Flat Ainsleigh

Several weeks ago, we were thrilled to welcome Flat Ainsleigh to Charlotte. And then I realized we got her at the ugliest time of year. Sarah said I could keep her for a couple of weeks and, well, we exceeded that. But she's Mabes' cousin (or at least the flat version of her), and Mabes wanted to keep her longer. It's now spring and gorgeous, so we were able to take some nice pictures instead of "Hi, Ainsleigh, this is the barren lifeless wasteland which is Charlotte."

Let me just say I love the idea behind the Flat Ainsleigh Project. I love geography. I love learning about other places. For the last 12 years, I've almost always had a map on the wall. This project is a fun way to teach Ainsleigh (and Mabes and Dono) about the world around them.

We're still learning about the area, but I love taking field trips. I grew up in a newer city in California, where a 1950s ranch-style home was considered old. We would take field trips to the Mission, but that was the extent of history in the area. (Now that my parents live in Pleasanton, I've learned that there is a lot more history in the area. But that's a different post.)

We decided to go colonial and take Ainsleigh to the Charlotte Museum of History. She learned about how Charlotte was founded on a Native American trade route, and how Charlotte had it's own gold rush that lasted until gold was discovered in California (Gold! Gold! Gold at Sutter's Mill!). We saw the oldest home in Western North Carolina, the Hezekiah Alexander House, built in 1774.

We even learned about "Mec Dec Day"; according to tradition, Mecklenburg County declared independence from Britain on May 20, 1775--235 years ago today. I thought we should have a cookout and ice cream to celebrate that tonight, but we just had leftovers. Boring.

We skipped the usual trip to Bojangles (a favorite with guests), since Ainsleigh already tried it in Florida last summer. So we took her out to try barbeque and hush puppies, which she and Mabes loved.

Dave also pointed out that I should take Flat Ainsleigh to the PTL Castle. It's an interesting site we pass on the way to preschool, it was part of Heritage USA, a Christian theme park. It opened in 1978, and by 1986 it was the most popular destination in the US after Disneyworld and Disneyland.

Another perk of keeping Flat Ainsleigh well into spring is strawberry season! It's in full bloom (?) right now, so we took Flat Ainsleigh strawberry picking. I wish there were a way to capture the scent--the fields smelled so good, and the actual strawberries were even better. We picked 5 pounds of strawberries in about 10 minutes, and they are amazing. I got home and finished off the last 3 store bought strawberries in my fridge and they were crunchy, dry, and tasteless compared to these bad boys. (I thought they were pretty good when I bought them, though!)