Choo-Choos, Nemo Fish & Roller Coasters

Our trip to Chattanooga last weekend was just the perfect summer getaway. It was sort of last minute and not really planned according to my usual standards. But, shockingly, vacations can happen this way and nobody gets hurt! (I won't make a habit of this, however.) We left on mid-day Thursday and stopped for a long lunch at the Casey Jones train village in Jackson. We drove through Nashville, stopped briefly at a Civil War battlefield for some out-of-the-car running and a photo shoot, and pulled into Chattanooga after 9 (having lost an hour in the time zone change). My friend Julene, who along with husband Ben has two boys ages 1 1/2 and 3,kindly opened her basement for us for that night, so we got to visit with them once all the kids were bedded down. We all went to Lake Winnepesaugah the next day, an amusement park perfect for younger kids. No long lines, lots of choices for the under-12 set, breezy warm weather, no obnoxious teens to ruin family day.
Molly, Paxton, Alex and Rebecca


Amelia enjoys the view from the stroller. The socks are to prevent sunburn--function over fashion at this age, you know!


Rebecca swings!


The Simmons Family and the Marshes at "Lake Winnie" (end of the day, looking a little ragged!)

It was a long day but well-spent! We topped it off with dinner at Sticky Fingers, a rib joint recommended by my friend Holly. The barbecue was yummy, but the kids liked the kids' activity menu best because it had a Mad-Lib (remember those?) that kept us laughing until the food got there.

We spent that night in a train car! The Chattanooga Choo-Choo area has a hotel where they have converted rail cars into hotel rooms. This was SO awesome! The bathroom was once a sleeper car, with the bunk bed now a bathtub, and the bed was in the passenger car, with overhead luggage racks still in place and windows all along the sides. The kids LOVED it, but I truly think Peter and I loved it more. I took the kids for a late-night swim, we walked around the lighted gardens with fountains and gazebos, that are in between the hotel room cars and the actual Choo-Choo engine. As we walked, Molly said, "This looks like a place where people would fall in love!" Indeed, it was quite romantic. The next day we took a trolley ride and the girls got their engineer hats. I took lots of pictures of the girls climbing all over the choo-choo and then I noticed a sign saying not to. Oops!

getting on the train-turned-hotel-room


climbing on the choo-choo (a big no-no, it turns out)


inside the choo-choo


posing in the gardens


After a morning of trains, we went to the Tennessee Aquarium. Awesome! The IMAX was really well done but was kind of not the best choice for little kids--not enough action to keep 'em interested. They--and we--were undeterred and moved through the rest of the two buildings with interest. Rebecca decided that one of the penguins was the real Mumble from Happy Feet. She pointed him out, insisted I take his picture, and did not pay attention to the other penguins at all. Another big hit was the butterfly exhibit. An aquarium worker brought in a box of newly-hatched butterflies, and handed them to watiing children. Molly's flew right off, ready to explore. But Rebecca's stayed on her for a long time, prompting perfect strangers to take her picture and putting a huge smile on her face! She transferred it to Daddy's hand and then to another little boy--that butterfly just wasn't ready to take off yet! There were sharks and jellyfish and sea horses and river fish and turtles. We all pet some stingrays and sand sharks. Amelia slept through much of the visit, but she woke up near the end and sat mesmerized at the tank, putting her little hands on the glass as the fish swam by. She grinned and stared.

Rebecca's new best friend


with tanks above and all around us, it looked like we were underwater, too!


Amelia connects with the fish


Julene and Me, friends for 30 years!

We loved spending time with Alex and Paxton and their parents and will definitely go back to Chattanooga soon! After all, we still didn't see Rock City, Lookout Mountain or Ruby Falls, much to the chagrin of the advertisers, who have billboards for these attractions EVERYWHERE in Tennesee.... Next time...

I Picked Him for This Reason

It's a little belated, since it's about to be July and Father's Day was two weeks ago, but I just wanted to do a quick post about my dear husband Peter, who along with my own dad, is about the niftiest father around. He is engaged, involved, loving, active, patient and funny with our girls. He often asks me "Did you ever think I would be like this?" And I always tell him "YES!" because I picked him for a life partner because I KNEW he would be an awesome father. For Father's Day, we grilled out. My parents came over and we just had a casual Sunday-afternoon cook-out. The grill was part of his Father's Day gift (along with a Boston Red Sox snack bowl and a hanging bird decoration with home-made paper that Molly made back in Kindergarten and has been saving). Here is a picture of Daddy Pete with his three girls, taken in Chattanooga last weekend.

Happy Birthday to Meredith!

My amazing baby sister is 30 years old as of June 27th! YIKES! As you know, she lives in Thailand working with refugees from Burma, so I could not give her a big b-day sqeeze, but Skype is a truly fabulous invention. With our Web cams, we can "call" on Skype for free and see each other as we chat. I recounted my always fascinating stories about lost teeth, crawling and fairy ballet recitals. In turn, Meredith modestly shares exploits from her trip to Kampala, Uganda, where she presented at a conference for non-governmental orgs (NGOs) working in conflict areas. She updated me on the kittens born to her trampy cat Ava, who had a litter fathered by two different males (that cat gets around). The two one-eyed kittens are still around (others have homes already), and they squirm around on her desk as we talk. Her work and her life humble me. I am immensely proud of her accomplishments. Who would have thought that the girl with braces and glasses who drove me crazy in the backseat of our poo-poo brown station wagon would do such important things and touch so many lives?! I say that, but the honest truth is that her choices do not surprise me in the least, as she is perhaps the most kind and intelligent and self-less woman I know. So, happy birthday, Meredith! I love you!

Summertime and the livin' is easy

School ended May 23rd. Since then, we have been very busy. Other than Theatre Camp (see next post), we've been out and about. Peter and Molly and Rebecca drove down to Jackson, MS, for our friend Kas's 5th birthday party. We all went to the Pink Palace Museum for the members' opening reception for the Treasure! exhibit (highlights included a real trasure chest from a sunken ship, being able to pan for gold, coin rubbing and, perhaps best of all, a chocolate fountain at the reception with strawberries, oreos and pineapple for dipping). In true Walsh fashion, we headed to the ballpark for a Memphis Redbirds baseball game--perfect weather, the 'birds won, Pete and Papa and our friend Court got to do fantasy radio (calling the game for a few innings up in the press box). Molly started t-ball. We visited our cousins in Oakland, TN and enjoyed grilled-out yummies and ice cream. We went to Members Night at the Zoo and were able to swim in the "Nile", ride all the rides for free, dance to the live music and even see a few animals and friends, too.

At home, we built a blankets-and-chairs tent in the living room, had cousins over for sidewalk chalk, worked puzzles, rode bikes, painted fingernails and toe nails, played games (Mancala, Uno, Go fish!, etc.), played in the "waterpillar" sprinkler in our front yard, wore summer dresses, and chewed on anything we could find (this was primarily Amelia--she got her very first tooth TODAY!). It's hot but we've not melted yet....

Fame! I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly!

Summer started with a bang as Molly went to Theatre Camp for a week. (Note that I spelled "theatre" the pretentious way. That's how a real thespian spells it. And I am a thespian. Or I was. In high school.) She and Sage went to Playhouse on the Square's Theatre Conservatory for Youth. At the end of the week, we were invited to see the performance of "Miss Nelson is Missing!" Molly was Student #3 (whom she named Hallie) and Sage was Student #6 (whom she named Taylor). They were wonderful! Molly got the laugh line she was hoping for on one line in particular and, except for a brief sock-fidget moment, she hardly even looked nervous. Both girls relished in showing us "backstage" (in the wings). Rebecca proudly presented her superstar sister with roses. And Papa even took time off from work to be in the audience, too.




Perhaps the most dramatic moment for Molly came later in the afternoon. I was filling her Playhouse waterbottle with ice and she began to sob. "What's wrong?" Choking, she answered, "I just can't look at that water bottle and not think of my week at theatre camp! I will miss it so much!" Ah, the drama queen assumes her throne.

Pomp & Circumstance, Part 2--The Pictures

First, the Girl Scouts Bridging Ceremony.



Then Rebecca's preschool program (note: another occasion for face painting).





Molly's Kindergarten graduation. For one noteworthy bit, she was dressed as an insect. Two classmates pointed to her parts as they were recognized in a song. (The tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" but the words are: "Head, Thorax Abdomen [abdomen]. Head, Thorax, Abdomen [abdomen]. And eyes and a mouth and antennae, too. Six legs and that's an insect for you!") The finale? Frank Sinatra's New York, New York: "Start spreadin' the news. We're leavin' today. We want to be a part of it! First grade, first grade!"