Everyone goes to school

Dear Sweet Boy,

I am back at school full time and you have just begun school yourself. We have been blessed and busy schooling bees.

You and Daddy have been my two man wake up crew.

You are an early morning joy even when we all pile into the car at 630am so I can catch the train.

You and I both have book bags. They sit together in the kitchen.

Recently, your Daddy blessed your book bag along with all the other kid's bags at church. You loved it. Mostly you loved wearing your bag and staring at the big kids.

You are a huge hit at school. They've already put your photo up on the bulletin board.

And while we miss you SO MUCH when you are at school, our weekends together are all the more sweet.

At church this morning.

At a BBQ and Blues show down the street from our house. Who says these New Yorkers don't know how to have a good time?

Playtime in the backyard.

Mississippi Masala

Dear Sweet Boy,

We traveled all over the great state of Mississippi last week. All over.

Cookie started holding you from the moment we arrived.

In fact, you were held often on this trip.

After some time with Cookie and Owen in Jackson, we got in the car and headed for the Delta. We saw miles of this.

In the Delta you got to play with some very special people.

Your Ghennie was so excited to see you that she left her cane and walker (or as she says her "dog and mule") and walked right over to us.

You had a high old time with your Ghennie's Red Hat Society collection.

After Ghennie's place, we headed to Rosedale: home of the Blues and your Memaw (among other family). Your Memaw loved on you and fed you breakfast.

We had plenty of family to see but I managed only to get a photo of you and your Great Aunt Becky. You look like you might run away with her.

All four generations.

As a side note, your Memaw has a fig tree. Daddy and I managed to find the one ripe fruit.

Victory!

After Memaw's house, we headed to Oxford for lunch at City Grocery. We saw the illustrious Ted Ownby, dear friend and head of the Center for Southern Culture, and (appropriately) this guy.

He too is an old college friend and professor of sorts.

It was a worthwhile detour.

Then we headed to Columbus to see Lindsay, Josh, Hutch, and Jack. Somehow, (the thrill of seeing such wonderful friends? the overwhelming cuteness of three little boys together?) I only got photos of you and the adorable Baby Jack.

After all this visiting, we drove back to Jackson and you slept the whole way.

Seriously, such a sweet boy.

Finally, we topped off our trip to Mississippi with Jackson's latest highlight: The Mississippi Children's Museum. We all loved it.

I loved the giant catfish

the accompanying "water tower"

and the Eudora Welty quote in the creative writing section.

Your Daddy enjoyed encouraging us to do goofy things and then taking photos.

Here's us going through a tunnel.

Notice your pensive look. This tunnel was designed for tall middle schoolers. We barely made it.

Almost lost you there at the end.

Daddy was also a fan of the "music video" portion of the museum.

If Daddy were in this one it would be in the running for our Christmas card photo.

In our last few moments we found what you loved.

The xylophone

We got back to Owen and Cookie's house where you and Cookie hung out a little more. She pulled you around in the wagon.

You sat and talked in front of the window.

Finally, we got on a big airplane and you did as much of this as you could.

Flirting with the French (Canadian)

Dear Sweet Boy,

This past week we took a trip to Montreal.

You were a total delight and charmed each lovely Montrealer we encountered.

We arrived to generous fanfare

We loved the apartment view

But you really loved the dog-free floor

We let you roll around it from one end to the other

We took in beautiful Montreal

Every last step of it

And we also did plenty of eating

Then there were two nights when Daddy and I went out all by ourselves. We missed you. But we ate well.

We spent much of our time visiting one beautiful church after another. You were exceedingly patient and loved the light.

We even made it to a service where the priest stopped and coo'd to you during his sermon.

Who could blame him?