A Taste of Memphis

THE PEABODY HOTEL:
So, there are some pretty high faluting ducks in this here city. The famous Peabody Hotel is known for it's ducks. Yes, ducks. 5 ducks march on red carpet from the elevator to their fountain every morning and back to the elevator at night to go up to their duck suite. I guess this has been happening every day since 1930. Pretty quirky but fun.


the ducks in their fountain


marching to the elevator - ever so pompously


the hale family - spectators of fancy ducks

HUEY'S
This is a fun down-town restaurant with HUGE onion rings and hamburgers. We went with the Terrys and the Cresaps and between us all we had 7 kids. We were a little worried how it was going to work until our waiter showed the boys the trick of shooting toothpicks into the ceiling through a straw. Very family friendly joint.


Lezlie modeling a Huey onion ring




Joey & Clint trying out the toothpick blow darts.


Our lovely friends - Aaron, Addy, Lezlie and Aiden


oh my!


the Hale family looking quite jubilant

WORLD FAMOUS BEALE STREET
home of the blues, birthplace of rock and roll:
It was such an adventure just walking down this street. There was live music at every corner. To be honest, I don't really know much about Memphis music and who all got started here but since we've moved here we're noticing more and more songs refer to Memphis. One of our favorite musicians is Johnny Cash and he started here and thus has many, many songs about good ole Memphis. (oh, and some guy named elvis? but whatever.)







MEMPHIS REDBIRDS
We saw the Memphis Redbirds (Triple A farm team for the St. Louis Cardinals) vs. the New Orleans Zephyrs. It's not major league like the Orioles but let me tell you - we got WAY better seats than we're used to. Aiden even caught a Redbirds ball cause she was hungry.

3 biggies

This is definitely a week of big purchases for the Hale family - a house, a car and random garage organizing stuff. wow. It's a little hard to swallow, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

#1 - Ok, number one in important news is very, very exciting and relieving. WE ACTUALLY CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE!! As most of you know, this has been an extremely aggravating and lengthy experience. We made an offer on this house in May and got "pre-approved" but didn't close until today - 3 months later. (ps and I just realized that we closed on our Maryland house on Aug 20th 4 years ago ***twilight zone music***) Anyway, we went out to eat last night to celebrate - it is so great to have that done! Now maybe we get the lock box off our front door.

#2 - You know you are a boring grown up when an organized garage is the most exciting thing you have to talk about. A week ago our garage was covered in layers of boxes and suitcases with everything strewn all over and we could barely fit our one car in there. But Joey left for North Carolina on a business trip and I cleaned up the garage to surprise him. (with some help from Clint). I got shelves, racks, hooks, peg board and we even made a work bench. It was a great surprise and just in time for a NEW CAR!



#3 - We finally got a second car. This is really exciting for me because I will actually be able to leave the house during the day. It's a 2004 Toyota Corolla and I hope that it gets as good as gas mileage as we're planning on because that is kinda why we bought it. We bought it on Saturday and so far it has been a really reliable car. :-)



oh and ps - Luke is 8 months old TODAY! Happy 8 months old day Luke.

thirty, flirty & thriving

On 8-8-8 I turned 30. Joey took me to dinner and a movie and threw a surprise party for me (with the 3 people we know in Memphis.) He even arranged a huge party in Beijing that we got to watch on tv. He's pretty nice I guess.





Luke in the bath tub and playing in the warm laundry. What a clown.





The grand opening of the Katie/Lezlie waterpark!!

good morning

So, I went on a walk this morning with Luke by our "lake of shining waters" (anne of green gable reference alert) at the end of the road. There are ducks and geese that come to greet you and then plunge into the water to show off their duck & geese skills. And a little walking path around the lake with a forest full of music-making bugs and birds. Today there was even a rare Memphis breeze and a bright blue sky and everything seemed perfect. I sometimes feel a little like a stepford wife. Every single house in our neighborhood is gorgeous with perfectly hedged bushes and immaculate lawns. In fact, I haven't seen many neighborhoods in this area that aren't. I can't figure it out. Where are all the slobs? I feel nervous that if we miss a week of mowing we're going to get kicked out of the neighborhood. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I felt pretty lucky this morning. A cute lady with 2 tiny dogs and a heavy southern accent stopped and talked to Lukey - she was so nice and friendly. (Another thing about Tennessee - where are all the grouchy mean people? Oh, in Baltimore.) And then, my next door neighbor's mom that I had met briefly was driving by and stopped to talk. She was also VERY friendly and seemed excited to see me. And then, just as I was almost home - some across-the-street neighbors waved hello. Last night, these same neighbors, with two darling boys, were running through sprinklers on their front lawn - parents included. I really think I love it here. Lake of shining waters? check. Seven geese a swimming? check. Friendly neighbors? check. Quiet, peaceful neighborhood with a beautiful blue sky and a gentle breeze....also, check (gentle breeze may or may not be included - see small print for details). As little orphan Annie would say "I think I'm gonna like it here"