zoo trip

i took my last field trip to the memphis zoo (i think???) during the last week of school.

reed and sil were zoo buddies, and we did the whole thing!  their favorites were riding the camel and playing with and feeding the sting rays.  i didn't care for those sting rays.  they would climb right up the wall out of the water to eat the fish out of your hand!  no thank you!

bye-bye, memphis zoo!

11

wes is 11!!  he woke up to cupcakes for breakfast and a few gifts....his favorite being his new rangefinder!

he had a good rest of the day and when i asked what he wanted to do for his birthday, his response was, "nothing! i just want to stay home and play!"  well....that was easy!

this was what i wrote on facebook on his big day!

Today, the middle little turns 11! It got here fast, but it’s been a fun 11 years. Wes is as laid back as they come, but he also has an OCD side to him. The pillows and sheets must be perfect before he can go to bed. The socks have to be just right. And, don’t even get me started about tucking in his shirt. We call him grandpa! His favorite color is gray, and his favorite golfer is Rickie Fowler. He loves to snuggle, but he would prefer to sleep alone. He likes the temperature to hover somewhere around -2 degrees while he sleeps. School really gets in the way of his golfing time, but he does like math. He does not feel the same way about adverbs. Adverbs may be the death of him. He loves mexican food, chicken salad, ice cream, swimming, and reading. Barney Fife is his favorite. He hates eggplant and losing to his brothers at anything. He loves the Dodgers, Dak, and collecting NFL cards. He won’t wear ankle socks. He likes being with his cousins. He loves his dog and any other animal that turns up. He always saves a cracker for the ducks at the golf course. He is completely unable to pick out clothes that match, nor does he care. He is the biggest cheerleader on the sidelines of his little brother’s athletic endeavors. He loves a backrub. He refuses to dress up for any type of dress up day at school. He sleeps on his belly, and don’t even try to get him to wear a shirt to bed. He likes mint shampoo and soap that smells good. I’m pretty sure he has no idea where the dirty clothes hamper is located. Or a hairbrush for that matter. He isn’t going to college because he’s just going to play golf. He likes to eat at pyro’s and give them a fake name so they call out ridiculous names when his pizza is ready. He likes 80s rock and being in control of the radio in the car. He is so thoughtful and picks out the best gifts. He is the most observant person I know. He notices when the house on the other side of the neighborhood gets a new rocking chair or planted new flowers or somebody isn’t feeling well. He sent a daily, funny video of himself telling a joke to a friend that was hospitalized for a week to make him smile. He loves Garth Brooks, sour candy, and the Cosby Show. He is super fast on the base path and quick with a hug. He doesn’t like to be the center of attention, but today is his day….so happy birthday, Wes! We love you big!

recital 2018

william played a piece by carlton forrester for his piano recital this year.  it was an arrangement of the battle hymn of the republic and america the beautiful.  it is probably my favorite recital piece that he's ever done, and he played it beautifully!  and, he had a few fans in attendance!

william and his teacher, mrs. rish.

southaven

we had a perfect weekend for tennis at the end of april.  we went to southaven, enjoyed the sunshine (finally!),  and cleaned them out of all of their hardware!

wes won his division.

william won his division, too, but i don't have a picture.

and reed won a match in singles, and he and his doubles partner, mac, came in 2nd!  they lost 7-5 to much bigger, much older boys, so we were happy that they held their own!

enjoying the sunshine!

thanks, southaven!  we will be back!

koolickles for the win

wes had his learning fair display a week or so ago, and he chose to do his on the mississippi delta.  he did a great job with his board, but his "extra" thing was a hit!  or not!!  who knew people had so many opinions???  ha!  koolickles can be found throughout the delta, so he chose to make and take some to hand out.  dill pickles marinated in kool-aid either bring out the people who say, "cool, let me try that!" or "you have got to be kidding me!  get that thing away from me!"  they really don't taste bad, but maybe i just have delta genes to fall back on for my excuse!!  his daddy, on the other hand,  wouldn't even try it!  whatever.....we brought some culture to tupelo!!

tupelo day

every year, the 4th grade concludes their study of mississippi history with tupelo day.  they split up and hit all the hot spots around town for pictures to go in their mississippi scrapbook while one of the moms in the car reads about whatever it is that we are about to see.  it's a really fun way to do a field trip.  this year, the only people that we had in our car was wes and sam.


we started at the school...

 and headed over to the tupelo automobile museum...

then, we hit up the birthplace of elvis...

johnnie's drive in...

city hall...

the records at city hall were pretty neat.  the very first minutes ever were handwritten in those gigantic books!

after a crazy turn of events, we ended up at tupelo water and light.  this was not on the suggested or required list of places to visit, but it turned out to be the highlight.  we got a backstage tour of the warehouse with the mayor and johnny timmons (mr. tupelo water and light).  we saw where we keep all the street signs and traffic lights.

they visited the transformer yard and got a lesson on aquifers.

they got to ride in the bucket with their buddy's (chase) dad.

and they MADE us stay for lunch!!  :)  they were having a retirement party, and they had their competition BBQ team cooking burgers and banana pudding.  we stayed!!  it was great!  and we got a picture with the mayor, jason shelton.

we headed over to the tupelo CVB from there.  it's a really neat place.  if you ever visit tupelo, give it a few minutes of your time!

 tupelo hardware (where elvis bought his first guitar)...

the courthouse...

the lyric...

 reed's...

the gumtree bookstore...

crosstown...

tupelo battlefield...

natchez trace...

the 13 unknown civil war soldier graves along the trace...

and baskin robbins to top it off...

 tupelo day was a success!  this is my kind of field trip!!