As grandparents, we have been somewhat absent this spring. Our fault really, travel, travel prep and 100 other excuses have filled our time and broken a routine that previously had us in touch on a regular basis. While we have had a great time with our activities, we miss a certain little curly headed mop top who is growing up way too fast. With our travel schedule on hold for a few months, we dropped back into her orbit a few weeks ago with a list of activities we hoped a 3-year-old might find fun. So far so good, but the list is too short to get us through fall so some research will be required to keep her curious young self-busy and to keep grandpa, who is constantly moving, entertained too.
Because our first activity occurred at the beginning of July, just as a dome of sweltering heat covered the south, we reached back into our own childhoods and found we both had fond memories of summer afternoons in the backyard sprinkler (mine in Tennessee, his in Alabama). Except for an occasional slip in the wet grass or bee sting, our respective parents probably considered this activity a safe and economical way to keep us, and our neighborhood gang entertained. We thought the same and that the sprinkler would prove to be a novel activity for our mop top. Indeed, we were right.
Mark me as surprised when my partner, dressed in his ballcap and gardening clothes, was first through the sprinkler. The mop top was a bit slower to warm to the idea but soon enough, the air was filled with little girl giggles and lots of jumping and running. With apologies to our neighbors, I should note that the sprinkler was set up in our front yard. While John’s parents and my parents utilized the preferable backyard, our backyard is steeply sloped, hence our front lawn location. The street exposure and probable neighbor exposure explains my spouse’s choice of modest clothing instead of swim trunks. The little girl went full on bathing suit.
After a while, the sprinkler lost its novelty. The amount of time it consumed was too short for the mop top’s grandparents who realized the next step would be chasing her around the house for the balance of the afternoon. Therefore, a trip to a local ice cream shop was concocted and received with great exuberance. During the car ride said grandparents were informed that nothing, but strawberry would do. Those grandparents hadn’t initially been concerned about flavor choices but became so immediately after the mop top’s pronouncement. No worries though because strawberry was a feature flavor. Afterall, what is summer without homemade strawberry ice cream!?
While she may be picky with her food, this little girl can flat put away some ice cream. We briefly considered the effect that so much sugar might have on her, but shortly after the indulgence, we took her home. We do not know if the sugar sent her soaring through her house that evening and if it did, what her parents thought, but had we been confronted, we would have pleaded the grandparent defense.
A few days later, we were asked to step in for some additional play time while her mom, our daughter-in-law did some things with the cute fourteen-month-old. With rain predicted, we scoured our activities list and found just the thing for a rainy afternoon, a trip to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. And, since any reason to go to Oak Ridge, TN is an excuse to lunch at Big Ed’s Pizza, we did.
Big Ed’s has been in business since 1970, and through the years, I have found a lot of reasons to drive to Oak Ridge for pizza and conversation with friends. Within the dark confines of this establishment, the decor has remained kitschy and unchanged with the exception of local sports memorabilia. And the pizza, the pizza never disappoints. On this day, the three of us shared a flame cooked fresh pie with pepperoni with layers and layers of melty, stringy cheese. Absolutely delicious!
After pizza and little girl conversation, it was time to visit the museum. We had never visited but long heard good things about the museum and looked forward to the adventure. Both of us were initially surprised to discover that so many of the displays appeared to be homemade (possibly someone’s garage homemade) but found the venues creative, informative and certainly entertaining for our 3-year-old. The Oak Ridge community must feel pride and satisfaction in having planned and constructed this children’s museum that so many children have enjoyed through the years. As a note, The Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge was founded in 1973 and is located in the same building as the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
While the rocket ship display (photo above), an out of tune piano in a reconstructed 1950’s classroom, a deck of ABC playing cards and certainly the train were big draws for our mop top, her favorite activity was the puppet theater. The three of us stayed in the puppet theater staging plays for 30 minutes or more. I was first up as puppeteer, then Grandpa took over and finally, the little one took to the stage in all her glory for a grand finale. I found it fascinating that she remembered the puppets from a prior visit with her mother who said in a later conversation that the visit had taken place over a year ago.
And finally, for this blog post anyway, the three of us drove to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last week for a day in the great outdoors. With the temperature reaching into the mid 90’s and not a cloud to be found in the sky, we couldn’t think of a better way to cool off and relax than a picnic and a little wading in an ice-cold mountain stream. We packed up our chairs, an assortment of foods we hoped would appeal to a 3-year-old (and definitely food that would appeal to two 70+ year olds) then headed to Metcalf Bottoms picnic area to settle in for a few hours. Included in our packing, a change of clothes. The clothes were more for me and the little one than for John. We knew she would get wet and well, I have a lifelong history of slipping on mossy rocks and falling in the water.
Metcalf Bottoms is a large and popular picnic area with 122 tables, so we weren’t worried about finding a picnic table but more concerned about finding one under a tree canopy and on the Little River. We arrived reasonably early, 10:30 to be exact and yes, we found a table with shade, easy access to a sandy beach and the river. Good for us! Within 30 minutes or so, most of the waterfront tables had been claimed.
We had a great day wading, eating and tossing rocks and sticks. Initially it looked like we might be done after lunch, but the little girl rallied again and went on to play in the water for another several hours. Grandpa was, of course, attentive every moment. I spent a fair amount of time in the water playing but also had the opportunity to sit, draw and read. To no one’s surprise, our little one fell asleep on the way home.
As I finish this post, we are headed out to pick up our mop top again. The weather forecast is predicting some much-needed rain so today’s agenda will include more indoor activities, lunch and a children’s museum in Knoxville.
