes to Mary’s wedding in November. Hmmm….did that sentence make sense?
Back to the day. Dinner was lovely as usual. We had strips of steak with peppers and rice, and the usual array of garden vegetables. There was probably some side dish too, but I’ve forgotten it—aaaarghhh! This will haunt me for the rest of my life!!!! Or at least the next five seconds.
For dessert we had Grandma’s delicious “Laura Bush” cookies. I don’t know why they’re called that either.
After dinner, Julie, Aunt Shelly, Becky, and Daniel went to play tennis. Uncle Bill (who had just come home that day from a trip) took Andy to scouts. I wreaked havoc in the empty house. Just kidding. I actually just fiddled for 20 min. with the DVD player trying to make it play “Secondhand Lions,” another movie recommended by Aunt Susie. The phone rang sometime in the night, and it was Mary! She and I chatted for a little bit, and she tried to help me out with the DVD player, but to no end. It was nice hearing her voice anyway. Finally, Andy and Uncle Bill got home and helped me figure out how to watch the movie. It was a great movie—really sweet and interesting and just fun to watch. It’s about a boy who goes to live with his two old, crazy great-uncles, who are rumored to be very rich and (duh) crazy. I still have no clue why it’s called “Secondhand Lions,” but it’s a great movie anyway.
Julie and Becky said “good-bye” to me before I went home, and I was sad that it was my last night and glad that I had had such a wonderful time. And I was mad because...well, actually I wasn't mad. I just like that it rhymes with "glad" and "sad."
Miercoles
I was feeling pretty loose and limber in the morning, so I did some stretches, squats, push-ups, and sit-ups. It was too bad we only got to do yoga once a week with Grandpa; if only the class could have been held another day!
For breakfast, true to my word, I made an omelette for Daniel (and another one for me). I thought it turned out nice and tasty, though Daniel said it was a bit too oily. !@!#!*#)!*@!@!!!!!!!!!@!(*&@(!* WELL! THAT’S THE LAST OMELETTE I EVER MAKE FOR HIM!!@!@!**!*!**!*!&@!^%!
After breakfast, I read my scriptures and played the piano a bit, then went for a solo bike ride while Daniel and Grandpa went golfing. I can’t tell you anything about the golfing, but I do have pictures and videos—enjoy!
Grandpa in action. Take cover!
Well, I can see why it's called the green.
Golfin' guys.
The bike ride was wonderful. I rode my way out of the neighborhood—possibly the first trip where I’ve actually figured out how to get in and out of Brent Mead!—and went up and down a couple of formidable hills on the way. Feeling adventurous, I rode along the sidewalk on Concord (the big bad busy street) to River Park and retraced our trip from the previous two bike-riding days. And I loooooved it! The weather was perfect, I wasn’t ever really lost, and got to visit all the places I remembered from the last two trips. At the old school house (where we joked Uncle Bill went as a kid), I stopped and went to look inside. I saw some papers on a board and an old picture of George Washington, and the door had a lock on it, so I wondered if it was still occupied. The outhouse was torn up and empty, however, and there wasn’t any bell outside. The scene was very cute and quaint, and reminded me of Christy. About halfway through, I decided to nickname Becky’s bike “Hwin,” since I’ve always liked comparing my bikes to horses and since it seemed like fast and feminine, and since it had “Schwinn” on the side. Hopefully Becky doesn’t mind. After finishing my ride, I stopped in the river for about 10 minutes or so to splash around, skip a rock or two, and soak my bug-bitten legs in the water.
I had to ride up a steep hill to get back to Brent Mead, but I used the sidewalk and traffic lights and didn’t have any trouble with cars. A woman in a car stopped me just as I was turning into Brent Mead and asked if I lived there (stupidly, I said yes), and if I knew if there was a Senior Center. I was pretty sure there wasn’t one inside of Brent Mead and said so, but really couldn’t help her and wished I hadn’t said anything and that she had consulted the Internet first and that she would go away instead of just sitting there in her car waiting for me to say something else. Finally, she drove away into Brent Mead anyway, and I rode home.
I ate lunch at the Hughes. It was, as I perfectly recall nearly a week later, a delicious sourdough turkey/mustard/tomato/cheese sandwich with broccoli and carrots. Ha! Just kidding. I wrote that down last week.
After lunch, I went home and showered, then slept/read until it was time to go to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream outing. Hooray!!!!!!!! I remember this being a tradition of sorts whenever Grandma and Grandpa used to visit us in Georgia, and I still have fond memories of the Baskin Robbins there. I was planning to get my usual favorite, strawberry, but on a whim got a delicious looking chocolate cone that Becky was also having. It claimed to be world-class something or other, and I’m not sure that wasn’t a lie (insert *wink* at Grandpa), but it was quite good. After our ice cream was gone (and it was all too soon…), we went home and I got Grandpa to take me swimming again at the rec center. Anyone keeping track of how many times I’ve been so far? Oh well, it was fun as usual, even though the water is rather salty and the lifeguards always look bored stiff. I’m putting the butterfly stroke into my repertoire and enjoy making myself tired doing it, although I still feel not very good at it.
After I swam either 59 or 61 times across the pool and Grandpa finished 3 puzzles, I got out and we drove home. At my request, Grandpa told me what Dad was like at my age, and told the story of Dad’s college years less favorably than I had heard it before; however, I was glad to get Grandpa’s perspective. Dad himself would be the first one to tell me he isn’t perfect—although I don’t want to believe it—and I still am proud of him for all the accomplishments he has made, and more important, the father he has been. Life isn’t easy, and the people in my family are hard workers and survivors.
At home, I took a quick shower and we all went out for Mexican food at a place called Las Palmas. I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, and I had no idea really what I was ordering, but I did like the enchiladas and the beans and rice. Grandma and Grandpa both let me have some of their dishes when I couldn’t finish my own meat-packed burrito. We also had lots of water, tortilla chips, and hot/drippy salsa. Olé!
For breakfast, true to my word, I made an omelette for Daniel (and another one for me). I thought it turned out nice and tasty, though Daniel said it was a bit too oily. !@!#!*#)!*@!@!!!!!!!!!@!(*&@(!* WELL! THAT’S THE LAST OMELETTE I EVER MAKE FOR HIM!!@!@!**!*!**!*!&@!^%!
After breakfast, I read my scriptures and played the piano a bit, then went for a solo bike ride while Daniel and Grandpa went golfing. I can’t tell you anything about the golfing, but I do have pictures and videos—enjoy!
Grandpa in action. Take cover!
Well, I can see why it's called the green.
Golfin' guys.The bike ride was wonderful. I rode my way out of the neighborhood—possibly the first trip where I’ve actually figured out how to get in and out of Brent Mead!—and went up and down a couple of formidable hills on the way. Feeling adventurous, I rode along the sidewalk on Concord (the big bad busy street) to River Park and retraced our trip from the previous two bike-riding days. And I loooooved it! The weather was perfect, I wasn’t ever really lost, and got to visit all the places I remembered from the last two trips. At the old school house (where we joked Uncle Bill went as a kid), I stopped and went to look inside. I saw some papers on a board and an old picture of George Washington, and the door had a lock on it, so I wondered if it was still occupied. The outhouse was torn up and empty, however, and there wasn’t any bell outside. The scene was very cute and quaint, and reminded me of Christy. About halfway through, I decided to nickname Becky’s bike “Hwin,” since I’ve always liked comparing my bikes to horses and since it seemed like fast and feminine, and since it had “Schwinn” on the side. Hopefully Becky doesn’t mind. After finishing my ride, I stopped in the river for about 10 minutes or so to splash around, skip a rock or two, and soak my bug-bitten legs in the water.
I had to ride up a steep hill to get back to Brent Mead, but I used the sidewalk and traffic lights and didn’t have any trouble with cars. A woman in a car stopped me just as I was turning into Brent Mead and asked if I lived there (stupidly, I said yes), and if I knew if there was a Senior Center. I was pretty sure there wasn’t one inside of Brent Mead and said so, but really couldn’t help her and wished I hadn’t said anything and that she had consulted the Internet first and that she would go away instead of just sitting there in her car waiting for me to say something else. Finally, she drove away into Brent Mead anyway, and I rode home.
I ate lunch at the Hughes. It was, as I perfectly recall nearly a week later, a delicious sourdough turkey/mustard/tomato/cheese sandwich with broccoli and carrots. Ha! Just kidding. I wrote that down last week.
After lunch, I went home and showered, then slept/read until it was time to go to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream outing. Hooray!!!!!!!! I remember this being a tradition of sorts whenever Grandma and Grandpa used to visit us in Georgia, and I still have fond memories of the Baskin Robbins there. I was planning to get my usual favorite, strawberry, but on a whim got a delicious looking chocolate cone that Becky was also having. It claimed to be world-class something or other, and I’m not sure that wasn’t a lie (insert *wink* at Grandpa), but it was quite good. After our ice cream was gone (and it was all too soon…), we went home and I got Grandpa to take me swimming again at the rec center. Anyone keeping track of how many times I’ve been so far? Oh well, it was fun as usual, even though the water is rather salty and the lifeguards always look bored stiff. I’m putting the butterfly stroke into my repertoire and enjoy making myself tired doing it, although I still feel not very good at it.
After I swam either 59 or 61 times across the pool and Grandpa finished 3 puzzles, I got out and we drove home. At my request, Grandpa told me what Dad was like at my age, and told the story of Dad’s college years less favorably than I had heard it before; however, I was glad to get Grandpa’s perspective. Dad himself would be the first one to tell me he isn’t perfect—although I don’t want to believe it—and I still am proud of him for all the accomplishments he has made, and more important, the father he has been. Life isn’t easy, and the people in my family are hard workers and survivors.
At home, I took a quick shower and we all went out for Mexican food at a place called Las Palmas. I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food, and I had no idea really what I was ordering, but I did like the enchiladas and the beans and rice. Grandma and Grandpa both let me have some of their dishes when I couldn’t finish my own meat-packed burrito. We also had lots of water, tortilla chips, and hot/drippy salsa. Olé!
Andy on his best manners.
Becky and Daniel.
My name is Ruth and I will be your...photographer!
After dinner, we went home and I did some reading in my room for a bit before going over to the Hughes to use Aunt Shelly’s computer while the others played badminton outdoors. Aunt Shelly and Becky came home from a church meeting a little later, and we watched a movie recommended by Aunt Susie called “Waking Ned Devine.” It was an entertaining if rather shocking comedy about a tiny Irish village and two old men who try to claim the lottery on behalf of another old man in the village who had the winning ticket and died of shock when he saw it. It was comic and silly and improbable, but still fun, and it had Susan Lynch, who I think is one of the most beautiful actresses ever (she plays Rebecca in Ivanhoe). And skinny old men acting silly and speaking in Irish accents is just so cute.
Once upon a Tuesday - Pictures!
Here are the monkeys from the zoo... oh wait, that's the next picture. Hmmm... I was positive....
I have a movie that shows how NOISY these guys were, but Blogger isn't letting me load it up. Sorry.
Fancy signage!
The little-known spraying plastic turtle.
Hmmm...Ruth and a carousel... does this look familiar?
Apparently there's something about elephants that guys find fascinating...
Ha ha! There isn't really an elephant in this direction! Made you look!
And here's "The Elephant Man."
Were there really two giraffes?
We went inside this bird place where you could buy birdseed and attempt to coax birds to come land (and potentially poop) on you. We all passed on the buying birdseed bit, but Andy still tried the coaxing.
A creative fountain.
A one-horned farm goat.
Andy in the cool garden by the farm.
Never did figure out what this animal was...
The jungle gym. It really was as big as it looks.
Don't feed the snakes, now.
Sillies.
A trap they use for catching Andys.
If you are sinking in quicksand, climb on a crocodile.
The peephole where we watched the meerkats.
Squint and maybe you can see the tigers back there.
Andy looked a crocodile in the eye and lived to tell the tale!
Feed the fish....tuppence a bag?
It's....COSMO?
Bats. Not in the belfry. It was actually a lot darker here than it looks in the picture.Once upon a Tuesday
Joseph and Kirsti left very early in the morning, and I woke up early enough to say good-bye and hug Edward again and take a few pictures. Then I went back to sleep and slept forever – i.e. until 7:35. Finally, I got up and made myself an omelette for breakfast, the first time ever! It had pepper, ham, cheese, eggs (duh), oregano, salt, more pepper, avocado, onion, and did I mention pepper? Anyway, it turned out pretty well. Daniel was disappointed I hadn’t made him one. Ha! Anyway, cause I’m such a great sister I promised to make him one on Wednesday.
After breakfast, the adventurers – namely, Aunt Susie, Andy, Grandpa, Daniel and I – went to the Nashville Zoo. There we enjoyed seeing monkeys screeching, a giant anteater, a cougar posing, a meerkat peephole, elephants throwing mud, bats flying in the dark, small crocodiles from up close, and a jungle gym with fun ropes to navigate.
A little over halfway through, we stopped to eat honey/peanut butter sandwiches, but I had lost my appetite somewhere, and didn’t want any. I ate lunch at home, took a nap, and then went swimming with Aunt Susie at the fitness center. Grandpa, once again, took his puzzle and assured us he didn’t mind driving us there, and that it did his reputation good “to be seen with beautiful women.” 100 flattery points for Gpa!
After the swim, which was fun and uncrowded as usual, we showered and went to Aunt Shelly’s for dinner. We had a favorite dish which I recalled from last year – tomato pie! – along with green beans, squash, corn, and my favorite – ice cream – for dessert. Grandpa decided to educate everyone about manners, and offered instructions about elbows, letting certain people of a certain age and gender go in line for food first, and asking to be excused. I enjoyed the challenge of being on my best behavior and recalling the old-fashioned Southern way of being polite. The aunts discussed how Grandpa used to whack them to correct their manners as kids. (REALLY!!!!!?!?!??!!!!!!!) It seemed that Daniel and Andy were the worst offenders, though this could just be because the girls were more subtle.
After dinner, Andy and Daniel played croquet and badminton while the girls talked and then played a card game called Oh Heck, which turned out to be the same thing as Nerds from the Barlow Center, but more complicated since you weren’t divided into partners. We played to get 100 points, then a few more games, and I think either Julie or Becky was declared the winner, though I’m proud to say I came in ahead of both the grown-ups J. Now if only I can learn to shuffle the card deck properly… Seriously, Aunt Susie was doing a better job than me, and she only has one hand!
Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s I read some old Reader’s Digests before falling asleep. I didn’t want to start/finish the fourth Fablehaven book too fast—not before the airplane trip, anyway. I had some trouble getting to sleep, due to my itchy legs, but once I made it, slept soundly. There was a thunderstorm that night with lots of blue lightning and heavy rain. It was pretty exciting, and all too short. I loved seeing the blue flashes and remembering the thrill of being scared by a storm as well as excited. I miss Georgia!
After breakfast, the adventurers – namely, Aunt Susie, Andy, Grandpa, Daniel and I – went to the Nashville Zoo. There we enjoyed seeing monkeys screeching, a giant anteater, a cougar posing, a meerkat peephole, elephants throwing mud, bats flying in the dark, small crocodiles from up close, and a jungle gym with fun ropes to navigate.
A little over halfway through, we stopped to eat honey/peanut butter sandwiches, but I had lost my appetite somewhere, and didn’t want any. I ate lunch at home, took a nap, and then went swimming with Aunt Susie at the fitness center. Grandpa, once again, took his puzzle and assured us he didn’t mind driving us there, and that it did his reputation good “to be seen with beautiful women.” 100 flattery points for Gpa!
After the swim, which was fun and uncrowded as usual, we showered and went to Aunt Shelly’s for dinner. We had a favorite dish which I recalled from last year – tomato pie! – along with green beans, squash, corn, and my favorite – ice cream – for dessert. Grandpa decided to educate everyone about manners, and offered instructions about elbows, letting certain people of a certain age and gender go in line for food first, and asking to be excused. I enjoyed the challenge of being on my best behavior and recalling the old-fashioned Southern way of being polite. The aunts discussed how Grandpa used to whack them to correct their manners as kids. (REALLY!!!!!?!?!??!!!!!!!) It seemed that Daniel and Andy were the worst offenders, though this could just be because the girls were more subtle.
After dinner, Andy and Daniel played croquet and badminton while the girls talked and then played a card game called Oh Heck, which turned out to be the same thing as Nerds from the Barlow Center, but more complicated since you weren’t divided into partners. We played to get 100 points, then a few more games, and I think either Julie or Becky was declared the winner, though I’m proud to say I came in ahead of both the grown-ups J. Now if only I can learn to shuffle the card deck properly… Seriously, Aunt Susie was doing a better job than me, and she only has one hand!
Back at Grandma and Grandpa’s I read some old Reader’s Digests before falling asleep. I didn’t want to start/finish the fourth Fablehaven book too fast—not before the airplane trip, anyway. I had some trouble getting to sleep, due to my itchy legs, but once I made it, slept soundly. There was a thunderstorm that night with lots of blue lightning and heavy rain. It was pretty exciting, and all too short. I loved seeing the blue flashes and remembering the thrill of being scared by a storm as well as excited. I miss Georgia!
It Happened Last Monday - Pictures!
Horses at the Hermitage! The white one is Andrew and the dark one is Jackson...ha ha.
Edward and the famous brick table.
Which pair resembles the Jacksons more - this?
Or this?
Edward pretending to be a slave harvesting...grass.
Tsk, tsk, that Joseph and Daniel, listening to their rap music... oh wait, it's the audio tour.
Grandpa and Aunt Susie can smile and listen at the same time!
Here's the House. Love the trees.
It's an information board just Edward's size!
That's me and my big - snicker, snicker - brother.
Edward was sure he saw a white rabbit go down the hole, but being a boy, he was too distracted by the dirt to go chasing after it.
These paths were made for walkin...and runnin....
...and dancin'!
Grandpa. Doesn't he look like he could be the gardener?
Look how beautiful they are! I mean, it is! I mean, the picture!
Here Joseph is being so kind as to look at me instead of the mansion of Andrew Jackson behind him.
Two bees stung me while I was trying to take this picture of Kirsti in front of Rachel's tomb.
Ruth (right; alive) and Rachel (left; under the ground; dead).
Family of Floofs.
Video: The Meanderings of Edward.
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