Blankets Creek

It is refreshing to look back on fun times with family after the kids are in bed.  It sort of wipes away the previous chaos we just went through....such as...Jesse crying for no obvious reason.  Picture me finally getting her to pause the insane crying to brush those little teeth, and then me tickling her and asking her why she was crying so much (while she had a mouth full of fluoride rinse).  Then, picture her spitting the rinse out projectile like on the mirror because I made her laugh.  Then, picture her crying even louder because she spit out her rinse uncontrollably.

Something was wrong in her universe tonight.  This happens from time to time, but I'm sorry, I couldn't help but laugh.



And Jonah, well he's in a pretty good mood even though the weather has messed up his schedule this evening.  The thought of staying inside versus playing baseball nearly kills him.



But it is really hard disciplining this one.  He can come up with a million reasons not to do extra studying on an unexpected night at home.  Some...believable till I see a bad grade.



And Luke...well, he's been having his own adventures lately.  Luke Duke has been going to a dog club on Sundays and acting all shy and crying when his Daddy wants him to show off.  It's pretty funny.  You can do it buddy!  I know you can!



But looking back at this day back in January on a Sunday when we had a hint of Spring and the world was perfect, makes it all OK.



Although, I do miss this lovely weather and long for it even more.



The kids got bikes this year from Santa, and we have frequented the local bike trail, Blankets Creek.  It's pretty dang fun.  We can't wait to continue going in the Spring.



It's a good place to take Luke and let the kids release some energy.



And it's free.



And Jesse can pretend she's in the Circus, while Jonah works on his biking skills.



He was a natural on his new bike.  Although, I do have to mention, the first trip to the creek, he was literally in the creek within minutes.  I'm sorry that I do not have video footage.  I would give anything.



But this time, he managed to stay dry.

That's my boy.  He's 8 and three quarters he says.  He rushes through his homework.  He doesn't always pay attention.  He won't eat over his plate.  He loves Duck Dynasty and Wipe Out for goodness sakes..but I love him so much.  I do.

Just Float

Remember the fish...









Just float.

What's your favorite picture?

We took Jonah, Jesse and their cousins, Kadee and Ella, to the Tellus Museum not long ago.  The kids enjoyed this trip so much.  The Tellus Museum is a wonderful science museum in North Georgia full of dinosaurs and rocks and minerals and crystals and automobiles and rockets...can't beat it on a nice Sunday afternoon.

I am still going through all the photos I took inside, but these I took just before we entered are just fun to share.

Which one is your favorite?

(1) Aren't they sweet and precious?



(2) Cheese!



(3) Kadee giving rabbit ears, goofy Jesse and scary Jonah.



(4) Kadee giving rabbit ears, goofy Jesse and Ella, and what is Jonah doing?



(5) Kadee and Jonah rabbit ear fighting over goofy Jesse and Ella.



(6) It is starting to get out of control.



(7) That's it, we are losing the star of the show.



I don't know.  I am having a very hard time deciding, but I'm leaning towards number 7.  It really cracked me up.

No doubt these goofballs are related.

The Bright Side

I forgot to send my daughter's clean cot sheet and blanket to Pre-K this morning.  When I remembered, it was much too late.

I was rear ended by a young fellow on the interstate while driving in to work today.  I was meaning on getting rid of that commute before this happened again (in my dreams), but it was much too late. 

My battery died while waiting for the State Patrol.  I had been needing to get that battery checked out before it died again, but it was much too late.

When I finally got to work, I realized I left my left over spaghetti and meat sauce in the car, but my boss called me to the office, and I couldn't retrieve it.  It was much too late.

But...

The school had an extra sheet and blanket.

The guy that hit me was just the kindest fellow, and I probably just need a new bumper.

The State Trooper did an exciting maneuver to sling his car around and jump my vehicle off and send me on my way.

My spaghetti was fine!  My friend, Heather, gave me a scientific reason to explain just so.

And most importantly...my boss said everything is OK.

.............................................................................................................................

Hey....remember this?

She turned 5 on Friday.

Boohoooo.

I miss this...

He is losing that baby face.

Waahhahahhahah.

I guess this is the answer to a bad day, remembering all the good I have.  It's never too late for that.

Clap if you believe in fairies...

I am very much under the weather guys.  I'm not going into too much boring detail.  My throat closed up this morning, a freight train hit me this afternoon, and I'm in bed early on a double dose of medicine that has me praising God.

The real reason I picked up my computer is because I wanted to share how beautiful it is to listen to my family talking together tonight without me.

Jesse just said to my love, "Daddy, do you believe in fairies?"

My love said, "Yes I do, I believe in fairies."

Jesse then followed with, "Then clap your hands!  Daddy, clap your hands!"

I've been crying all night because I hate being sick, but hearing this...oh Good Lord.  The tears were very happy tears.  I've spoke of this scene in E.T. before...when Gertie's Mom is reading Peter Pan to her.  I've never pointed it out to Jesse really.

It just touched her too.  It jumped out and touched her heart just like it has mine all these years.  It was so beautiful.



I love your heart Jesse.

Now, she did point out the other night that shampoo had a toilet word in it.  She said, "You know...poo!"  I couldn't let you think she walks around talking in Peter Pan terminology all the time.



I knew you believed in fairies.  I always knew it.

I'm sorry I cried and acted like I was dying on the phone to get you home faster today.  I did feel bad.  But as usual, you saved me and calmed me and probably laughed at me, but that's OK...I deserve it.

I can't stay awake anymoooorroewoore...

Epcot

Ok, so maybe I should have just printed all these pictures out and put them in an album and called it a day, but I have this thing about finishing something I have started.  Here's to seeing it through.

It had been such an incredible week so far.  We were really trying to see it all and doing a pretty good job of it.  We had hit all the Disney parks except for one.  My love and I were stoked about Epcot, which would be the last new park to visit before our final park hopping day.  We were just praying the kids would like it too.



They could hardly wait to go inside the "big ball."



I thought about it a minute.  I was sure the "big ball" could wait.  I was sure there were much more interesting things to do and a better plan of action.  For example, I thought the internet told me to hurry on to the world tour and go counterclockwise while bouncing on one leg.  Well, not the last part, but sometimes reading all that stuff online just felt as stupid as that.

I learned a long time ago that well thought out plans are not the best for us...so we rode the "big ball" first.  The kids loved it and wanted to ride again.  It really is cool.  Just remembering it right now made me think of something.  If I thought it was sort of neat, then the kids thought it was really, really neat.  Everything is magnified in a child's eyes.  The simplest things become enormous memories for them.  So, yeah, we liked the "big ball" a lot.



But then, we had to go on a little mission...a Mission to Mars!  Now, you know I was so excited about this one.  We had two choices...ride A or ride B (I forget what they really called them, so I'm going with A and B.)  Ride A was for beginners and less intense. Ride B was for trained Astronauts.  We decided to take ride A, and then we quickly decided we were ready for Ride B.



I finally got to experience it.  I was amazed at how the kids handled themselves.  We all had responsibilities in the flight.  At one point during the "B" mission, I was holding on during an intense maneuver while Jesse was playing with buttons.  The girl was a natural and seemed completely unaware of the significant force we were feeling.  It was a beauty to watch.



Jinx put Mickey in Space?  If you haven't seen Space Camp a million times like I have, that comment means absolutely nothing to you.  I'm sorry about that.



I was amazed by the aquarium at Epcot.  We spent a lot of time here.



Absolutely amazing.



I heard a lot of "Look over here!" and "Wow!" from them both.



Hey Nemos.  I love your story.

We also road the ride, Soaring, before heading off towards the countries.  That one is a must do as well.  You really feel like you are soaring across the country.  It is a beautiful experience.



It was time to travel the world though.  I couldn't wait!



I was amazed by the first beauty we saw.



I wanted to jump the fence and do cartwheels on the grass.




I'm sure Jesse wanted to pick the flowers.



I liked this place they called Canada.



Wait though..."Is this the telephone booth that takes us back to Hogwarts asked the kids?"  They didn't actually ask me that.  They just loved playing in it.



Nice to have been there.



Let's move on!



I love how Disney really thought this through and how much we felt like we were really experiencing each country.  Beer really helped too.



I'm not going to give a break down of everything we ate and everything we saw.  I will say that we ate and drank all that was humanly possible.







In France, we stopped here.  We walked in to see, smell, taste the fresh pastries.





I will say this though.  Jonah, you had a warm croissant with heavenly ham and luscious cheese.  I have tried to mimic the sandwich.  It was amazing.  Jesse, all you ate was anything with chocolate.  My taste buds are alive and well in you my sweet girl.



We spent some time in a beautiful shop here.  Jonah was very impressed with French soap.  I went on a little wine tour.  It was lovely.



One day we will do this for real guys.



It is still really cool leaving one culture and entering another.



I don't know when or if I would ever get to take the kids to all these places, so I am proud to have this journey at least.





I think one of our favorite places was Germany.

It was beautiful.



We stopped here.



Heaven help me.



If only I could have tasted one of everything.



I remember the smell...the chocolate and the caramel.  Heaven help me.



And the shops here were fantastic!  Jesse stopped to color.



Then, we were home.



Our tour ended in Mexico.  This is truly where we belonged.  We dined in the most fabulous restaurant and went on a boat tour when we were done with dinner.  It was Margarita heaven, and the food was divine.  I think I could move in and be just fine.



But all things must come to an end.  We were going to stay that night for fireworks, but the bottom fell out.  This was the hardest rain we had seen.



We were running with our ponchos on...trying our best to catch the earlier bus back.



Till the kids saw this along the way and had to stop and make some music.  I absolutely adored this moment.  We also stopped at a tiny, little table and umbrella to eat some chocolate on our way to the bus.  We ate chocolate in the rain.  I have to say, it was one of the best moments of my life.

Then, we had to start moving.  A rocket lit under my love and all of the sudden, he and Jonah were almost out of my sight in the dark rain.  How were they moving so fast?  Was it the chocolate?  I didn't have that kind of chocolate.  I was pushing Jesse along and trying to keep up.  I realized I needed to start sprinting to make it.  Now, this was not a lovely moment.  I believe I got to the bus stop and admitted that I might have peed my pants a bit.  Jesse will never let this go.  She says all the time, "Remember when we were running and you wet your pants?!  Ha ha ha ha ha."

Oh my, my, my.  Some things you just shouldn't say out loud...not even to family.  She's going to bring this up in public soon.  I just know it.

But Oh Epcot, I love you.  J&J, I think you are going to love it even more when you are older.  I can imagine all of us sitting in a pub together later in life (when you are of age of course.)  It's a beautiful moment in my mind.

I just hope you stop to play drums with me again.  Love you guys.