Boiling Springs Academy

This past Sunday, Matt took Sophie to visit the Boiling Springs Academy at Primm Park in Brentwood. The builiding is open for tours on certain Sunday afternoons. He thought Sophie would enjoy seeing what school used to be like. The academy opened in 1833, and it was a private school that cost $8 a term. Over the years it became a Williamson County public school and a community church. The building was used as a tobacco barn for most of the last century, but it has been restored in the past few years.

This might be the only outhouse in Brentwood. There are actually modern facilities at Primm Park a little bit further away from the school building.

The interior of the school has reproduction desks and decor from the 1840s.

Sophie enjoyed writing her name on the slate. She also wrote Abbie's name.

Oops! Sophie was acting up, so she had to wear a Dunce cap and sit in the corner. Matt and Sophie had a great time at Primm park.

Abbie enjoys the swing on our playground.

Sophie's 1st day of 1st grade

Sophie poses by our front door

Here's Mama and Sophie in front of our brand-new school! =)

Here's Sophie by her classroom door. She looks a little nervous!

Sophie and Abbie

A few days before Sophie's school started, they had a ribbon cutting ceremony at her new school, Clovercroft. It was kind of an Open House too so we were able to look around, meet Sophie's teacher, and find out where her classroom was. Overall, Sophie was excited about going back to school but a little nervous. She was very happy to find out that she was in Ms. Wade's classroom. Ms. Wade is a brand-new teacher but we've heard wonderful things about her from friends. Sophie knew a couple of the girls in her class from last year so that was nice and she knew a few other kids too. On the first day of school, we all went with Sophie (Mama, Daddy, and Abbie). We were able to get there a little early and take some pictures. That evening, my mom called and told me that she saw Sophie and I on the news. Apparently a news crew was there interviewing the principal and a couple of parents and Sophie and I walked in the background as they were talking to someone. I never got to see that segment on the news though. It's exciting to be at a brand-new school! I hope that Sophie has a wonderful year in the 1st grade.

Williamson county fair-part 2

all of our kids together-Caroline, Abbie, Sophie, Jackson, and Will

Sophie "milking" a cow with Caroline in back

Sophie, Jackson, Abbie, and Will

a whole bunch of piglets curled up together (they were only a couple of days old)

Abbie poses on this wooden horse. I thought she looked precious in this cowgirl hat!

Discovery Center and the County Fair

Abbie, Jackson and Sophie are firefighters!

Sophie, Jackson, Caroline, and Abbie

Sophie poses as a cowgirl at the fair

I thought this sign was too funny!

We love to go to the little one's farming area!

Abbie's busy working on the farm.

A couple of days before school started, we met up with the McKissick's at the Discovery Center.  It was pretty busy that day but all of our kids had a good time.  Stephanie and I have been friends for a long time so it was good to be able to get together and catch up.  We played there for a long time and then had a picnic lunch outside.  It was a perfect day for a picnic because it was very cloudy.  As we walked around outside, it started raining a little bit though.

That night, we decided to go to the Williamson County Fair and Stephanie had said that they might be going too.  Although Abbie didn't take an afternoon nap, we decided to go to the fair for a couple of hours.  We watched a clown show, toured the Little One's farming area and saw a lot of different animals.  We were able to meet up with the McKissick's for a while and see the animals so that was fun.  We ran into several people that we knew and the girls were able to have some balloon animals made for them.  It turned out to be a good night to visit the fair because it wasn't near as hot as some years when we've been.

The Zinghoppers and Trains at Cheekwood

Abbie and Sophie with the pretty flowers at Cheekwood.

Sophie with one of the Zinghoppers

Conductor Jack and Sophie

Sophie and Abbie after seeing the Zinghoppers perform and all of the trains.

Recently, we were finally able to head over to Cheekwood for one of their family nights. They have different entertainment for kids that's family friendly each Thursday night during the summer. It was a very warm evening-almost 100 degrees outside when we were heading over for a 6:30 performance but at least they have a lot of shade there. The Zinghoppers and Conductor Jack performed a lot of fun kids songs and the girls loved it! We had never been able to see either of them perform. All of the families brought blankets, chairs and coolers and just camped out on the grass so it was great. The kids were dancing to the music. They also had several characters come out. After the show, we were able to see the model garden train exhibit there. The girls enjoyed seeing the trains alongwith all of the famous Tennessee homes and landmarks that were built along the train tracks. We had a fun time at Cheekwood!

Water Country and Skating Fun

Abbie and Sophie loved riding down the water slides or just cruising around the kiddie pool area for a little bit!

Sophie on the shark slide

Abbie and Mama at the roller skating rink (wish you could see her pink skates).

I am finally getting around to posting a few more pictures to try and finish up pictures from our vacation to Virginia. We really had an awesome time there! One day, we went to Water Country which is an incredible water park. All of us had a blast even though we went later in the week when it had gotten hot again in Virginia. The girls enjoyed the kiddie areas as well as some of the big water slides. There were some that we could all do. I didn't take very many pictures because we were too busy having fun! They had lazy rivers, a wave pool, tons of slides, etc. We left Virginia on Saturday afternoon to head home. Before we left, we went to the roller skating rink that morning. It took Sophie a little while to become adventurous and try skating again because she couldn't wear the special skates that fit over your shoes this time. Abbie loved skating because with the kids skates you can kind of just "walk" around the rink. Abbie liked hanging out with Aunt Leia but you better not try to hold her hand or help her in any way because she is "Miss Independent". Matt met up with a girl that he had gone to high school with there. She was there with her husband and two sons. She gave Sophie a little mini skating lesson because she skated competitively for many years. We made it home from Virginia on Sunday.