Rainbow Brite is back!!!

Do you remember her? 1980 something? That doll? All those colors??? Well, Mike and I spent the day with her! Riley announced this afternoon that she had "the perfect outfit" for our first bike ride at Shelby Farms.

I've realized a positive about the move is that we know NO ONE and it's a little liberating at times (she wouldn't have gone to the mailbox in this ensemble in Powell). Her very essential foam visor was glittery, she donned not one, but two Mickey Mouse rings and a Mickey bracelet. She also took her cell phone (even offered to let me use it if I needed to make a call) and carried it in a purple beaded holder. She hears her own drum for sure!

We had heard about this Shelby Farms place, but hadn't had a chance to check it out until now. WOW! It's 4500 acres (yep, a 4500 acre park exists in Memphis)! It has bike trails, playgrounds, picnic areas, lakes with boats you can rent, and bison...I'll type it again so you'll believe it...
b i s o n...Very large creatures, sorta buffalo like, but exciting to see one up close (and in a park for goodness sake)! That's not the only odd animal I encountered this weekend. Making my way to the grocery store yesterday and saw a blob of sorts in the middle of a 4 lane road. I glance over and there is an armadillo, yep, I'll type it again too
a r m a d i l l o....dead in the middle of the road. I swear I had to look at the GPS to make sure I wasn't in New Mexico. Brian assures me
that they do exist here (great, yet another critter...I'm not a buggy, critter loving type of gal). YIKES! We (Rainbow Brite, Mike and I) rode about 5 miles on 2 different trails and stopped for a picnic lunch. It was a terrific place and we plan to utilize the "kite flying field" later this fall. They have horses and stables too, but we didn't get over that way.
















She caught a cat nap on the way home...wish I could have, but being crammed into the "extra cab" of the truck isn't really conducive to napping!

Salty Dog for Poppy!

Step 1: Lay you left ear on your left shoulder (b/c I'm a
dumb butt and can't rotate my video)
Step 2: Click the arrow in the middle of the frame and you may have to click the arrow in the bottom left.
Step 3: See our girl sing "Salty Dog" just like Charlene Darlin on the Andy Griffith Show. Her Poppy has been singing that to her since our first trip to the Salty Dog on HHI when she was 2 years old. She's waiting in line to get her face painted right outside the Salty Dog!
Step 4: Call my dad and ask him how many times he's watched it! :) Love you Poppy!

This little piggy went to school!!!!!

It will be brief, but I'll catch up with vacation details later (you know for the 2 of you that actually look at the blog that weren't on vacation with us)! Big girl took her registration papers down to Lewisburg Elementary School (home of the Patriots) ...sparked some thoughtful questions about patriots and patriotism, etc. that 5 years of college couldn't help me form an answer to satisfy little miss inquisitive. After dropping off her paperwork and listening her tell her principal (she had no idea who this woman was) that "we just moved from Knoxville, Powell actually because my daddy got this great new job and I was going to Copper Ridge Elementary with my friend Riley Marie, she was my neighbor at my old house, I'm really excited about Kindergarten, my whole name is Riley McKennaLittleton..." I think it was about here that I kindly cut her off and ushered her out the door to spare the poor woman any more details. Should have let her keep talking, maybe she could have mentioned her mommy used to teach elementary school and is currently wondering what she'll do with her "days off" while Riley is at school.

We went to Target with her first official "school supply list" in hand and she was super excited. You know I wasn't afraid to bust out the camera right there:
The list had 10 glue sticks on it and they were on sale if you bought the packages of 2 each. She thought she was so grown up counting by 2's and throwing them into the buggy. Hee Hee!

Once my, I mean her, excitement had worn off we were off for lunch with Mike. We ate at Newk's (great place, come see me and I'll take you there) and went on home. We had TONS of rain yesterday and last night (the creek is rolling, we like it!) so my little piggy donned her rubber boots and found her some mud on the vacant lot next door. She was having too much fun!

Friends and Fun on the Fourth!

Ignore Kate's hand in the corner of this VERY BLURY picture.

Mike, Riley and I were lucky enough to have our best friends in for the 4th of July! Kate, Jim, Carson and Campbell arrived midday on Friday and the kiddies played to their hearts content! Aunt Liz brought Broc and Baylor down for a while and the kids jumped on the trampoline and Mike cooked Beer Brats for he and Jim. They both said they were yummy and taking into account that they cooked 6 servings and they were all gone (can't count the 1/2 of one that was left) I would deduce that they were in fact tasty! Kate,the kids and I opted for an old fashion all beef weenie.

Saturday morning we all hung out a while and loaded up to go see the famous Marching Ducks at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. The guys dropped us at the door (thank goodness) and we ran into the lobby. We sorta missed the "official grand entrance" but the kids didn't really realize that and were very content to see the ducks. Once the crowd cleared out, (yep, you wouldn't believe the crowd of crazy people like us who apparently needed to fill a void by watching ducks walk a red carpet) we got to spend lots of time with the ducks and fountain and even met the "duck master".


After saying goodbye to the ducks, we walked down to Beale Street. We didn't stay long, but rather decided it would be best to visit a more "family friendly establishment" for lunch. Once we left downtown, we grabbed a little ice cream and and went home to get ready for our evening. We grilled BBQ ribs (Riley was offended that her daddy and uncle Jim ate piggies, but since we had a designated "kids table" she didn't have to look at them) and I fixed homemade potato salad and cole slaw. The kids had a blast "building their own desserts"
...and then we were off to the Olive Branch Fourth of July Celebration. There were a few inflatables there and the kids did those and the guys got them an icee while we waited on the fireworks. Carson, Campbell and Riley loved them! It was quite an elaborate display and we thought it was lengthy for a small town celebration.
We got back LATE and got in bed EVEN LATER before I was awakened by our first storm in our new house. Mike made fun of me b/c I turned on our weather radio at3am (you know, the guy with the funny computerized voice that says, "The National Weather Service has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the following counties...").

We "played at home" most of the day and went to see Riley's school and had some ice cream before our sweet friends had to leave. We're still dreaming up a plan to live and work in the same town. At least with our move we didn't get any further away from each other, just a different direction. The kids spent the morning blowing bubbles and riding bikes. Soon I'll sit down and figure out how to add a slide show of pics, I have tons to share from the weekend and move as well.

The only thing missing from our all American weekend was the watermelon in the fridge that we forgot to cut! I'm loading it up for HHI next week though! It will be taken care of!

JUMPing for joy!

Well, I didn't need any furniture as our new house is less square feet than our old one. So, we decided to start decorating the outdoors. She loves it! (I think Mike bought it for himself, but he denies that)!

Adaptation...

...(noun) a slow, usually unconscious modification of individual and social activity in adjustment to cultural surroundings....
So that's what Webster says is happening, this is what I say: (WARNING: the following post has been building for over 10 days and HAS BEEN EDITED to protect the innocent. Translation = the process associated with moving stinks!
GOOD GRIEF! Who knew it takes a minimum of 10 solid days to EVEN COME CLOSE to living "normally" once someone relocates to the HOTTEST, MOST HUMID place God created? I'm sure you thought the rain forests we all hope to save were humid and hot, but clearly you've never set foot in northern Mississippi (or M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, hump back, hump back, I as Riley has so eagerly learned).
While you never fully appreciate the people close in your life, I would like to think that I did in fact appreciate the close friends and my beloved parents and in laws I used to live within 15 minutes driving time of. This has all changed! Case in point: ALL ERRANDS (no matter how big or small) are preformed with the help of my loyal sidekick.
Have you ever taken a very inquisitive 5 year old to apply for a new driver's license? If so, then you know that she really needed to have her picture taken just like her mother so that we could fashion her very own driver's license once our computer was up and running. She received that this past week, her very own Olive Branch, MS library card, has been exposed to the power company, water company, sewer company, phone/internet company, trash service, health department, vehicle registration/car tag office (MS state tag DEB 865 now adorns the CR-V in case anyone is looking for me), post office, First Tennessee Bank of Olive Branch MS...don't you think that's weird??? First TENNESSEE of Olive Branch, MISSISSIPPI??? Ya with me here??? Don't ever take for granted the utilities that Knox County TN combines...it's a luxury I never appreciated! We've found our new grocery store, Wal-Mart, Target, Lowe's, Bed, Bath and Beyond, the park, and the YMCA. In fact, Queenie was so adamant about us visiting the YMCA (and Mike and I have been so overwhelmed with guilt about unpacking boxes rather than attending to her every whim) that we utilized 1 day of a 2 day pass and checked the Y out this past Sunday afternoon. Here she is eating a snow cone, doing the "Y" part of the "YMCA song" she and her Daddy sang (have you heard Mike sing?)
And, here the two are checking out one of the indoor pools. This was the "heated, therapeutic one", don't they just look like they need therapy??? Hee Hee!
I just can't stop...too much time has passed for me to cut this post short (you know, b/c I have tons of followers). However, you know my little princess/hog farmer rises early, and I gotta get my sleep! I'll take some pictures tomorrow morning and post them sometime tomorrow to catch you up on the progress we've made. The yard is looking great and things are slowly, but surely finding a place (sort of like us). It really seems like a great little town and it's extremely close to tons of stuff w/o feeling like you're in the "big city". We're optimistic that we'll like it here. I've got tons of other pics from moving day (incidentally the hottest day of the year thus far in Olive Branch) and will post them too. We had THE BEST free labor (and most loved) we could have asked for. Pics to come soon!
I still miss "home" (only now it's just on an hourly basis that I think about it instead of several times an hour).
One last pic, you haven't seen this since the sod, spires, and porch columns were added.

Don't be jealous of my temporary, paper blinds!!! :)