Swimmin’ in the Creek

Wednesday, August 23 – A Trip to Cane Creek is standard operating procedure when in Tennessee.

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Trip to Tennessee and the *New Camera*

Saturday, August 19 –

The kids and I made a fast trip up to see the Tennessee branch of the family. After many years of needing a new camera, the decision to buy one was finally made. I used some rewards points to help buy a Nikon D7500. I had it delivered to Tennessee and it was almost there waiting on me. I had a lot of fun testing it out and trying some of the fun features and effects while capturing the activities going on around the house during our stay.

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Elsie Meets Granddad

Saturday, May 6 –

We just returned from spending a few days in Tennessee. Nathan was anxious to meet Elsie, Atlanta’s new baby, who is already 5 months old. The visit wasn’t long enough, but at least we were able to spend some quality time with Jordan and Atlanta and re-connect with Marian and Alan, as well.

When we first arrived, two little monkeys were peeking out the window. Then Jordan brought little Elsie out to meet granddad.

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It didn’t take long for him to fall in love with her.

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Later in the day we took the kids to a park nearby at Mouse Tail Landing state park on the Tennessee River.

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In a couple of days, all the kids had warmed up to Granddad nicely.

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Fall Visit with the Goodwins

Wednesday, November 10 –

We had a wonderful visit with Atlanta & Jordan and our little Goodwins, Marian and Alan. They are so darling. We kept busy mostly around the house playing with toys and games, playing restaurant in the playhouse and enjoying the warm days in the sandbox. They got to ride horses one day and we took a long walk together, another. One of the highlights was getting to know their new cousin and spending time with family. It’s always so sad when they leave and we immediately begin looking forward to the next time when we will be together.

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Marian inspects Stockton’s lizards while Alan is busy in the living room shooting a play snake.

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Enjoying a snack.

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Meeting little Bella for the first time. img_20161102_172926 img_20161102_173333

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Catching up with Siblings at Mambo’s house in Matador

 

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…and watching the kids play

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New baby and significant baby bump.

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Yummy pizzas and proud Aunt

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Marian and Carolina romping on the trampolineimg_20161105_140859

Hanging out and driving around

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How about a tea party?

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Atlanta with Great Grannyimg_20161105_140605

 

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Andrea stirs up a white sauce and Bella practices adorableness.

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Fun with the Tidwells and Granny

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Welcome to Marian’s Cafe…

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The boys played Risk all day

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Time for some pony rides!

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Story time with Gram Gram

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Bella teaches class…

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Fun with playdough

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Playing with legos…

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Video

The Baby Bump

Friday, August 19 –
Cute video of Marian and Atlanta discussing the new baby. I added a few subtitles so you wouldn’t miss what all Marian has to say.

The Memphis Zoo

Tuesday, May 24 –

While on our trip to Tennessee, we took a day trip to Memphis to visit the zoo. We were impressed with the size and style of the zoo and the exhibits. It was so special to be with Marian and Alan as they saw many new animals in person for the first time.

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I think we all agreed that Alan’s favorite animal was the elephant. Marian says she likes these wolves the most. Atlanta has been reading to her out of the Little House on the Prairie books and she’s keen on wolves right now. (In solidarity with little Laura Ingals and her special fears) After the zoo, we were very hot and tired so we found a place downtown to get something cool and refreshing.

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When I say downtown, I mean downtown. It was the famous Beale Street that so many jazz and blues music stars made famous (including Elvis). Live music was already blaring out of several interesting looking establishments, but we stayed away from the clubs and finally found our intended destination, an old department store called, A. Schwabs, that had been operating since 1876. It had an old-fashioned soda fountain, lots of souvenirs and gifts, and other interesting things. They were just moving out a lot of ladders and lights and cameras as we arrived hot and tired. Apparently, they had just shot some kind of movie or TV show there that day. They told us that the store was open EXCEPT for the soda fountain due to the filming. I think they must have noticed all our faces falling in unison, because they quickly changed their minds and opened it all back up for us. Thank you, A. Schwabs!

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If you’re wondering if the kids liked their treats, watch this video:

Laundry the Old-Fashioned Way

Stockton, Carolina and Marian stayed busy doing laundry with Atlanta’s hand washer and hanging the clothes out on the line. They got quite good at it and made it fun.

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Marian even has her own clothes line.

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New Recruits

What happens when toddlers break into their uncle Stockton’s airsoft duffle bag? I’m not sure they’re dangerous, but they’re definitely cute. Stockton calls them the “Delta Babies”.

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