Take Me Back to Tennessee: Out and About

Since we moved back to Tennessee we've had a pretty significant increase in social outings, just for the simple fact that we know so many more people here. Here are some of the fun things we've done out and about this winter...

We have a couple of activities we do regularly each week. On Tuesdays we go to Kindermusik, which is a little music class for toddlers. Wilder loves his teacher, Mrs. Peggy, who he calls "Miss Pinky", and he gives her the biggest, sweetest hugs when we leave every week.

Then on Thursdays we go to storytime at the library. Wilder insists on being front and center for the stories.

Wilder absolutely loves going to the Children's Museum here in Memphis. He's always asking to "Go back to museum!"

Flying the FedEx airplane just like his Granddaddy

The only picture I could get of Wilder and Mason

together. They are constantly running in two

different directions.

There were some "worker men" installing a

new exhibit and Wilder sat there and watched

them like they were the exhibit. The boy does

love tools!

Talking into the CB radio like it's a phone haha :)

We've also been to a new indoor play place called KidsPlay in Germantown quite a few times with different friends when the weather was bad.

Wilder and Graham

So proud of him for being able to climb up

the rope ladder to the slide all by himself!

Stacked them all up...

...and then knocked them all down.

Over and over and over.

Doing a little bouncy house dance

Wild man

Coming down hot!

As part of Wilder's Christmas, my mom gave us tickets to see Clifford, the Musical at the Orpheum so we did that back in February. We went downtown early and ate dinner at Aldo's Pizza Pies, which was totally delicious. They had a window where you could watch the guy working with the pizza dough. When he saw Wilder and me watching him, he brought out a small ball of dough for Wilder to play with. That was better than any restaurant's crayons any day!

Wilder and Clifford ready to go!

After dinner we walked down the street to the theater. It was packed with kids and Wilder was so so excited!

Wilder couldn't keep his eyes off the

theater's beautiful ornate ceiling

But then the show started and he

couldn't keep his eyes off the stage :)

Bravo, Clifford, bravo!

I think it's safe to say that Clifford

electrified Wilder! ;)

We've seen our friends, Pat and Alicia, and their son, Declan, a few times this winter. It's hard to coordinate our schedules sometimes because they both work in the medical field but when we are able to get together we always have fun with them. Wilder and Declan are such good little buddies!

A few weeks ago my mom worked at the West Tennessee Farm and Gin Show like she does every year. I was so excited to take Wilder this year because I knew how in awe he would be of all the different machinery, etc. Wilder had an amazing time, so much so that he coerced Paul into taking him back again the next day! The show definitely did not disappoint and Wilder is still talking about it.

"Hoooge!" Wilder proclaimed.

Wilder was in heaven in this tractor and

sat in there playing for a solid 30 minutes.

With his walking stick one of

the booths gave him.

Little explorer contemplating Memphis.

After the show we went up to my mom's hotel room to

rest before dinner. Wilder made himself right at home ;)

Riding the trolley down the street to

dinner with a worn-out Wilder.

A few weekends ago KidsPlay hosted a pizza dinner with Spiderman. When I found out about it I signed us up right away. Wilder is totally obsessed with Spiderman so I knew he would have a blast. And he did. He got to give Spiderman a high-five and he followed him all over that play place just watching him. It was so cute how excited and amazed he was! By the way, when asked if he thought Spiderman would eat pizza, he answered, as if it were the most logical thing in the world, "No, no, Spiderman wear mask. Can't eat 'fru' (through) mask."

Mid-high-five with Spiderman. Saweeet! ;)

He's holding it together but,

really, he's freaking out inside ;)

Stalking Spiderman, part one

Stalking Spiderman, part two

Stalking Spiderman, part three

(Funniest thing about this picture

is that, in all the times we've been to

KidsPlay, Wilder has never wanted to

jump in the bounce houses... until

Spiderman wanted to jump in the

bounce houses, that is.)

Such a fun little family date night!

(Wilder still with one eye on Spiderman.)

Wilder's friend, Graham, was there!

So genuinely happy. This smile

makes me smile :)

Wilder in the bounce house with his

friends, Graham and Brooks.

~~~~

Paul and I have also had a few chances to get together with old friends over the last few months. It has been good for us to get out again as a couple and socialize.

A couple of months ago our old college buddy, Tavis, who is also good friends with my brother, and his friend, Ryan, came and stayed at my mom's house to hunt with the guys. We hadn't seen Tavis in like 6 years so it was really good to catch up with him and let him meet Wilder. Wilder loved showing off for the guys and was so funny calling Tavis' friend "other Tavis."

We also went to a going away party for our friend, Beau, who was moving to Virginia. The party was at a bar in downtown Memphis called Earnestine and Hazel's... that is a converted 1920's brothel. Very little has been updated or changed about it -- plaster is peeling off the walls and the bathrooms still have old rusty clawfoot bathtubs in them. It was kind of a creepy place but kind of cool and we had a good time visiting with friends.

A few weekends ago, my mom watched Wilder for us (Thank you, Grana!) and we hosted a good, old-fashioned country bonfire at our house and had about 10 friends over. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and had some delish sides contributed by some of the guests. I had put together little S'mores kits so that was fun and delicious as well. And we served some of Paul's homebrews among other libations. It was cold but not too cold and the fire was robust and hot. We hung out around it for the entire night, listening to music and just visiting. It was super lowkey and we had several requests to do it again.

Wilder had fun helping to prepare for

the party and was quite disappointed

to learn that he was not invited ;)