Oct 20, 2011

The Farmer's Market

T's class went on a fieldtrip to the Farmer's Market today and I was lucky enough to go along.  What a crazy few hours!!  We had a great time and, by far, the best moment was when we were walking to lunch and t said, with no prompting, "Mommy, I'm glad you're with me today!"  I love that girl!! 



Oct 17, 2011

Chagganooga

This is how my child says Chattanooga and it's really cute.  We went there this weekend for Jim to run the 1/2 marathon.  In addition to the race on Sunday, we visited the aquarium, the IMAX (Born to be Wild 3D), the park (a couple times) and had some yummy food!  As we stood waiting to see daddy in the darkness (race started at 7am.  Sunrise was at 7:45am) t said, "Mommy, what are we doing here?"  I guess she didn't get the importance of being about the only two people (of course there were workers, too) out there at this time of the day!  Well, the runners came and we, oh I mean I, cheered them on.  T chose to cheer on daddy...that was it!  And I think we were lucky to get that! 

In the traditional Wilkinson fashion, I wore a horribly tacky, gold jacket with black plaid to cheer Jim on.  These jackets were purchased about 15 years ago at Marshall's on the clearance rack because you never know when you'll need 'em!  One of them still had a price tag on it and, for all you bargain shoppers out there, we paid $4 for a jacket that was originally $50!!  What a wonderful savings!! 

You may ask: why would one wear such a thing?  Well, I wanted Jim to be able to see me in the huge madness of people!  Wait!  This is Chattanooga, not Boston!  Let's just say he had no problem finding me and neither did anyone else!  One man named me the favorite fan and a woman told me as she ran by that I'd managed to be everywhere (we mapped out several locations to visit on the course).  I can picture my dad smiling as he reads this!  I'm sorry to say there are no pictures to document this fashion statement, but just wait for the full marathon.  I will definitely have pictures then as Jim's mom will also be wearing one!  You won't want to miss that!

Although I don't have pictures of me in the jacket, here are some others from our trip.

t on the playground
waiting to see the IMAX.  it was titled Born to be Wild...ain't that the truth!!
gettin' it done!
after the race
1st place in my book!
one of us was more into this picture than the other
mom and dad - taken by tessa.  this was on the 3rd or 4th try.  eventually we moved our heads where they'd show up in the picture.  if we hadn't done that, we may still  be there now trying to get a shot with both mommy and daddy!!
   

Oct 11, 2011

Cruisin'

We can no longer say we've never been on a cruise!  We recently returned from a family vacation with my parents and Jim's mom and had a great time!  We stopped in Nassau, The Bahamas where most of us went swimming with the dolphins.  I don't have pictures of this yet, but it was AMAZING!  That was the one thing I really wanted to do and I loved every minute of it.  We hugged and kissed the dolphins, danced with them and, of course, did the infamous foot push through the water.  It was really cool!  Dolphin Tale is now on my list of movies to see.  In Freeport, we visited the beach and some shops.  Then in Key West we went to Hemingway's house and did additional shopping. 

T had a great time at Camp Carnival (face painting, coloring t-shirts and puppets, reading books, running and jumping around) and choose to be with her new friends more than us.  She was always eager to see what towel animal had been created for us as we entered our room each night. 

We were in the bean bag toss, went to the comedy shows, saw the hairy chest contest (no Jim didn't participate in this), performed in the final show on Saturday night (I was Gloria Estafan - the Rhythm is Gonna Getcha), and ate tons of yummy food!

A great time was had by all.  Here are some pictures.   

one morning at breakfast

mom & dad as we arrive in Nassau

hana, towel doggie, and t


on our way to swim with the dolphins

one of the butterflies at the conservatory in key west

t with a turtle (it's down there somewhere)

jim in front of our ship


me in key west as we were about to board our ship

Our last dinner

gloria estafan and her dance partner


t and her idol, gloria

back home.