The Richardsons: May Break Part I

Earlier this month we had a whole week to enjoy having Michael home! His second-year exams ended Friday, May 3, and he had a week off before third-year classes (and clinic!) started Monday, May 13. We usually go home to Florida, and as much as we miss everyone, we decided to stay here in Memphis, doing all the fun stuff we haven't done yet here .

Unfortunately, Paul started off with a cold (although he is getting a lot of teeth in, including molars, so maybe that was involved), so we had to take it easy the first weekend. We did some things around the house and planned out our week.

On Monday, the weather was a bit rainy, so we stayed close in case of a downpour! Still, we were able to get outside at the Memphis Zoo and missed the rain (mostly). (I didn't get any pictures because of this, though!) We have a membership to the zoo and now that the weather is nice, we go about once a week, usually with our friends Krystal and Brock who live nearby. It's so fun to see Paul get excited and point at animals! Of course we talk to him all the time, and read to him, but it's just so thrilling when he says a new word, without being prompted right before. He pointed out a bird as it flew by, saying "birr!" and after seeing bears at the zoo this week (the polar bear and brown bear came right up to the window!) he says "bear!". I know, I know, those are very similar words. Plus, it's not like he's got pronunciation down. But really, I can tell he is beginning to comprehend the world around him. It is so exciting to see him putting it all together.

The next day, Tuesday, the weather was perfect! So we packed a lunch and drove out to Shelby Farms (billed as the largest urban park in the US, it's about 4500 acres). We had a wonderful time walking around a lake within the park. We saw lots of geese and ducks, and even bison and baby bison (although these had wondered farther away by the time we got out of the car and walked to where they were). It's a beautiful place, and reminds me so much of Paynes Prairie, our favorite Gainesville place. No alligators, though, but I expect to see them every time. After our walk, we went to the big playground there. The playground has four or five different-themed areas for kids to play in. Most are too old for Paul, but one is a sand/water area, and I thought he would enjoy it. After a few minutes of uncertainty, Paul took heart and got in there to play! He mostly just walked around with a toy that a girl let him play with, but he was so fun to watch! He did great and didn't even try to eat too much of the sand. We loved seeing him interact with the other kids too! We will definitely be back!

He loves to wave and say "bye bye".

Checking out the geese with dad.

Dad was making him laugh!

Gorgeous day!

Fun water table!

This little girl shared her toys with Paul! So sweet.

Watching the water drip down.

Making friends.

We'd heard a lot about the new Kroc Center close to our house, so on Wednesday, we decided to check it out. The Kroc Center is a big community center run by Salvation Army -- it's a gym, pool, rec and performance center, and church all rolled into one brand-new complex. The indoor pool has several different areas, including a very shallow splash pool, a lazy river with a waterfall, a big slide, and lanes. Outside they are building a splash park that will be open at the end of the month. We hung out in the splash pool, letting Paul get his bearings in the water. He is always a little cautious at first with new experiences, but he always warms up and was splashing and walking around before we left! We just got our membership so I know we'll be going there a lot this summer! Once again, no pictures, but here's a link to what the pool looks like: http://www.krocmemphis.org/facilities/aquatics/

We got him some new sand toys. I thought it was cute that he took all of his cheese puffs out of the snack container to put them in this toy to carry around!

Ready for the pool!

This is a daily event at our house! Cuddling with Phoebe.

Our friend Krystal told us about a special promotion where you could get a free summer membership to the local museum Pink Palace and the Lichterman Nature Center (which we just visited a few weeks ago). Pink Palace is close to us and we'd never been before, so we signed up and went to the museum on Thursday. The Pink Palace (named that way for the pink marble used to build it) was built and owned by the founder of Piggly Wiggly and given to the city in the '20s after he went bankrupt. Since then it's been a natural history and cultural museum. Now they even have an IMAX theater and a planetarium. The museum had lots of neat exhibits -- dinosaurs, huge rocks, a shrunken head, a big model of an old circus, but our favorite parts were the walk-in exhibits built to replicate an old pharmacy and the first Piggly Wiggly, among a few others.