My Aquarium Adventure

Going to the Tennessee Aquarium yesterday was a LOT of fun!! I thought y'all might like to see some of my better shots....

Photobug

We started our journey in the 'Tropical Cove'.

These beautiful blue birds were sure noisy! They are Hyacinth Macaws.

My father and sister intently looking at something....

A beautiful blue butterfly!

I am a penguin...Think of small, fast, black & white torpedoes...

Did you know that penguins can achieve bursts of 20mph??

You 'otter' have been there! I really enjoyed the two river otters the Aquarium. The otters were really fast, and it was hard to get a picture of them!;D

Well, that's it!

'bye!

It was fun!

Yesterday my grandparents that are here and my family went to the Tennessee Aquarium again!

It was lots of fun, besides taking 246 photos!;D I will post more about our aquarium adventure and my wonderful Christmas later when I get time.

TN Photobug

Good News of Great Joy!

Merry Christmas, friends!

Sorry I haven't been able post much this month, but there have been reasons.

1) I'm been busy doing other stuff.

2) Our computer came down with a virus, therefore no Internet. Finally, just today, Dad got our computer and Internet up. That's my good news of great joy!;D

Last Friday my grandparents (the same ones that came for Thanksgiving) came to our home for Christmas. I think they will be here though most of this week. We are having lots of fun with them.

I do think it's about time for Christmas. It seems that the presents are outgrowing the tree!;)

Sorry I don't have any pictures. Since we took all our stuff off the computer, I haven't put anything back on the computer.

I will close now because my grandfather and I are going to watch some Reminisce DVDs.

'Bye!

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O Christmas Tree....

Well, here it is 10 days into the Christmas month and I haven't posted anything!!!

So I thought I might's well start where I had left off-November.

In the last couple days of November we raised and decorated out tree.

We got out tree last year at Wal-Mart for $30. It's a 3-piece, pre-lit, 6.5' high tree. And the branches just "fall" into place! Ahh...my kind of Christmas tree!;)

We decorated with birds, snowflakes, and "nose gays". According to Mom, "nose gays" are little bunches of berries. I'm including a picture of our tree so y'all can see what it looks like!

Our present pile is increasing, but the funny thing is the presents Mom and Dad put under the tree have numbers where the tag says "To". In other words, they're not putting on the present who it's for!!! My hypothesis is that they have a list that says which numbers go to which people.

Oh well...I guess it's just another way to fool the kids...;)

On the last night my Uncle Brian was here (Nov. 27) we all went to an event called "Christmas on the Promenade". It's put on by the local university and was very nice. Music, hot chocolate...I will post photos when I get a chance.

Merry Christmas, everybody!;)

Tennessee Photobug

An uncle sorely missed! :(

Well, as of 10:30 today, my Uncle Brian left our home to fly back to his home in Phoenix, AZ.

Within 15 minutes I was crying!

We played SORRY at least 7 times, and I won the majority, so I'm the "SORRY champion".
Brian and I played BIBLEOPOLY (a Bible version of MONOPOLY) 4 days in a row, Friday, Sabbath, Sunday and Monday and he won all 4 times! ;) So he is the "BIBLEOPOLY champion"!:)
We also played Fooseball a couple times.

Yesterday afternoon Brian took me and we got a book from the ABC I wanted.
We had pizza last night.

I took a math test, studied for a Biology test, and wrote a letter for school today.

But we have exchanged e-mail addresses, and I am for sure going to keep in touch.

But Uncle Brian is still going to be sorely missed....:(

Tennessee Photobug

P.S.-I will get a picture of me and Uncle Brian up here on this post as soon as I can.

An Amazing Aquarium

Yesterday I went on a trip of a lifetime-a trip to the Tennessee Aquarium! It was tremendously fun.
For most of the time I was alone with Brian and/or Grandpa, which was really nice. With a toddler sister, it's hard to get a lot of "alone" time.

I've just posted two photo-articles that contain a bunch of photos from my trip.

My favorite exhibits were the penguins and the butterfly garden. Included with this article is my favorite picture I took at the Aquarium. There were a BUNCH of fish, some scary and some not.
(Quick! Write down what I'm about to say, so you have proof that I said this!)There were two buildings, and in one there was an absolutely HUGE saltwater tank.
In this tank there were SHARKS! and it was kind of fun taking pictures of them! (WHAT! Did I say that I LIKED sharks?!?) But it all makes a difference which side of the glass you're on!;D

There was even a place where you could go inside a tunnel and see what a fish sees! Last but least, there was an "Undersea Cavern" where you could under and see the "Secret Reef" (where the sharks were) from underneath!

The Tennessee Aquarium was a GREAT place to go to. I made a lot of memories there.
For more info, visit their website at: www.tnaqua.com.

More later,
Tennessee Photobug

Aquarium Photos-batch #2

Here's some more pictures from my trip to the Tennessee Aquarium yesterday.

OK-I admit (and must give credit) to my Uncle Brian who took some of these photos. We both took photos at the aquarium and we put them all together so you can see only the best shots! Enjoy!

Out in the deep a monster lurks....

...he comes closer, and closer and you would never know he's there except that you feel that someone is by you...;)

Would you like to play "Connect-the-Dots", Mr. Fish??

Fishy, fishy swim in the water, fishy fishy, swishy swish...;)

Black & white butterfly beauty.

A once-in-a-lifetime picture. I love butterfly gardens!

Well, that's it for your Internet tour from Photobug of the Tennessee Aquarium. A regular article is coming up next!

Tennessee Photobug

Aquarium Photos-batch #1

Here's some pics from my trip yesterday to the Tennessee Aquarium. More photos and an article are coming!

Tennessee Photobug

Funny Uncle Brian and me at the Aquarium in the "Cove Forest"....

....Grandpa and me. Photo shoot!

Waterfall in the Cove Forest.

Penguin Flock. This was one of my favorite exihibits.

Jellyfish. Cool!;)

Exotic sleeping jellyfish.

Pretty rainbow colored fish!

See ya later, alligator!;)

In the mist of night....my uncle arrives!!

Well, last night my Uncle Brian came to our home at midnight, give or take a few minutes. Sorry I don't have pictures of the grand entry; I was asleep!

In the morning at about 7:00am, I heard some talking. Surely it couldn't be Uncle Brian up so early, I thought in my head. But then I heard his voice. I leaped out of bed and sure enough, he was there and awake. He had come upstairs to use the restroom, but Alison had caught him before he could go back to bed. Even though it was 5:30 to him, he started talking and playing with me and Alison.

We went downstairs, (by this time most of the household had awaken) and he played Foosball with me. I won by only a score, and it was close. But my victorious feelings were soon crushed as he slaughtered me at Air Hockey!;) He won, 12-3!!

After showing Brian some of my pictures and after Alison gave a puppet show, we went up to eat breakfast. And it was like 8:45!

Anyway, after breakfast I showed my uncle some of my powerpoints and my blogs. It was fun. Now he is taking a well-deserved nap!;)

We had our Thanksgiving dinner at lunch this year. We had mashed and sweet potatos, cranberry sauce, cider, juice, salad, loaf, bread, roast, and two kinds of pies. However, as a tradition, I have once again held my slim shape though yet another Thanksgiving!!;)

After lunch, Brian, Mom, Grandma and I played the game of Sorry. I won. Brian, Grandma, and I played a second game called "Skip-Bo", and I won that too. Anyway, it has been a wonderful Thanksgiving.

In this article I have included a picture I took on my grandfather's camera of my uncle Brian.

Tennessee Photobug

P.S.-Happy Thanksgiving!:)

Hark, hark! There's a Hawk!

This afternoon as I was doing my Biology schoolwork, I saw some kind of bird of prey fly into our back yard. I couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but I knew this bird was something special you don’t see everyday. So I left my schoolwork to get my camera. (Yes, that’s “legal” with Mom as I need to photograph or draw 30 Tennessee native animals that I have seen for my Tennessee Natural History class.)

When I tried to take photos through our large screen door, my zoom didn’t reach far enough. So I went virtually under the tree that this bird was under and took some shots. Thankfully, I didn’t get hurt and he didn’t fly away. After getting a couple nice shots, I went inside. From the pictures I took, Grandma and I made a guess that the bird I saw was a Red-Shouldered Hawk. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. I'm including one of my better shots.

Let’s see…what else happened today? This morning Grandpa and I worked on a story and Grandpa also played with Alison. We ate hot dogs and crackers for lunch. In the afternoon Alison went down for nap and Mom and Dad went out for a date together while Grandma and Grandpa stayed with me and Alison. Mom and Dad are still out now. Grandpa took a nap and I did my Biology…and that was when I saw the hawk.

Grandma also went out to the woods with me today.

More later,
Tennessee Photobug

Grandparents arrive in beautiful Tennessee!

Well, my Grandpa and Grandma from Michigan are now here at our abode. They arrived here at about 6:45pm. They will stay here with us until the 28th of this month.



We have already had a lot of fun with them. I have shown Grandpa some of my PowerPoints that I have made, and we have also gone out to our woods and taken pictures, even doing a photo shoot out there.
Our little place here in Tennessee is really beautiful right now, especially with all the fall color.
We have also looked at each other's photos.

On a different note, I thought I'd tell you about some changes I made on this blog.

I have what you might think made 3 new labels in "Article & Column Links".

• What used to be the labels "Alison's Angle" and "Pumpkins Place/Woofer Wisdom" is now just simply "Alison's Angle and other columns".
• I deleted the label "My life/my photos" since there was so many posts in there (43) and I thought that if anyone DID want to read my past posts, they can go directly to the post of their choice under "Archives".
• For the people who want to read some of my recent posts that might not be on the home page, I created "Thanksgiving". This label consists of posts posted in November. You can also get to these posts in "November" under "Archives", which is right below "Article and Column Links".
• "Woods photos" is really just what it sounds like. "Woods photos" is posts that have my photos of our woods.
  
  Currently Mom and Grandma are gone to the Samaritan Center, Grandpa's napping, Dad's working on his laptop, and I'm on the computer.
  
  
  
  Included in this post are some photos I thought y'all might like.
  
  
  
  Tennessee Photobug
  
  

Woods Walk

This afternoon, Dad, Alison and I went back to our little piece of woods. It is really pretty, almost magical. Posted here are some of the best photos. ;)

I thought these leaves pictures were just soooo pretty.



Now, can you believe all this woods is literally just right out my back yard???

More later,
Tennessee Photobug

Ride into Time

Hi! This is a short story I wrote for school. I thought y'all might like it...;)

Tennessee Photobug

"I call my story...

RIDE INTO TIME

Sometimes when I feel like nothing is happening except school, school, and more school, I think of all the fun times I had with my Grandpa this summer. One of my favorite memories with my grandfather is the time when we were at Greenfield Village watching the steam train Edison.

As the train chug-a-chugged past us, we were determined we wanted to ride it. We were only on foot and the nearest train station was still a ways off.

When I told Grandpa of my exciting plan to ride the train, he agreed. Then we started to run, run to Susquehanna Station and get a seat on this unique puffer.

Run, run…on the grass, on the road. My grandfather trails behind. Run, run…past the gatehouse. My lungs feel like bursting, my legs feel like they can’t take anymore, but I keep running… over the bridge, we both scurry.
Run, run…jog! Sprint! Run for your life! We’ve got to get on that train!
…toot, toot!! The train’s almost at Susquehanna Station Help! I’m out of breath! I must stop, I have to stop! But no! We must keep going….ding, dong; ding, dong…the Edison is at the station!!
Up to the train and through the crowd. In a few seconds we are seated on the Edison, waiting for our ride into time to begin.

Now, whenever I look at the picture that Grandpa took of the Edison (above), I always think of my grandpa and all the fun times we have had at Greenfield Village.
As I dream at night now, I can almost smell the smoke huffing-puffing out of the smokestack and the shrill toot of the whistle, calling me back to Michigan and Greenfield Village once again next summer.

Life in General

Well, I guess there hasn't been much to talk about lately, but I thought I might inform you about what's happening. Last week our family went over to another teacher's home and carved pumpkins. It was a lot of fun. At home, We would light it sometimes, and Alison would say her pumpkin was "smiling"! (See picture). Dad took this picture.

Yesterday Ryan and Jessica-some neighbor kids-came over to show us their pet rabbit. They were really nice. I took some pictures of their rabbit, but I haven't gotten them onto the computer yet. I will post my rabbit shots when I can.

Yes, Woofer Wisdom and Pumpkin's Place are coming, but I haven't been able to type my cat and dog's articles onto the computer yet. They're coming, but all I seem to have time for now is school and sleep!!!;)

More later,

Tennessee Photobug

Alison's Angle

October 2007

By Alison, the Outdoor Toddler

"Yea! WA-HO!"

"Hi everyone! Guess what happened to me this month?? Our family moved into our new house!!! I am really having fun and enjoying myself here at our new house. There is lots of things to do at this new place, so let me tell you all about them!!

YARD-I LOVE my new big backyard. At our old house I didn't have any play space outside, because out side was just the driveway and poison ivy. He in our new house I have a HUGE yard.

One of the things I like to do in my new yard is to play the game of Tag. It's lots of fun. Brother will chase me, then I will chase Bro! Sometimes Daddy joins the game, and that's LOTS of fun! Sometimes we'll run all around the house!

Another fun thing I like to do is to pretend I'm trimming the trees. I take a stick from the ground and I'll wave it up on the trees. It's lots of fun.

Let's see...what else do I do outside? Oh, yes! The Luge! I'll tell you about the Luge.

First, Brother gets a towel and lays it down in our little red wagon. Then he'll pull me to the carport (the start of the driveway). Brother will get in, and he pushes off with his feet. Our driveway slopes, so gravity pulls us down. It's lots of fun. After we stop at the end of the driveway, I'll get in the wagon and Bro will pull me up to the carport. Then we will do it again, and again!

I REALLY like playing with Brother and Daddy outside.

BASEMENT-I also like playing in our basement. Daddy nailed some boards on the stairway, so I won't fall off when I go up and down all by self!!! Since my room upstairs is so small, most of my toys are downstairs in my play area. I really like to play with my train track, blocks, kitchen and picnic table. Brother also lets me play with his horse barn.

Oftentimes I will play Foosball or Air Hockey. Those games are fun! Daddy has my bike (tricycle) downstairs and I'll ride a lot. Riding's fun!:D

So, as you can see I'm having a lot of fun with my new house and yard. Brother's including some pictures he took of me.

See you in November!!

ALISON, a.k.a. THE OUTDOOR TODDLER

P.S.-Bro says to tell you that Pumpkin's Place will be up in the next few days.

Moving Day

Yesterday was VERY exciting! Even through our family had been moving little things over the past week, it was really exciting and nice to have all our stuff over here at our new house.
The movers, "Two Men and a Truck" moving comp. came to our old house at about 11:00am. Dad was there and the movers came to our new house at 1:15. The movers unloaded all afternoon until at about 4:00 they left. One funny thing about our movers was that we actually had 3 movers, instead of two.
I played with Alison while the movers were unloading. Everything went well, and our whole family is glad we've got all our stuff over here at our new house now.

Today Mom and Alison went over and cleaned our old house while I stayed home and did school.

I'm including a picture of the moving truck.

As for other blog stuff: Punky (our crazy cat) has almost finished his post for this month, and he will type and post it in the next few days. I HIGHLY encourage you to read it, as it is very funny.
Felix (the cat), Lauren and Alison will also be posting soon.

Hope your day's going well!!

Tennessee Photobug

P.S.- I got come pictures of fall color here, and will get them up as soon as possible.

I'M BACK!!!!!!

AND THE INTERNET'S ON!!!!!!!!! WA-HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! YEEE-HAAAAAAAA! Yea! Yes!;)

WARNING: This is a HUGE, MONSTER size article. I've never, never, ever written an article this long. This article describes my past week. But I have a reason for its length: I haven't been on the Internet this week because we've moved. And this week has has had many HUGE things happen!! This article is good, so keep at it! I promise, it DOES end!!;)

This past week has seemed like a month.
We have moved pretty much everything that we have except (most) furniture and big book boxes.
I say "most" because that table which upon sits the computer, Dad and Mom brought over Friday. I'm really happy that the computer and Internet is up because the Internet is my link to the world and a place to express myself!;)



It may not be the best organized, but I'm going to try now to recount the major events of this past week.

Monday:
We made probably 5 to 6 van trips from our old house to our new one. Mom and Alison took me to my swim lesson. We brought the cats and Lauren over to our new house too.

Tuesday:
We made a trip to Wal-Mart and the phone line was hooked up. Yea-that means we can have Internet when we get the computer up!!

Wednesday:
The main event for Wednesday was that my best friends Tennessee Girl and her brother came over for a tour of our new house with their mom-but the "tour" stretched into a 2 1/2 hour visit!!! Yea! It was a lot of fun talking.

Here's a link to Tennessee Girl's blog. If you can't get the link to work (that happens oftentimes to me) type this into your web browser:

www.cowonline.blogspot.com

Okay, onto Thursday:
Mom, Alison and I went to a thrift shop we go to every week and found a Foosball game there!!! Mom called Dad and he came to us with the van. In the end, Mom and Dad bought it. This is the same shop we got the Air Hockey from a couple weeks ago.
Alison and I have been really been having fun playing Air Hockey and Foosball since these games have been set up in the basement.

Look out! Here comes Friday:
Dad brought over the TV cabniet and the computer table over. And here's the big news:
He got 3ABN to work!! We hadn't been able to get this wonderful Christan TV network since we left Texas over 4 months ago.
Here's 3ABN's website:

www.3abn.org

Dad also got the computer and Internet on Friday. YEA! That's why I'm able to be on today (Sabbath). I was praying that for Sabbath I could have the computer and Internet.

And FINALLY to this morning(Sabbath, at church).

My Sabbath School class did part of the Adult Sabbath School today. It went really good, but I was really scared, because in the Bible verse I read had some strange names and I was afriad I'd misspronnoce them. Oh well. It actually went better than I thought.

And now is now. Well, better close off this article so I won't lose my faithful readers on account of long articles!!;)

To sum it up I just want y'all to know that I AM back on the Internet like I was after a week of nothing!! Bye!!

Tennessee Photobug

Moving Week!

Below, our new house that we're moving to.
Well, this may be my last post this week! But for good reason.

Remember I said that our family was moving?? Well, the time has come for us to move!
The house is currently in a mess of boxes.


Today we get the key to our new house. All this week we will move what we can by ourselves and then a week from today a moving company will come to move the big and heavy things like furniture, etc.
So in all the hustle and bustle of moving I may not post alot this week. I may just not have the chance to post.

But not to worry!! I'm still alive and will post when I can.
Next week, through, there will be alot of new posts.
Pumpkin is working on his article, and Alison is almost done with hers.

So what I'm trying to say is that I'M STILL ALIVE! I just might not post this week.

I'd better go now and help pack. Just thought y'all might like to know what's happening.

More later, (hopefully soon!;)

Tennessee Photobug

Biology is Fascinating!

What? I said I liked Biology?!? Yes!
I'm in Module #6, which is on the cell. I've been doing some experiments, and thought you like some pictures of what I have been seeing.

In the first experiment I did I saw...
An onion skin:



The Ranunculus root:



The Zea mays root:




In the second experiment I saw...
a Impatien leaf: (The pointer is on a vein)


And finally, (can you believe it) a banana smear with iodine:


Well, better go an study some more!;)

Tennessee Photobug

P.S.-All of the photos were taken by my wonderful mother, except the last one(with the banana).

What happened today (isn't that an exciting title!)

Today has been very busy.

This morning Mom, Alison and I went shopping to Wal-Mart. Whenever we go to Wal-Mart, we go the Samaritan Center. This store is a thrift shop.
There is a toy store, and Alison always likes going there.
So when we went to the toy store, right there was an Air Hockey table!!!
Alison and I had played Air Hockey before and it was a lot of fun. This Air Hockey also was selling for a low price. Unfortunately, the worker couldn't hold it. And we didn't have space in our car to bring it home.
SO. We raced home, got the van and picked up Dad. We went back to the store and YEA! The game was still there!!! So in the end we bought it.
WA-HOO! Even though the game is an early Christmas present, I'm still happy.

In the afternoon I went to my swimming lesson. It went great! I'm learning the dolphin kick very good. I also did math test and Biology. I got an A+ on my math test!! YEA!

Well, guess that's all for now.

See y'all later!
Tennessee Photobug

P.S.-One last note: I changed the archives. So now you can directly go to an article, not just to that month.

P.P.S-Monday we start moving into our new house!:)

My Thrilling Trip to Wonderland

This is an essay I wrote for school. It's about my vacation to Michigan. I thought y'all might like it! It's long, I know, but I think it is very good! So just keep at it!;)

Tennessee Photobug


"IF YOU’RE LOOKING for a perfect vacationland, go to Michigan.
With brilliant green trees, the breeze playing with their leaves and being always within a few miles of a lake or stream, Michigan is the perfect place to waste the summer away.

Into this blissful wonderland I spent my vacation.

Our family drove to Michigan in our wonderful burgundy-red Venture Van.
Driving to Michigan is the great hurdle to win the prize of being there.
Why? Rumbling on and on, the road seems to go forever. Always going onward, forward but there seems always more road to conquer.

A certain odor again reaches my nose. My eyes now turn to the crumpled, sticky sandwich which was once my tasty lunch. Fell to the floor, dog hair was now lavishly spread all over it.

“Rest stop!” I hear Dad call. Yes! It will feel good to stretch my legs.
I hear the van slow down. We are now off the freeway. My father finds a parking spot and Mom gets out. She gets Alison and my service dog, Lauren. Dad gets out and with some assistance from him I get out too. It’s quite challenging getting out when you have things piled over, under, and all around you! The fresh, clean air feels great after being in the stuffy car for several hours!

Dad and I head to the bathroom first. Mom will stay by the car with Lauren and my toddler sister, Alison. She will change Alison’s diaper while the boys use the real restroom.
After Dad and I use the restroom, we both feel better. When we get back, Mom had finished changing Alison’s diaper. The car will smell MUCH better now!!

Alison wants to take a walk, so Dad takes her. I tag along.
Back at the car, Mom feeds and takes Lauren potty. Soon Lauren is done. Mom locks the van and uses the restroom herself. Lauren goes with her.


Dad and I keep an eye on the car. Shortly, Mom and Lauren join us walking.
Too soon, it’s time to head back to the van. I amble back, but I get in.

Thankfully, supper is in short order. Raisin cookies and fresh avocado sandwiches- the best! It’s a treat to have fresh food-most car food is dried, and therefore is just plain blah!


******************

Finally, after over 11 hours of driving, we arrived at my grandparent’s home.
As my father turned into the driveway, I thought about all the happy memories I had made at this place. Then I thought about all the happy times I would make this time.
The strong and stately house looked just as I remembered it -- set amid a spacious ten acres.
At last, the car was turned off and we all got out. Too long for me! Our family walked up the sidewalk. Excited and nervous, I took the lead. I mounted the steps, walked between the gigantic columns, and right up to the huge double front doors, where I rang the doorbell.
My heart beat fast. Would my grandparents answer? Were they home? Was all of my tolerance of sister shouting, smelly sandwiches, and hours of driving for nothing??
In the next few seconds I would find out!



THEN MY GRANDPA threw the door open. “Welcome!” he exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re here!”
We walked in and Grandpa gave each of us a great big hug. I felt like I was in total happyland again. Grandma was not far behind. “Oh, you’re here!” she said, smiling. As we followed Grandma into the kitchen, I looked around. Everything looked like I remembered it – with a few additions!

To my great delight, I saw peaches on the counter. I also knew my grandparents also had many other foods I liked.
I just knew I would have a good time here!



As it turned out, I was right. Trips to town with Grandpa, clothes from Grandma, and we even got to see my great-uncle Norman. Riding in Grandpa’s reproduction antique car was also fun. Alison and I both enjoyed running on the huge, green lawn.

But the crowning jewel of my vacation was yet to come!


******************


Greenfield Village!

Greenfield Village is a 93-acre outdoor museum that was started by Henry Ford in 1929 to showcase and remember how America used to be.
Every time we go to Michigan, we always go to Greenfield Village. My grandfather keeps an annual pass, so our family can always get in free.

Greenfield Village has the actual, original Wright Bros. home and bicycle shop, Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, Henry Ford’s birthplace home and even a school house he attended.

There are also several rides at Greenfield Village. You can ride on a steam engine, boat, horse-drawn carriage, and even ride in an authentic Model T.

Alison’s favorite ride is the 1913 Herschell-Spillman Carousel. This carousel is very unique. Herschell-Spillman was the only company to feature not just horses on their carousels. On this carousel you can ride on lions, tigers, cats, dogs, deer, pigs and even a frog dressed in human clothes!

My favorite ride was the Model T’s. I had never ridden in a Model T before. I got to sit up front both times when I rode. The driver was a great tour guide. The cars at Greenfield Village were manufactured after the original blueprints of the original Model T’s.

I also liked the steam train. Henry Ford knew the specific look he wanted for the Greenfield Village steam engine. But no one engine matched what he had in mind. So he took different parts from different engines and was finally able to get what he wanted. Ford named his engine the “Edison”, after his friend and inventor Thomas Edison.
Today the Edison and other engines run around a circle of track inside the edge of the Village. You can board at any of the three convenient stations around the Village.


As I entered Greenfield Village, I saw that the Edison was already at Firestone Station, ready to go. After getting tickets, we boarded the train. It seemed like we were stepping back in time. As we settled into our seats, a shrill toot from the whistle told everyone that the Edison was ready and rearing to go.
The loud, hissing steam spat from the engine as it started to chug.

Ding dong; ding dong the crossing gates rung as I drifted back in time and “Rediscovered America”.

But all too soon our days of visiting with Grandma and Grandpa were over. Back to the van, back to our house, and back to another school year. But these memories and others will next summer call me back to the wonderful land of Michigan.

THE END

Butterflies!

Hi! Remember when I posted and said that we had caterpillars? Well, most of our pets have grown and become released Black Swallowtail butterflies!
It was a lot of fun. When we released one of the butterflies Mom had Alison hold one on her finger so Mom could get a photo. Alison that they were tickly!!;)

I'm including a photo of one of the butterflies(left).

More later,
Tennessee Photobug

We're moving!

Yes! Our family is moving houses.

Where we are moving is really nice.
Only 5 minutes from where we live currently, Dad will still be able to come home for lunch.
The house is located on a beautiful 1.5 acres. Plenty of running space, plus some woods to attract birds, etc. for my photography.
As soon as we can, Mom and Dad are going to put up a fence for Lauren and Alison to run. The house is situated on a wonderful dead-end road.

Now about the house. The house has a BASEMENT!!! Basements are like really rare here in our part of Tennessee.
Alison and I will be able to play down there. There are two rooms down in the basement, and one of them is going to be Mom's sewing room. She's never had a sewing room, so she is really excited about that.
Dad and I will finally be able to have a model railroad too. We've had other railroads before, but we have always moved before we finished.

Anyway(as you can see), I'm really thrilled to be moving.
Mom and Dad closed today, and we'll actually move next month. In the meantime, we'll pack.

That's our exciting news for today!

Tennessee Photobug

Alison's Angle

Sept. 2007
By the WiggleWorm, Alison

"'It's...Play with Sister Time, it's Play with Sister Time, everybody cheer, 'cause it's Play with Sister Time!'

"Hi, everyone! Guess what's my favorite class? Yes! You're right! It's "Play with Sister" class. Every school day, after Bro has done his Biology and Math, we get to play together for half hour. Yea! It's lots of fun.

"We do lots of things together in Play with Sister time. Sometimes we'll play Sandbox, or Bubbles. We also like to run, march, and play ball.
Another fun thing is rocking on Cowboy. Cowboy is my rocking horse. I'll drag Cowboy into Brother's room where the keyboard is. I'll ride Cowboy while Brother plays "Old Smoky", Aloha Oe", "Yankee Doodle", and the "Railroad track song" (I've been Working on the Railroad). I have a lot of fun rocking.

"Sometimes I'll sing. One of my favorites is "Lift Up the Trumpet". Here is goes:

"Lift up the Trumpet! SHOUT AS LOUD AS YOU CAN! Jesus is coming soon!"

Often times I'll play my kazoo while I sing.

"I am trying very hard to obey. But sometimes its very hard, and I don't obey. Then I have to sit on my bed. But I asked Jesus to help me and he is. I'm learning.

"Sometimes when we go to Wal-Mart and I'm very good, Mommy will take my to the Samaritan Center Toy Store. It's lots of fun. I'll play with the cars there, and last time there was a slide! That was fun.

"I guess that's all for now. I'm going to ask Brother if he can play with me more!
See you in October!

Signed,

"ALISON"

Hello!

Hello!
Yesterday our family went for a walk on the Greenway.

The Greenway is a paved trail that goes though our town for over a mile. Most of the Greenway is in trees.
It was a lot of fun. I took some pictures-I'll get them up soon.

Tennessee Photobug

New Piano!

This past week Dad ordered and received a new electronic piano.

It is the Yamaha P-140. It is really nice.
It plays like a real piano, and it has a good number of voices, including several pianos, strings, a church organ and others.
Dad is having a lot of fun with it, and so am I.

Tennessee Photobug

Caterpillars!

One of the caterpillars which
I found
Yes! Our family is once again raising (we think) Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars!

Earlier this summer Mom had planted on our front porch some parsley. In Texas in years past we have raised caterpillars galore.
She was hoping that some butterflies would think her parsley a good spot to raise their children. No caterpillars.

Well, just a couple days ago Mom and I went out on our front porch and I saw literally MILLIONS of them!
Mom got some cages and put sticks in the cages. Then she went got all the 11 caterpillars which I had found.
Now I have the distinction of finding the most caterpillars in one time.

More later....

Tennessee Photobug