Happy Turkey Day

I am so behind on my updates, sorry. Life has been a little crazy. Jona left for Mexico and my parents arrived to help with Hailey and to spend Thanksgiving with us. There are no words for how helpful they have been! Last weekend we all drive to Mississippi to visit Chris Perrin and family and while we were there Hailey chose to share her latest daycare bug (for her it was double ear infections) with everyone. Lots of tissues flying around and the constant noise of coughing children...a lovely time together, really :) Gammy got it first and still has the constant throat tickle, but Grampy got hit the hardest with pneumonia. Yep, thats right folks, I said pneumonia. See if they ever come visit us again! So we've been a snot filled bunch!

I worked Thanksgiving, so we just did our turkey day today. Gammy fixed quite a feast and Hailey is quite the fan of turkey smothered in gravy...and I mean floating in it. I am ready to fall sound asleep on the couch but I wanted to share the latest pics first. Let the holidays begin!!

Late Halloween Entry

I forgot to talk about our pre-Halloween adventures in my last post. The Sunday before Halloween we went to Gentry Farm which advertised it's pumpkin patch and 4 acre corn maze as the best in Nashville. Apparently they hadn't updated their ads post summer drought-please note the dead corn and lack of pumpkins. Sad, sad, sad times had fallen on Gentry Farm, but they had no problem with charging us to get in and go on the hay ride that involved NO hay and a few cows for our viewing pleasure. Not the best Sunday outing thus far.

So we bought our pumpkin at Publix and carved away. Hailey loved it and dug right in. We went with the cat theme for its face and for our first pumpkin I think we did a pretty darn good job.

Happy Halloween

There have been major developments since our last posting. Hailey started school two weeks ago and loves it! From the very first day she took over the joint and is now queen of the classroom. Her teacher loves her and there has not been a single tear shed over being left there. Apparently she really was ready. She asks everyday if she is going, and Jona says when he drops her off in the morning he can barely even get a kiss good-bye! Such a big girl. She is only there part time, but of course by the third day she already had a snotty nose...taking her antibodies!!

Halloween was great! Hailey was a kitty cat and thought she was pretty hot stuff when we trick or treated in our neighborhood. Of course, the best part was not the candy, it was the fact that almost every house had a puppy or kitty in the doorway, one even had a Great Dane- it was tough to pull her away.

I started work and can't decide if I'm going to like it or not. The hospital is very small and has a totally different feel from my last job, which is both a good and bad thing. I am in the newborn nursery, so I don't really get to work with moms as much anymore and I do miss the education part of things. We don't have neonatologists in house, unlike in Miami, so we the nurses are pretty much the be all and end all for the newborns. That both excites and terrifies me with every delivery I attend. I guess only time will tell which emotion wins out.

Jona leaves for Mexico in 4 days. He will be gone for a month to a town with no phones, no cell service, and no internet. Its going to be quite an adjustment for all of us and he is already dreading how much Hailey will grow up in that short amount of time. He is trying to convince me not to teach her anything new while he is away...don't think that's going to work out for us :)

Fall seems to have finally arrived. Our days are lovely and the leaves are starting to change. Hailey and I went on a walk this morning in Radnor Park and although this time we only saw one deer (the first time we saw 13!), it was still fun to have to wear our coats and have chilly fingers. Gammy and Bampa arrive next week and we're supposed to have our chilliest weather yet...I'm sure Dad will love that!

So, that's the skinny from Nashville. Hugs to everybody!!

What to do today...

We're not sure what we're going to do this afternoon, but I wanted to remind everyone how adorable my little girl is...

Now this is some serious multitasking- putting on make up while Dora flies like an eagle.

And clearly this meal included ranch dressing and she must consume every last drop.

Another busy Saturday

Well, so far Fall in Nashville is great! Its fun that every weekend we have to pick between so many different things to do. And they're all FREE! This Saturday we went to Biscuits & Bluegrass at the Loveless Cafe in the morning.

Nationally acclaimed and frequented by celebrities, world travelers and local appetites alike, the Loveless Cafe serves up award-winning country ham and red eye gravy, real Southern-fried chicken, and Nashville's favorite scratch biscuits with homemade preserves cooked right in the kitchen. (www.lovelesscafe.com)

There was a live Bluegrass band pickin' in the sun with fried chicken and your choice of sides being served on the porch. I mean really, can you beat that? Ok, yes. You can add pony rides in the back, face painting, and quaint little shops filled with everything from jam to Christmas ornaments! Sadly, Hailey was Grumpy Grumperstein so we didn't stay long, but we were there long enough to say that the biscuits were indeed the best we've ever had.

In the afternoon, after Sleepy Von Grumpybum refused to nap, we headed to Germantown for Octoberfest. What an adorable part of Nashville this turned out to be. Almost reminded me of New Orleans with the front porches and friendly people. Of course, instead of etouffee there was bratwurst, and instead of jazz there was polka, but the similarities were there nonetheless. If we're being honest though, Hailey's favorite part was the incredible number of puppies running around. Everyone had a dog and I think Hailey was sure she'd found a little piece of heaven.

Next week I'll be reporting on either the Music & Molasses Festival or Harvest Fest or Ghoul Days at the zoo or the local corn maze & pumpkin patch...so many options, so many Saturdays to fill.

Sometimes it seems like the only way out...

Poor guy. He is so tormented, this is what its come to.

Celebrating Fall in the heat

Yesterday was another great Nashville day. The three of us started the day at Cheekwood, a historic site that is now the home of an art museum and botanical gardens. This season they have decorated the grounds with a variety of scarecrows designed by various groups and artists. We only covered maybe half of the estate and it was beautiful. I would imagine that in the Spring when everything is in bloom it must be breathtaking. As for the weather we've been having, plants can't decide if they should blossom or die so there weren't too many flowers! But the scarecrows were fun and Hailey had a great time running up and down the pathways. We ended our morning there with a little adventure in the art room. Apparently every Saturday they do arts and crafts for kids, something different every week. This week was fish painting. And no, we weren't painting pictures of fish, we painted an actual fish. Yes, a dead fish. And then we used it as a sort of print to make our picture. Hailey thought it was a riot just to play in the paint, I think it was kind of gross, but the picture is hanging on the fridge either way :)

After that we headed to Centennial Park for the annual Celebration of Cultures. We expected something a little bigger, but it was still fun. There were a couple of stages set up with different kinds of music and dancing and an area where local organizations had booths set up with info and crafts of their respective countries. All that and international fair food too! Entrance to the Parthenon was also free for the weekend. The Parthenon is in the middle of the park and is supposed to be an exact replica of the original. Strange that it is in Nashville, I agree, but there it stands. Inside there are replicas of different statues and an ENORMOUS recreation of the goddess Athena as it stood in the Parthenon in Athens. By enormous I mean 42 feet tall and decked out in a gold robe flanked by a serpent. Even stranger I swear. I'm glad I've seen it so now I don't have to wonder, but I'm even happier that it was free.

The only downside of the day was the oppressive heat. I mean, we moved out of Miami, why is it 90 in October. We went through many popsicles at the fair and Hailey passed out cold as soon as we put her in her air conditioned car seat. Bring on the seasonal shift PLEASE!