in search of a flower

We did so much today! The Gallmans came down to do some work at the lake house today, and we met Ellen and Chloe in town at Ace Hardware to help load up some supplies to take down to Dave. We visited with them for a bit and watched the babies playing. They are beginning to learn to share, and I'm so proud that they were sweet about taking turns getting in and out of Dennis's Little Tikes car. They didn't let each other nap, however, as each insisted on being loud while the other was trying to get to sleep. When Dennis tried to fall asleep, Chloe walked around the room squealing happily and expressing her good mood as loud as she could. While Chloe was trying to sleep, Dennis (who gave up on trying to nap) discovered her xylophone in the toys she brought with her and proceeded to merrily bang out tunes. While I was proud that he has learned how to use the drumstick to bang on the xylophone, I could see where this kind of noise would be difficult to sleep through. We didn't stay too much longer after that.

Because Dennis and I are leaving in a few days on our big trip, we decided to have a little family adventure this weekend. By adventure, I mean that we made absolutely no plans. We got in the car and headed out with no real destination in mind. Looking at the map, we discovered that we live less than an hour away (theoretically) from the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge, and we had read that the Cahaba Lily was in full bloom right now. Having never seen a Cahaba Lily, we thought we should take a look. We had an atlas, and a GPS with low batteries, and we made a couple of seriously wrong turns on the little county roads that weren't well marked, but we eventually arrived at West Blocton (where we will not intentionally go again) and the refuge. Dennis was ready to get out of the car at this point, and we drove into the refuge until we found a pull-off that was located near the shoals. We could see lots of lilies blooming, and we took pictures and let Dennis walk around a bit. We pointed out the flowers to him, but I think he was less than enthused. As it turns out, the best way to see the lily up close involves a canoe. We have a canoe, but we also have a one year old. What kind of equation does that make? We figure that next year, Dennis will get a canoe tour during the lily festival.

After the Cahaba, we headed to Tuscaloosa for dinner (at Cracker Barrel, of course). Tonight, Dennis scribbled with a crayon on his kids' menu. I don't know if it's significant that he scribbled with his left hand. We put the crayon in his right hand after this, just out of curiosity, but all he did was transfer it to his left hand and then either to the paper or to his mouth. His grandma is left-handed, but David and I are not. It will be interesting to see find out which is his dominant hand!

After Tuscaloosa, we headed due north to Jasper, where are staying the night. Tomorrow is David's family's Decoration at the cemetery near here, and we thought it would be nice to spend a night. Not that Jasper is a fabulous center of cultural entertainment, but the Holiday Inn Express is quite nice, and we always like to enjoy some cable, high speed internet, and free breakfast. Tomorrow Dennis will get to see a number of his relatives, and we think that's important. My family never participated in anything like Decoration, so I am pretty new to the tradition, and it took me a long time to understand. For many people, this is the only time each year that the entire family and community are together, and they look forward to catching up with everyone every year. Dennis might be the newest Mitchell descendant, but I don't know that for sure.

Despite being stuck in the carseat a long time during Mommy and Daddy's Big Adventure Day, Dennis behaved very sweetly. There were a few times we had to resort to singing, like when he tossed his pacifier and we couldn't reach it, and he joined in the singing with us. I think he's starting to like the alphabet song even more that the itsy bitsy spider. Just for good measure, we sang a few rounds of happy birthday, and he joined in and then continued on when we were done. He liked the hotel room pretty well and explored it thoroughly when we arrived, but it wasn't too long before he was sacked out in his pod, and his Daddy was not too far behind him in falling asleep. And I am happy to report that I will soon be joining them! What a big day!