"mom, you shouldn't have given me an apple in my lunch!"

He came home with this baggie and the leftover apple in his lunch box.
The gory details according to Pete:
"There was blood all over the apple!"
Awesome way to lose a tooth, if I do say so myself.

after pete boarded the bus this morning

Jack gave a silly face (typical).

Ben gave a sweet smile!

Cue the melting heart!

1st grade pete

Twin brothers not included!

Pete chose the "gold" shirt to wear on his first day! His teacher was very kind and seemed like she'll be great. When I asked Pete how the day was, he said, "It was Awesome!"

This year I did something new and created a "Teacher Survival Kit" to give Pete's 1st grade teacher as a gift on the first day back to school. I don't know where I got the idea, but I'm sure I must have read about it somewhere?! I included some helpful things for the teacher including: energy bars, emergency quarters for the soda machine, Tylenol, "Airborne" (the supplement that is supposed to prevent illness if you take it when you just start to feel a cold coming on), hand sanitizer (the good smelling stuff), lip balm, gum, a package of travel tissues in a cute homemade tissue holder, a homemade lanyard in a fun material (since the teachers have to wear their ID badges at school), some fun teacher stuff like stickers, cute post-its, and a fun apple shaped timer I found at Target's dollar spot. Anyway, I had a lot of fun being creative with it and I think it turned out really cute (of course I didn't get a good photo of it- darn)! I will make it a tradition to do every year from now on.

while I was kayaking the harpeth river

I didn't take any photos of my outing with some great friends here in TN (argh!), but we had a blast! We canoed and kayaked for about 4.5 hours down the Harpeth River. It was so much fun to spend time with such great girls doing something so fun. It was my first time kayaking and I am hooked!

While I was kayaking the Harpeth River, Wade and the boys were hiking and playing at Machine Falls, TN. He diligently took some photos which I will now share.

you are now...

Crystal Falls (My favorite of the trip).

On the hike to Crystal Falls.

Crystal Falls family photo.

Yahoo Falls

Playing at Yahoo Falls (shoulda brought the swimming gear!)

Another shot of Yahoo Falls.

All aboard Big South Fork Scenic Railway, which took us to:

Blue Heron Mining Community.

Jack enjoying the ride.

Ben on the train.

On the BSF Railway.

Railway nap.

Twin Arch (One of the twins- aka "Brother Arch")

Three boys.
With headlamps.
In a cave.
At Twin Arches.

Ben sampling a bit of what we did for a good part of the trip.
(hint: HIKING!)

Lunch at Gentleman's Swimming Hole.

Arch Lake, Pickett State Park

Natural Bridge, Pickett State Park

A view from Hazard Cave.

Scene from Pickett State Park.

On the hike to Split Bow Arch.

Split Bow Arch

marrowbone lake & canoeing the harpeth river

July 3, 2010- Our first fishing trip in Tennessee! We had to buy all the gear: fishing license, poles, bait, etc. Since Wade is outfitted only for fly-fishing, even he needed a fishing pole. We brought some lunch and headed for a nearby family fishery called Marrowbone Lake. It was a great success. All three boys caught 2-3 fish each and absolutely loved it. The fish were small enough to make it necessary to throw them back (much to mom's relief) and the boys were happy to do so. I loved seeing how excited they were to reel in the fish and see what they caught.

Fisherman Jack

Food + Fishing = Fun!

Fisherman Ben


July 5, 2010- Our first family canoeing trip!

We took the boys canoeing on the Harpeth River with some friends. It was so much fun. We'll definitely be going again sometime (maybe a longer trip without kids).

There were plenty of places to stop and get out to play in the water.
The boys had a blast riding in the canoe and getting wet.
Jack and Ben playing in the water

Jack on the Harpeth River

tennesee life, part II

Walls of Jericho, June 2010

Beaman Park, June 2010