Nuggets and Juice and Caterpillars...Oh My!

I had the blessing again today of taking my grandson Miles to McDonald's, and boy, did we ever have fun! At one point while eating his nuggets with quiet resolve, Miles looked up at me with eyes of innocence and wisdom and asked, "So how was your day?" And at one point, when he finished his last nugget and decided to focus on the imperative of enjoying his juice pack, he stood and watched out the window for awhile, pointing out to me every sight that entered his gaze (there was, excitingly enough, an apparent fire drill at the high school across the street while we ate!). He was so adorable (as always), I just had to take his picture.

Mere seconds after this photo was taken, he discovered--oh, joy of joys!--that a juice pack can be squeezed so that juice squirts out of the straw! That was the end of drinking for the day; neither threats nor pleadings nor grandfatherly admonitions could stem the quick and messy process of discovery for the boy!

Later, as we headed to the car, we spied in the parking lot--oh, joy of joys!--a caterpillar! We watched it, talked to it, held it, and twice delivered it from a certain squishy demise by relocating it to the grass at the parking lot's edge.

As we drove away, Miles sweetly and sincerely called, "Bye, Caterpillar. See you later!"

At the Thursday Afternoon Cafe

This dashing gentleman seems to live somewhere near the deck at The Loft. He keeps appearing in this window, and on this occasion (last Thursday) posed for a photo. His name is Jose. Jose Cardinal.

What...no baseball fans out there?

Totally Awesome Tuesday

Today being Tuesday, I had another opportunity to take my grandson Miles out to lunch at McDonalds....but while there I told him we were going to a special place after lunch.

It was a bit of a drive, but we headed over to EnterTrainment Junction at Tylersville Road and I-75, which boasts an enormous display of trains throughout history. Each display had numerous red buttons, which Miles enjoyed pushing, to operate a train or turn on sound to the display.

Once through the first labyrinth of trains (there were many), we arrived at the play area, where Miles got to serve as engineer (he was unanimously selected by the railroad officials) of a life-size and very realistic train:

There were some interactive train displays in the play area, which Miles took to immediately, and quickly mastered all relevant railroad (and helicopter) techniques:

And, of course, the toy train table garnered some attention:

But the bulk of the time we spent there (at least an hour of the 2+ hours), surprisingly, was not directly train-related. It was a large (and still being added to) climbing playground, which Miles was a tad too small to conquer on his own. But a couple girls (at least THREE OR FOUR YEARS his seniors) helped him up the big steps, and persuaded him to go down the long slide, which he did numerous times. He loved every minute of it, and I couldn't stop smiling and even laughing at his adorableness (it's a word). You can't really see him, but the photo below shows him entering the mouth of the slide for the third or fourth time.

However, all good things must come to an end. We had another appointment, so we threaded our way through the rest of the lengthy train displays and train museum and into the gift shop, where I bought him a couple trinkets. Then we headed to Kenwood, and met his father for pizza. On the way home, all that activity caught up to him, and while I managed to stay awake, he did not:

This boy, like his sister and cousin (like his father and aunt, my children), brings me soooooo much joy. On the way from McDonald's to EnterTrainment Junction, we just talked, and I watched him in the mirror, all the way laughing and smiling broadly....so much so that I'm sure anyone who passed me in traffic must have thought I was thoroughly addled. Which is true enough. But beside the point. I think.

Anyway, it was a lovely day with a lovely boy.

360 Degrees of Awesome

Having just been there slightly less than two months ago, I was so excited to discover this 360 degree (in all directions, too!) view of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Bible Come Alive (Pt. 5)

Continuing a series of photos captioned by a verse or two of Scripture referring to the place I experienced on my most recent tour of Jordan, Israel, and Egypt:

"He will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there" (Mark 14:15, NIV).

When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26, NIV).

[ Gethsemane ] They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray" (Mark 14:32, NIV).

He [Peter] began to call down curses on himself, and he swore to them, "I don't know this man you're talking about" (Mark 14:71, NIV).

Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled (Matthew 26:57, NIV).

And they divided up his clothes by casting lots (Luke 23:34b, NIV).

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull) (Mark 15:22, NIV).

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away (John 19:38, NIV).

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:6, NIV).

Bible Come Alive (Pt. 4)

Continuing a series of photos captioned by a verse or two of Scripture referring to the place I experienced on my most recent tour of Jordan, Israel, and Egypt:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat (Matthew 23:2, NIV).

Woe to you, Korazin!....If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes (Matthew 11:21, NIV).

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons (John 2:6, NIV).

"But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours" (Matthew 17:27, NIV).

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them (Matthew 5:1, NIV).

When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified (John 6:19, NIV).

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake (Mark 5:21, NIV).

I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves (Song of Solomon 3:2, NIV).

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades (John 5:1-2, NIV).

Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died (Acts 12:23, NIV).

Bible Come Alive (Pt. 3)

Continuing a series of photos captioned by a verse or two of Scripture referring to the place I experienced on my most recent tour of Jordan, Israel, and Egypt:

You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil on yourselves, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine (Micah 6:15, NIV).

Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land (Proverbs 31:23, NIV).

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan (1 Samuel 31:8-10, NIV).

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon (Revelation 16:16, NIV).

Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt (Exodus 1:8, NIV).

Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. "This is one of the Hebrew babies," she said (Exodus 2:5-6, NIV). [The statue is the image of Hatshepsut, the possible Pharoah's daughter who became Pharoah herself)

When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made (2 Chronicles 12:9, NIV). [An engraving at Karnak, depicting the Pharoah at the left and the bearded Israelites in the lower right quadrant].