Frothy Monkey

One of the things we love about our location is the proximity to Downtown Franklin.
I have been daydreaming of getting a Schwinn cruiser with a little basket on the front and taking the kids for a ride to Franklin on a lovely spring day.....

Well, today we decided to walk the 1.3 miles to Frothy Monkey, the local coffee shop in Franklin.
Trouble is, we had to walk about a half mile along a busy two lane road with barely a shoulder before we could get to any sidewalks-- sadly, my basket toting Schwinn daydreams evaporated pretty quickly...

Josh did buy me a moped, but that is for another day....


We did enjoy admiring all of the historic homes on our route. Many of them have plaques out front with the names of the original owner and when they were built. The oldest we saw was the Mordecai-Puryear home which was built in 1830 and badly damaged during the civil war.. a couple are currently going through renovations, two have additions in progress, and another is an ornate Victorian which is being stripped by hand, and will be repainted. It is going to be gorgeous when done. Can't imagine how much it must cost to have people hand sanding down this house.

This beauty could be yours---


for only $890,000..

http://www.franklintnhomesforsaleonline.com/property/1463826/

This was our destination-




The food is not your usual coffee shop fare.

you can check out more about it here-
http://frothymonkey.com/press/the-latest-outpost-of-the-frothy-monkey-is-turning-franklinites-into-believers-southern-exposure/



  Gavin and Dylan had waffles with the best locally sourced sausage and bacon, Rowan had an amazing Reuben, and I had a cheese plate with local cheeses, including ( one of my fave Southern treats) Pimento cheese, figs, and new to us- boiled peanuts. Of course this was washed down with some good ol' sweet tea...

We took a stroll down Main Street and went to our new favorite toy store, and found some fun new treasures- a  french knitting spool for Dylan,  some caps for Rowan's Winchester cap gun, Confederate Kepi's, a toy revolver,and a stunt knife. They had a great time stabbing each other on the way home.


When we were about 1/4 mile from home, we stopped  to look at a civil war monument. A SUV drove up and I thought they were lost. They rolled down the window and asked me about Carnton Plantation. I thought they were asking where it was-- well, turns out they were thinking that *we* were walking to Carnton and they were concerned that we had walked all the way from the other historic homes that were battle sites  in the area ( they are about 2 miles from Carnton) and they were offering us a ride. Apparently people try and walk between the historic sites, assuming that they are closer than they are-- and  the main road that turns into Lewisburg Pike is not well suited for walking.

We came to learn that they actually live about 5 houses down from us, and have kids that are similar ages.
  I love the South!

Ice Cream

Josh and I ran into Cool Springs the other night to get some supplies to fix the noisy fans in our upstairs bathrooms. The fan in the kids bath doesn't work at all, and the fan in the Master bath sounds like a shrieking banshee fighting with a wounded seal before it finally decides to actually turn on. It is horrible.

After looking both at Lowe's and the Depot, we were unable to find new fans to fit, but were able to find one Josh could dismantle and re-figure to fix the  noisy fan.

On our way home, I decided that ice cream sounded good. (note*** this is unusual for me, Josh is the ice cream guy....)
Josh said, "sure, do you want to stop at Baskin Robbins or the store?"  Well, I had a hankering for something like a peanut buster parfait, so I voted Dairy Queen. Well, the closest ( and only) DQ was in Nashville, 20 minutes away from where we were. *sigh*

So we decided to go back home and get the kids and go to "Sweet Ce Ce's" frozen yogurt in Downtown Franklin.
I had heard this was the 'place to go', but I kind of poo poo'ed it thinking it is just another yogurt place, what's the big deal?! Well... it is well worth the trip- the yogurt was very tasty, with many fun flavors to choose from- blackberry pie, cupcake batter, chocolate malt, carrot cake, and 60+ other rotating gourmet flavors.






sweet Ce Ce's, Main Street, Franklin, TN

the inside



Well, we walked in, and were greeted by a number of people, not to mention there was a gentleman playing LIVE music-- and he was really good!
He was full of fun, and had all the kids engaged, teaching them how to beat box  ( boots and cats, boots and cats... really fast) and how to scratch ( say Eric really fast over and over again)

Much to our surprise ( these things still blow us away- getting used to being in the Bible belt ) He was openly talking about his relationship with Jesus Christ, and all of his songs were Christian songs! Rowan leaned over and said, "Um, Mom.. I think he might be a Christian...."

He is from Ohio originally, and waiting for his big break here in Nashville.
Check him out--
Richard Jordan

We were so thankful that the Lord had orchestrated this fun, spontaneous outing, on a Tuesday night-- what a blessing! He plays Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays- we will be back!

Spring day in Middle Tennessee

Yesterday was a beautiful warm day, so we decided to take a trip to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere.  We met some new friends from Lampo, and they helped show us around a bit. 

The drive was nice, and it was only about 30 minutes away, easy to find and had ample parking.  This was a very nice zoo. I would say it is on par with the Point Defiance Zoo, however a bit smaller.

This guy has the right idea.... 73 degree day, lounging in the sunshine in March-my kind of day!
 After about 4 hours  the kids however felt it was much  too hot, and were complaining,
                                              this is going to be interesting come August! 

Our favorite spot was where you can meet and greet kangaroos and cockatiel.

.                                                   If the Kangaroo is on the path, you can pet it.



This is the historic Croft  house at the zoo-- the zoo was relocated to this farm, and they have preserved the building, and it's grounds and made it into a historic house museum, with costumed re-enactors and guided tours.  The Master Gardeners of Davidson County have adopted the farm and have restored the gardens, livestock barn, pastures, chicken coop  and machine shed. 
They have daily tours starting in spring and special events hosted here throughout the year.

Here is a little blurb about this beautiful gem- 

The home was built by Col. Michael C. Dunn and was completed around 1810, making it the second oldest residence in Davidson County that is open to the public. It was built in the Federal style, or without the ornate front and back porches it has now. Michael Dunn's son-in-law, Lee Shute, purchased the farm for $10,000 in 1846. Several years later, Lee sold the 346-acre property to his son, William Dickson Shute, for the sum of $5, as "a loving gift" to William and his new bride, Lavinia.

I wonder if we could be related...

Is it spring yet?

Apparently, we are less than 2 weeks away from spring break here in Middle Tennessee. You wouldn't know it by the snow on the ground, and the 19 degree daytime temperature however.

Unlike WA state which has children and parents alike on tenterhooks of anticipation whether or not school will be closed that morning, Williamson County makes the decision to close schools the night before- sometimes even the day before.

Despite warnings from TDOT, and Williamson County law enforcement to not go to work ( or anywhere) during these times, Josh hasn't had any problems commuting. Yesterday Lewisburg Pike at Carnton Lane ( where we live) was closed due to flooding of the Harpeth River, yet Josh didn't encounter any of it, so it must have been only temporarily closed. The Galleria Mall across the street from Lampo even closed 4 hours early...

We started back to school yesterday, a bit of a slow go, as Gavin's math book somehow got misplaced in the move. The printer wasn't hooked up so I had to hand copy the lesson from Rowan's book.  Unpacked more stuff, and still haven't found it ( it was in the Ark-V so it has to be here somewhere...) . Fortunately, Josh was able to set the printer up this AM before he left for work so I was able to copy out the pages.

Despite the cold temperatures, the kids love to play outside in our large yard, and were out multiple times playing catch, and throwing the balls for the dogs.
 We are looking forward to more spring temperatures that welcomed us our first weekend in Tennessee!

 our backyard swing..

view of our street from front porch

this little critter-- an Eastern Phoebe ( previously misidentified as a mockingbird)  was sitting on the porch eating seeds. I walked by and he was only a few inches from the side door window- we love our new bird friends!

5 things I have learned my first week in Tennessee.

1. The weather is crazy. We can go from 65 degrees to the 20's in a single day. This happened today. When we arrived to church this AM, it was too warm for me to wear my wool coat. When we came out of church a couple of hours later, I needed that coat as it was around 35 degrees. Tonight will be in the low 20's with a 'wintry' mix.. whatever that is. If there is any kind of 'crazy' weather coming down the pike, everyone freaks out and every loaf of bread,  dozen eggs, and gallon of milk will be sold out in stores. Not kidding.


2. Coming from WA state where recycling is a religion, it has been interesting to say the least how Tennessee deals with their garbage/recycling. When I called to ask about it, I didn't have to go through a menu, I spoke to a live person, and I am allowed to put out as much garbage/recycling as I want for the first 2 weeks for free since we just moved in. After that, I need to go buy a tag to put on any extra bags of garbage, and that costs $1 per bag. Also, there are no recycling bins. Or yard waste bins. Or schedules for either. I had to buy 'blue' bags from the store, which are for recycling.( 30 gallon hefty bags that are BLUE)  I can put as many 'blue' bags out as I want each Wednesday and they will pick them up. Same for yard waste, I can put out as many paper yard waste bags as I want and they will pick them ALL up on Wednesdays. If things do not fit in the paper yard waste bags, we are to just stack them by the curb, no maximum limb size, or bundles required. However, they do not take glass in the 'blue' bags.. you have to drive them to a glass drop off site. (?!)

3. Tennessee has backwards cement trucks. These bother me.

4. Everyone is your friend. I love going anywhere-- random people strike up conversations and give advice etc. wherever you go. I love it. I have met some really neat people in just the week I have been here.

5. So many BIRDS! I wake up each morning to the birds singing in the trees and the sun shining. It has been  exciting seeing all  new species of birds in our yard. Since most trees in Tennessee are deciduous, we can see all of the birds nests in the trees. In our yard alone we have counted 5 nests!  Our family loves the Cardinals and the Grackles the best. We are looking forward to summer time when we get an even larger assortment of birds.