Memphis

Since this was our first time flying in and out of Memphis, we thought it would be fun to head back a day early from Grandma Swan's to spend a little time doing the whole tourist thing. 

On our way back to the city though, we made a fun pit stop for lunch at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, MO. In case you've never heard of it before, this well known restaurant called the "Home of the Throwed Rolls" has a few unique and fun gimmicks to it. The most noteworthy is that if you want your dinner roll, you're going to have to catch it! It's not unusual there to see bread flying by your head; actually, it's common to find the waiters chucking rolls from one side of the restaurant to the other where hungry customers chuckle with delight as they join in the came of catch.

This guy knew what he was doing! So glad he moved in a little for our girl who's not quite an all-star ball player yet.

Knowing Caleb's personality and love of silliness, we were all just waiting to see his reaction.

He loved it!

It never got old...every time they came out and started throwing those oversized rolls, his face lit up again.

Reid says if they got to hurl food, he wanted a turn to try it too. Here's the wind up....

Dave and I had visited Lambert's at their other location in Ozark so we kind of knew the deal already, but we definitely had fun too. They may draw people in with their crazy bread slinging ways, but they keep lifetime customers with their good food. Everything on the menu looked like good home cooking, and we weren't disappointed when it arrived. They also had waitstaff walking around with what they call "pass arounds" to add to your plate. Fried Okra, blackeyed peas, fried taters, macaroni and tomatoes....apple butter or sorghum for your rolls....Mmmm good...too much to take it all in!

On New Year's, Granny always used to insist we eat jowl meat and black eyed peas. My cousins and I always gave her a hard time, fighting back against the "good luck" tradition. One year we even made signs and picketed in the front yard yelling "We won't eat jowl meat" and "Save the pigs"...I don't know whether this makes me a traitor or just a grown up, but guess what I ordered at Lambert's? Not too many places where you can find a big ole' platter like this. I even had to call Granny when we left just to hear the surprise and humor in her reaction when I told her what I'd ordered.

They had some wooden trains for us to play on and a few Amish buggies to check out once we finished eating so that everyone could stretch their legs a little before the rest of the journey.

With bellies full and all that energy expended, the kids napped the rest of the trip and were well rested by the time we reached downtown Memphis. There was a little park right down from our hotel where we checked out a few cannons and took a look at the Mississippi river.

A boy and his NaNa

(See that bridge in the background? At night it is lit up. The Guinness Book of World records brags that it is the largest lit up letter of the alphabet since it forms a huge M.)

My whole crew in front of the Mississippi (photo credit to my mom)

Caleb, who's been interested in wanting to know what a skyscraper looks like lately, was thrilled to see the big buildings not long after we got in the city.

One section had a huge paved loop surrounding a statue of Jefferson Davis where we saw several families and couples being pulled around by horse drawn carriages.

After watching several carriages pass by, some open and others in the Cinderella style, we decided it might be fun to take a little trip ourselves. I stopped one of the drivers to ask about them, and then we walked a few blocks before finding the right spot.

Guess what type of carriage Hadley wanted? She was the one who was particularly excited about this adventure.

She asked if Cinderella was in this carriage and was very impressed when the driver listed all the "princesses" they'd carried. "Ariel?" she squealed with unbelief as he listed them.

The following day we went on a "field trip." Though I brought along some school stuff for Caleb to work on, I didn't make him work any on Friday when his cousins were there, knowing he doesn't get to see them but once a year usually. I figured since we worked through Labor Day the previous Monday it was an even trade....On Monday, we were traveling all day, so we missed another opportunity to get anything done, but on Tuesday a little excursion to the Memphis Zoo provided plenty of learning.

Dave and I were both impressed with the quality we found there. Huge trees incorporated throughout the park and lots of foliage everywhere, made things seem very realistic and kept a lot of the walkways shaded and cooler. Definitely a beautiful zoo.

And, our first stop....Cat Country!

We aren't really studying animals right now as part of our homeschooling curriculum, but that's okay because impromptu and authentic learning experiences are wonderful whenever they can happen. That said, I did try to tie in a some of what we've been working on in geography into our visit. Before we left for vacation, I printed a  map of the seven continents, which we have recently been learning, and used it as we went through the park to talk about and record where different animals came from around the world. Thankfully, the zoo had signs up with the information we needed to help with this project. I would ask Caleb to point on the map, identifying where each animal called home after we read the signs. Some areas, like the tropical bird house, even had maps already provided for us to view.

Caleb was super excited to check out this particular building since he's been very interested in birds for the past six months or so - thanks in part to the bird feeder we put up as well as to PBS's Wild Kratt Brother's show. He was especially eager to find a parrot, which thankfully was in the first exhibit we saw. His favorite part though was a room where the birds were out in the open flying. It was there that he learned about endangered species, which was a new concept and very interesting to him as he hunted to spot the ones considered to be the most threatened.

The birds in general were Caleb's favorite part, but he said the pelicans were number one on his list.

They even had penguins, and you might be surprised to find out what continent these tuxedoed friends were from. Africa!

No time for a snack break, Hadley and Reid! Keep rolling...

We tried to check out the stingrays, but there was an extra charge to go in and then another fee if you wanted to feed them. With so many of us, all that adds up quickly, plus we had just seen some at the aquarium in NC, so we ended up moving on to the "Once upon a farm" section.

The kids really loved the prairie dog exhibit complete with a section for them to tunnel underground and pop up just like the animals. See how up close and personal they got with this little critter?

In all honesty, I kind of wish that we would have skipped this part of the zoo and used our time to see more unusual animals because we have plenty of farm animals around at home to look at any time, but the kids really enjoyed it. Pigs, goats, a donkey, chickens, and even some bees were there to check out.

Anyone who knows me well may be surprised at where I led my family next - into the herpetarium. I was a bit anxious and creeped out at first, but the kids absolutely loved looking at all the snakes, lizards, frog, and turtles.

Dave documented this unusual event. :)

Yikes! That guy might swallow you two whole!

Where is this python found, Caleb?...Mommy - the scribe - was waiting with pencil in hand to fill in our map.

All three kids were bubbling with eager excitement, peeking in each of the aquariums. I knew Caleb would like it but was surprised to see what enthusiasm Hadley had for all of this too - the little girl who is usually even scared of fishing worms.

One of the areas we really wanted to see before we left were the monkeys. Caleb has had night terrors about them since his tonsil and adenoid surgery this summer and hasn't wanted to sleep by himself since. I hoped seeing how silly they can be up close would help him with his fears. Since we were using the map, I thought it also would be good for him to see just how far away they live from us in their natural habitats. Thankfully, he wasn't scared of the ones we saw there and even went right up to the glass were a gorilla was sitting for a closer look.

Reid loves to talk about monkeys if he sees something with a picture of one, but he was not to fond of being so close to a real one - at least not one this big!

Hadley wanted to see the pandas. This area of the zoo was pretty impressive looking too. The building was designed with Chinese architecture and decor in mind.

The first bear we saw gave us a really close up view.

This guy was just chilling out.

They even had a map of lots of animals found in Asia to help us out with our school work.

The last stop on our tour was a section they created for just African animals. 

Unlike most zoos, they had a big area were lots of African animals were mixed together like ostriches, gazelles, etc. This map helped us once again to see all the different types of wildlife found in this particular part of the world.

Looking at giraffes in the distance

We had a flight to catch, so we had to miss the last section where the polar bears and seals were located. I guess we'll just have to save all that for another field trip. Overall, it was a good day though and the kids got to see and learn a lot.