Summer Adventures

My first week of working toward the Nashville Bucket List didn't go so well. We pretty much didn't do anything. I may have over compensated this past week by planning outings every day. Either way, we've started knocking things off the list!

Sunday: Explore the West Meade Waterfall. This is an area right on the edge of a neighborhood in the middle of town! Ty and I climbed the huge hill behind the waterfall up to an old rock wall which used to mark an old farm. Apparently, the city owns the land and has plans to connect a greenway through here. Ty made a map to help us get here and everything (note the pictures below).

 

Our friend Meredith and her cute little boy Owen had an opportunity to come out to Nashville to visit her brother's family, so we met up at the Cheekwood Playhouse Exhibit.

  This is my favorite playhouse-it represents India. There were even swings inside and the top was covered in bright colored umbrellas!

 The Edenburough Castle Playhouse had a dungeon!

 Next up was Touch a Truck! We drove up to Goodlettsville to get in on this action. It wasn't Louisville's awesome event, but it was still worth the drive!

 

 Ty and Lucy's friend Elise met us there for a few minutes. As you can see, they weren't too keen on posing for pictures. Oh well! 

These two are print-worthy!  Cute cute!  

Tim gave me a break on Saturday, so I headed downtown with friend Marcy to check out the CMA Fest. If it weren't so hot, I could have stayed all day.

We were there just over an hour and heard songs from Lorrie Morgan, Mo Pittney, and Emerson Drive. ...like, real singers!

 Below is the band Emerson Drive. I couldn't believe so many of these stages were FREE! I was so close!

 It was the first time I'd seen the Music City Walk of Fame.

And we finished the week with a lazy Sunday. This cutie got to wear for the first time a dress she had been given by Great Grandma and Grandpa Larsen when she was born. It is special because Great Grandpa Gordon passed away last year. She sure looks cute in it. Also, can we talk about that pose? You'd think she came to the CMA Fest with me!

Memorial Day Weekend

  With just a short summer left in Nashville, we've started working on our Nashville Summer Bucket List. I guess I'm kind of happy the list of family activities isn't too long. First up: Waterfalls. There are several within a two hour drive from the city, so we set out to Falls Creek Falls State Park. Unfortunately, just a month earlier, the viewing platform collapsed and a couple of trails were closed, so we didn't get to go close, but it was a perfect hike for the kids. 

 

 It's hard to see the kids in the picture below, but they're both there!

   Lucy on a Sunday. She sure looks cute in her new dress from Grandma and Grandpa. Unfortunately, she has a double ear infection (found two days earlier while at her 15 month appointment) which started acting up after church. She ended up feeling miserable exactly every four hours--when her medicine wore off :( The next day she was being silly and putting bread on her head!

Sunday night we went for a walk on the trail and Ty "did nature."

We laid low on Memorial day, but still managed to cook some steak and try out our community pool. I'm pretty excited about our new pool floats that I'm sure will make my summer trips to the pool a little easier.

Spring on Lookout Mountain

 We headed back to the cabin while Tim's parents were there so we could be in Rome for the home inspection (which went fairly well--phew!) Their land on Lookout Mountain was in bloom! (Too bad my camera died after two pictures. Luckily, Diney snapped a few with her phone).

 

 

The land is fun, but the cabin is pretty much Ty's favorite place ...ever.

 

 

 

 

 Lunch in Rome

 Mother's Day/Birthday photos:

 

Our House!

Well, we may be in our early thirties, but we are ready to now settle down and buy a house (finally!) We have this house under contract and feel really good about it! There are little things we hope to do to make the house our own and make it nicer. Below is one artists (Tim's) rendition of how to improve curb appeal:

 

We hope to paint the door red, add shutters and little things on the garage door, and plant some trees soon after moving in.

Here is our house tour starting with the entry view.

 

To the right is the formal dining room (complete with columns(?))

To the left is an office with french doors. If I ever get a piano, I would probably put it here.

Living room. I love all of the natural light!

 

Kitchen

View of kitchen from the living room. Also the door to the master bedroom.

 Laundry room and garage door entry.

 Master bathroom shower. I want to make this into a tiled walk-in shower and get rid of the ugly brass fixtures.

 Upper level landing open to entry.

2 smaller bedrooms off of the landing upstairs.

And another larger bedroom and bathroom (not pictured). There is also a large bedroom/bonus room...

 Same room with view of the double bonus room!

 Double bonus room.

  View of backyard from back door. This is a storage shed.

 Large patio and to the right is a pool (soon to be fenced and very secure).

 We hope you enjoyed this tour! We look forward to many fun posts after we move at the end of July, assuming all goes well with inspection, etc!

Rock 'n Roll Run

 

Now that we are only in Nashville a few more months, we're trying to make the most of it. That includes running the Rock and Roll (formerly, the Country Music) Half Marathon. The morning of the run, it was cold and rainy. The walk from parking to the start line was about a half mile, and it started pouring! Luckily, it only sprinkled during the race, making the temperature just about perfect for a long run. 

 

 

I have to admit, I wasn't blown away with the music. Maybe it was the weather, or that I'm holding Nashville to a higher standard, but I thought the bands could have been a little more ...I don't know. Rock and Roll-y, or Country. Many stations had just one person singing or playing. I guess that's how things are at 9 am. 

Run-wise, it was a tough course, but I felt good and finished at 1:43:25 (my goal was under 1:45), so I am happy with my race! For my own memory, here are my stats:

Overall 581 / 18152

Division 33 / 2017

Gender 147 / 11713