A Trip to the Zoo

Meerkat, originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

We spent this last weekend in Nashville. Jon was going to the Baker's School of Aeronautics to take his pilot's instrument rating written exam, and he thought we all ought to go. I dug up some info on things to to in that section of town so Brenden and I could keep busy while Jon was in class.

We drove up early Saturday, and I was happy to note the trip up to Nashville is not too bad a drive. We were in the outskirts in just under 2 hours. We stopped at Shoney's and had the breakfast bar (and did that bring back memories of college) then dropped Jon off. First I found a mega- Walmart and B and I did some leisurely shopping (diapers and socks for B, cough meds for Jon, and of course a toy that B chose). We went to the Nashville Railroad museum afterwards and I was disappointed. Go to the one in Chattanooga, it's awesome. B didn't care, he loved it but was upset he couldn't climb on the train cars parked nearby. Still, he was good to me all day.

The only sore part of the trip (and I do mean physically sore - I am so out of shape since the operation) came when I was pulling away from the museum and realized the tire was flat. I changed it and that was that but it was irritating. I had to leave B strapped in his seat and he couldn't see me all the time so he cried. I felt bad about that.

By that time it was mid-day so B and I went to MacDonald's for lunch. I decided we'd check into the hotel early and B and I had a nice long nap. Since B had fallen asleep in the car he woke up in the hotel room not knowing where he was and he freaked out a little until he realized I was there with him. We watched Scooby-Doo until it was time to pick up Jon. We ate at a Chinese Buffet then went back to the hotel room. B was rambunctious while Jon was trying to study;I wish we had spent a little more on a hotel with an indoor pool but then again he wasn't that bad.

Sunday was much better. After dropping off Jon B and I went to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. It wouldn't open for a few hours so I hunted down a MacDonald's with a children's play area and we successfully killed time there first. B plays with anyone who will play with him so he enjoyed himself immensely.

The zoo was fun and I took many pictures, including the nifty Meerkat in the pic above. I wish I were creatively funny; this pic is just begging for a lolcat caption. But anyway it was cold so not all of the animals were out. We didn't get to see the elephants and giraffes, but we saw all kinds of wild kitties, monkeys, birds and pigs. Brenden had the most fun in the indoor exhibition of turtles, iguanas, snakes, bats, and insects. He just went nuts at those exhibits.

By the time Jon texted me to pick him up it was early afternoon and B was getting punchy. He lasted 2 minutes in the van and then fell dead asleep and he didn't wake up until we were about 10 minutes away from the house. We had a fun trip and Brenden was mostly well-behaved (for Brenden).

I so ignored the news I didn't know about the Tornadoes hitting Atlanta until later Sunday. I was glad to see Helly and Alan reporting in unscathed; I hope everyone else is ok, as well.