Week 79: Tate goes to homecoming

Last Saturday was homecoming for Arkansas State University. Among the more than 20,000 in attendance were Tate, Chuck and I. Tate had a great time! He enjoyed tailgating with some friends before heading into ASU Stadium. Once inside we found the perfect spot in the "cheap seats." There Tate settled in for his first taste of college football. I think we might have the next Corey Leonard on our hands! He thoroughly enjoyed the game, clapping and even howling for the Red Wolves. By the way, ASU beat Middle Tennessee State University, 31-14. Go State!

Week 78: Tate goes to the fair!

This week Tate experienced a whole new slew of firsts. Mainly, this was his first time to experience the fair with a girl! Chuck, Tate and I met up with the Streets -- John, Becky and Emmalynn -- for a evening filled with food, rides, games and barnyard animals.
After grabbing a bite to eat, the dynamic toddler duo made a pass through the educational building. There Tate found the pictures his mommy entered of him. (He scored a pair of third place ribbons...what do those dumb judges know!) As Tate and his sweetie were heading out to the midway they shared an ear of roasted corn. Yummy!
The kiddos rode the Merry-Go-Round, a car ride, the train and the jumbo slide. Next they played a grab-the-ducky game. Tate won a toy car and Emmalynn won a tiara.
As the night was winding down Tate said goodbye to his little lady companion, but continued with his fair experience, pressing on to the petting zoo. Tate was having an absolute blast feeding carrots to the pygmy goats and other various critters. Then it happened! The Bug was feeding this one animal, an alpaca (sp?) or something like that. It was a tall, white, mop-headed looking creature. Anyhow, Tate was feeding him a carrot when the beast bit my baby! For a split second Tater Bug was stunned. He didn't know what to think. Then he let out a blood curdling scream. That stupid beast broke the skin on one of Tate's little fingers. We rushed to the front of the big petting zoo tent and were given an antiseptic wipe to clean the wound. The only thing the guy manning the tent had to say was: Was he holding the carrot flat in the palm of his hand?
Of course not, but none of the other animals tried to take a plug out of him! I was irate, but kept it together pretty well if I do say so myself.
By this point it was really starting to get late and we hadn't hit the commercial building. So, to help with the calming down process, we made a quick sweep through the commercial building.
It didn't take long for Tate to find food. I'm not sure of the name of the booth, but one of the women working it not only offered him a bite of something, but feed it too him!
All in all I would say Tate had a good time at the fair.

Week 77

Ok, this shoe thing is getting a little out of hand! Tonight I caught Tate with his foot in one -- not two, but one -- of Chuck's tennis shoes. Unlike Tate's Nike tennies (which make him faster) Chuck's shoe rendered him unable to be still. Nonetheless, I tried to get some pics. What is my crazy little boy going to think up next?

Week 76: Ridin' Daddy

I think Tate has done it. He's tamed the beast, um.. I mean Chuck. We can't seem to get the dogs to give Tate a horsy ride anymore. So Tate talked his pop into taking him for a ride. Honestly, I don't know who had more fun!!!!

Four Generations of Hardin Men

The last couple of weeks have been nerve racking for the Hardin family. From a previous blog post you know that Chuck's grandpa gave us quite a scare. He's home now and doing well. Pawpaw Hardin was released from the hospital about a week ago. After a handful of trips to the hospital in Memphis, Chuck, Tate and I were more than happy to make the trip Blytheville to see pawpaw. I'm even happier to post this new four-generation picture of the Hardin men. Here's to many, many more versions of this picture!

Locker Jokes

A week ago Wednesday I was sitting at my desk at work when I heard the familiar tone that alerts me that I have a new text message. I scooped my phone up and read that Chuck's Grandpa Hardin was being rushed to the hospital via ambulance on suspicious that he had suffered a stroke. Later it was determined that he had not a had a stroke, but was bleeding from the brain due to a fall the day before. Pawpaw Hardin was transported from the hospital in Blytheville to the Baptist East in Memphis. To make a long story short Pawpaw Hardin underwent two surgeries to stop the bleeding. He was released from the hospital this evening and to the best of my knowledge is resting comfortably at home. (We're headed to Blytheville tomorrow to see pawpaw.) Anyhow, I tell you all that to set the scene for the picture that follows.
Chuck, Tate and I met Chuck's parents in the ICU waiting room the following morning. It didn't take Tate long to discover a set of lockers tucked away near the restrooms in the waiting room. My little guy was intrigued by the lockers. He wanted to know how they worked. He even got in one of the lockers. It reminded me of that on Nickoleodon (sp?) when I was a kid... You Can't DO That On Television. Remember the part of the show where the kids hid in lockers and pop out to tell jokes. Maybe Tate could be Alister?
Again let me apologize for the quality of this photo. It's a cell phone picture.

Barnes and Noble

Ok this picture was taken with Chuck's cell phone. Not the best quality photo, but it was a cute moment caught forever thanks to modern technology.
About two weeks ago Chuck needed to pop in Barnes and Noble to pick up a book he needed for work. So, the three of us marched into the mega bookstore. Tate and I played chase in the card aisle while Chuck bought the book. As we headed out Tate, who has to do EVERYTHING his daddy does, decided he wanted to carry the book. Do we have a shopper on our hands?