We are back in Blacksburg and while we are refreshed by our trip to Memphis, we find ourselves impatient with many things about our return, such as the persistence of Winter, the distance of the end of the semester, the continuance of Lent and the lack of exciting events on the immediate horizon. Okay, primarily we are frustrated with our lack of nighttime sleep, but that's less to do with the return to Blacksburg and work and more to do with our kids' sickness... Miles is on the mend from a stomach bug, but Adele's been very into bellowing every hour or so at night. We're looking into possible explanations...
Anyway. Our weekend was glorious! We had a Saint Patrick's Day/Green theme going on.
Saturday's weather was such a welcome relief. It was in the 60s and sunny! We celebrated by walking down to The Price House for their reptile event!
Green eggs and bacon with coffee, to give a firm foundation to the day.
And we're off to Price House!
We got to get to know this chameleon pretty well. He even showed us his angry spots!
This guy was pretty much the best. We followed Mr. Tortoise around for kind of a long time, poor guy.
They'd follow him and pet him like a dog, and then retreat, giggling.
Miles tempts fate. He does still have his fingers, if you want to know.
There was quite a lot of indoor play & even some sibling cooperation.
My and my best buddy.
On Sunday, we got ready to celebrate Saint Patrick as thoroughly as possible.
With facepaint. We are serious about this holiday.
My Irish lass
There was the loveliest activity at church: a Gardening/Spring Picnic! This ended up being a mostly indoor activity since the weather had turned drizzling and rather cold, but it was still festive.
We feasted on macaroni & cheese and fruit, and then the kids got a children's sermon about seed imagery in Jesus' parables...
...followed by a tour of the garden and a planting activity. The kids were instructed and worked together to start a garden which we will split between our church and the Valley Interfaith Childcare Center, which just happens to be Miles & Adele's daycare! Advantage Miles & Adele!
The Stewardship Committee served up the dirt cake to complete the theme. What an adorable way to love the kids in our congregation, don't you think?
Later that afternoon, I was able to satisfy a dream I have cherished for almost 10 years. I was finally able to visit an Irish pub ON Saint Patrick's Day and hear some traditional Irish music. I have been seriously trying to do this since our King of Prussia, PA days, when we tried to go to Kildare's on Saint Patrick's day only to be turned away by the absurdly huge crowd. In Maryland, I had to deal with lack of interest on the part of those I was celebrating with, or with similarly huge crowds and problems with parking. So it was that Blacksburg satisfied yet another of my deep longings. :-) My best celebrating buddy and I went to T. Flynn's for some music and refreshments!
Miles loved watching the instruments, in real life.
We have spirit, how about you?
Our respective beverages. Miles thought my green Harp was hilarious.
Here is a video to enjoy. We returned from the pub to a meal that Jon prepared, of real corned beef and cabbage, and finished the night with a wild The Chieftans dance party in the living room. The kids' laughs from that romp are still ringing in my ears, even through all the noise and static of two nights' solidly bad sleep. Wish us better fortune and health, won't you? I want to see some more good luck!
Tuesday was our last day in Memphis, and we were both tired from the Zoo and, at the same time, determined to enjoy it to the fullest. We decide the kids would stay home for the morning and early afternoon, as they were a bit behind on their naps.
Melissa and I, however, got to duck out, sans kids, and listen to Nadia Bolz-Weber speak at Calvary Episcopal's Lenten Speaker Series. We joked that we're such church nerds, for escaping the kids together only to go to church! But the morning was so so pleasant and Nadia's message so compelling. She spoke about how faith was amongst those spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 as not belonging to everyone but intended for the good of the community by those gifted with it. For a number of reasons, this was encouraging!
Back home, the boys frolicked in Melissa & Josh's lovely yard.
Miles planking... Ask Jon, I don't know!
Miles took this picture.
Once we had all eaten and napped (some of us more than others), the caravan descended on Shelby Farms Park Woodland Playground. You. Guys. This playground!!! There are no words.... look at the pictures on the site; I...can't do it justice.
Miles tried at least three kinds of swings.
They are growing vines and trees on this arbor surrounding the walking trails. !!!
Miles went from "I can't do dat" to "I did it! By myself!"
It was a beautiful sight.
All recycled materials were used for the ground. Our kids tested it out: it is difficult to injure oneself falling onto these floors!
Adele LURVES swings.
Miles says this swing is a nest and he and Adele were being birdies.
Thomas and Adele enjoy the simple things in life, like stairs.
That evening, we were treated by Melissa's parents to dinner at Corky's, a locally beloved barbeque place.
I would say I am still full from that meal (and if I were a normal person, I probably would be!), but many of you are acquainted with my legendary appetite. Still, I have to say... we are never going to have hushpuppies at CookOut again, as they now seem like a cruel joke. I'm sitting here salivating as I remember that food!!
Sadly,like all good things, our vacation had to come to an end. We had so very much fun; I've told Jon if he has an opportunity for a post-doc in Memphis, he should take it! We still didn't get to hit Beale Street, after all..
Remember this song? It was pretty overplayed in the 90s, but it came back to roost in my brain for almost the duration of our trip. We bought it on itunes before we left, for a souvenir. We really did love it there!
But at 10am, we rolled away for our much longer return journey. The kids were good! Better than we could have hoped, really!
We had to drive through ALL of the enormity that is Tennessee. We did a lunch stop in Nashville!
Caught this statue of Billy Graham as we drove by.
This is the Country Music Hall of Fame
I was only able to get a passing picture of Rocketown, of Michael W. Smith fame.
Dinner was courtesy of Kroger in Knoxville.
On the way out of town, we caught sight of this truck that made us laugh.
As the sun set, we were coming to the eastern end of TN and the kids settled in pretty admirably.
Our first sight of the Smoky Mountains
Miles was pretty cheerful, most of the way!
At 11pm on Wednesday, we got back into Blacksburg. The kids settled into bed with hardly a murmur. It was snowing.
I hesitate to go out on a limb and say it, but we may have found the best zoo of our career so far. And our zoo-going career is fairly extensive. The Memphis Zoo welcomed us on Monday of our trip, and though it was fairly chilly that day, it wasn't unpleasant enough to do more than inspire us to buy coffee and duck into the indoor exhibits from time to time.
We were absolute heroes that day. Both babies managed to nap in their Ergo carriers, and the rest of us made a whole day of it. A whole day!
Melissa says these animals get costumes for Halloween.
We started at the big cats. Adele was, needless to say, a HUGE fan. In addition to meowing at the tigers, jaguars and cheetahs, she's learned to ROAR at the lions. I love the acquiring animal sounds stage!
White tiger!
Baby giraffe!
Miles approves of this panda.
We all doubled over laughing when we read this sign on the cow pen:
I have never seen a grizzly bear in real life. He was awesome.
This area had the coolest lodge, a replica of the Old Faithful Inn. They had a fountain up front that mimicked the geyser, and a fireplace inside the spacious lodge. Just one of many gorgeous features of this zoo.
Wolves!
We caught a SeaWorld-like sea lion show, wherein sea lions actually balanced balls on their noses and jumped through the air. The kids were enthralled.
We said, "Look, Adele: sealions!" She said, "ROAAR!"
These viewing bubbles were so magic.
This orange has invented clothing. Evolution right before our eyes.
Pilfered these from Melissa & Josh... thanks guys! The prairie dog exhibit allowed us some great proximity.
Melissa and I practice our Parseltongue. Sadly, the glass did not disappear.
On our way out, we tried to capture the heroism of our expedition. We are some expert baby wranglers!
Later that afternoon, I was able to satisfy a dream I have cherished for almost 10 years. I was finally able to visit an Irish pub ON Saint Patrick's Day and hear some traditional Irish music. I have been seriously trying to do this since our King of Prussia, PA days, when we tried to go to Kildare's on Saint Patrick's day only to be turned away by the absurdly huge crowd. In Maryland, I had to deal with lack of interest on the part of those I was celebrating with, or with similarly huge crowds and problems with parking. So it was that Blacksburg satisfied yet another of my deep longings. :-) My best celebrating buddy and I went to T. Flynn's for some music and refreshments!
