Charlotte and PhotoBooth

Here are some of Charlotte's jems taken on PhotoBooth.  Yes, these are a lot of photos, but trust me, we are only scratching the surface here.  All of the photo effects and timing of triggering the shutter are Charlotte's doing.

A few days alter, Peter got into the act.  Again - these are Charlotte and Peter's creations.

At this point, I decided that things were getting a little wild around our Macbook, so I shut it down.

Hot Weekend

I'm not going to get into how hot it is here, because it is hot everywhere.  Thankfully, for Tennessee, it's a relatively dry heat.  109.8 yesterday on my front porch. Yikes.

My last day at Baker Donelson was yesterday, and I do not start at my new job in Michigan until July 9.  So, I have spent the last few days working with Niki on pre-closing issues related to selling our Tennessee house and inspection issues related to buying our new house in Michigan, as well as playing with the kids.  

More and more often, Charlotte and Peter will sit down and play with the computer.  It makes me nervous, because we rely on our Mac.  But, Charlotte really enjoys the photo programs and typing in MS Word.  In particular, she likes PhotoBooth, and can scroll through the different effects.  As terrifying as it is letting them fool with the Mac, it is very cute to see the two of them work together on it.

Here is a sample PhotoBooth picture.  

On Saturday, to beat the heat, we went to the Factory to attend one of Alicia's book-signings.  The Factory is an old stove factory in Franklin that has been transformed to an artists colony/public hall/farmers market/restaurant spot/etc.  It is a beautiful venue - very eclectic and industrial.  There is a Viking store there, some good restaurants, guitar stores, furniture stores, antique stores, law offices - you name it, it's in there.  It really is an example of a former factory property renovated.  One of the draws is the huge rocking chair.  It actually rocks.  I've tried it.

Niki and the kids overlooking a gathering area.

With Alicia at her book-signing.

After the book-signing, we went to Niki's favorite Mexican restaurant, West Coast Burrito.  She's on a first-name basis with the folks that run it.  I'm not usually a big fan of Mexican restaurants, but this one is pretty good.

Each evening, we have turned on the sprinkler and let the kids run around in it.  No matter how hot it is outdoors, it is really nice to settle in on beach chairs and listen the kids shrieking and giggling in the sprinkler.  

Peter running around.

Niki has also been doing a lot of sewing lately.  Here she is making a cape for Odie.

I will be in Tennessee until next weekend, and we have a lot to do, but despite the heat, I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun with Niki and the kids.

Anybody wanna come visit us here after August 4th?

(Assuming the inspection goes well!)

Charlotte's Pictures

On Sunday, Charlotte drew me pictures of our family on her MagnaDoodle.

Daddy - complete with stubble.  (I didn't shave on Sunday - and Charlotte was fascinated with my "face fur.")

Mommy - with curly hair.

Peter.

Charlotte.

Father's Day

What a wonderful day . . .

I spent today playing with my toddler son, talking with my daughter and enjoying her squeaky little voice, and hanging out with my wife and best friend, Niki.

Can't ask for much more than that. . .

Moving right along

Next stop: Michigan!  Posting has been spotty over the last few months because I have been working hard to get the house ready to put on the market and Corey has been working hard landing a great new job.  All of the painting and interviewing have paid off and the house is officially for sale.

It goes without saying that we are very sad to leave this beautiful state and our terrific neighborhood.  I have personally never lived in one house for so many years (we have been here for seven years!) and the roots we put down were deep.  Corey's new job will take him out of the frustrations of private practice and in-house at a private company.  We'll see if the grass really is greener out there!

To our Tennessee friends: we love you to pieces and will definitely see you all again.  To our Michigan friends: we're looking forward to seeing you more often!

Now will SOMEBODY please teach me how to wear a winter hat without my hair looking terrible when I take it off?

Winstead Hill and the McGavock Confederate Cemetery

Last weekend, our good friends Lloyd and Kay Rinehart stopped by for dinner.  Before dinner, Charlotte and I took Lloyd and Kay to see Winstead Hill and the McGavock Confederate Cemetery at Carnton Plantation.

Winstead Hill was General Hood's headquarters (Confederate) during the Battle of Franklin.

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Partially up Winstead Hill is a lookout post with a map and history of the battle.  The battle took place on November 30, 1864, and casualties topped 8,000 men.  The Confederates were unsuccessful in their bid to take back Franklin, but Federal forces withdrew to Nashville the night after the battle.

The battlefield from Winstead Hill.

There are a number of monuments on Winstead Hill commemorating the Confederate efforts that day.  Here is the detail from one of them.

After showing Lloyd and Kay Winstead Hill, we drove over to Carnton Plantation.  Carnton Plantation served as a hospital for the Confedrate forces.  When the smoke cleared, the Carnton porch held the bodies of five Confederate generals.  After the battle, the McGavock family established a Confederate graveyard on their land.

The soldiers are buried by state.  Some of these men were in their teens.  Charlotte was fascinated by the graves.

A book lists the names of the soldiers in each grave.

There are 230 Tennesseans buried in the Confederate Cemetery and 89 Texans.

Carnton Plantation from the Cemetery.

Today, while our house was being shown, Niki, the kids, Connie, and I went back to Winstead Hill to explore.  Charlotte had found a small footpath leading from the overlook when we were there with Lloyd and Kaye, so we decided to explore it.

In some areas, we may not have been on the path at all.  Connie enjoyed trotting up the trail and back,  Peter looked for acorns, and declared many rocks to be "not an acorn".  Charlotte led the way.

Connie took a moment to sit and admire her family.

Scenes from a cell phone

The first one was taken in Dallas on my mom's back porch.  Is anyone as amazed as I am about how long Charlotte's legs are getting?  She's like a little gazelle.  She's losing all her baby roundness and becoming this lanky little thing.  This photo also shocks me because Peter smiled and I was able to actually capture it!  You would never know what a smiley little guy he normally is because he certainly won't do it when a camera is around.

And here's DJ Charlotte at a recent bibliophile-themed rave:

Okay, really she was just playing a Barney game on the computer at the library.  She is in love with playing those games, so I think we may need to get our desktop computer set up with a mouse for her to use!

Making "cars" out of boxes -- complete with steering wheels, tires, and speedometers.

"TO THE RESCUE!!!!!"  (Peter says this whenever we see a fire engine, read about firefighters, or put on fireman hats.  This is actually a hat he got at Touch-a-Truck from the EMT ambulance, but it's shaped like a firefighter's hat.)