Repti-conned into Going

Saturday I took Bradley to this really cool, interactive, hands on, totally geared for kids reptile exhibit at the Factory.  No wait.  No I didn't.  That's what I thought I was taking Bradley to.

The Living Social deal I got the week before touted this Repticon exhibit as being a family event, and then later last week, an email was sent out saying Williamson County school employees were allowed in free to take their families to this family-friendly event.  Okay, so I'm not a WCS employee myself, but I am related to one.  And kids under 5 get in free, so Repticon, here we came!

The first thing I noticed when entering Jamison Hall in the factory, a place many brides and grooms hold their wedding receptions in (my sister included), was the overwhelming reptile stench.  I could not have told you what this smelled like before Saturday, but you walked into the place and this odor just knocked you back a second- not so gross that you'd want to breathe through your mouth, but enough to cause you pause and say "ohhh, so that's what a room full of reptiles smells like."

And then we stepped inside.  At 5 minutes till 12, we timed our entrance to the exhibit to make the 12 o'clock "show."  I was envisioning a goofy guy in a lab coat, or dressed like a zookeeper, a stage, and bleachers, where the emcee would show a group of fascinated kids different kinds of frogs, snakes, spiders, and teach the kids fun facts about the animals and at the end I would get some great photo ops of Bradley petting a snake which I would then show to my mother who is terrified of snakes, and snicker.

But instead I walked willingly into my mother's worst nightmare.  Let me just toot my own horn and say that I am good mom.  Because I took one look at the first table we came to, with one clear circular container after another, stacked on top of one another, with a live snakes in them, all of them moving around and hissing, because, well, they're alive, probably 30 on each table, and I didn't turn around and leave.  

I took a deep breath, and thought, okay, I can do this.  They're just snakes.  And we pushed through the people to find the "show" that would be starting soon.  When we found it, I realized this whole thing was a gross misunderstanding.  The interactive show was about chameleons, 4 of them to be specific, and Bradley was able to touch exactly one of them.  This was not an educational show for the kiddies.  This was a sales pitch to get you to buy a chameleon.  In fact the whole exhibit was a haven for reptile buyers and sellers; crazy reptile lovers with piercings, tattoos, and wearing black t-shirts.  People were buying snakes right and left.  Not me.  The guy trying to sell us chameleons ignored the fact that most of his audience was under 12 (hey, at least I was not the only fool in Franklin who thought this was a great Saturday activity for her child) and did his best to yell over the noise in the large open room in the little area where a few rows of chairs were set up, because he was too lazy to wear his head mike, while he educated us on how to keep a chameleon's tank humid.  

After the sales demonstration, I took Bradley firmly by the hand and led him through the exhibit hall.  "If we're here, we might as well see some snakes," I thought to myself.  We saw tank after tank of giant snakes (think Nagini), every kind of lizard, tarantula, giant cockroach, tiny frogs, all sizes of scorpions, and container after container of snakes.  I had a small humanitarian moment and felt sorry for the animals confined in such small containers, and then I started over-thinking things and watching them writhe and twist, and the longer we were in there, the more freaked out I got.  I envisioned Snakes on a Plane, but instead saw tables tipping over with snakes slithering all over the floor, and people panicking and running everywhere.  I held Bradley's hand tightly as he was mildly interested in looking at the different animals and asked to touch a few snakes.  And yes I let him, but it was not quite the cheery photo op I had hoped for.  Instead I never let go of his hand, calculating how fast I could whip him towards me if the snake he was petting decided to lunge at us.  It was all I could do to see a furry tarantula leg poking out of a small clear container, and silently curse the day my mother let me see Arachnophobia in the movie theater.

But I was a good sport, and we managed to stay in Jamison Hall a good 30 or 40 minutes when I was able to tell Bradley happily, that it was time to go.  And go we did, where we promptly scrubbed our hands with soap and water when we got home, and I tried to shake the willies for the rest of the day.  

The Weezers

"My best friend Heather from home," which is how many of have heard me to refer to her, was in town this weekend. Bradley and I drove over to west Nashville on Saturday and met Heather and her sister Angie, and poor Bradley was such a trooper as we hopped from place to place. We had lunch at Bluecoast Burrito, then went to Steinmart, Angie's house, Fabu, the Container store and a few other places in Green Hills mall, and finally to Maffiozas for dinner. He went with us from store to store and was an angel even though he wasn't really looking "with his eyes and not with his hands" like I asked him to, but he's 3, what do you expect?!

Right as we were leaving lunch, Angie let Bradley in on a little secret: Heather's childhood nickname: Weezer. Well B thought this was just
about the funniest thing ever, and so the next store we went to, he
hollared loudly for Weezer in every single aisle, much to the
amusement of the other Steinmart patrons. What goes around comes
around, they say, so Bradley connected the dots and determined that if Heather was "Weezer," then Angie must be the "Other Weezer." So
that's what he called them all weekend. Sunday morning, he woke up and wanted to know where "the Weezers" were!

The Weezers came over for a late Sunday lunch, and then since
Bradley's daycare was closed for professional development on Monday,
he and I got to spend the entire day playing with Weez. We picked up
Heather and drove to get hot tea from Starbucks, and then to the open
gym time at Pump It Up where Bradley proceeded to expend lots of
energy in a 2 hour period, and Heather and I got time to sit and catch
up. We even almost got dragged into a Brentwood Mom fight between
these two women whose kids were being bullied.

Side-stepping the mama drama, we convinved Bradley without too much
trouble that it was time to leave Pump It Up and go get some lunch.
Heather's and my "thing" growing up was chicken fingers, and knowing
she doesn't have an abundance of chicken finger places up her way, we
decided to go to McDougall's. I'll admit, I was really tempted to
cave and enjoy some fried buffalo tenders, but spotting the grilled
cheese on the menu, I went with that. Until I truly decide where I stand on the whole eating meat issue, I didn't want to cave now.

After lunch, we went home and I got Bradley down for his nap then
Heather and I had a little Grey's Anatomy/Private Practive mini
marathon. We colored, played Bat Cave and baseball with B once he got
up from his nap, and then enjoyed an early supper of breakfast-for-dinner, where I made Heather the most utterly boring omelet ever, (Seriously. Just Italian seasoning? No cheese? Who
does that?) followed by a semi-healthy dessert of chocolate fondue with fruit.

I dropped Heather off that night, and then met up for one last dinner
hurrah last night at Chuy's before she departed again for the land of
the yuppies and fiber-optic cable, where Angie and I had a laugh at
Heather's expense at the Blondie Cowboy Mouth event, and the story
about the man who had "the AIDS" helping her put air in her tire in
the ghetto. The visits are never long enough, but I love that we always pick up right where we left off. Until next time, Weezer!

The longest weekend ever

This has felt like an eternity of a weekend.  Usually that'd be a good thing, but since I haven't seen Bradley since Wednesday, I am doing cartwheels that I can pick him up tomorrow finally.  He seems like he's been having a good time down in Florida, so that has made it easier on me.  Plus I have stayed really busy, mainly eating and shopping.  The weekend was memorable in many ways, though, so I thought I'd list the highlights so we could remember and laugh as part of our Thanksgiving story heritage:

• OMG, folks
• Slap 'er down again, Pa
• I have a saying:  don't open one syrup until you finish the other
• It's 5 o'clock in the morning
• Dance party in the living room
• Zombieland/Elf
• The 3 hour Walmart excursion
• UK finally beat UT after 26 years
• My first vegetarian Turkey Day
• Cranium Bluedles

And of course, we had to put Russell & the Mrs. into compromising poses throughout Thanksgiving day and send them to family:

The whipped cream bikini was Laura's idea.  I added the touch of cream to Russell's mouth.  I did decorate some for Christmas this weekend, but I don't want to give away the farm with one post!  Yall come back now, ya hear?
Hope you and your family/friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Shenanigan's

We went to Evansville yesterday, hence the lack of blog post, for a small sort of family get-together. There was no real occasion, but we drove up to stay with Michael & Missy, and went out last night for pizza at Turoni's, a local pizzeria and microbrewery.  The kids stayed at the house with a babysitter, so we actually all got to have a fun relaxing evening.



Bradley  & Addie

 We had to take 2 cars from the house, so the guys went on ahead to put our name on the list and get us a table, and the women got the kids settled with the babysitter, and left a few minutes later.  It was mom's idea to stop someplace along the way and see how long it took the guys to call asking where we were!  

Sisters, mom & Lisa

Good thing we stopped at this place, beccause not too much longer, we got texts saying the wait was an hour and forty-five minutes, so we took our time and let the guys stand around and wait on the table!  "Oh yes it's Ladies Night!  Oh, what a night!"  we sang.  The guys didn't believe us when we said that we had stopped at Deerhead's, so we had our server take a picture of us toasting the camera.  The guys in turn sent back their own statement via photo, and let's just say they were none too pleased to be standing around in a crowded restaurant while we made our pit stop!

Missy, Whitney, and me

We finally got to Turoni's and all ten of us got seated in this huge booth, where we proceeded to eat, drink and be merry, and the pictures prove it.

Jerry pretending to drink the pitcher

A sign above our table

There's always a Nashville connection!

Mom, Lisa, Dad, and Ryan

Whitney, Missy, Michael, Jerry, Me, and Eric

 Oh, and James Franco even made an appearance!

It was a short trip, but so many memories were made in such a short visit.  Shenanigan's!

The end of the Honeybadger Era

At the start of soccer season, it seemed like a chore getting up and to the soccer field every Saturday morning.  I was a little bummed I'd have to miss going to Zumba for a few months, too.  But after this morning's last game, as I was saying bye to all the parents and kids I've gotten to know, it will seem weird not having this Saturday morning ritual to attend anymore.

Bradley definitely progressed as the season went on, and I know our playing "keep away" running down the hall with his plush indoor socer ball had something to do with that.  Don't misunderstand me, he never did score a goal, and his favorite part of the game is the snack at the end, but that's okay with this mama.

Team Honeybadgers

The self-imposed Goalie

warming up, kicking a goal



Stretching before the game



Coach Lindsey getting B ready for the kick-off

Throwing it in

Goalie!



Action shot

Check out my freckles



The tunnel at the end of each game



Snack time





Peter Piper did not pick a pumpkin today

It was a busy day for us today:  9 a.m. Honeybadgers game, followed by a quick trip to Target to change clothes, and then we headed to Gentry's Farm in Franklin to pick pumpkins.  After a brief stop at home, which was meant to be for a nap time that didn't happen, we left again to go to a family friend's 1st birthday party in Murfreesboro, and by the time we came home, Bradley was sufficiently worn out and ready for bed.

What a difference a week makes, too.  Last Saturday, it got in the 30's overnight.  Today it was, dare I say, almost too warm to be outside, gorgeous and sunny in the low 80's.

We have been to Gentry's every year since Bradley was a year old, but this year we paid the $6 to go into the activity area of the farm, and I am so glad we did!  The activity area was nothing like I was envisioning, and was actually geared more towards preschoolers rather than older kids like I had assumed.

The little log cabin- B loved playing "house" in here

How Tall This Fall

Bradley measured at 37 inches- just over 3 feet tall this year.  I hope we can keep coming back every year and take this same picture to see how much he's grown.

A table of pumpkins

Riding the kiddie tractors

As far as farm animals go, we saw sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, horses, and cows.

Gentry's advertises hayrides, but that's misleading.  Really, it's a tractor ride.  They have this route down to a science, and it wasn't what I was expecting at all.  One big tractor pulls 2 large trailers behind with wooden benches where everyone politely sits one right next to the other.  The 6th generation owner of the farm gives you a little bit of history about the place, and away you go.  We did get to see cows up close, and Bradley was just tickled to be pulled by a tractor, so I'd say the ride was still a success even though the rest of the historic houses on the tour were more appropriate for the adults.

Papa pushing B on the tire swing

I'm so happy playing with corn

Under one open air barn were rows of troughs with dry corn in them, with funnels, and containers of different shapes and sizes.  You wouldn't think pouring corn from a funnel into a plastic bottle was the most fun activity ever invented, but Bradley would have stayed there all day if I'd let him.  It was nice and shaded, plus there were bales of straw for the parents to sit on and rest while the kiddos played.  I caught sight of some amazing That Ain't Right Inspiration, so hop on over here to see a lady with her back barn door wide open.  I also had a conversation with a lady sitting next to me about what the difference is between hay and straw.  According to her, hay is what the animals eat, and straw is what they put down on the ground.  I'm still not sure what the difference is though.

Bradley with Grandma & Grandpa B

Bradley & Mommy

The quintessential Gentry's pictures on the truck- I have to get them every year!

Bradley's favorite part of the farm when I asked him was all the slides, and there were several.  

Not scared to sit in the tree this year

showing off his baby pumpkin

Our last activity at Gentry's for the afternoon was to head out to the pumpkin patch and pick our own pumpkin.  Last year, the Tennessee heat ruined the pumpkin crops, so there were none to be had.  This year, we came too early.  Even though Gentry's baited the field with orange pumpkins placed artfully by the edges of the rows, all the pumpkins still on the vine were green.  I took Bradley by the hand and lead him dutifully into the middle of the pumpkin patch, cautiously watching every place my foot touched.  The serpentine vines covering the ground only served to fuel my fears that we would catch sight of a snake, and be stuck out in the middle of a field!  Bradley, I said calmly, now if Mommy tells you to run, you Run Now, okay?  Luckily there were no reptiles seen on this venture.  But if there had been, man, I was ready!

Our Peter Piper who did not pick a pumpkin

So alas, my dreams of picking our own pumpkin today were shattered.  Oh well.  It was fun to look, and hands down, the activity section of the farm was well worth the $6.  It was a great way to spend this beautiful fall day.

DZ mini reunion

They say your college friends are the ones you keep forever, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Three of my sorority sisters, Amanda, Colleen, and Stephanie, drove down from Kentucky on Saturday to spend the night, and we had a fun evening out together.  We reminisced and laughed about old stories.  We caught up on each others' lives, and the lives of our fellow Delta Zetas (reporting what we had seen and heard through Facebook, of course) and even started to moan and groan about our newfound aches and pains as a result of getting older!  While sitting around the kitchen table talking, we actually had to Google what was in a Jaeger Bomb was because there was a dispute about what constituted one!  You know you're getting old when... :)  Another "senior" moment occurred at Drakes where we went to eat, when two of us asked our server if they could split a Red Bull.  The server kind of cocked her head to the side and said, "you mean, just a Red Bull, with no alcohol added in?"  Yep, you got it! 

It was a late dinner out, but an early night in for us that started at Drakes, and ended with us falling asleep on the couch watching Saturday Night Live!  What we did and where we went didn't matter.  It was the company that made all the difference.  You could say the Delta Zeta lamps are still burning bright and true for us. 

2011 Williamson County Fair

Sunday, we took advantage of senior day, and went to the Williamson County Fair. 

The "Seniors"

It was extremely hot, so we alternated doing indoor and outdoor activities.  Indoors, we looked at, and got to pet some of the animals.  One man let us pet his prize chicken.  "What's his name?"  I asked encouragingly, as Bradley pet the bird.  The man hesitated, looking at me, and then answered, "Buffalo Wild Wings!"  This would not be the first time I asked a stupefied male the name of his accompanying animal.  Minutes earlier, I paid $5.00 to let Bradley have a pony ride.  Really, I felt sorry for the ponies.  They're hitched together and only get to walk around in a circle under a tent.  Bradley and I walked up to a sweet looking pony, but for some reason, Bradley did not want to ride.  I tried to ease him into the situation, talking to him, and letting him pet the pony.  "What's her name?"  I asked the Hispanic man who took our money.  All I got in return was a blank stare, and a glance over to another carnie.  Ahh.  No habla Englais.  Okey dokey.  Even after making up a name for the pony ("Lady") and offering to stand right next to him while he just sat on the horse, Bradley was having nothing to do with it.  So the non-English speaking carnie sadly gave us back my 5 bucks, and we walked over to ride the Nemo Ride.

Now Bradley has been talking about the Nemo Ride for days- ever since I started pumping him up about the fair, and showing him This Video from last year, I warned him that we didn't want another repeat incident!  I explained that if he didn't want to ride any rides, and if he didn't think they were fun, then he didn't have to ride them!

Luckily, B was a little more into the rides this year.  The exceptions were the roller coaster- maybe a bit too brave on my part- and the panda bear ride, which was his last one for the night, and I think he was just exhausted.

Mom and I rode the Tilt-a-Whirl again.  Standing in line for the ride, I realized it was us, and a bunch of teenage boys!  We didn't care, and the ride operator got a kick out of us.  We spun our stomach in knots and screamed with childlike glee.



A repeat shot from last year

A group shot of the six of us

So what does a vegetarian eat at the fair?  Well I had a jumbo pretzel and a large lemonade.  Not the most complete meal, but really, we were just sort of snacking.  Bradley ate a cherry Italian ice, and sported a red mouth the rest of the night!

The kids exhibit was the same as last year, but it's really educational and fun.  The kids go from station to station, gathering "fresh produce" and ultimately selling it at the market to buy a treat of their choosing.  Pictured left is Bradley getting an egg from the chicken coop, brushing a sheep to collect wool, posing with Mommy in front of the corn, feeding the cow some corn kernels, milking the cow, and proudly displaying his ice cream sandwich, his purchase at the general store. 

Another indoor activity we stumbled upon, while looking for the Native American exhibit, that ended up being a bust, was this animated clown show.  She was corny, and not at all scary as some clowns often are.  She asked for volunteers, and to my shock, Bradley raised his hand to come up and participate.  Even more hilarious was that minutes after walking to the front, he remained in the "volunteer" position with his hand in the air!  It was precious.  Two teams of kids unrolled toilet paper rolls as fast as they could while the audience cheered them on. 

 

An evening treat of cotton candy amidst the lights of the midway



After our tickets ran out, we sat and listened to a mediocre bluegrass band play several songs.  How can anyone now enjoy live bluegrass music, I wonder?  It's a toe-tapping warm fuzzy of stringed instruments, and tight harmonies. 

Next year, we plan on going later so we can stay for the fireworks.  Our last ride of the evening was a speedy Gator ride back to our car, thanks to the volunteers driving guests to and from the parking lots.

Once home, Bradley proudly displayed his fair prizes.  He won 2 of the animals, picking up ducks, and popping balloons with darts, and Laura won him the snake playing a different game.  The snake he has named "Ott" which is what he names every single toy these days.  The others he named, Orange Dog, and Pig.  Very original, right?

After a long sweaty evening at the fair, the end of the night showers were a refreshing treat.

Locust invasion

What better way to suffer through the summer heat than to sit by the pool?  So that's what we did last weekend up in Indiana with the Huber/Harris clan.  My papa Huber used to say fondly curmudgeonly that the locusts were invading (aka in swarms) whenever our whole family would converge upon his house.  My cousin Ryan's fiance Whitney's shower was on Sunday, so on Saturday, the "locusts" headed north, and we took advantage of Lisa's pool.

While on the car ride up, Buzz Lightyear decided to break it down for us:

We stopped in Hawesville, Kentucky to see Russell, Vicky, and their 2 guinea pigs, Bert & Ernie before crossing over into Indiana.  We also raided Russell's garden and came home with some fresh veggies.  Russell made the joke that it was a good thing he'd worn his "good" wife beater for the picture! 

I had my heart set on a relaxing day by the pool, but with Bradley's new found enthusiasm for the water, he didn't so much want to stay in the shallow end of the pool!  It didn't help that he was watching his older cousins run and jump off the diving board, either.  Can you believe this is the same kid who wouldn't let me turn the sprinklers on the slip-and-slide on at the beginning of this summer?!

The gang:  Michael, Mom, and Lisa

 The Huber-Harris-Bradleys

 Thanks, Michael-Missy for bringing that ginormous container of cheese balls!  B really loved them.

 Jerry doing the famous "Harold Malone" dance

 Bradley with Addison, Braedon, & Garrick

Whitney's shower was held at the K of C on Sunday, and it was such a success that we had to leave and head back to Tennessee before she even opened her presents.  This weekend was somewhat of a challenge for me since I had just started my vegetarian diet.  Sunday, we made a Tasty Freeze run for lunch- a local burger joint up there, and I had to politely decline, even though a hamburger was sounding really good.  At the shower I almost reached for one of the meatballs that Lisa had made, but then I remembered my new eating regimen, and had to pass them up.  It's not that I will stick with the veggie diet forever perhaps, but I couldn't cheat once or twice on the first week and really say I was committed to trying this.  

 "Knights of Columbus, that hurt!"

While the girls went to the shower, the guys took the kids to see the fire trucks since my cousins and uncle are on the volunteer fire department.  I don't have the pictures for this venture yet (ahem, Michael!) but I can confirm that the loud noises startled Bradley and he cried!  Oh well.

My favorite quote of the weekend came from my cousin Garrick.  Another sibling told on him for having my aunt's iPhone. 

"But I wanted to play Angry Birds," he whined. 

"Well you know better- you're supposed to ask before you take my phone."  His response? 

"But you always say no!"  Made sense to me!

We had a great weekend.  Good times were had.  Jerry sent us home with a stockpile of veggies from his garden too (it was a great week to turn vegetarian with all the free fresh produce I was given!) And the wedding is just a month away- now all I have to do is find some wedding music to sing!