An Extra Stay-Home Day

The long weekend got off to an early start on Friday, when I picked Connor up early from school in order to celebrate his last day in Kindergarten.

I thought we'd spend some time alone together before picking up Chloe and celebrating her last day in the Toucan Room as well. Like everyone else in Memphis, I have the free three-month trial membership to the Pink Palace, so I thought I'd take the boy there for a new special treat. It turned out to be somewhat of bust!

The skeletons and bugs and animals downstairs were all fairly entertaining for Connor, then we headed upstairs and enjoyed the hand-carved circus for a while before heading into the history section. This has always been my favorite section in any museum. When I was Connor's age, I had a book called "If I Lived in Colonial Times" and it was my favorite! My college major was History- I love it. Turns out, Connor is terrified by it. At the Pink Palace, there is a section on medical history. There are all sorts of instruments and body parts and displays, including a section on "bleeding" that had a life-sized display of a creepy doctor mannequin administering a leech to the arm of a patient. And there was a dentist doing things that Connor didn't remember from his trip to the dentist. But best of all, there was a display of a medical tent from the Civil War. In this one, our patient had a very jacked up foot, that had possibly been shot but that definitely was infected. Connor was terrified, and unable to look away, asking tons of questions and resisting my attempts to steer him anywhere but there. Finally another family walked up behind us and the dad let loose with a "Oh HELL no. That foot is gonna have to go, son!" Connor looked up at me and whispered, "I want to go home."

I was able to walk him out past the dinosaur so that we could leave on a positive note. Once away from danger he remembered that I was taking him to McDonald's for the rare "Happy Meal purchased by Mom" treat. That cheered him right back up. Then we collected Chloe and headed towards their other favorite place, Target, where they were allowed a treat apiece from the dollar aisle in celebration of their academic promotions. (Read: age-mandated class change)

On Saturday nothing exciting happened, except that I went to the Farmer's Market and picked up my first half-share from Whitton Farms. That night I cooked a shrimp and noodle meal that included our locally grown bok choy.

Sunday was awesome because Mom picked up the kids at 3:30. I think I passed out from exhaustion immediately after- the kids were nuts this weekend! And the spotty weather didn't allow them to get outside and run off their (mostly negative) energy. Seriously though, I didn't pass out! I did something way more awesome- we went and saw Star Trek! This was the first time I've been to the theater since a viewing of Madagascar 2 in December. That's right- the first Malco trip of 2009. And totally worth it- that movie ruled!

Monday was spent relaxing with sangria, margaritas, fajitas and friends. The kids finally got to use up the energy they had been storing all weekend, and it was the perfect end to a lovely weekend.