Daniel Boone and Bumblebee

Here's the boys as they set off to school and a full day of Halloween tricks and treats. Satchel dressed as Daniel Boone in conjunction with his book report and Jiro dressed as a Transformer who goes by the name of Bumblebee.


I was psyched that Jiro easily settled on a $12 costume from Aldi. Warren was psyched that Satchel settled on a costume that challenged him to construct a hatchet, rifle, bedroll, and animal skin vest.

Satchel and Warren made the hatchet from a stick, a cardboard box, and string. I mentioned something about junk this morning and Satchel lectured me. "There's no such thing as junk," he said. "Just look at my hatchet. You probably thought the dog treat box we made it from was junk too, but it's not." (He was also very inspired by Anthony Pack, an artist we met last weekend who made fun robots out of recycled materials.)

Warren, Jiro, and I all visited Satchel's class for the biography reports. It was really fun to see the kids dressed up. Among others we saw Neil Armstrong, Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Elvis, Paul McCartney, and Pocohontas.



I also love that the teachers at the boys' school seem to love Halloween as much as they do. Here are Ms. Melissa and Ms. Sarah as harajuku girls:


Satchel still needs to work on his voice projection, but I think he's adorable when he's "on stage." His drawing of Daniel Boone was awesome. Watch at the end when his classmates actually gasp.

Rollin

While waiting for Catherine & Noah, Warren suggested the boys race down the bluff. Well, technically, race roll.

The Noog, Day 2

On Sunday we rode the amazing electric shuttle over to the Discovery Museum. The kids enjoyed it on their last visit and we thought it would still be fun for them, while being super fun for Noah. Unfortunately we didn't have time to really take in all of the exhibits but we did get to mess around with the musical instrument display and the permanent structures on the roof. All of the boys really enjoyed it.


We said our goodbyes around noon and headed toward home. Warren couldn't resist stopping for a little hike. Through the magic of Google Maps we came across the Gizzard Trail, which was breathtaking. The monkeys loved having two hours to run, climb, and generally get their ya-ya's out. We seriously had to drag them out of there. I explained that we had no water, no snacks, no nothing and a 4 hour drive ahead of us, but they did not care. They wanted to hike forever.

The only thing that convinced them to leave was a little lost beagle. I really don't think he was lost because he didn't appear hungry or unhappy in anyway. The boys, however, felt that he needed to come live with us in Memphis. The Beagle took to them right away and appeared as though he was going to indeed come home with us. Thankfully he ran off just as we got to the car and we convinced the very sad monkeys that he was going to be okay.

The Noog

So last weekend we had an impromptu getaway to Chattanooga to meet up with my Peace Corps bestie, Catherine, and her adorable son, Noah, who we had never had the pleasure of meeting before! On the way there and back we did some adventurous eating in Nashville, which I'll be covering on DWM. (We also did quite a bit of successful restauranting in the Noog, which I'll cover too.)

On one of our pit stops, I pulled up the recap of our last trip to Chattanooga three years ago on my iphone to remind the monkeys of all the fun we had. I think the general consensus was, "How on earth did we do all of that in one day?" Since we were going to have a two-year-old with us for most of the weekend, we decided to take it easy and not try to cram too many activities in.

While we waited for Catherine and Noah to arrive, we took a little boat ride on the Tennessee River. The Chattanooga Aquarium had this fancy boat made special. It went really fast and we got to hang out on the top with binoculars, so that was pretty awesome. The only downside was that it was FREEZING!


We met up with Catherine and Noah soon after. The monkeys became instant best friends with Noah and we had a lovely afternoon of strolling along both sides of Chattanooga's riverfront. We all loved the pedestrian bridge and the carousel was a huge kid pleaser. (We rode it 3 or 4 times.)


When it got dark we stopped for some pizza, then headed back to our hotel for swimming and catching up. For transportation, we rode the free electric shuttle, which turns out is the most awesome thing Noah ever saw, despite being an international world traveler. (Catherine pointed out everything on wheels to him. He is a transportation nut!)

I loved that even though I hadn't seen Catherine in three years we picked up right where we left off.

A Taste of Montessori

Last night we had our annual school auction at Tsunami. We spent most of yesterday setting up and prepping. The monkeys helped by wreaking general havoc while we covered the tables with Montessori work, arranged auction items, and made a seating chart. Warren worked in the kitchen with a few other parents while I played hostess/wine pourer/table clearer. The dinner was amazing--pumpkin soup with nutmeg chantilly, spinach salad with goat cheese, nori wrapped mahi mahi with banana curry and flourless chocolate cake with cinnamon-honey ice cream. Seventy-six people turned out to support the school and have a good time. It was a fabulous evening. Special thanks to the Smiths, the staff, and the parents who made this happen!

Thankfully I wasn't the only person taking pictures. Between all of my duties I definitely dropped the ball on getting my camera settings right and snapping pictures of everyone who was there!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Satchel made a book in art class. It looked pretty plain, but I was very impressed with the thoughtful illustrations and detailed story line. (I especially love his surprise ending.)

Make sure you mouse away from the slideshow so you can see the full image otherwise you won't get the full story!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Hoodie Action

Read all about Satchel's favorite hoodie in my column this week, melodramatically titled We should all try to wear life's scars with pride.


When I told Satchel what I was writing about this week, he said, "I had a feeling you'd write about that." Ha!

Busy Bees and Bean Bags

Seems like life has been extra crazy these past weeks. Boot camp, 10 hour work days, and an impromptu weekend trip to Chattanooga has gotten me way behind on the blog! However, I have lots of photos and stories to share if you'll be patient with me.

Here's a quickie...

We have a giant bean bag in our house. Warren purchased it a few years ago thinking I'd let it substitute for a sofa. Eventually I was able to move it into the kids' room. They've always loved sitting on it to read books, occasionally sleeping on it when guests come over, and frequently jumping on it from the top bunk just to freak me out.

Now they have a new use for it. They've been zipping themselves up inside of it. Apparently it is super warm and cozy in there. In fact, it's so awesome in there, Jiro has started calling it "Candy Land."

The other morning I went in to wake the monkeys up, and only one monkey was in the bed. "Where's Jiro?!" I screamed. Satchel sleepily rubbed his eyes and pointed toward the bean bag. "Candy Land," he said non-chalantly.

Hayride

Warren took this video while we were on the hayride at Whitton Farms. (The pictures just weren't doing it justice.) The monkeys were being totally mischievous.

Feastival (October Style)

In July, we attended the first ever Feastival at Whitton Farms. I can't tell you how excited we were to find out that they were having a second Feastival on October 11th (which also happened to be Warren's 43rd birthday!). The fall-style Feastival featured all of the great food and music from the first event, as well as new, exciting activities.

Ok let's talk about the food. I believe the widespread favorite was Ben Smith's squash and lemongrass soup. (Funnily enough, no one ever found the spoons.) A close second was the boiled shrimp (and potatoes and corn and sausage). Other highlights were sliders made from local beef, BBQ pork, greens and macaroni compliments of Jackson Kramer, chicken and dumplings, pear tarts, and so on. (And on.)

The activities were super fun. Warren, with a little help from our friend, Colleen, won the "Guess the Herbs" game. The prize was a small bag of candy, so naturally Satchel wanted to try his hand at the game. He eyed the herbs and then said, "This one is grass. That's some kind of flower. Oh, and that's garlic."

The kids especially loved hunting for mini gourds near the shitake "fields," which again garnered them some more candy. They even liked re-hiding the gourds for the next person to find. (And I assume themselves, since they did it several times.)

We never managed to enter the pumpkin carving contest, but we did do a few rounds of the cake walk. Jiro won the biggest cupcake ever!

The day culminated in a wild hayride in which Satchel and Jiro took turns jumping off and jumping back on. They took several spills and were covered in dirt and mud by the time we left, but we didn't care. I've never heard so many giggles in all of my life.

The entire day was about as laidback and fun as could be. Jill and Keith, despite having hundreds of people on their property, smiled the whole time and seemed to be enjoying every minute of the party. I had several people say they had a busy weekend and wanted to relax on Sunday, but I can't think of a better way to relax than with friends (old and new), good food, and the wild, open spaces of Whitton Farms.

The Chaperone Diaries

On Thursday, I spent most of my day with Satchel and his elementary class. After our successful birthday party at Bridges' Climb Night last April, I talked to the education director about school programs. She told me that they do half and all day team building classes incorporating the climbing wall and ropes course. It sounded like an easy sell. Satchel's teacher agreed that a team building day near the beginning of the school year would be fun and educational for the class.

Satchel was SO excited about this trip. I barely got him to sleep Wednesday night. Thursday morning, he moved faster than he ever has before. By 7:15 he was bugging me to "Hurry up!" I explained that we had until 8:30 to get to school, but he refused to believe me. We went to school at 8:15 as a compromise. His teacher needed to get to Bridges, so I volunteered to organize the other chaperones and supervise the kids on the playground while we waited. Everyone was so excited that the playground time was 100% necessary to get everyone semi-calm enough to get in a car!

We got to Bridges at 9am, and Mr. Joe and Ms. Katie were happily waiting for us. Mr. Joe started off by passing around a rubber chicken and letting the kids introduce themselves. Then they did a game of tag to get their wiggles out before Ms. Katie talked to everyone about goals for the day (Be Honest, Stay Focused, Bring Your A Game, and Surprise Yourself).

The kids then moved on to a series of floor exercises--all focused on teamwork--and had debriefing sessions after each one. Here they are working together to bounce Miss Piggy. It took them forever to get her up just a few times in a row. Then they started communicating and brainstorming and soon they got up to 60. (They probably could have gotten to 200, but Mr. Joe stopped them.)



Jacey summed up the experience best when she said that spending the day doing fun things with her classmates was like making new friends with people she already knew. I seriously teared up when she said that.

Satchel got frustrated with one of the exercises when his teammates didn't take turns. Had I not been there he probably would have gotten over it, but since I was there, he needed to hug me and sit in my lap for awhile. I hated seeing him upset, but didn't mind the fact that he needed a little mommy time. (Remember, I take what I can get these days!)

We all brought sack lunches and I enjoyed watching the complex barter system that went on between the kids at my table. Just a FYI--barbeque chips will get you anything, even half of a ham, bacon, and pepperoni sandwich!

The rock climbing after lunch was definitely the highlight of the day. The kids did an Australian belay, which means that each group was responsible for getting one climber safely up and down at a time. The kids were all very serious about the task and supportive of each climber. The girls made up a little cheer, which was sweet.
Not everyone made it to the top, but everyone tried their best. (Satchel made it up twice and was very proud of himself.) Here's a very poor video of it (don't mind the angle switch!):



It was a treat getting to spend my day off with the class. Here's all 88 of the pictures I took. (Jiro wanted to see everything that happened!)


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Speaking of Jiro, he was so mad that he didn't get to go on the field trip! (Even though he thinks the climbing wall is "scary.") Having his big brother and his best friend in the elementary class is really hard on him. BUT it is making him work work work. He is determined to get promoted ASAP. Since I had the whole day off, I told him that I would take him to speech class in the afternoon and that he could pick somewhere he wanted to go "on a field trip." His first choice was Chuck E. Cheese. Then he said Game Stop or Target. We finally settled on Baskin Robbins. I let him get a double scoop.

Movies by Monkeys

Satchel and Jiro took my iPhone for a few hours on Saturday and made a whole bunch of movies. (I mentioned them in this week's column.) I particularly like that Jiro seems to be directing 3 out of 4 of these, and in one he stars as well as directs.

Here Jiro gets goofy:



Warning! This is a screamer...



Starring the cat:



And in case you thought I was lying, EIGHT MINUTES of marbles.

Monkey Madness

Today's column is about the fun we had over the weekend, without playing any video games. Read Messy mirth rises as video games rest in today's Commercial Appeal. (I tried coming up with my own title, but couldn't think of anything!)


I'll be posting the referenced videos shortly.

Broad Avenue

Friday we walked over to Broad Avenue for the fourth annual Broad Avenue Art Walk. (I can't believe it's been 4 years!) It's been really great watching this event grow. Highlights from this year were the Greely Myatt exhibit at Material (and getting to chat with its affable curator), the metalworking demo at Metal Works, the free candy and Bushi Tales comics at Adam Shaw's studio, the backyard exhibit at Odessa (How we missed the Bluff City Backsliders I don't know), and the dude in the scariest costume I've ever seen. (Thankfully the monkeys weren't scared. Satchel actually wanted to hug this guy--until he heard him let out an accidental fart!)

Partying with Monkeys

Satchel loves to give me suggestions for new blogs. "How about driving with monkeys?" he'll suggest. "Or, shopping with monkeys!" Last night it was partying with monkeys.

Warren and I took the boys to Minglewood Hall for the Flyer's Best of Memphis party. Dining with Monkeys won second place in the "Best Blog" category. (Yay!) Because there would be no blog without the monkeys, they got special permission to attend the 21+ party.

When I explained to them that they were going to an adult party, they were not excited. "You mean we'll be the only kids?" Satchel complained.

When I explained that they would need to put on clean clothes, they were even less enthusiastic. "I'm not going!" Jiro cried.

"There will be free food and music...it'll be fun!" I exclaimed, hoping to get them excited. Their eyebrows raised. They were hungry. "Memphis Pizza Cafe will be there," I continued. "And there might even be sushi..."

"Yay!" they screamed as they got dressed and headed for the door. This was perfect since everyone knows that if you don't get to the BOM party early, you don't get to eat.

When we arrived I gave the monkeys some final coaching. "When I introduce you to someone I want you to smile, say hello, and make eye contact." At the door, I received a lanyard with "Winner," printed on it. I explained to Satchel that even though I was second, I was a winner.

"Who came in first?" he asked.

"Paul Ryburn's blog," I said.

"What's his blog called?" he asked excitedly.

"Paul Ryburn," I said.

"Oh," he said. "That's not very cool." (Mmmhmm.)

From there we went to stand in line for food. There was a huge line, but I noticed that there were several stations set up, so we went to a much shorter line. We saw Ben Smith dishing out some of my most favorite hot and pungent shrimp. The monkeys were totally stoked to see someone they knew. (Ben's son, Ian, is one of their BFFs.) Warren said, "Ian is hiding behind the curtain." Before they could start tearing up the place I told them Daddy was just joking.

They were disappointed, but then easily distracted by the chicken wings at the next table. Then the Melting Pot loaded them up with chocolate covered goodness. And finally, we got some Memphis Pizza Cafe. Seating was hard to come by, but we did manage to squeeze in at a tall table where Chip was holding court. There were no chairs, it was one of those stand and eat deals. I was worried about the monkeys being able to adapt to this, but they did fine. Soon their happy faces were covered in pizza sauce and wing juice.

Mary came over with news that Bluefin had a table full of sushi set up, so I was sent out on behalf of Team Oster to load up and also get some non-alcoholic beverages. Sadly the sushi was all but gone, but I did score some sausage and cheese at the nearby Rendezvous table. At the bar, where I was hoping to procure water, I saw my Boot Camp instructor, Dexter. We had a nice conversation about eating low cal foods and only having one beer. (He did the talking. I just smiled and told him that my attendance at Thursday morning's session was a long shot.)

Back at the table, the monkeys were fairly sated and had their thirst quenched. Mary showed off some sushi shaped lollipops she found at the Bluefin table. The monkeys' eyes lit up again and another friend was kind enough to offer them each a pop. Then it wasn't long before Satchel, Jiro, and I set off to find the lollipop stash. (We also had a Paul Ryburn sighting, much to Satchel's delight.)

Once we had enough lollipops to get us through a half hour or so, I began introducing the monkeys around, not that they needed introducing. They actually made eye contact, smiled, and uttered hello audibly just like I instructed. I was so proud! And they even posed like good little trained monkeys when my editor at the Flyer snapped our picture. Jiro had a little routine he did where he waved as he said hello and no matter what the next thing someone said was, he replied, "Good." (Usually it was appropriate, as in "How are you?" But it didn't really answer, "Are you having fun?")

The monkeys eventually started clamoring to go home, and Warren, their designated driver, wasn't quite ready to leave. (I don't think he expected the party to be so much fun.) So I took the kids around front to see Goodnight Dark Star, who totally rock. Then we unsuccessfully tried to get more pizza. Finally, we had a bathroom run to the absolute largest bathroom ever. (Despite their being a million people there, not once was there a line for the loo.)

At 7:45pm, Warren finally agreed to take the monkeys home. When I walked them out, Penelope, who works for the Flyer, greeted them like rock stars and gave them their very own "Winner" lanyards.

So yeah, all adult party, not so bad afterall.