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!
Josh is the pastor of a Lutheran church downtown, so we were their visitors on Sunday morning for the 10:30 service. Our kids give a top rating to the toys in the nursery. Afterward, while Josh was being pastoral, we wandered the delightful little garden in the church yard.
Miles is wearing his fabulous Memphis outfit.
After church, we took a car tour and got to see the Lorraine Motel, where the world lost Dr. King in the spring of 1968.
After this somber visit, we lightened things up and dropped in at Sun Studio, home of Sun Records, the label that discovered and cut records for Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash.
Miles got to go in; he's a big fan of the guitar!
I have no pictures of this, but following this tour we ate lunch at the home of Josh's parents. We had a traditional Southern dinner including ham, green beans, homemade macaroni and cheese and sweet potatoes with marshmallows. I had two tall glasses of sweet tea. Yum! We were so grateful to be treated like family on out visit.
But that wasn't all. In the mid afternoon, we dropped over to the Children's Museum of Memphis, where our hosts are members. Our tickets came courtesy of Melissa's family. Southern Hospitality is a real thing.
CMOM is similar to Rochester's Museum of Play, and just as awesome. Probably better suited to Miles' taste for this age, as it featured more climbing apparatus and fewer large walking characters.
Miles' favorite part by far: fishing.
This guy was scared to go down the slide, but climbed to the top of these high-rises by himself!
There were plenty of things for babies to do; indeed, there was a whole baby/toddler room!
Melissa enjoys August's block prowess and sweet smile. We did too!!
Miles launches a paper rocket.
Grandma Tree played guessing games with children; Miles recognized "yes" and "no" on buttons.
Obviously, there was a section for kid to be rock and roll stars on a green screen.
"Backstage"
Adele had such a blast at the baby room. She climbed up and "accidentally" fell down this slide like 20 times.
As if all this weren't enough, we were treated to a gorgeous rainbow on our drive home.
Each evening after kids were down, Jon and I were treated to a good old visit with our friends and actual grownup talk. And we didn't even need to get a babysitter!
We have owed our old Maryland friends, Josh and Melissa, a visit to their new home in Memphis for quite some time. But we weren't sure if, practically speaking, we could manage it this year. Well, after hemming and hawing for a few weeks, Mission Command of our family (Pater & Mater Familius) made the call: we all needed a vacation!
We set out at 6pm on Friday for the 625 mile journey. Logistically, this is the best way to take two little kids on a 9+ hour drive, since they sleep through most of it. And since Jon was willing to break his lenten fast from caffeine in order to keep us alive through the night, we had a fairly successful drive.
Adele tries to prove she can drive the next leg. We were charmed, but unconvinced.
Just over the border in TN. I enjoyed the spelling of this rural store.
For the first time, Jon and I crossed a time zone together! So it was 3:30 am central time when Josh let us in and, unlike our trip to Rochester in December, we were able to get everyone back to sleep for at least a few hours before morning.
Melissa & Josh love their city, so we got in as much sightseeing as was possible given the constraints of time, space, and 4 young children between us. This involved a lot of car tours and a lot of trips to kid-friendly places, but it was pretty awesome to tour Memphis even so.
First stop: public library.
Thomas & Miles pose in front of the Memphis Library.
Miles says "WOW" to the colorful, imaginative childrens' section.
Adele found her favorite view!
Clowns were posed all over the section. I want all their rainbow clothes. And now I sound like a weirdo who steals clothes from clowns...
Love this sign; it reminded me of Sesame Street
Stained glass house IN the library!
Miles & Thomas played in the courtyard outside.
From the library, we moved on to a car-tour and then stopped to take in a view of the Mississippi River! I don't remember seeing it before, or at least, not this close up!
This little guy was pretty excited to be out of the car.
Family shot at the Mississippi
And before going out for a delicious Mexican dinner downtown, we made a trip to Graceland, just to look at the outside.
This is Elvis' plane for his daughter. It says "Lisa Marie" in script on the side.
Graceland.
Sunshine! 70 degrees! In MARCH! It was the absolute perfect time, in my opinion, to visit Memphis.
This is only day one of four so.... if you don't like looking at pictures of my kids in Memphis, better skip the next few updates :-)
