King of the World

Week's like this are killing me. Too much fun! Some tantrums too, but mostly just good, clean fun.

Bear with me ... there are a LOT of pictures and of course I want to comment on all of them. Let's jump right in ...

First, Mama wasn't off-off this week, but she didn't have students, so that's major. On Tuesday, she came home early and the whole fam went to the park for a little frisbee throwin', big-wheel eyein', and monkeyin' around. Here are the goods:

Delicious Dad & Delicious Diddums monkeyin' around on the playground.

Then there was the repeated swoop-drop trick:

First, you pose sweetly for the camera: CLICK.

Then, you swoop-drop down like this.

Next, tilt your head back and show off for the girls.

Now, drop!

Last, start all over (with a little help from your friends).

See that shirt ... it was purchased for the sole purpose of taking a school picture ... which we did on Tuesday. The preliminary results (read: Mama's opinion & the photographer's comments) prove to be VERY successful -- stay tuned.

Then, as if it could get any funner, Mama had an ENTIRE day off on Wednesday. SURPRISE! Mama's boss said, "Well, you don't get paid for this week of in-service, so technically you don't have to be here." Let's not get in to the fact that Mama still went in to work for 3 out of 5 days.

On Wednesday, we went to Chattanooga to the TN Aquarium. It's important to note that the last time we went to the TN Aquarium was in March 2005 and was disastrous. The Goose refused to sleep in the Hampton Inn rent-a-crib (I mean, who would sleep on such a loud and annoying mattress?? And what happily married Mom & Dad wouldn't consider FAST AND FURIOUS divorce after a night of screaming ... an ENTIRE night of screaming!?!?!?!?) and had no interest in the actual fish. However, Sesame Street was a gigantic hit:

So, this year's trip was MUCH more enjoyable. And you know what? Just for funsies, let's even call it SUCCESSFUL! EDUCATIONAL! And DELIGHTFUL!

Here are a few highlights:

FISH!

Yeah ... so that's really the only thing you can say about an aquarium when you're nearly half a year old.

And ooh-ooh-ooh, there was a BUTTERFLY GARDEN:

And that's prettymuch it. Except for Mama's favorite aquarium animal:

THE POTBELLIED SEAHORSE. I took a picture, but since I just recently gave a lecture to my students on the importance of avoiding superfluous details, I'll spare you. Just imagine a seahorse with a really fat belly. I can certainly identify with that.

But oh, the after events ...

First, there was a shrimp po-boy fiasco wherein Mom & Dad ate until they were absolutely sick (note: picture has nothing to do with aforementioned overeating):

Next, there was a visit to a park. WITH A CAROUSEL!

Forget the fish ... it's all about the carousel. Thumbs up to that. We rode it twice due to popular demand.

But the really important thing to know about this park is that there was a pint-sized Cadillac Escalade parked right in front of the Carousel exit and y'all: It had a real working radio and a gas pedal and everything. It's a Cadillac for cryin' out loud and if you open and close the door a lot of times and then your mama says, "Be gentle please," then the 3-year old owner will say, "Yeah, I wouldn't want it to get scraitched." NO, I didn't make a spelling mistake ... we are talking about south-eastern Tennessee, and he really said, 'scraitched'."

Just so you get the full picture of this blessed discovery, look closely at the picture below. Note the Goose's total fascination. Note the owner's total humiliation about having to drive around with a toddler riding shotgun:

We had to literally drag him away from this ridiculous toy.

And then to add injury to insult ... while pushing your cart back to Suzie Q. Subaru for the 2-hour ride home (yes, we took the cart -- trust me, if you vote for world peace then you'll take the cart), you hit a curb, flip over the handlebars, and have quite a brutal concrete encounter. An encounter which involves a scraped nose and forehead.

So then, on the way home, you CONK OUT for all it's worth because for one day you have been the King of the World, and it was worth every one of Dad's pennies, every second, and every drop of blood.

p.s. I know you can't believe it, but there are actually MORE pictures of this week. Click on any of the above gems to see the full spectrum.

p.p.s. The aforementioned reference to "pennies" is totally ludicrous. Counting in hundreds would be more appropriate. The aquarium entrance fee alone was approximately $44 for both parents. Luckily, kids under 3 are free.