Two weeks ago, we celebrated Lisa Cooper's 50th birthday at the bible study at Selwyn's house. We opted to be nice and not put 50 candles on her birtday cake. ;-)
Then a week ago was what Lipscomb refers to as "Fall Break." That consists of the kids getting a Friday off from school. I'm not sure how much of a break that actually is, but it was enough to get Mackenzie (and friends! Melissa, Molly, Jessica and Nichole, in that order...) home for a couple of days. This is all of them at a Huntsville Havoc game on Friday night. And can I just say, THAT was an interesting experience. I mean, hockey is pretty fun to watch - probably more so if you know what is going on, and I really don't - but the fans probably put on more of a show than the players did. Very loud and rowdy... ha.
After the game, the girls wanted to carve pumpkins - that's what is going on here, with Jack offering some 'manpower' to cut the tops off...
Of course, it would be that Mackenzie's fall break would be on the same weekend that we had already bought tickets and planned to go to Memphis for the Gymnastics Tour of Champions. Mackenzie had to be back in Nashville early on Sunday for the "Color Run" so she couldn't come with us, but we loved taking Ashlyn Grace along. Speaking of Memphis, that was yet another interesting experience, walking Beale street late on a Saturday night. hmmmm......
A couple of pictures from the show.... USA Women's Gymnastics champions:
And, amid sqeals of delight from hoards of young girls, the USA Men's Gymnasts: (and let's be honest, the older women enjoyed this part of the show too... haha.)
Then Wednesday night of last week, Jack came home with this... a little 'dirt bike' for me as a 49th Birthday present. :) Now, we have talked about motorcycles and the fact that I've always wanted to learn how to ride one for a long time. But still, I was so surprised when I came outside and saw this in my driveway! Jack and Anna just laughed at me as I putted around in our front yard (in the dark) trying to figure out how it worked. :)
Then Saturday, we took the bike down the street (well, Jack rode it down the street) to a construction site that had lots of great cleared land to ride around on. The two pictures below are me and Anna getting ready to ride. I've earned the nickname "Q-Tip" because my helmet it white and that's the first thing Anna said about me as she was laughing hysterically while I was trying on helmets at the store. ;-)
Here's a funny story... so Sunday, on my birthday, I took off riding down the grass on the side of the streets to get over to the construction site. My bike isn't 'street legal' so I was trying to stay off the major roadways. But as I was put-putting along on the side of the road, I was reminded of something I used to do as a kid to pass the time on long car trips...back in the dark ages, before dvd players and iPhones...(gasp!) when 8Track tapes were all the entertainment we had...haha. Anyways, as I was listening to John Denver sing Country Roads Take Me Home, I would be looking out the window and imagining myself riding, carefree, along the sides of the road on a motorcycle. Jumping dirt mounds, dodging obstacles, riding off into big fields... that was my 'entertainment.' Anyways, there I was yesterday, doing what I had dreamed of doing all those years ago... maybe not quite as dramatic or flashy, but still, dreams do still come true.
And that's what I've been up to, according to my camera. :)
