The update

Usually, I would post each day as a separate adventure, but this time I'm doing it all together because I don't have as many photos as I normally do. We chose to pack lightly and that meant bringing just one camera.... the new one. It hasn't been too much a problem ... until the day that I took 150+ photos and somehow accidentally lost them from the camera and memory card. I don't know HOW it happened, so I am not too sure how to keep it from happening again. I decided that I would make the most of the situation, count it an advantage that I don't have hundreds of photos to sort through, and I found a few online that represent some of our favorite moments that didn't get saved on my memory card.

We headed north to Memphis, Tennessee, for spring break. Saturday, we seemed to drive all day long -- the drive, without stopping, is supposed to be a little less than seven hours. But, like we often do, we made the stops part of the adventure. We stopped for lunch at a unique cafe in Little Rock, Arkansas (one we would probably visit again if we are ever in the area: The Root.) After our tasty lunch, we drove a few miles farther, and stopped at a charming park for a couple letterbox stamps. The park was quite pretty, but on this beautiful Saturday spring day, everyone seemed to have the same idea. There were at least three couples getting engagement photos done, a few families having portraits made, and lots of other people exploring and stopping in front of each pretty scene. Our kids had fun exploring the mill, climbing to the second floor, crossing the bridges made of concrete (but created to look like wild vines and logs.) Maddie, Ben, and Jon found a rock that they kept roaring from; when I asked what they were doing, they said they were playing Lion King. After we stamped our journal and stretched our legs, we were back on the road heading north. (PS: if you think Pugh's Old Mill looks familiar, it is in the opening credits of Gone With The Wind.)

We arrived at the hotel before dinnertime, but by the time we unloaded the car, we were all hungry. We headed to a nearby (and highly recommended) barbecue joint, but the line was too long, so we got it to go. It was quite a challenge to feed the kids ribs at a small table with one large stool and two chairs while Allen and I ate at the couch, but it was tasty enough to be worth the efforts. After dinner, we all played a couple games before bedtime.

We contemplated going to church on Sunday, but with time "springing forward", we slept too long to get to church on time. The weather was supposed to be stormy most of the day, so we planned indoor activities for the whole day. After breakfast at the hotel, we went to the Children's Museum of Memphis and had the place to ourselves for awhile. This kids museum wasn't as science-oriented as many we've been to, but there were plenty of fun things for the kids to do. The Mississippi River model and the kid-scale grocery store (with working cash registers that scanned and printed receipts for what the kids "bought") were big hits, but we spent most of our time at the airplane: the kids pretending to fly from the cockpit, Allen helping them with the flight simulator, or taking turns trying to get a model to lift in a wind tunnel. Allen and I got plenty of laughs as we watched the kids dance on the green screen -- they were watching themselves on a music video and they thought they were pretty great dancers. Allen tried to video part of it because some of Will's moves were impressive (in a good way.) Another fun part was the pretend bank near the AutoZone. The kids loved sending the canister through the vacuum tube to the teller.

After lunch at the Eclectic Cafe -- a tasty lunch, but the service was slow enough the owner noticed and brought us a box of donuts (their specialty) -- we went to the Pink Palace Museum. This museum was not a hands-on museum like most of the ones our kids have been to, but there was plenty to keep their attention for most of the time. One of the first things we saw was a hand-carved moving circus. We walked through a full-scale replica of the first Piggly Wiggly grocery store and learned that Piggly Wiggly was the first self-service grocery store. The boys were amazed by the mastodon and T-rex bone models, and Maddie and I oohed and aahed about the beautiful rocks and gems.

The kids were cranky after a full day of walking, and all of us were ready to go when the museum closed for the evening. When we left, the rain was pouring from the sky, but what a beautiful rainbow we saw!

We finished the day with pizza, then headed back to the hotel for a couple rounds of StarFluxx (a game) before bedtime.

Monday, we headed to the Civil Rights Museum and learned a little bit about Civil Rights Movements in the USA. The part of the museum we saw focused mainly on the events leading up to, surrounding, and after the assassination of MLK at the Lorraine Motel where the museum is.

All the kids studied MLK at school the week before Martin Luther King, Jr., Day in January, so they understood at least a little bit of what they were seeing. The favorite part of the cold day for all the kids was riding the trolley. When we left the Civil Rights Museum, we boarded a trolley downtown and rode it to Beale Street to find some lunch. We planned on eating at one place, but since it didn't open until dinnertime, we took the recommendation of a local and ate at a Beale Street cafe.

After lunch, we faced the cold wind again to walk a few blocks to the Rock and Soul Museum. After a short video about the history of music in Memphis, we were each given a headset to walk around the museum and listen to. We showed the kids how to punch in the number at the display they wanted to learn about, and when they figured out how to listen to different music at each station, they started really having fun. One of the first songs they loved was the Mule Boogie -- all of them were dancing and wiggling as they listened to the catchy beat. Overall, this was a great stop for our family, especially since the kids could choose their pace and their tunes. Interestingly, all the photos showed someone moving (a blur) because they were always dancing with some part of their body.

After the Rock and Soul Museum, we walked to the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks in the lobby. We thought we might wait for the five o'clock parade to the elevator, but we decided not to wait the hour and a half. We got back on the old-fashioned trolley and just took the loop tour of downtown and the riverfront. Since we had a long ride, I was able to enjoy all the details of the old stained wood and brass inside the trolley (my pictures disappeared, though.) The kids enjoyed switching seats often to get the best view of the buildings, bridges, and barges on the Mississippi. (This is not my photo, but it is of the trolley we rode.)

When we got back to the hotel, we celebrated Allen's birthday with cards and gifts and hugs and kisses. Dinner was at the hotel, then we played one of the new birthday games until bedtime.

Our fourth day was, thankfully, a bit warmer, and we spent the whole day at the zoo. All of us had clear favorites, but those were among the lost photos, so I'll have to just explain it all without the fun pictures. When we got to the stingray exhibit, we learned that it was $5 to see and touch them (about the same as the camel rides.) We let each of the kids choose which event they wanted to do. Ben really wanted to see the rays, so he and I got tickets to go in. He was a bit timid at first, but once he realized the sting rays wouldn't hurt him, and we kind of neat to touch, it took quite a bit of effort from me to keep his sleeves dry. He loved the stingrays! Meanwhile, Allen and the other three were enjoying watching the penguins show off while a zookeeper fed them. After Ben and I joined them, Jon started having a tantrum because he changed his mind. The tantrum continued long after the warnings, so, sadly, he didn't get to ride a camel, either. Will and Maddie had a blast riding the camel. Several weeks ago, the younger kids had been asking about camels, and they were already excited that they would get to see real camels at the zoo in Memphis, but when they learned (at the zoo) that they could ride them, they were ecstatic. Will and Maddie rode the same camel and smiled wonderfully for all the pictures I took (then lost.) Lunchtime was another fun treat, as we sat by the windows in the cafe. The windows were shared by the gibbons enclosure, and something about our kids attracted two of the silly black animals with white beards. The two gibbons sat in the window next to our table and made faces and gestures at us almost the entire meal. The kids laughed and laughed, and that ended up being Jon's favorite part of the whole day. We all enjoyed watching the polar bear eat fish and the panda nap, and, in general, we had a terrific day! As we were leaving, someone helped us get a family photo in front of the zoo entrance, and that was the only one that survived the mysterious photo blip. (All the zoo photos except the family picture are NOT mine, but here to remind us what we enjoyed.)

That evening I was frustrated. The kids were super cranky after another day of a lot of walking, I was upset that I lost the photos, and at bedtime, we realized Ben's blankie was missing (it showed up the next night). We decided the next morning would be some chill-out time. After breakfast, we all played a round of cards, then I went back to our room to do my Bible study while Allen hung out with the kids in the dining area of the hotel. They played and colored and read while we also waited for the day to warm up a bit.

Our fifth-day adventure was on the Mississippi River on a blustery day. Though we intended to enjoy the riverboat ride from the outer deck, it was tough to endure the cold wind for long, so we retreated to the inside and listened to the hour-and-a-half lesson about the history of the Mississippi River near Memphis. It was a nice break since we didn't have to walk TOO much, but we did have an uphill hike of several blocks to get lunch before the ride. We were glad that getting back to the boat was downhill after our tummies were filled.

Our sixth day was my favorite, and Allen reminded me that it had a lot to do with the beautiful, sunny, warm weather. We started the day slowly, but we arrived at the Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum just as it opened. The museum did not allow us to take pictures inside, so I didn't get many photos at that stop. A tour guide walked our small group (at that point it was a group of about 12, but by the end of the tour, there were probably 30 people) from one room to another in a house that was actually a stop on the Underground Railroad.

The first room had a collection of artifacts, going back about 300 years, of items such as shackles, balls and chains, whips, and ledgers of slave sales. Another room had a wall full of photocopied want-ads for runaway slaves, newspaper advertisements for slave auctions, and lists of traits of the "merchandise" to be sold or traded. Our guide explained more about what some of the terms meant and how the merchandise was valued or discounted. She also showed pictures of the boats that brought Africans to America and explained the conditions on the ships. The next large room was full of quilts, and we sat down to learn about the codes that the handmade blankets had within their designs -- I learned a lot that day, as I didn't know that all the quilt patterns I've heard of were actually symbols that helped the slaves attempt to reach freedom. As we listened to the tales and looked at the colorful quilts, a second lady joined the tour. She was there to represent Harriet Tubman and sang, unaccompanied, with a deep smooth voice. As she sang, several others were joining the tour, so Allen and I scooted over and pulled Ben and Jon to our laps (Maddie and Will were in the front row, just in front of us.) As she belted out "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," many of us closed our eyes to listen. "...Swing low....sweet...char...eee...ooot... Coming for to carry me...home!...Swi...ing...low....sweet .... char...eee....oot.... Coming....for...to ....car...ry....me........" As she took what I considered to be a dramatic pause, my youngest considered it a fill-in-the-blank. As the large group took a collective sigh and waited for her to belt out the last work, from Allen's lap came a six-year old voice bellowing out "Hooooome!" in a tone that almost matched hers. The singer looked up, clearly surprised, as I looked down and hid my embarrassment in my scarf. Thankfully, she took Jon's singing as a sign that he was paying enough attention to actually participate, and he beamed as she invited him to the front to join her on the rest of the songs. He didn't actually know any others, but he leaned into her embrace as the two of them swayed to another of her songs. On one song, she invited several men up to help sing -- men she hoped would have a deep, strong voice. When they came up to sing "Let my people go!" She had Ben join them, too, but she put Jon up on the stool because he was singing so enthusiastically -- at that point, she invited me to take some pictures. It was quite a show!

We finished touring the house, and even went into the basement where the slaves would have hidden. It was hard not to get emotional as our large group was silently crowded into a dark basement to hear about the realistic fears the slaves had as they hid. With all the encouraged participation from the kids, and with all the lessons they learned, I was impressed with the outing.

We had a tasty lunch, then we headed for the Memphis Botanical Gardens for the afternoon in the sun. I had a chance to walk around some of the other areas, but mainly, we were here for the playground, and that's where we spent the next three and a half hours. The kids LOVED playing in the treehouses and several different styles of playhouses (the one with all the music makers was a lot of fun! Allen loved the giant worm statues on the side of the hill near some tunnels under gardens (and showing up uninvited in my picture). They loved running across the river area that had carvings of animals. They loved hula hooping -- Will, who we already knew was really good at hula hooping, even got five hoops to spin at once, but he did complain that his abs hurt the next day. Ben was happiest in the sandbox, until all four discovered some trees made the perfect fort! I really enjoyed a chance to play with my new camera on different types of shots, and Allen and I got a little bit of (sort-of-just a little bit of) quiet time on a garden swing while the kids played hard.

I LOVE this toothless grin!

What a day! Did I mention it was my favorite of the week? We ended the day at a barbecue place, then headed back to the hotel. The next morning, we loaded up the car after breakfast and headed home.

It is good to be home. It is nice to have my own bed back... and a backyard and playroom for the kids to be loud and rambunctious. Looking back over the week, I would definitely recommend Memphis to other families -- there really is so much to do there, and so much we didn't get to do in the limited time we had. Though I know we all learned a lot about history this week, one thing I learned that I MUST remind myself is that it is tough staying in a hotel with four kids. Well, maybe it isn't tough to stay, but it is tough to enjoy. I found myself almost always shushing them because the walls were thin and I didn't want to disturb others. It is much easier to stay in a house where I don't feel like I have to be so controlling of the vocal volume and stomping and where we each have a bit more space to spread out and not drive each other bonkers.

When they say March always comes in like a lion or a lamb, I know they are usually talking about weather; but somehow, it seems appropriate to say our schedule has come in like a lion as we have been really busy.

The last day of February, Will had a field trip to the art museum because one of the projects the school was doing combined art, math, and language arts. There was a tour of the current exhibit, and the kids learned about impressionistic art -- landscapes and portraits, then they did a quick art project that reinforced some of the lessons they learned on the tour.

Friday, March 1st, Will had a presentation day at school for science. The assigned project was to design an exhibit for Discovery Science Place (the local children's science museum) that uses simple machines. Usually his project teams are made up of the third- and fourth-graders in his class, but this time was a bit different. Every team had four people, with at least one each from third, fourth, and fifth grades. At first, Will wasn't crazy about being the youngest in his group, but it wasn't long until he was boasting about how much fun it was to work with this team and how well they worked together. On presentation day, parents were able to see all the exhibits "in motion," and the science museum sent representatives to select seven (from Will's campus) to actually be displayed at the museum one weekend. Will was a bit upset his team's project wasn't selected, but he had enough fun with the project to make up for any disappointment.

Friday night, our family and a friend of Will's (who might as well be considered family by now) went to see the a musical production of The Jungle Book. It was fun for all of us, but the kids loved it! Afterwards, we stopped for a sweet frozen treat.

Our weekend was a flurry of home-bound busyness as we were scrambling to get all the things done we haven't had a chance to do: cleaning, laundry, sorting through all the kids' and adults' clothes, mowing and yard work, refilling bird feeders and baths, putting up another bluebird house, and getting ready for the rest of March since it will be so busy.

Monday morning, I took the younger kids to school while Allen took Will and Kaleb. Then I headed to Will's school to help set up for another presentation day. The school kids were all really excited to show the projects that combined art with math. In math, the third and fourth graders were studying geometry (shapes, symmetry, angles, and patterns.) This was also the first art project that the kids got to decide what they wanted to make -- that is what I think they LOVED about the art. They did some drawings in math, and in language arts, they've been working on essays describing why arts are important in schools. The prompt they were given was something along the lines of "many schools are cutting funding for the arts because they feel like math, reading, writing, and science are much more important. Do you feel this is a good idea or not? Why?" Though I haven't seen the finished essay yet, the kids had posted some poems about shapes and angles, and Will has been talking with me a lot about why art is an important part of education.

Will's group made a model of the Titanic. I was fascinated with the details he shared with me the last few weeks as they have been working on this at school. One day, he explained their team was disappointed that they didn't estimate the size of part of the ship correctly. The Titanic had four smoke stacks and they only had room for three. He further explained that the real ship only had three working stacks and the fourth was for decoration -- to make the ship look more powerful that it really was. He continued to explain details that I never knew (which isn't saying much, since all I know was that it was a big ship that wasn't supposed to sink-- I didn't even watch the movie.) When I asked how he knew all this, he looked at me like I was silly and told me that of course, their team looked it all up.... just because. His art teacher later explained that the kids really wanted the inside to be accurate and tried to construct part of it correctly even though it wouldn't be seen. These kids had big smiles when they told passers-by about their Titanic and the angles and shapes and lines of symmetry. They were quite proud and had reason to be. At the end, the teacher asked to keep their project (other groups decided someone would take the projects home) and I think the plan is for her to help them submit it to an arts festival later this year.

Here are a few other sculptures I really enjoyed (each scale on the snake is a separate origami triangle! and the guitar-thingy is made mostly of crushed aluminum foil):