Friday, June 22

A few months ago, I bought a Groupon for Blue Heron Cruises.  Now it's time to use it and we'd love for you to join us.  We're doing a 90 minute nature cruise through the Cheatham Wildlife Natural Area.  Here are the details:

Friday, June 22
Depart at 1 pm
$11/Adult
$9/Children 2 - 12
Children under 2 are free

There is space on this boat for 14 more passengers, so we'd love for some of you to join us!  Let me know if you're interested or call Blue Heron directly and give them the date and time of the cruise.  You can reach them at 385-7007.

This Week's Fun

Sweet Treat Tuesdays
Join us tomorrow around 4:15 at Pinkberry.  It's our favorite frozen yogurt place in town (and we've sampled nearly all of them).

Friday Fun Jar
Anna will be dancing.  Kate will be in Alabama.  So join Bekah and I at Cumberland Park for the morning.  There are fountains to play in, a sandbox to get messy in and other assorted kid things.  We'll arrive between 9:30 and 10:00 and will pack a lunch to eat there.

Click the links above for locations and directions.  And e-mail me if you have any questions!  Hope you can join us for one or both of these outings...

Zoo Tomorrow

While I still have a few arrangements to finalize, here's the tentative plan for tomorrow:

Meet at the zoo at 9:00
Pack a lunch for picnicking
Hang out until between noon and 1:00 (or whenever the girls or I get tired)

Let me know via a comment here or on Facebook if you're planning to join us so that I can wait for you.  By shortly after 9, we'll go into the zoo and wait for others who might be a little late near the monkeys.

In case you're new to Nashville or aren't regulars at the zoo, here are directions and admission info.

If you don't have my cell number, let me know and I'll get it to you before tomorrow morning.

Hope to see you soon!

Percy Priest Lake and Blueberry Picking

Earlier this summer at Percy Priest Lake

If you haven't been to Percy Priest Lake's beach area, you're missing out.  This is one of our favorite Nashville summer spots.  In my opinion, it's as close as you can get to the beach when you're 400 miles inland.  There's sand, there's shade, there's water.  And this Tuesday, there will be friends.  So mark your calendar and join us!

Here are the details:

• Driving directions can be found here or by mapping directions to 4010 Anderson Road, Nashville
• Tuesday, June 28, we'll arrive between 10 and 11 and will stay until 3ish
• Pack a lunch - there are no concession stands (but there are restrooms!)
• Bring $4 cash for parking
• Bring a blanket and/or chair for sitting, along with any sand or water toys (shovels, pails, floats, etc.)

Leave a comment if you need my cell number to find us when you arrive.

BLUEBERRY PICKING
Weather permitting, we'll go blueberry picking later in the week.  Mornings are always best for this since we can pick before the mid-day heat arrives.  Let me know if you have a preference for Thursday or Friday morning and I'll post in a few days with details and directions to a farm.

Extra Fun This Week

In addition to this Tuesday's Fun Jar trip to the State Capitol (there's still room if you want to join us), we're doing some other fun things.  You're welcome to join us on any or all of the following adventures:


Wednesday: Percy Priest Lake (Anderson Road Recreation Area)
$4 for parking, cash only
We'll arrive 2ish because of ballet beforehand, but feel free to get there early and picnic!
Click for directions

Thursday: A Child's Life in Japan at the Downtown Library
10:30 in the Craft Room
My 7, 9 and 11 year old children have (sadly) outgrown storytime, but this description sounds right up their alley:  Experience a child’s life in Japan through slides, toys, school and sports equipment, origami, dress-up and a Japanese folktale.

Friday: Sweet Treats at Pinkberry
If you've never been, this is some of the best frozen yogurt in town.
We'll be heading there after ballet ends at 1:30 at Centennial Park.

Speaking of Centennial Park, Anna will have dance there every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12:00 to 1:30.  Let me know if you ever want to meet to play on their (nicely shaded) playground.

Tuesday, June 21: TN State Capitol Tour

Kate is desperate to visit the Tennessee State Capitol, so we're heading there for our next Fun Jar event.  Here are the details if you'd like to join us:

When: Tuesday, June 21:
10 AM State Capitol Tour
11 AM Hearth and Home Hands On Activity at TN State Museum
11:30 AM TN State Museum Scavenger Hunt

Cost: Free (unless you pay to park)

Optional: Pack a lunch to eat at Bicentennial Mall after the visit

A friend suggested we park at Bicentennial Mall (for free) and walk up the stairs to the capitol.  This sounds like a great plan to me and we can cool off in the fountains if they're turned on that day.

If combining the museum with the capitol sounds like too much, just let me know.  We were just there yesterday for the Egyptian Exhibit, so I'm on the fence as to whether I'd like to do both or just see the capitol and then head to the Farmer's Market and play at Bicentennial Mall.  Your thoughts are welcome!

Hope you can join us!

Next Tuesday's Fun: Tennessee State Museum

Today's Fun Jar selection was one of my entries for this summer: a trip to the Tennessee State Museum.  Non-art museums aren't generally my favorite, but the current exhibit of Egyptian Relics looks fabulous.  I think it will be great fun and great learning.  (Plus we're studying Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece next year, so it ties in so very nicely.) 

Even if you and your children aren't history buffs, the descriptions of mummification should be enough to get any boys in your family interested!  I'll be creating a scavenger hunt for my children to do while we're at the museum and I'm happy to print extra copies if your child and/or family wants to complete one while we're there.  The scavenger hunt will not be elaborate, but will hopefully help my children focus on some of the key things I want to be sure they notice.

Admission is free, but parking downtown can be expensive.  My solution?  We'll arrive early enough to park in the library parking lot and walk the three or four blocks to the museum.  That way, we can piggy-back a library trip onto our museum visit.  If you'd like to meet in the library lobby and walk over together, just let me know.  Here are the details:

Where: Tennessee State Museum
When: Tuesday, June 14, 10 AM (or meet in downtown library lobby at 9:45)
How Much: Parking in a lot near the museum will probably run you $10; parking in the library lot with validation will be about $5
If you are so inclined: Pack lunch and we can picnic in the library courtyard before heading home

Let me know if you have any questions.  Hope you can join us!

Next Tuesday's Fun: Nashville Zoo

Waiting to be filled with fun

During the last week of school, the girls and I made our lists of Fun Jar activities for the summer.  We each got about 8 slips of paper to complete with our favorite summer destinations.  Some places were listed by all four of us (the lake), some by only one (the State Capitol).  But before we could put them in the bowl serving as our "jar" this year, we had to reassemble the paintings that were on the reverse side of our slips:

This morning we made our first drawing and we're heading to the zoo next Tuesday.  Kate has a doctor's appointment that morning, so we'll arrive 11ish with lunch packed.  We'll head straight to the playground to eat, play and meet up with anyone who can join us.  If your morning is free, some of you may want to meet earlier and be near the end of your trip when you join us at the playground.  Just leave a comment if you're coming and let me know in the comment if you don't have my cell number and need it.  If you have a membership that includes a free pass you'd be willing to share, please indicate that.  Our membership doesn't have any of the bells and whistles.

Here are the details summarized:

Where: Nashville Zoo, meet at playground
When: Tuesday, June 7, 11:00
Who: You, your friends, your family, anyone you want to invite
Other Info: Click here for directions, admissions and parking costs

 Hope to see you soon!

Fun for the Week of June 21

We've had something come up during the first half of our week, so we're going to limit our Fun Jar to one day this week...

Friday, 10:30 am - mid-afternoon, Percy Priest Lake Beach Area
My girls just can't get enough of the lake. So while we went there just two weeks ago, they begged to make this the second entry in next week's fun. If you haven't been, there's sand for building castles, a playground for quick breaks from the water, lots of shade for picnicking and a designated swimming area.
Cost: $4 to park

We decided to head to the lake next Friday instead of Thursday in the hopes that it might work for some of our friends who have Tuesday/Thursday commitments (especially those with wonderful weekday commitments like Parent's Day Out!). Depending on how our kitchen renovation is going, I may add a last minute Thursday event, so check back if that works better for you.

We'll be taking a Fun Jar break the week of June 28 while the girls vacation in Milwaukee with grandparents, so we'd love to see you next week if we haven't already gotten the chance to hang out with you. As always, if your schedule only allows you to join us for part of the time, please come anyway. You're always welcome before or after nap time. We'd love to see you soon!

The Best Kind of Day

Today's Fun Jar didn't go as planned. I didn't count on torrential rain mid-morning or the resultant sodden playground. I didn't plan to have to call a friend and say, "Don't drive across town. The playground's wet." Thankfully, I also didn't expect a friend who lives near the park to invite us to her home where my girls could play with her daughter - her home that is beautiful, with a functional kitchen and an amazing lack of plaster dust everywhere. The invitation was even more unexpected because this friend had never met my daughters before today and is a relatively new friend.

The planner (control freak?) in me loves it when a Fun Jar event goes exactly like I envision. When lots of people show up, old friends meet new friends, kids have fun and everyone goes home happy. But I must admit that the best Fun Jar days are the ones that don't go according to plan. The best days are the ones that hold surprises.

Surprises like...

sitting at a new friend's house sharing my heart and realizing on the drive home how safe I feel in her presence

A and K playing with my friend's daughter and her Littlest Pet Shop collection

B putting together a world puzzle when she tired of group play

K using a bowl with a straw attached for snack time and my sweet friend giving her one to take home to use for cereal tomorrow morning

bringing home three daughters who are pleased with their afternoon instead of disappointed that they missed out on the playground and Maggie Moo's

ending my afternoon thankful for my day.

I'm sure there are many lessons in this for me. But instead of listing them all out, I'm going to simply say that I'm thankful today was the best kind of day - one that didn't go according to plan.

A Day Like Today

A day like today is a good reminder of why I do the Fun Jar. The renovation of our kitchen started yesterday and while the day went well, I attribute that largely to the fact that Anna had a friend here to play all day and Bekah played with our contractor's son for most of the day. Had my own three daughters been stuck in their rooms or the basement together all day, it would not have been pretty.

So while I wasn't entirely thrilled about the Fun Jar draw of walking the one mile loop at Shelby Park's greenway, it would at least get us out of the house. In talking with a friend yesterday who was planning to join us for today's outing, she asked who I thought would be there today. I told her that I rarely know exactly who will be there until I show up. The surprise is part of the fun - for me and the girls. Today was no exception on that front.

About an hour before we were scheduled to meet at the park, a friend posted on Facebook that his kids were driving him - and each other - crazy. His son is Kate's age and his daughter, Bekah's age. So I offered to bring them along with us today. I'm so glad that I did. We had a small group today, so it was great to have friends along with us and it was easier to have them along than it would have been to host them in my chaotic house. I'm thankful I was not only able to help someone else by bringing their kids along, but that it was such an easy addition to our day. As an introvert, I can be hesitant to schedule lots of playdates for my daughters. And when I do, they don't always go well. Which makes me more hesitant to schedule playdates. So today was a good reminder that I can handle taking care of other people's children - and can even enjoy doing so.

A day like today is also a reminder that Fun Jar lets me reach out to people that I know, but not well. It lets me keep in touch with the friend I met when our daughters were at a Montessori school together - three years ago. It helps other moms get to know each other and get out of the house with their children. And it keeps me from going crazy about the plaster dust coating several rooms of my house on a day like today.

Join Us For Tomorrow's Fun

Sure, it's hot, but at least we'll lose some weight by sweating our way around the Shelby Park greenway. And it will be oh so easy to justify an ice cream from Pied Piper after a steamy outside walk.

Let's meet at 9:30 instead of 10 at the start of the greenway (by the Shelby Park nature center). If you need my cell number, e-mail me at shannontruss@yahoo.com and I'll send it to you.

Hope to see you soon!

Fun for the Week of June 14

My daughters started the summer with a nostalgic air - they wanted to go back to the good old days, when we put slips of paper into a Fun Jar and pulled them out for a surprise each week. But the first week into summer, they decided there were advantages to planning in advance - namely, that it let them choose their fun. So we reached a compromise - one day we pull from the jar, one day we choose.

Tuesday's Fun (pulled at random from the Fun Jar) is Shelby Park. We'll meet at the greenway entrance at 10:00 and have a picnic lunch at a nearby shelter after our walk. You are welcome to bring bikes, trikes or scooters, but it may be more difficult for the adults to keep up with the kids - and chat - if our children are all on wheels. Your call. :-) While I won't be sharing this part of the plan with my girls, if a few of us are interested, we can grab ice cream at Pied Piper or snow cones at the Jolly Rogue after lunch. You may also want to bring any stale bread hanging out at your house to let your kids feed the ducks after lunch. My girls always love this part of a Shelby Park visit!

Thursday's Fun (chosen by me to go easier with my schedule) is Granny White Park. I'll be in Brentwood anyway and thought this would be a good time to hang out with friends who live south of town. We'll arrive shortly after lunch (12:30ish) and wrap up our play time with ice cream at Maggie Moo's (using our Groupon, of course!).

If your schedule allows for more spontaneous outings, check this blog or the Facebook page Fun Jar 2010. Renovation of our kitchen starts Monday and I have a feeling we'll need to get out of our messy house more than just Tuesday and Thursday. Suggestions are welcome!

A Day at the Lake

It wasn't the most auspicious start. As we pulled away from Kate's Vacation Bible School, I told her to get her swimsuit on while we drove to the lake. Less than a quarter mile down the road, Kate was screaming, Anna was trying to console her and Bekah and her friend were saying, "Turn off the music! Pull over!" So I pulled over. I helped Kate disentangle herself from her swimsuit and get it on properly. (What was I thinking, anyway? That a six year old could put her swim suit on while buckled into the back seat? Obviously not.) In just a few minutes, everyone was calm - and dressed for the lake.

Then, about a half mile down the road, Bekah's friend says, "Miss Shannon? I sort of need to go to the bathroom." Another stop. And then we are on our way (again). About a half hour later, we pulled up at the lake to find that Bekah lost a shoe on our bathroom stop. Actually, we weren't entirely sure what happened to the shoe, but that was the only semi-rational explanation. After a bit of tearful angst over the lost flip flop, Bekah agreed to walk down to the lake without her shoes.

In spite of this up and down start, our lake visit was a great one. Friends new and old joined us. Some came early, some stayed late. All had a great time.

We arrived at lunch time, but there was little discussion as to whether we should start with the water or the food. After I applied sunscreen, they headed right into the lake, bringing floaties, kick boards and goggles along with them. And there they stayed. And stayed. And stayed. I chatted with friends, cooled off in the water and felt like I was enjoying myself as much as my girls were.

The girls did agree to leave the water long enough to throw some food down their throats, but food clearly took a backseat to swimming today.

One friend who joined us had invited some other women who I knew, but not well. I enjoyed getting to know them and heard some encouraging words about my plans to homeschool Anna next year, while getting to know a few more parents of Kate's classmates. While Kate is our youngest child, many of the children in her class are only children or the eldest in their families, so many of the parents know each other, but not me. I was grateful for a low-key opportunity to forge a few connections.

And I was equally thankful to see old friends. One friend was the clear winner of the early bird prize, having arrived at 9:45 that morning with her two young boys. She was on the playfound when we got there, but joined us in the water and snacked with us before heading out for nap time. Another friend who wasn't able to come to the lake last year made it today and it was a pleasure to get time with her while her son played with Kate in the sand and the water.

It was a great day. We stayed until 4, a full hour later than I had intended and found ourselves tired, a bit sunburned (oops!) and fulfilled. I can't wait to do it again.

Fun for the Week of June 7

This summer we're going to attempt to have Fun Jar activities two days each week. Most of the time, our days will be Tuesday and Thursday (although we may switch things up on occasion when it works better or there's a special event). Here's what's happening this week:

Tuesday, 1-4 pm, Frist Center
Join us in the courtyard for a free glass blowing demonstration and then head inside to see one or more of the exhibitions and play at ArtQuest. If you've never seen Chihuly glass in person, you're in for a treat. The colors and forms are amazing and ArtQuest never fails to keep my kids entertained. It's like free craft time and I don't have to clean up after them! We'll be heading straight to the Frist after picking my youngest daughter up from VBS, so I don't think we'll make it in time to picnic at the Frist before the demonstration. If your schedule allows, this would be fun and there's seating available in the courtyard.
Cost: $10 for adults, children are free

Thursday, 11:30 - mid afternoon, Percy Priest Lake Beach Area
While I grew up swimming in salt water instead of fresh water, the Anderson Road beach area at Percy Priest lake is the closest thing I can find to a beach in Nashville. There's sand for building castles, a playground for quick breaks from the water, lots of shade to picnic in and a designated swimming area. My youngest daughter is attending a morning VBS, so we'll get a slightly later start to our lake time than I would normally choose. If you don't have a morning commitment, I highly recommend heading out in time to swim a bit before eating your picnic lunch and then staying until your children are toeing the line between exhaustion and meltdown (and then get in the car before meltdown arrives so that they can fall asleep on the ride home!). Directions can be found here.
Cost: $4 for parking

If you think you can join us, let me know (shannontruss@yahoo.com) and I'll look for you when we arrive.

Future Fun:
Mark your calendar for:

Nashville Sounds Game on Monday, June 21 at 7:05
Demolition on our kitchen starts June 14, so our family could use some evening outings to help us get through the chaos of having no kitchen. June 21st is Dollar Dog Night, so this Fun Jar event has the added advantage of saving you from cooking dinner! We'll buy general admission tickets so that our group can sit together when we arrive. Since we're two weeks out from the game, if you let me know by June 14 that you want to attend, I'll see if we qualify for a group rate.

Hope you can join us sometime soon for some fun!

A Surprising Zoo Trip

I've never been a huge fan of the zoo. This might be because I have three very different daughters. Many of my friends buy annual memberships to the zoo year after year. Two summers ago on a Fun Jar trip to the zoo, one such friend remarked to me that she was surprised I didn't have a membership, especially as a Fun Jar girl. At the time, I was pushing my youngest daughter in her stroller, one daughter was lagging behind our group and one had dashed ahead.

Looking at them, I replied, "This is pretty much how it goes for me at the zoo. I spend all of my time saying, 'Wait up.' or 'Hurry up.' or 'Where is she?' It's not exactly a relaxing experience."My friend looked around, laughed and said, "I guess that's the difference in having two children and three."

So how did we end up at the zoo so early in this summer's plans? Largely because I caved to the pressure of three eager girls, who were (for once) in agreement that this was the perfect Fun Jar outing for today. I was sympathetic to their plea for zoo time partly because my kindergartner missed her zoo field trip when school was canceled due to the floods. But I was not without my reservations...



Which is why this morning at 8 AM, I explained to my daughters how the zoo has never been a lot of fun for me since I've had to spend most of my time chasing them down. I reminded them that those zoo trips were before my leg surgery and that I would need for them to be careful not to run away today and to do their best to stay with our group.

I'm sure it wasn't my pep talk that made this trip different, but the girls did a fabulous job of staying with the group, had good attitudes and helped us have an all around great day at the zoo. So good, in fact, that we celebrated on the way home with Sonic shakes (two for one!) AND I purchased a membership... You might just see a zoo trip pop out of the Fun Jar again this summer!

Zoo Tomorrow

If you don't have plans for tomorrow (the only day this week with no rain in the forecast), join us at Nashville Zoo for a day of chasing kids, chatting with other moms, getting your exercise while walking the zoo loop and picnicking.

We'll arrive around 9:30 and stay until the kids are exhausted.

Hope you can join us!