Daniel's family threw a last minute birthday party for his Grandmother at Cracker Barrel to celebrate her 80th birthday!
What a monumental day! We are glad we were able to be a part. It's a little sobering to think that my mom is now close to the age that Grandmother was when I first met her! Time is hurrying by.
It was nice to reminisce about this lovely lady. Did you know that I lived with her for the summer before we got married? I had an internship in downtown Nashville with the Nashville Predators. She would make me breakfast every morning and we would have really long talks around her dining table.
For part of the summer her mom, Daniel's Nana, lived their too. She was diabetic and would hide things like Blizzards from Dairy Queen in the fridge and make Grandmother so mad. It was pretty funny living with those two ladies.
Sadly Nana passed away before we got married in December of 2002. I am so grateful for that time with them and to have those special memories with Daniel's extended family.
We lucked out this week and did not one, but TWO Friend Days! We typically go to the theater on Friday but this week we could only get tickets on Wednesday so we made the most of it!
Friday we decided to head down the back of our mountain to Dunlap to visit the Cookie Jar Cafe. Another family was able to join us in our fun.
This day was special because it was the first day for the animals to return to the Cookie Jar.
It was our first visit, so we weren't sure what to expect. Basically the cafe is in the middle of nowhere, on someone's farm and you can see animals and play either before or after you eat.
We let the kids play first and then sat down to a delicious home-cooked meal. We will have to go back with Daniel sometime and try the dessert!
The kids loved it. Isaac thought it was especially hilarious when a cow peed a bucket full right in front of him!!!
Less than a month after we saw The House at Pooh Corner at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, we had the opportunity to see A Year with Frog and Toad.
I have to confess that this was the play I was looking forward to the most, and it didn't disappoint.
The Frog and Toad books are some of my favorite stories from
childhood and I had been looking forward to reading them with Jack.
Knowing there would be a play to go along with it, made this even
better!
I didn't realize that this play was actually a musical, and it was by far my favorite production we saw this year. The kids did such a great job performing, and they really followed the stories in the books.
This was the first book series that I had Jack read aloud to me and he really remembered all of the little stories.
Jack's favorite characters were, of course, Frog and Toad, but he also loved how the character of the Snail was handled. It was a minor character, but she had her own song that continued through the entire performance as she kept showing up to let us know she was still making the effort to deliver the mail to Toad! She was my favorite character too!
We had such a great time and are already looking forward to next school year when performances will include A Wrinkle in Time and A Charlie Brown Christmas!
After the show, we had a chance to meet the cast and take a photo
with them. I can't tell you how impressed I was with all of the kids in
the show!
Now that our kids are old pros at attending the theater, they expected to go to lunch at Good Dog (like we did after the last play we saw) and then play at Coolidge Park.
Unfortunately the carousel was undergoing maintenance, but the kids still had fun climbing the big magnolia trees and chasing each other.
Before heading home, we decided the weather was perfect for a little cardboard sledding, so we headed over to Cardboard Hill in Renaissance Park and let the kids slide down all sides of this steep hill.
It was such a fun way to spend our school day!
Productions we have had the privilege of seeing performed this year include: Charlotte's Web, The House at Pooh Corner, and A Year with Frog and Toad . We can't wait for next year's line up.
This morning Jack and I did our nature hike at Mabbit Springs.
It was
44F and cloudy (but we kept warm while walking and climbing all the rocks in the creek).
We are learning about snails this week but this cold
snap meant no snails were to be found on the trail. So we spent our time
exploring this little gorge on our mountain.
Jack likes to make his own
path (just like his daddy), hopping over rocks to cross the creek as much as possible.
It was a short hike, but we still enjoyed our time together in the woods.
While I often have an agenda of what we are going to learn about each week, I am trying to give freedom to Jack on the trail and I follow his lead instead of getting caught up in what I think we should be doing or learning on Nature Days.
I also am allowing myself moments of silly. I hope Jack looks back fondly at this time together and thinks about a mom who wasn't too uptight and could do unexpected things.
Notes from this hike:
Location: Mabbit Springs on Signal Mountain, TN
Date: March 27, 2018
Time: 9:30-10:30 Weather: 44F and overcast
Observations: It was too cold for snails.
Jack: "I like to make my own path. I like taking the hardest way." (We climbed up the creek gorge on our way out).
Check back on Tuesdays to see where our nature studies have taken us... Previous Nature Hikes with Jack:
