A Fun Friday

Last Friday, Noah and I had to run some errands for my jobs and we ended up downtown. One of Noah's new favorite things to look at are the beautiful fountains outside the symphony hall. So we went down to sit by them, play, and watch the water. Last time, I gave Noah some change to throw in, but he just put it in his pocket! This time, he asked for some change and actually enjoyed throwing it in the fountain. I think this has now eclipsed his old favorite downtown activity - putting change in the parking meter!





We drive by a local mason lodge a lot and they have these two lion statues out front in their parking lot. Noah usually roars when he sees them, but lately has wanted to stop and talk to them. So Friday afternoon we were driving by and had the time to stop. Here he is with one of the lions! He also wanted to read it a book, so we got a book out of the car and sat down by the lion and read the book. I'm sure we looked funny reading a book next to the lion in the parking lot, but Noah really thought the lion was appreciative of a good story!

Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day! We went to the zoo in the morning and then went to Bobby's Dairy Dip in the afternoon. Noah always loves the zoo and we thought we'd try the carousel again (last time he got scared at the last minute and we left the ride right as it was starting up). But first, we went to see the elephants and giraffes. They tend to be favorites and we got quite a treat! We were there right as the zoo opened and the handler was out with the elephants and they went for a walk around their large enclosure. We don't usually see them too close up, but they went on their walk and came right in front of us! After watching them for a while and then watching the always friendly giraffes, Noah rode the carousel with Daddy. He was cautious in the beginning (you can see that he's not even sitting on the giraffe at first), but then we ended up riding it 4 times on lots of different animals. He just couldn't get enough! Of course, then we saw the zebras, tigers, baby tigers that aren't so little anymore, cougars and some new favorites - the porcupine and the anteater! We had a great morning at the zoo and as always, Noah can't wait to go back.




Then he had his first very own ice cream cone in the afternoon. Made a great big mess, but it was a lot of fun to watch him try to keep up with the drips in the hot sun!

The Big Park

There's a park right next to our neighborhood library that Noah has taken to calling the "Big Park" as we drive past and so we thought we'd try it out last weekend. Turns out he really likes some of the bigger slides, especially the "Roundy Slide" and some of the climbing things. We still like to go to the park that's a little closer, but now every time we go to the library, he wants to stop at this park and play for a while. It's great to have a choice between two great neighborhood parks!

Strawberry Picking

We've been planning to go strawberry picking, but have gotten rained out the past few weeks. Finally this weekend, we had a break in the rain and went to a farm just north of Nashville. You may remember my debacle last summer of taking Noah to pick blueberries and blackberries at that same farm. This time, we went on a Saturday morning so the whole family could go and it was much more manageable this time with two adults, though I still don't think Noah really liked it.


Let me clarify. Noah enjoyed being outside, jumping in the puddles, looking at tractors, running around, dumping the strawberries out of the buckets, carrying around the empty buckets and having a great time outside. Noah wanted absolutely nothing to do with the actual strawberry picking. I don't think he liked the wet leaves brushing against him as he walked down the paths between the rows of plants. So he kept to the outskirts and had a good time bringing us empty baskets when we needed them.


As we were leaving the small community and heading back to Nashville, David spotted a small pharmacy with a soda fountain. We stopped and got a malt milkshake and an actual soda mixed the old fashioned way. Noah was just fascinated with the straw dispenser and we had a great time.




I think next time maybe we'll plan to make it more of a trip than just the berry picking. Maybe we can find a farm where Noah can see a barn and some animals. He would love it!

Back in the House

We're wrapping up the work on our house, are getting settled back in it, and are really enjoying some added space! I think Noah's favorite part of the whole thing is his new bed. It's all decked out with trucks, cars and stop signs. Sometimes I find him awake in bed just looking at his sheets!

We had a great Mothers Day and spent some time at a local park. Noah was fascinated with the ducks and we've gone back several times since then so he can watch the ducks swim. There are also three or four families with baby ducks and Noah likes to watch them all swim together (although he calls the baby ducks 'chickens' I think because they are all soft and furry and yellow like little chicks we see in his books). Here are some shots of us at the park, some on Mothers Day and some taken later in the week at the same park...