Day Two Hundred Twenty Eight 2013

T G I F

Grandson Elijah, grandson Knox, and granddaughter Shelby at the depot this afternoon

On our way to Cream City for some yummy frozen treats

My frozen yummy treat was a scoop of Tennessee Fudge ice cream

Elijah chose orange sherbet. He got to choose where to go for ice cream this afternoon because tomorrow is his seventh birthday, and we were doing a bit of early celebrating because he won’t get to have his party until Sunday.

Granddaughter Shelby and daughter Holly [who rarely gets to join us for yummy frozen treats in the afternoon after school] strike a mommy/daughter pose.

Caught hubby Neil with a smile on his face. How did that happen? Must be the ice cream. And the fact that he didn’t know I was taking his picture.

Knox enjoyed his cotton candy flavored ice cream.

We played on the trains for a while before heading back home.

Pee wee baseball in the back yard ~ Knox gets a little help from his cousin Elijah ~ looks like a hit. Good time Friday with peeps!

We’ve had so much rain this summer that I’m surprised I haven’t seen crops of mushrooms all over the place. I noticed a couple growing along our front sidewalk. I love mushrooms. They’re so cute. So I had to take a picture. This one is lopsided but still cute. Happy TGIF, y’all!

Day Twenty Seven 2013

Our weekend with grandpeeps Shelby and Elijah came to a close this afternoon, but not before we indulged ourselves in a tasty frozen  treat at Cream City Ice Cream and Coffee House (I really enjoyed my frozen hot chocolate), and of course we climbed around on the trains at the depot just across the street from Cream City. Good times with the kiddos. It was a fun weekend.
Happy 12th Anniversary to my daughter Holly and son in law Jerry!
We love you!!

Day Three Hundred Sixty Four 2011

Happiness is a trip to Cream City for a tasty ice cream cone and then climbing inside the trains at the depot on a TGIF. Life is good! Happy TGIF, everyone.

Day Two Hundred Eighty One 2011

I Hear The Train Coming Down The Tracks

Neil and I took the grand peeps to Cream City for some yummy ice cream this afternoon. We haven’t been here in a while. They’ve added these comfy chairs.

After ice cream, Elijah and Shelby always want to go see the trains on display at the Cookeville Depot just across the street from Cream City. They love climbing all over these things, inside and out.

They especially enjoy this train car—the caboose—where they can climb up into a crow’s nest type cubby and look out the windows.

Shelby says it’s like the Hogwart’s Express in the Harry Potter novels. And, yeah, it is.

While we were exploring the train cars, we heard the train track crossing bells going off and the train whistle blowing at the intersection down the street. And sure enough an actual real live train was on its way toward us, coming down the tracks.

What a cool surprise this was today. As many times as we’ve been to the Cookeville Depot, we’ve never seen a working train traveling on the tracks.

There’s nothing like a train that brings out the kid in you. I think Neil and I were just as excited as Shelby and Elijah.

You can see Elijah covering his ears when the engineer blew that whistle right there beside us. It was LOUD! But he got the biggest kick out of that.

The train stopped here for a minute or two. No one got on or off, except maybe one of the engineers.

This was indeed a passenger train. We could see people sitting inside through those little port holes.

In October, you can pay to ride the rails from Cookeville to Lebanon or to Monterey just to have the experience.

The Tennessee Central gliding by and picking up speed.

People on the train stood in the doorways and watched from their windows as they sailed by us. And of course we all waved happily at each other as they went on their way—I’m assuming to Monterey, maybe points beyond.

Several people sat outside the train at the tail end which was probably a lot of fun once the train really got going.

So we enjoyed some unexpected excitement during a random trip to get some ice cream on an awesome blue sky Saturday in October. Happy Fall, y’all!

Day Two Hundred Twenty Four 2011

Neil and I took the Grandpeeps to Cream City Ice Cream Shop this afternoon for a tasty frozen treat. Delish! Elijah chooses his ice cream flavors by how colorful they are, and Shelby chooses hers by anything with the words chocolate, cookies and/or cake in it. The frog is in a back room at the ice cream shop and is inside this tiny glass cube along with his buddy. I felt kind of sorry for them all cooped up. A trip to get ice cream isn't complete until we've checked out the train cars at the depot. Shelby and Elijah love climbing all over and inside those things. The cars were hot and stuffy today, so we didn't hang out inside very long. Good times on a beautiful TGIF. Hope yours is happy, too!

Day Fifty 2011

Neil and I enjoyed watching our Grandpeeps Shelby and Elijah at the skating rink this afternoon. They are spending the weekend with us while their parents are out of town.

Elijah likes to skate, but I think he has more fun playing the arcade games at the rink.

Headed over to Cream City Ice Cream Shop for some frozen treats after skating. Elijah was so worn out, he almost fell asleep in the window seat.

We finally got a chance to check out the Cookeville Depot Museum. It's usually closed when we go for ice cream at Cream City,which is just across the street from the depot. Lots of cool railway memorabilia from a time long gone and totally lost upon these two, who would rather climb around inside the train cars than look at vintage steamer trunks and train schedules.

Daughter Kelly came in this afternoon and demonstrated her jump rope moves from back in the day. She's still got it! Good times! Great Saturday! Hope yours was, too!

Day Two Hundred Ninety Four 2010

The Best Report Card EVER!

Granddaughter Shelby displays her "best report card ever!" to put it in her words.

7 A's and 1 B. She was hoping for all A's, but this report card is not too shabby, huh?

So of course we all headed to the Cream City Ice Cream and Coffee Shop on the west side of town, got a ton of tasty ice cream and took it across the street to eat it at the train depot because it was such a gorgeous Autumn afternoon. Eating at the depot was Elijah's request. He loves to climb inside those train cars.

It was a great way to celebrate an awesome report card. Also, when Shelby took a bite of her waffle cone, she discovered she had a loose tooth. Later, when they were exploring the train cars, she suddenly yelled, "My tooth fell out!" So she took that home to put under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy tonight. I am so proud of you, Shelby, for making such good grades and just because you're such a sweet, good person. I love you!!