Just a few more aquarium pics

Easter (Part 2)

I really like this picture of Scott and Will, but Scott said that he didn't realize how old he looks!
The Pitt family: Hillary, Levi, Evelyn, and Adam

Oh, my, here comes trouble!
Sarah, Josh, Hannah, Will
Josh, Sarah, Evelyn, Will, Levi, Hannah
Happy Easter! We are off to church!After church, we headed home for Easter dinner. My parents drove down from Memphis after their early service to join us. We also had the Stephensons, our friend Darren (in from Louisville), and the McCallums. I wish I had taken a group picture!!!


Scott and Adam after lunch and getting ready to go shoot
H & H, Inc.
The girls with their Papa (my dad).
Levi on the tractor... Country boy stuck in Memphis! :)

Easter (Part 1)

We had a great end to our Easter break... My sister and her family came to spend Easter weekend with us! The kids love playing with their cousins, Evelyn and Levi! Evelyn and Levi are 13 months apart like my first two, and it is funny to see them and remember how crazy things were for me. Levi LOVED the chickens... when they got to our house on Saturday, he did not want to come inside! We grilled out deer burgers, and the guys went shooting.

Here we are at breakfast on Easter morning.... Hannah, Josh, Will, and I enjoying some sourdough rolls.

Sarah, lookin' cute in her bunny ears...
More from the breakfast table... My boys' expressions got me tickled in this picture... typical.
Adam with Levi and Evelyn before church
Hannah and Evelyn before church

Favorite Day

When we arrived home from Chattanooga, I got a special surprise... My book orders had all come in! Hooray!!! This is always my favorite day of the year! I love unpacking the books and seeing all of the fun things we will read and do in the next school year!

I realize that this year is not even complete, but I like to have my order completed and on hand by the beginning of summer. That way, I can spend a few weeks over the summer working on my history syllabus, reading lists, and other lesson plans.

Chattanooga Day 3 (Part 2)

Christy... this is for you! Here is the picture of the house. In the photo of the original house, there was no chimney, and the house was only one room deep... You could see a ladder propped up on the back of the house in the photo, and from the upstairs the way it is now, it looked like the first way of accessing the loft area was from the outside. At some point, they doubled the depth of the house, adding another bedroom, indoor stairway, bathroom, and kitchen across the back. Later, an enclosed porch/laundry area was added. At some point the porch was changed from just a lean-to type roofline to the gable roof that you see now. You can see the hill going straight up in the background, and the spring and springhouse are just behind the house, a little to the left. (not in the picture)

More pictures from the Children's museum... They had an art area where the kids could participate in a lesson and do some other hands on activities. This is Josh working on his painting.

In the hands on area, the boys spent quite a while working with clay and sculpting. There were pictures of famous pieces of art all around, and the boys were excited to see and recognize the Mona Lisa and the Arnolfini Marriage.... Here is Will and his hut (upstairs had been an exhibit about different types of housing)
Josh working with his clay piece
The rooftop was my favorite area. I don't know if it was because I enjoy physics, rainbow colors, or sunshine... probably mostly the sunshine! It was a beautiful day! There were several different hands on ways of demonstrating machines: levers, pulleys, etc... Here's Josh pulling himself up using a rope and pulley.
Sarah and Ben worked together to lift a very large ball quite high using a series of pulleys.
There was also a bubble blowing place on the rooftop. The man in the picture was filling up the tank while we were there... Bev and I were cracking up because he started singing, "Who can make a rainbow... the bubble man can," and being really goofy.
Will using the pulley chair...
This was a neat screw demonstration that required the kids to work together and spin themselves around at the bottom. Sarah, Olivia, Josh, and John were working on this one.
Ben, Will, and Sarah in this tall tower/observation area.
Once we got back to the house, I was ready to put my foot up and take a break. (Will and I on the porch) The kids were not as worn out as the grown ups, and they spent about 3 more hours playing cowboys outside!
The next morning we headed out very early to get home to Mississippi. Thanks, Norm and Bev for your hospitality! We all had a wonderful time, and my children sure enjoyed playing with yours! :)

Chattanooga day 3

The next day, we geared up and headed back downtown for the Children's Museum. Here are the kids on the front steps. On the top row: Rob, Will, and Josh Bottom Row: Olivia, Sarah, Jon, and Ben


Above: Ginny and I waiting to go in to the exhibits.
Olivia, Rob, and Josh posing under the arch we built.


Josh (with his picture face) at the archeology exhibit. They had several bones buried under sand, and kids could "excavate" with paintbrushes and little brooms.

There was also a water works exhibit. The kids got to experiment with locks and dams.

Chattanooga Day 2 (Part 1)

When we got up the next morning, we had breakfast and headed off to the aquarium. Here we all are right outside. From left to right: Sarah, Olivia, Rob, Jon, Will, Josh, Ben

Whenever we try to take Josh's picture, he doesn't look directly at the camera, and we never get his eyes open. After much coaxing, we usually end up with an expression like this one above. The one below is typical of the first three or so tries!
There was a touch tank area in the salt water building where the kids could touch a stingray and a small shark!


We also got a very special treat! Beverly knew the penguin trainer at the aquarium, and we got to have a behind the scenes look at the penguins and several other animals. Here is Will posing with a corn snake!