HOME ALONE!!!

Chance and I are home alone this weekend!! So i'm going to make posts today about what we're doing so Momma can see what we're up to. So today Chance and I are working on the house, tomorrow probably too. We've finished the first coat of our purple test wall, and also finished the kitchen door, later today we're going to do some trim work. Chance is a mighty fine bicyclist right now, zipping around the yard. I will try and post photos on Flickr.

Holston Dam

Our tour guide at Bristol Caverns (sorry these are out of order, Bristol Caverns coming soon) told us of a neat place to go only a few minutes away. Holston Dam turned out to be a very nice place to spend some time which would have never found if not for the thoughtful tip. It was such a nice day to be out and about, there were a lot of people fishing in the river, a bunch of them were actually out in the water fly fishing which made us all think of Grandpa Von. Chance asks if he can go fishing every time we see a fishing pole in a store or a person fishing and every time we tell him that he can go fishing with Grandpa Von this summer.
First we watched the fishermen from a bridge which went over to a little island.

The island had trails that lead around the edge near the water. Everything is so green and bright, the locals say this whole place was covered in snow just a few weeks ago, now that it is finally Spring everything is in full bloom. Flowers are everywhere along the sides of the path.

As we reached the opposite side of the island (from the bridge) we cam upon another dam with a lookout area where Scott and Chance went out to watch the water and give me a wave.

After some time spent throwing rocks in the water Chance decided to go native and become a wild mountain boy. He asked us to take his shirt off we told him he would have to carry it if we took it off and when he agreed we took it off and stuffed it in his back pocket.

A minute after that he grabbed a stick and had a wonderful time dragging it along the ground as we walked.
As we made our way back to the bridge that would take us off the island and back to the car there was another lookout. On Dinosaur Train which is one of Chance's favorite shows on PBS they always say "get out in nature and make your own discoveries." We all have a good time out in nature implementing this advice and today was no different. This is a great little place to explore and make our own discoveries.

Winged Deer Park

So we never found out exactly what a winged deer is (other than the obvious) or why this park on the river is called Winged Deer but it is a nice park whatever it's called. Scott will be working the night shift for the last few days of our stay so we are able to get out of the hotel and find new places to explore a little easier.
Today we went to this park, at first we walked down a big hill to the water. We tried to get Chance to lay down on the grass and roll down the hill but it was too icky for him so it was just me and Scott rolling down the hill. No pictures of that, luckily.
After that Chance played on the playground for a while then we moved on down to a different part of the water where we sat for a while throwing rocks in the water. The weather is so strange here one day it's 30 degrees and ice is falling from the sky then next it is 80 degrees and you are looking for a spot of shade to stand in. Today was one of those warm days making it a really nice day for the park. Hopefully it will be nice again tomorrow and we can get out and run around again.


pic #1: Scott trying to convince Chance he should roll down the hill and pic #2: Chance getting ready to throw a rock in the water.

A Good Little Helper

These pictures aren't too god because I took them with my phone in the hallway of the hotel with all the weird lighting but...
Chance has been testing us more lately stretching his abilities and learning what he can get away with but through all of that he is still a really good helper. Today he helped me go get ice, carrying the bucket both ways.

Coffee Shops and a park in Bristol

Like I said last week we hung out in downtown Bristol a bit so here are a few more pictures from our time in Bristol. The first picture is from inside Java J's Coffee Shop a cute little place with the regular coffee shop items. After we came in there was another family with a little girl around Chance's age. They played together the whole time we were in the shop. They "played" Connect Four by putting all the checkers in the stand then taking them all out again over and over.

On one of the days we brought Deedle with us from the hotel so we could totally free up the room to let the maids clean. It is kind of hard coordinating getting the dog and Chance out of the room at the same time for the maids to do their thing, luckily they were able to clean while we were gone so it all worked out. Anyway while in Bristol we went to this neat little park right next to where Scott is working. I never found out the name of the park but it is obviously to honor men and women in the military. There are sculptures, a duck pond, a stage, a really cool water fountain which would be great if it wasn't FREEZING here and this awesome helicopter. Chance had a good time running around exploring everything and so did Deedle for that matter. I was trying to have fun but was pretty stressed between watching Chance and trying to keep Deedle from barking his head off at everyone he saw, but it was a lovely park.

Another day we went to the Manna Bagel Company on the Tennessee side of Bristol. A great little place for coffee, breakfast and lunch items and of course lots of different kinds of bagels. They also make all their bagels on site. Although Chance wasn't allowed inside the room they let him stand in the door and watch as they make the bagels. They have a big machine for mixing the dough and then another one that cuts the dough and shapes it into an 'O' then sends it out on a belt where a lady grabbed it up and placed it on a large baking sheet ready for the oven. It pays off making their own bagels because it was the best bagel I have had since we were in New York over 5 years ago. These are a few of Chance's personally posed pictures he did while we were sitting at our table in the Bagel Company. This is his serious face, his sleeping face and his singing face according to him by the way he isn't actually singing in the last picture it's just a pose, he's so funy.

Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee

Bristol, Virginia is a cool little place. It's considered the birthplace of country music by congressional decree. Actually it is where a lot of early country and bluegrass musicians got their start like The Carter Family. Out of all the downtowns we have been to so far Bristol is definitely the most hip, artsy and fun. It's also a bit weird for instance the main street, State Street is half in the state of Virginia and half in the state of Tennessee. It's split right down the middle if you walk down one sidewalk you are in VA then cross the street to walk back the other way and you are in TN.


The station where Scott is working is one block off main street in Bristol, VA so we have spent a little time on main street while picking up and dropping off Scott last week when we were able to take the car. There are a bunch of little coffee shops, a theater, antique shops and a few Artist co-ops with really nice handmade items as well as other places that offer what looks like a fun nightlife. The area also has lots of art shows and music festivals there is even one while we are here but I'm not sure if we will be able to go or not yet.
Chance and I had a good time on this overcast day walking around downtown taking pictures.




Pic #1: the Bristol sign one side is in VA and the other is in TN. I love their city's moto "A good place to live" Pic #2: Chance on the sidewalk in Bristol, VA with the sign in the background, Pic #3: Chance standing by a piece of art in Bristol, VA

These are a few little strips that I put together. Chance has gone from not wanting me to take his picture at all to asking me to take his picture while he poses. These first two strips are just him in the car posing and asking me to take his picture.

This last one is me and Chance while we were down at the pool the other day. Even though the pool is heated it is still a bit cool when the temperature is in the 40's outside so we didn't get very far into the pool but we had fun anyway.

Ice

So it's been so cold today that we just decided to stay inside. The original plan was to walk to Chuck E Cheese but a 20 minute walk in 40 degree weather with wind and the prospect of rain did not sound like a good idea so inside we stayed. We were getting a little stir crazy then it started to rain and since we have a big window that was pretty entertaining. Then it hailed and then it came down for ten minutes or so really icy. After the ice stopped Chance and I went down to walk Deedle. That was when we found this, patches of ice in all the corners and along the buildings. It was cold and wet outside so not really weather to play but Chance was kind of amazed that there was ice where there hadn't been earlier today.

Jonesborough, TN

Between digging fossils and the covered bridge we stopped in Jonesborough, TN which is the oldest town in Tennessee as well as boasting the title Storytelling Capital of the World. And was at one time the Capital of the state of Franklin which was the area that succeeded from North Carolina before there was a state of Tennessee
The main street where we walked around was full of history and pretty cute but all the shops were really touristy so there weren't a lot of things I was interested in purchasing. The walk in the great weather and all the history was well worth the drive to Jonesborbough.
Pic # 1: Chance sitting on a stoop on the main street of Jonesborough, Pic #2 & 3: The Christopher Taylor house and plaque, Pic # 4: Chance in front of the Christopher Taylor House, Pic # 5: Chance in front of the house where the first abolitionist papers were printed and Pic #6: the plaque so you can all read the history too.

Dinosaur dig

On Tuesday Chance and I went to the Gray fossil site and Natural History Museum in Gray, TN. Turns out when they were putting a road through this area a few years ago they unearthed elephant bones which led to the road being moved and a 5 mile area being protected. The Museum was built on a site after lots of time spent finding the right spot within out fossils underneath. It is still an active dig site with a full lab and paleontologists on staff.
First, Chance and I went through their traveling exhibit, a dinosaur maze. Chance had a good time winding his way through the maze at each juncture there was a question about dinosaurs, if you answered correctly the arrow pointed to the correct path if wrongly then you were led to a dead end. Amazingly Chance picked correctly nearly ever time. I don't know if he really knew all the answers or was just really lucky but he does read lots of Dino books and watch lots of shows about Dinos so it's possible he just knows the correct answers.
After the maze it was time for our tour, we must have been early because we were the only people on this hour's tour. We were allowed to go out to the dig site and actually sift through dirt ourselves. With the help of the guide we found some ancient tree bark and a bone . We aren't sure what kind of bone it is but the paleontologist confirmed it was in fact a bone probably from just after the last Ice Age.
After our tour we walked through the permanent exhibit which was a whole room set up to take you back in time to what it would have looked like in that exact spot between 4 and 7 million years ago. Chance had a really good time in both exhibits and as long as we were moving he enjoyed the tour, he's still too little to stay interested when the guide is standing still just talking but I really enjoyed that part too and since it was just us i got an opportunity to really talk to tge your guide so I didn't miss anything while Chance was being antsy.
Pic # 1: Chance running through the Dino maze, pic # 2: Chance walking on this quishy material in the Dino maze, pic # 3: Chance wearing dino paws and walking on the quishy material to make footprints, pic # 4: Chance playing in a "dino nest" he said he was hatching from his egg.