Update on the Tooth Fairy

Just a quick note on those of you who have been curious about how the Tooth Fairy did. I think everyone was satisfied. The compensation was half a week's allowance. Not too shabby for a six year old.

Here is the note:

There you go.

The Tooth Fairy

Today was a big day for Isabelle. School pictures, a nice dress to wear to school, and then tragedy struck.

No she didn't loose her tooth before the school pictures, but she did loose it. It's been loose for a good while now and she has been wiggling it religiously. Unfortunately it did fall out while she was at art class, washing her hands over the sink. The tooth is gone but she's dealing with it well. I think it was harder on Mummy than on the little one.

Someone at art class told her to write a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining what happened, so she did. Here it is, written on a bar napkin (we went out for supper to celebrate):

In case you need some help:

"Dear Tooth Fairy I lost my tooth in CAT's Studio. I looked for it, but I did not find it. Love Isabelle Melanson"

I'll post the note from the tooth fairy when she replies.

In the meantime this is what it looks like when she smiles:

Tennessee and Other Adventures

Last week week took a long weekend in Tennessee. I had a project presentation very early on Friday morning to present to some French colleagues at 6:00 so once that was done we packed up and headed west. Our first destination was Knoxville. We drove up into North Carolina and stopped near Asheville at REI. We ate our picnic lunch (the first of three that weekend) in Lake Julian Park. Lake Julian Park is a neat little community park on a lake just between I-26 and Hendersonville Road. The park was very busy as a Farm Day was being hosted. We sort of knew something was up when we left REI and saw this:

The pig is on a trailer being pulled by a motorcycle. He seemed to be enjoying it, leaning into the corners with the air in his ears.

Once into Tennessee the plan was to go to the Knoxville Zoo. We had heard it was pretty good. Unfortunately we didn't know they were closing early for their Boo in the Zoo event. We were too late to make it worth paying full price for an hour in the zoo so we went off to find other adventures. We decided on the Museum of Art. It was very nice, although a little small. One particular exhibit was very interesting. The miniature rooms were quite something.

The real gem in the museum was the gift shop. Nestled in the back of the museum on the second floor where you wouldn't expect to find it, it had the best selection of gifts, books, and games I have ever seem in a museum gift shop. We ended up getting a few things there to tuck away for later.

Next we wondered around downtown Knoxville. Some of you know Wolfville, NS and Asheville, NC. I have always said how Asheville feels like a big Wolfville. It's a very crunchy-granola, back to the earth, sort of all natural kind of town. Well Knoxvelle felt the same only bigger and as Jane put it, even more so. It was very artsy and green, and has a huge university campus on the river. A very interesting city. We didn't stay in Knoxville but wandered up towards Oak Ridge for the night.

Oak Ridge is known for its role in the Manhattan Project. It didn't exist until the mid-nineteen forties and was known as the secret city for a while. Our first stop on Saturday was the American Museum of Science and Energy. The museum was a little dated and not quite as interactive as I had hoped it would be. The displays promoting nuclear energy were interesting but not very child friendly. I particularly liked the historical displays on the Manhattan Project and the A-bomb but I think Isabelle's favorite part was likely the games in the lobby and the two robot arms. They were pretty cool since you could control them and build things using foam blocks and balls in the large display case. To be honest most of the museum felt a little 1950's or 60's. I'm glad we went but likely won't be back.

Next was the complete opposite end of the spectrum. The Museum of Appalachia is in nearby Clinton. It is on several acres of beautiful Tennessee countryside and has some beautiful and interesting houses and structures. It felt a little like Ross Farm back in Nova Scotia. The walking tour took through the Appalachia Hall of Fame were we saw all sorts of memorabilia and other interesting artifacts. Here is some of what it looked like.

And a pretty good shot of the girl at her best (yet again she was a trooper through the whole three day adventure...)

Some of the local residents on the grounds of the museum.

An old postbox, for Jane, but not as nice as mine.

Some of the old houses on the grounds. We visited Mark Twain's family cabin. It wasn't originally located there but was moved in 1995.

That evening we had some time to kill before heading back to the hotel so we took a little detour to Maple Lane Farms. They had a huge corn maze set-up, along with a haunted house, some small rides, and a concert stage. Our main purpose was the corn maze. It was huge. The corn was over eight feet tall and the whole thing was over 10 acres.

Here is Isabelle at the entrance.

She didn't do too bad a job of navigating her way through. There were checkpoints throughout where you had to answer questions correctly to get hints as to which way to turn.

Once we made it halfway there was no stopping her!

Here is the view from one of the bridges. In the distance is the other bridge, almost to the tree line.

As Grumpy would say: the corn was as tall as an elephant's eye.

And finally the end. We only got hopelessly lost once.

Day three took us to Cades Cove in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We went early in the hopes of avoiding the traffic on the 11 mile one way loop. We were mistaken. There was no way to avoid the traffic. In the end we only drove half the loop and took a primitive road out of the park a back way. Even that road was busy.

The hold up was usually someone stopped dead in the trail to take a few shots of deer. They were everywhere, but you would have thought no one had ever seen any. The signs that said not to stop didn't seem to matter. Eventually the park wardens would show up on foot or on bike and move things along.

This part of the park was breathtaking. The views were better int he clear fall air and the leaves were just in the middle of changing to their fall colours. It is likely the best time of year to visit, and everyone else thought so too.

There were pull-outs and other attractions along the way, including lots of original buildings and stories to go with them. It would have been an amazing place to live "back in the day."

Here are some of the deer that were causing such a stir. (We didn't stop to take these. We just rolled along carefully since the little fellas don't seem to mind the traffic.)

There were some interesting barns and buildings, including this drive through barn used to dry hay by pitching up through a trap door in the middle.

This is the primitive road we came out on. It was a little challenge but nothing worse than some of the back roads in Nova Scotia. The drive was pretty.

Finally we drove by Bryson City in North Carolina and took a detour up the Nantahala Gorge. This is where the Nantahala Outdoor Center is located. It was a chance to have a little walk around, see the new standing wave they built in the river, and poke around the outfitters store.

This is also where Isabelle got her first wasp sting. We have always wondered about this event. Jane hoped it would be closer to a major medical facility. The problem is that there are allergies in Jane's family to bee and wasp stings. In the end there were no complications, just two relieved parents. Like I said earlier, she was a trooper.

Finally here are the fruits of our labors from last Wednesday. We had some friends over to carve pumpkins. For some of them it was the first time. The one on the top right is mine. No one can say I'm not a company man.

And again in the dark.

Finally I leave you with a new look for Isabelle. Most of you have likely never seen her with her hair straightened. It's not permanent, but just a little something she came back from the salon with. Pretty cool, but I think like her curls better.

Bird Houses and Balloons

Isabelle has been wanting to make something for a while. She loves to paint and mess around in the garage helping me with my projects. This week with Jane in Nova Scotia we tackled a small birdhouse project. Off course with any project you have multiple phases. Isabelle had been working on the concept phase for a while. Here is what it looked like.

Then you usually have to hire an engineer (unless you have one kicking around) to take what the architect has come up with and make it into something that can actually be built.

Then the contractors come in and put it all together. Isabelle helped with some of the marking and measuring as well as some of the nailing. Here is the unfinished birdhouse. Note the three levels.

Now for the paint. She picked red and black. It's not completely done so we will have to see where it ends up. I will keep you posted.

Saturday we headed downtown like many others to enjoy the weather. It was looking like the real last day of summer as it was expected to get uglier in the next few days. Our main goal was going down to see our friend play with his band The Jaywalkers. Unfortunately we didn't stay out long enough but we did listen to a little blues and have a little fun with Jay Dee. Jay Dee is a great entertainer for people of all ages and can really twist balloons. I know some other people who got some really cool masks, helmets, flowers, monkeys, and other cool things. I think I will keep him in mind for the next birthday party I need to help organize. He seemed to be really good with the kids who were there.

Isabelle ended up with a dragonfly that will likely end up hanging from the ceiling in her bedroom.

Ever Want To Be a Fireman?

On Friday I did something a little selfish. I took a half day to spend with Isabelle and her classmates. It's not something I have done much of in the past but given the amount of travel I have had in the last few months I felt like I owed her that. I had an opportunity to drive some of the students to the E. North Street Fire Station of the Wade Hampton Fire Department for a tour and a visit.

Well I can say that it certainly was a great time. We were welcomed in and shown the whole station from the kitchen to the ladder truck. The guys there were great with the kids and genuinely enjoyed talking about what they do and fire safety. Isabelle later said her favorite part was seeing where they all sleep and eat. She said one fireman's bed was pretty messy and that she told him that he would have to make it up before he could sleep in it! If only she listened to her own advice.

Here are some pictures.

The tour always includes a fireman getting all geared up. It serves a couple of purposes. First of all some of us are curious about how they do it and all the gear they wear. Secondly, and most importantly for the students, it shows then what the firemen will look and sound like when they are in the house looking for people. It can get pretty scary for a little one who sees a fireman dressed up like a space alien that sounds like Darth Vader coming at them through the smoke on their hands and knees! But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Of course the first thing they wanted to do was show us how their dispatch works. We were just sitting down when a real alarm went off. Just like that the men who were calmly talking to us were gone, both the ladder truck and the engine and everything. We all watched the trucks leave and the fire marshal stayed behind to explain to the students what was going on. Luckily it was just a minor event that was dealt with by another fire station and they were right back in five minutes to park the trucks in the garage. The tour went off without a hitch after that.

The firemen were very impressed with how much the students had retained about fire safety from their classes earlier in the week: stop drop and roll, call 911, leaving a burning house, escape plans, and all that stuff. In the end we all learned a thing or two. One I didn't know is that if you are stuck on the second floor without a way out you should hang a sheet or something out of your window. Firemen will always look for this type of signal when they first arrive at the scene. Of course they always check the entire house during a fire but making yourself visible is always a good idea.

Another thing that surprised me is their role in protecting property and cleaning up afterwards. They explained to us how their first role is obviously protecting life and limb, getting people out of a burning house, everyone knows that. Here the second crew at a fire will often go into a burning structure to retrieve and protect valuables and personal, irreplaceable property when possible. They will push furniture together and take down paintings then cover everything up with tarps and blankets. They also stick around and help clean-up and protect other items from water damage when they can. As one fireman said to me: "We try to do what we would want other people to do for us." Pretty cool, I thought.

I also got to check out the equipment and ask questions of some of the firemen. I got a little lecture on setting up a truck to a hydrant, on some of the municipal politics between departments, and had a good look at the sharp looking Michelin tires on all the trucks. They were all made in the USA in the very plant I had come from that morning in Spartanburg.

Here is Isabelle's CP class (1st grade) and the GS class (K-5) with a few of the brave men from the Wade Hampton Fire Department. Thanks again for the tour!