What A Week!!

We're back from our mini vacation. Got back last night about 11:00 pm. Should've gotten back around 9:00 pm, but sat perfectly still on the interstate near Clanton for almost 2 hours because of a wreck. Think the kids were cranky? You bet.

After roasting at Stone Mountain on Monday, we went to the Georgia Aquarium on Tuesday. The GA Aquarium is billed as the largest aquarium in the world. (I pretty much like stuff that holds records like that.) The aquarium was awesome. We had been told to stay away on a weekend because of the massive crowds. It was really, really crowded on a Tuesday, which makes me shudder to think that the weekend crowd would've been bigger. The exhibits are fantastic, the fish/animals are easy to see and get really close to, even with crowds, and the whole place is really cold. They don't skimp on the AC, and considering our previous day at Stone Mountain, we were thankful for that.

There was even a conversation that went like this....
As we were sitting down eating lunch, I asked dad how he liked his chicken sandwich. He said, "It's great, but the air conditioning is even better." We will all be a little traumatized from the Stone Mountain experience.

After we left Atlanta, we went to my parents' house in Union Springs, AL. My dad was the pastor at FBC Union Springs until last week when he resigned to become pastor at Glynwood Baptist in Prattville, AL. My brother and my duties were to pack dad's office. Dad, love him to death, is a pack rat. Oh, heavenly days. I packed stuff like a calendar from 1986. EVERY SINGLE calendar from every single year since 1976. Dad's kept them all. An entire filing cabinet of Seminary class notes. From 1976. They are yellow now. Every nametag that my dad has ever worn at any conference he's attended for the past 35 years. 11 boxes of magazines that Dad can't bear to part with. Like 20 different magazine subscriptions that he's been collecting for years because, according to Dad, "there might be an interesting article in there that I need to reference one day." Ooookay.

Anyway, we finished packing Thursday and decided to wait until Friday to come home. Adam, my brother from NYC, isn't in town very often, so we decided to stay an extra day to hang out with him. Before we left yesterday, Dad got out the boat and drove the girls around the pond. We fished using hotdogs and cheese because we didn't go to the store to get crickets. Didn't matter. The fish got the memo about how ridiculously hot it was at the water's surface, so they weren't interested in the hotdogs or cheese.

Now we are back in Birmingham. We slept in out own beds last night which was awesome. Today I am back in SAHM mode and will tackle laundry. Oh joy. Tomorrow, Mary Emma has her first Cheerleading practice which quite possibly is the most exciting thing to happen to her in several years.

Have a good one.

Krispy Kreme, Anyone?

BooMama posted tonight about her her husband bringing home 24 Krispy Kreme donuts.

I am not phased.

Why?

Because I don't like Krispy Kreme. At all. Yuck.

Actually, I don't like donuts or pastries of any kind. Come to think of it, I'm not a pie fan either. Prety much if a dessert doesn't center around chocolate, I'm not interested.

Please tell me I'm not the only one in the free world who doesn't almost wreck a car when they drive be the flashing "Hot Donut Now" sign. Please tell me I'm not that weird. Please tell me you will love me regardless of my lack of KK support.

Because I'm all about the love, people.

Well, love and chocolate non-pastries.

Vacay

The fam and I are on a little mini summer vacation. The fam includes my hubby, my girls, my parents (Mom & PawPaw), my brother (Adam), and myself. Adam lives in NYC, so he flew in for a few days to hang out with us. We are in Atlanta. I live 2 hours from Atlanta, but never really come here unless it's just passing through by car or airplane. We got here yesterday by the ever loving grace of God because Tait, Camille, and I have all had some sort of horrible virus which gives you just enough fever to make you feel awful and makes you feel like you are gonna throw up but rarely if ever do. Which, personally, I think is worse than actually throwing up.

Anyway,

Today Mary Emma woke up with the same fever and stomach issues that we have all had. However, she was committed to going to the American Girl Store (she has worked for 2 weeks doing extra chores to earn it), so a little Motrin and we were off. After spending too many American dollars in the American Girl Store (PawPaw and Adam were troopers because I think they would've rather had their eyes burned than go in that store) we headed to Stone Mountain.

For those of you who aren't from around here, Stone Mountain is just that. A stone mountain. Literally. It's a MASSIVE granite mountain. They've made a theme park around it. There's a tram that you can ride to the top and see for miles. The same guy who carved Mount Rushmore (well, one of them, at least) carved a large picture of Robert E. Lee on the side of the mountain. It's a cool place and you should visit if you get the chance.

Back to the story. Ahem. Stone Mountain. We were there for almost 5 hours. We climbed a ropes course. We rode the tram. We galavanted all across the top of the mountain taking in beautiful (albeit smoggy) views of Atlanta. We laughed and played.

We also roasted. Cooked. We found out after we left that today was the hottest day of the year so far. Well, isn't that just peachy. It was 103 outside. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. We spent about 80 bucks on Powerade (which only bought a few of them because theme park people are price gougers).

However, it was a great day. It was good to hang out with Adam. He's in NY (he's an actor - google him - Adam Hose) so we don't get to see him often. Camille finally warmed up to him and now loves him.

I didn't bring my card reader, so I can't post pictures. I will as soon as we get home - which will be on Thursday. Tomorrow, we're headed to the Georgia Aquarium (which is air-conditioned, praise the Lord) and then we'll head to my parents' house for a couple of days.

So, have a great week and I'll see you all on Thursday.

Boo

My two youngest daughters and I all have some sort of a stomach virus. Feeling pretty yucky. This morning, I felt like I was on a boat - the house felt like it was swaying. That's always fun. I love feeling seasick when I haven't stepped onto a boat.

Oh, and if anyone has a bang up, sure to cure, home remedy for diaper rash, I'd totally appreciate it. So would Camille and her hiney of fire.

Attitude

My husband and I were talking last night about the funny things our kids said as babies. One story came to mind and we both rolled again. Here it goes.

Mary Emma was almost 4 when she and I went on a shopping trip to Sams. It summer in Florida, lunch time, almost nap time, and she was down right cranky.
After flying through Sams (which was a travesty in itself - I love to slowly browse through Sams) we got back in the car where she was almost in full out meltdown mode.
We were pulling out of the parking lot when I turned around to her and said, "You need to change your attitude, young lady." She crossed her arms and huffed her breath and said, "You tell me what an attitude is and I'll change it!"
Needless to say, I had to pull off the road because I was laughing hysterically.

I just had to share it. I also had to document in on Ye Olde Blog so I would never ever forget it.

Random Funny

My daughter was sitting in the den today watching TV when she suddenly ran into my room screaming "Mommy, do this! It will make your nose feel weird!" And then she sat down and did this.



Oh, the things I learn from her.

Stuff I've Learned This Summer (So Far)

It's July 15. Our summer vacation has about a month left. It's been a busy summer thus far. Last night, I was thinking about what we've done so far, what we have left to do before school starts, and what I've learned from our summer experiences. Some are really thought provoking and some are just down right humorous. So her goes.

1. Nick Jr.completely changed their daily lineup to include five thousand episodes of Sponge Bob. Our daily Dora/Diego/Kai-lan/etc. have been taken over by Sponge Bob. I'm not a Sponge Bob fan. Especially when he takes the place of the sweet, innocent pre-school programming on Nick Jr. I mean come on. A sweet little hispanic girl teaching sequence, Spanish, and how to be nice to mean people (Swiper) versus a sponge (what? weird.) who burps and poots. It's a no brainer for my 3 year old and my 20 month old daughters.

2. The caterpillars really are kinda gross. As part of my "let's keep some education going and not turn into worthless dummies over the summer" plan, I bought the "Bugville Butterfly" set for my girls to experience. They sent us a jelly filled container with 5 teeny cute little caterpillars that were about the size of a grain of rice. Then over the next 2 weeks, those cute little caterpillars turned into silk spinning, pooping, jelly eating, size of your pinky finger, disgusting, yucky bugs. Then they climbed to the top of the container and became cocoons. That part was pretty cool. Then we waited a week for the butterflies, which were born (hatched?) on Sunday. Right now, we have 2 butterflies and 3 cocoons, which should become butterflies really soon.

3. Butterflies bleed. Real, red blood. They actually bleed when they hatch out of the cocoon. Freaked out my 7 year old. The instructions that were sent with the kit say that the butterflies will bleed and will excrete meconium, too. Am I having babies or butterflies? Mary Emma named all of them when they were the size of rice. She gets very attached to anything, so having bleeding butterflies wasn't exactly what I envisioned with our summer "stay smart" plan.

4. The kids mysteriously get sick all at the same time. Yesterday, I was dealing with the whiniest 3 year old and 20 month old in the history of mankind. By dinner, I was ready to put "free to a good home" sign around their neck and take them to the local flea market. When I let my rational self take over my "my nerves are shot" self, I started checking for reasons for the whining. 103 fever. Both of them. No other symptoms. Just fever. And tempers. There's a 24 hour bug going around that I'm hoping is all they have. We might be making a trip to the pediatrician tomorrow if they're not better.

5. VBS has TOTALLY changed since I was a kid. Mary Emma is going to VBS - or Summer Bible Camp, as my church calls it - this week. It is a loud music, flashing lights, rockin' good time. There are no more snacks that consist of "orange drink" and generic cookies that you put on your pinky finger. There are no more sessions that consist of pledging allegiance to the American Flag, Christian Flag, and Holy Bible. There are no macaroni/popsicle stick crafts. It's an upbeat, crazy, Jesus worshipping, praise song singing time and she LOVES it.

6. Traveling with 3 kids is getting easier. Now that we're out of bottles and don't have to pack formula and a million jars of baby food, packing is easier. Soon we'll be out of diapers (Praise Him!) and out of cribs and travel will get even easier. Can't wait for that time.

7. One cannot have enough pb&j, apple juice, and goldfish crackers in the house. I've always said that the inventor of Goldfish crackers should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The brainiacs who determine who wins that award obviously haven't been grocery shopping with a 7 year old, a 3 year old, and a 20 month old.

4 week till school starts back. I can't believe how much time has flown! I have 2 family vacations between now and the beginning of school - one to Atlanta to visit the American Girl store and the Aquarium, and the other to Gulf Shores. I'll let you know what other mind boggling, earth shattering stuff I learn in the next 4 weeks.

You know, because I'm all about keeping you informed.