Magnificent Mississippi

In the downtown area of Memphis there is a place called Mud Island. Until recently we had never thought to take the kids, but last week when a friend gave me all the information necessary to make it an enjoyable and relaxing experience (i.e. where to park for free - and near by) I packed them in the car and off we went.

The entire river walk is a five block replica of the Mississippi river beginning from Cairo, IL to New Orleans, LA. Each 30" stride is equivalent to one mile on the actual river and the "1,000" mile journey ends at the "Gulf of Mexico" with a huge water fountain and play area.

Before we headed down I jumped on the computer and quickly learned how to make paper boats. Each boat lasted half way down the river and then folded into a pile of mush, at which point the kiddos adopted leaves as their personal ships. Next visit we'll know to bring lots more paper. In all of our venturing to find new local attractions in the different places we have lived, this area was without a doubt one of the neatest we have discovered.

Swimming Success

We began with a seven year old who could survive if necessary, and a five year old who refused to enter water without floaties and immediately desired a towel if even a splash of water came near her face.

Five swimming lesson later and..........

voila.

Haley's New Trick

Haley J is sure growing fast. Too fast.

I snapped these pictures the other day and thought I'd post them along with a video of Haley playing her favorite game.

Kentucky And Cousins

It's not frequent to get family living within a days drive from us, so, when Steven's sister Kathryn moved to Kentucky with her family we wanted to make the most of it. We have been able to see one another a few times and have enjoyed each visit immensely. At Thanksgiving we were even lucky enough to visit them, and, enjoy the company of another sister, Tamara, with her sweet family. That visit alone brought together twelve of the kids already thirty one cousins, and believe me, they were in complete heaven. Ryley definitely takes after her mother when it comes to leaving family gatherings because she proceeded to cry the entire drive home about how much she loved and missed her "friends". We promised then that she would get one more time with them before we or they move.

That time has come. They are now preparing a move to New York and the moment this news reached the ears of our daughters they began pleading for that visit. How can you say no to two little girls when the seven year old proclaims, "it will be the perfect finale to a wonderful summer", as the five year old jumps up and down behind her nodding yes over and over. Since Steven wasn't able to take off with such short notice I packed the kiddos in the car last Tuesday and headed out. The drive is about six hours but with snacks, movies, and an hour pit stop to run themselves ragged at a McDonald's playground, it went by in a flash. We of course had a fun and fantastic visit and hope that some day soon we will once again live at least a days drive, or closer, to our wonderful families and cousins.

Thatcher And Three

This past Sunday our sweet little Thatch turned three. We therefore spent Saturday in celebration of him and had a wonderful time doing so. The "Incredible Pizza Place" must be a child's dream because he followed in his sisters footsteps and chose it as the destination to kick off our day of celebration. We returned home after several hours to enjoy cake, ice cream and presents. He was set on having a smily face cake but didn't quite expect the surprise colors that awaited inside. It was great to see his happy reaction - but even greater to cut into it and find that it had actually worked. We opened presents shortly after and can only assume he is happy with our gift choices judging by the fact that he has yet to put any of it down and returned to the garage four times yesterday just to sit in his car and honk the horn.

Giving Thatcher his gifts this year was by far the most exciting aspect. As you know Thatch is surrounded by girls, and with girls comes a great deal of pink. With the exception of his train tracks and cars he has not yet shown strong interest in any specific "boy" toys. For the past few months I have been a fervent "Craigslist/Ebayer" and was able to purchase a variety of great boy toys for fantastic prices.

Thatcher has been such a blessing and gift to our little family. We are so grateful for his sweet smile that brightens every morning and for the joy he brings us each and every day. Happy 3rd Birthday Pal! We love you.

Lynette and the Lottery 2

I have always enjoyed theater and had a wonderful time seeing "Wicked". Steven could tell I really enjoyed myself and when I mentioned the possility of seeing it for a second time he told me to go for it. I tried to purchase a ticket online, but was met with sold out shows. I phoned the Orpheum to see if sold out truly meant sold out! It was expected, but disappointing, to hear her affirm there were no seats available. Just as I was about to hang up, she said: "Of course, you could always give the lottery a try. . . . "

My ears perked up- What? What's that!? A lottery! What lottery?! She proceeded to explain that each performance night they give away twenty tickets through a lottery. By "give away" I mean that you recieve a ticket and only have to pay $25, verses the base price of $40 for a seat in the balcony. To enter the lottery you needed to submit your name between 5:30 and 6, at which point at 6 o'clock sharp they would pull ten names. Might I add, for those of you who are long term readers of the blog, that this is NOT the same kind of lottery I swore off in high school (see previous blog on winning things). There was no down payment to 'play'. You only paid if you won a ticket.

Steven returned home around 4:45pm and asked if I was going. With such little time I had put the idea to the side and decided a quiet night at home would be enjoyable too. I mean, come on, I'm a mother of four and over thirty - days of carefree spontaneity seldom appear, or are quickly quelled by the demands of the children.

My dear husband wouldn't let me give up that easy. My friend Carolyn is the wife of another ophthalmology resident and Steven told me to give her a call and see if she would join my last minute adventure. Within five minutes I was dressed and out the door to pick her up and head downtown. We got outside the theater at 5:50 pm and Carolyn jumped out and ran to submit her name while I attempted to find parking. I passed a few lots that had $10 parking signs outside of them and decided to try my luck. I pulled into a lot, rolled down my window and said to the gentleman standing there, "Sir, I'll be honest with you. I have $30 in my pocket but if I actually win a ticket over there (pointing to the Orpheum) I will need to give them $25 of it immediately". He looked at me and back to the theater and said, "Park right over there and run for it". I did just that and made it to the line with five minutes to spare. What I thought would be a crowd of thirty or so was actually a mob of a hundred. I placed my name in the lottery barrel just in time.

At 6 o'clock they began calling names and the first five individuals called were men. Due to this fact, very little emotion was shown as the men would walk up quietly and be escorted inside. At this point from the crowd you hear, "hey, what about the ladies"? The man turned the barrel a few more times and then took out the sixth name. He said, " Oh, here's one finally. . . (This is the dramatic pause, do you think he will call my name? Wait for it. . . )

. . . Lynette Ballard"!

AHHHHHHH! Carolyn and I screamed and jumped and high-fived and screamed and jumped some more. Everyone was laughing at the sudden show of emotion. We were taken inside and given tickets and buttons that read, "I Won The Wicked Lottery." We called our husbands and screamed some more and Steven just laughed. We grabbed some dinner and returned to the theater to take our seats. Assuming our seats were in the balcony, and just happy to have a seat, we were surprised after handing our tickets to the usher when he escorted us down a ramp and into the "President's box"! The stage was right there! The orchestra was right there! Everything was right there! If I were to leap over the railing I could actually land the jump onto the stage, and not break my legs in the process.

The show was, of course, once again wonderful. A fantastic show and an adventurous night. Steven is amazed at my ability to win things. I may be the "lucky" one when it comes to winning things, but I feel truly blessed for my sweet husband who wasn't going to let me give up on something he knew I would enjoy - even if we are in our thirties.

Wonderfully Wicked

The musical "Wicked" was just as described above. Wonderful! On Tuesday night the girls had the opportunity to go on a date with Dad and Mom. We drove downtown for a nice dinner and then jumped on the trolley. It took us to the front doors of the Orpheum theater where we saw the broadway tour of "Wicked". We have loved listening to the music and could probably sing the entire show to you by heart - I said we could, but we won't. We had been told by many that this was an amazing production and to say the least we were not disappointed. The curtains closed and three hours had passed in the blink of an eye. It was a great evening and Steven and I were glad to have our "big" little girls along for the night.

Ryley and Kadyn on the trolly.

I have misplaced the camera charger and thus had a limited battery.

Right before the lady took our picture the camera died.

Luckily we were surrounded by nearly a hundred members of our church

and a friend was kind enough to take a picture for our memories.

(I put a few of our favorite songs on the playlist.)