Filling Up at the Fillin' Station

The "Southern Thunder" Harley Davidson dealership in Mississippi has an awesome cafe. They serve "Jiffy Burgers" (with peanut butter, of course!) but we haven't tried them.

This time Ben got alligator tacos and I got fried pickles.  Dexy wouldn't try either - he stuck with his burger and fries. His loss.







After lunch, we went over to the dealership where Dexy grilled the salesman on minute details he discovered on the motorcycles in the showroom.

My (Guitar) Heroes

Dexy strummed while Ben pressed the fretboard buttons.

Then Ben played one guitar while Dexter played the other. Dexy totally has the bass-player approach to fingering the strings.

Winning Some and Losing Some

This was the first year that Dexy posed any sort of threat of winning any of the games against Ben or me.  I managed to beat him at the game where we shot peanuts into the mouths of animals...

Dexy beat Ben (3 times) at the water gun aiming game.  Ben insists that game was rigged. He felt better when he got the new high score on the basketball machine.

New Favorites

Dexy also discovered some new favorites:
"the helicopter"

"the rollercoaster"

Old Favorites

Dexter enjoyed some standard Chuck E Cheese favorites:

"the jeep" (as long as it didn't go "too high")

"the trains"

Getting Down with Himself

This visit to Chuck E Cheese, Dexter wanted nothing to do with Chuck E Cheese himself (unlike every other visit when he danced excitedly with Chuck) but he did enjoy seeing himself on the security video monitor.

Jamming Like Old Times

We made it out to see Ben's high-school friend, Mike McSorely's band (the HELLbillies) play at a Mexican restaurant in Mississippi and the next day he showed up with his bass at Billy's the next day. As luck would have it, another high-school friend, Francis showed up with his guitar. These guys all played in bands in high-school and got the chance to relive those days jamming in Billy's garage for most of the afternoon.

Jumping with Kelsey

After a day of sightseeing and BBQ in Memphis, we spent the afternoon with friends at Billy's. Dexy and Kelsey were excited to see each other again.

And, again, Kelsey was gracious with Dexter, spending time playing with him and jumping on the trampoline with him.  Thanks Kelsey!

Even when Kelsey was pooped out from jumping, Dexter kept going and going. Dude loves to jump!

Walking in Memphis with Daddy

New Favorite BBQ

Central BBQ in Memphis.

Made in the Shade at Graceland

Dexter wore Daddy's hat to keep the sun out of his eyes for his Graceland photo-op. He was most excited about Elvis' plane across the street and all the buses going into and out of the gate to Graceland.

Sunny Sun Studios

After seeing the Peabody Ducks, we took Dexy to a couple of Memphis' most well-known music landmarks. It was so sunny at Sun Studios that Dexter insisted on wearing my prescription sunglasses for the photo,

Blink and You'll Miss 'Em

Those Peabody ducks ran out of the elevator and straight to the fountain in record time.

Build Up, Long Wait, and Brief Burst of Excitement

This year, Ben and I took Dexter to see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis.  When we described for Dexter how, everyday at 11:00am exactly, the ducks come from their home on the roof via the hotel elevator to the fountain in the hotel lobby, he couldn't wait to see those ducks come out of the elevator.  Unfortunately, neither could about 100 other people. 

 We got to the hotel a half hour early and the crowd was already intense.  We managed to scoot Dexy up towards the front of the line (they let the smaller kids sit on the ground in the front) but he became antsy waiting so long.

But when we saw the numbers on the elevator approach "L", he perked up.  Those ducks scooted by very quickly but he did get to see them swim around in the fountain.

Walking in the ducks' footprints outside the Peabody.

Sugar Buzz

While Luke's family cooked us a beautiful lunch of grilled shrimp, a grits and corn bread, and fried zucchini, we brought a ridiculous cake from the grocery store bakery that Dexter had picked out because it had two "real" trucks on top of it.  The boys each got a truck and each got a major sugar buzz!

Mississippi Chicken Eggs

Still warm!

Feeding Mississippi Chickens

I think Dexter is a country boy at heart.  After Luke showed him how, he enthusiastically helped feed mealworms to Luke's "Mississippi chickens". Then, he and Luke very carefully carried three eggs back to the house from the coop.

ATVing with New Friend Luke

We visited with a musician friend who used to live in Chicago and his family. Dexter was happy to meet Luke who is almost 4 and the two of them played nicely together while the grown-ups cooed over new baby Isaac and made a fabulous lunch.  But when Dexter spotted the kid-sized ATV in the backyard, Luke and Dexy were outside until that ATV's battery was dead.

Dexter paid close attention as Luke showed him how to operate the vehicle.






Running along side...the boys did a great job taking turns!

Not even a little timid - Dexy hopped right on.







Dexter immediately took to it - leaning into the turns and avoiding obstacles.

 Going in reverse ("You have to put it on R, Mommy.").