Memphis Trip

We didn't take a lot of pictures during this Memphis trip mostly due to the main family photograper (me) was attending the Mid-South Homeschool Conference for 3 days. I attended workshop after workshop from early in the morning until dinner time. I learned everything from how to grade middle school writing compositions to how to teach boys vs. girls to how to make science fun with great experiments. I came home with arm loads of curriculum for next year and an equally full brain. Here was the view from one of the windows in downtown Memphis at the Cook Convention Center.  It's the Hernando de Soto Bridge over the Mississippi River.

Jason was on full time parent duty those days. He took the kids out for lunches, a picnic, the park and my brother's middle school. Here is a picture of them feeding the ducks at the same park that I grew up playing at, Cameron Brown Park.

We also visited my grandmother, Mema at her new nursing home. She'll be 95 on April 17. It was a sweet time spent with her but equally sad to see how Alzheimer's had affected her since Christmas. At Christmas, she knew my name and would forget the great grandchildren but this time she'd forgotten me. What a burden her daughters must have every day when they visit their mother there. Some days, she doesn't know them. That's heart breaking. She didn't know my name this trip but I could tell by the way she looked at me with her eyes that she knew me. That meant the world to me yesterday but I do understand that my next trip might be met with blank stares. The kids were treated like royalty coming in to my grandmother's wing at the nursing home. They were even cornered by a sweet lady that just to have hugs and kisses from them. They all kindly obliged but you could tell that threw them for a loop.

We were also able to have a cook-out complete with cake and ice cream to celebrate my twin brother and my birthday. We haven't done that since we were single.