So, lately, we've been watching PBS kids at our house. And I have to tell you, Sesame Street has some of the best stuff ever. If you haven't seen the Pre-School Musical skit yet, please watch it!!
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGMB7Rn8KGE
Friday, September 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
May or May Not
Um, all yous guyses who follow my blog can probably tell that I really hate to complain about things, and I hate to call other people out on their bad behavior, and I really hate to judge others. You noticed that, right? RIGHT? Oh wait...
So anyway, I really don't want to do that now, so just so you know, this post is completely hypothetical. I may or may not have neighbors who live across the street from me. And they may or may not lack a backyard, causing them to spend all their time in their front yard. And they may or may not blare their radio at all hours of the morning, afternoon and night. Their taste in music may or may not rock, but still, it may or may not be really annoying. They may or may not play the music so loudly that we can't even hear each other talk if we've got the screen on our storm door open. The lady neighbor may or may not take ALL of her phone calls on the front porch, and may or may not feel the need to scream into her phone. And her friends may or may not be hilarious, as she laughs like a hyena incessantly during said hypothetical calls. And she may or may not talk about very personal, uncomfortable, awkward things. These neighbors may or may not park their cars in front of ANYBODY'S house but their own, regardless of the fact that parking on our street may or may not be at a premium. They also may or may not set off fireworks at least once a month, on really special days like July 22, August 13, or September 9. And they may or may not sit back and watch as their dog comes over into our yard and poops/pees, and then leave it there for us to enjoy. And they may or may not engage in lawn care and gardening chores (also at all hours of morning, day, night) wearing inappropriately skimpy clothing. And they may or may not allow their middle school aged daughter to traipse around the neighborhood in REALLY inappropriately skimpy/nonexistent clothing. And they may or may not engage in RIDICULOUSLY inappropriate PDA on their front porch. Even though they may or may not be "hidden" behind a large fern-type plant, that doesn't really hide them. And they may or may not have woken Emma up from her sleep multiple times with their hypothetical shenanigans.
And I may or may not plant my foot firmly in someone's behind.
So anyway, I really don't want to do that now, so just so you know, this post is completely hypothetical. I may or may not have neighbors who live across the street from me. And they may or may not lack a backyard, causing them to spend all their time in their front yard. And they may or may not blare their radio at all hours of the morning, afternoon and night. Their taste in music may or may not rock, but still, it may or may not be really annoying. They may or may not play the music so loudly that we can't even hear each other talk if we've got the screen on our storm door open. The lady neighbor may or may not take ALL of her phone calls on the front porch, and may or may not feel the need to scream into her phone. And her friends may or may not be hilarious, as she laughs like a hyena incessantly during said hypothetical calls. And she may or may not talk about very personal, uncomfortable, awkward things. These neighbors may or may not park their cars in front of ANYBODY'S house but their own, regardless of the fact that parking on our street may or may not be at a premium. They also may or may not set off fireworks at least once a month, on really special days like July 22, August 13, or September 9. And they may or may not sit back and watch as their dog comes over into our yard and poops/pees, and then leave it there for us to enjoy. And they may or may not engage in lawn care and gardening chores (also at all hours of morning, day, night) wearing inappropriately skimpy clothing. And they may or may not allow their middle school aged daughter to traipse around the neighborhood in REALLY inappropriately skimpy/nonexistent clothing. And they may or may not engage in RIDICULOUSLY inappropriate PDA on their front porch. Even though they may or may not be "hidden" behind a large fern-type plant, that doesn't really hide them. And they may or may not have woken Emma up from her sleep multiple times with their hypothetical shenanigans.
And I may or may not plant my foot firmly in someone's behind.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Lazy
So. I've been feeling rather lazy in regards to the blog lately. Mostly because everything else has been keeping me rather busy. But here a few items, and a few pictures to tide you over for now.
1. I was at Target yesterday, and was pushing Emma in her stroller. An older woman was walking past me in the opposite direction and said, "Oh, isn't she DARLING?!?" And I about wet myself with excitement, because strangers refer to her as a boy about 99% of the time. So that made me happy:)
2. Dear McDonalds: I hate you. Your Bacon, Egg and Cheese McGriddle will be the likely cause of my future obeastity. (Yes, I said Obeastity. I won't just be obese. I'll be Obeast.) And for that, you suck.
3. Emma took her first steps on Wednesday evening! She was standing next to the couch, but was just far away enough that she couldn't hold on to it. So, she took two steps to get close enough to grab onto it. A bit later, she did the same thing, this time taking 4 steps. We haven't been able to get her to do it again since then, but still.
4. Emma's got her 8th tooth!
5. Emma has also started to mellow out. She does a lot of cute things, like sitting with me on the couch. This might not seem like much to you, but before, she would NEVER sit with us. She just never wanted to be still. But now, she'll sit on my lap for sometimes 15 minutes at a time! I haven't had that kind of cuddle time since she was probably 2 months old! She's also developed this really cute habit. She loves her boppy, and she'll crawl over to the couch, stand up, and it pull it down onto the floor. Then, throughout the day, she'll just crawl over to it, cuddle up with it, and lay her head down and just chiiiiiiill. I love it.
6. The marathon is one month away! I'm a wee bit nervous, because my body has been all out of sorts this week. I think there are a lot of factors in play. I had a really, really crappy run last Saturday. I felt worse after that run, than I have after any run since I started training. I don't think it's a coincidence that Monday morning I started to develop a cold. I didn't think much of it then, but by Wednesday morning I was in full-blown misery mode, so I think that may have played a role in the overall miseryness of that run. That said, I am feeling pretty confident about my impending race. For now, I have one more REALLY long run, and then it's tapering from there. I am just going to try to keep my body healthy.
On another note, Mike and I will be making the trip to Scranton for the marathon on our own. Mom will be staying at our house with Emma. I'm looking forward to it, but also kind of petrified. I completely trust Mom with Emma, and Mike has been away from her for a week at a time. But I, on the other hand, haven't been away from her for more than 4 or 5 hours at a time. And I'm a little worried that I'm going to have some emotional breakdown being away from her. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for it now, but it still kind of freaks me out. I just have to keep reminding myself that I'll be able to get a REALLY good night of sleep before the race, and that it will be worth it, but it still feels weird that we'll be there without her. Meh.
Ok, here are some pictures...
Those would be Emma's teeth marks, because apparently she's part beaver.
This is where she greets us every time she wakes up!
She's discovered that if she climbs into the laundry basket, she'll get a ride:)
She has also taken to using her car seat as a recline, and uses it to lounge in the living room.
She's also way into drugs. Who needs toys when you can play with a bottle of tylenol??
Oh, poor Emma. This is her crashed out in her car seat after the blood-draw debacle.
She loves to stand at the door and watch people/cars go by.
See, she's cuddly now! She'll even cuddle with the wall! She literally laid like that for about 5 minutes, just snuggling that wall!
She's not a fan of the gate.
She peed on my leg. And then LAUGHED at me.
Oh boy, I'm in trouble!
1. I was at Target yesterday, and was pushing Emma in her stroller. An older woman was walking past me in the opposite direction and said, "Oh, isn't she DARLING?!?" And I about wet myself with excitement, because strangers refer to her as a boy about 99% of the time. So that made me happy:)
2. Dear McDonalds: I hate you. Your Bacon, Egg and Cheese McGriddle will be the likely cause of my future obeastity. (Yes, I said Obeastity. I won't just be obese. I'll be Obeast.) And for that, you suck.
3. Emma took her first steps on Wednesday evening! She was standing next to the couch, but was just far away enough that she couldn't hold on to it. So, she took two steps to get close enough to grab onto it. A bit later, she did the same thing, this time taking 4 steps. We haven't been able to get her to do it again since then, but still.
4. Emma's got her 8th tooth!
5. Emma has also started to mellow out. She does a lot of cute things, like sitting with me on the couch. This might not seem like much to you, but before, she would NEVER sit with us. She just never wanted to be still. But now, she'll sit on my lap for sometimes 15 minutes at a time! I haven't had that kind of cuddle time since she was probably 2 months old! She's also developed this really cute habit. She loves her boppy, and she'll crawl over to the couch, stand up, and it pull it down onto the floor. Then, throughout the day, she'll just crawl over to it, cuddle up with it, and lay her head down and just chiiiiiiill. I love it.
6. The marathon is one month away! I'm a wee bit nervous, because my body has been all out of sorts this week. I think there are a lot of factors in play. I had a really, really crappy run last Saturday. I felt worse after that run, than I have after any run since I started training. I don't think it's a coincidence that Monday morning I started to develop a cold. I didn't think much of it then, but by Wednesday morning I was in full-blown misery mode, so I think that may have played a role in the overall miseryness of that run. That said, I am feeling pretty confident about my impending race. For now, I have one more REALLY long run, and then it's tapering from there. I am just going to try to keep my body healthy.
On another note, Mike and I will be making the trip to Scranton for the marathon on our own. Mom will be staying at our house with Emma. I'm looking forward to it, but also kind of petrified. I completely trust Mom with Emma, and Mike has been away from her for a week at a time. But I, on the other hand, haven't been away from her for more than 4 or 5 hours at a time. And I'm a little worried that I'm going to have some emotional breakdown being away from her. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for it now, but it still kind of freaks me out. I just have to keep reminding myself that I'll be able to get a REALLY good night of sleep before the race, and that it will be worth it, but it still feels weird that we'll be there without her. Meh.
Ok, here are some pictures...
Those would be Emma's teeth marks, because apparently she's part beaver.
This is where she greets us every time she wakes up!
She's discovered that if she climbs into the laundry basket, she'll get a ride:)
She has also taken to using her car seat as a recline, and uses it to lounge in the living room.
She's also way into drugs. Who needs toys when you can play with a bottle of tylenol??
Oh, poor Emma. This is her crashed out in her car seat after the blood-draw debacle.
She loves to stand at the door and watch people/cars go by.
See, she's cuddly now! She'll even cuddle with the wall! She literally laid like that for about 5 minutes, just snuggling that wall!
She's not a fan of the gate.
She peed on my leg. And then LAUGHED at me.
Oh boy, I'm in trouble!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Randomness is multiplying exponentially
Ok, so there are lots of random things that I keep thinking, "HEY! I should blog about that!" and I just haven't been getting to it. So here I'm about to begin what will likely be a long, rambling, and confusing post. Fasten your seat belts, folks.
1. So, I start back to school this week. Night class will be on Thursdays. In preparation, I've had A LOT of reading to do, and have often found myself drifting off to sleep in the middle of a sentence. As such, I think it's been influencing my dreams. I rarely remember my dreams, but this one I thought was worth sharing. So, in my dream, I'm going back to school, walking through the halls of PSU-H. As I enter the classroom, Dr. Kupfer is absent, and in his place is Tim Gunn. And my "class" is really one of those model shows, kind of like ANTM, but not quite. So all of us "students"/"models" go to the first event. And I realize that Bird is there. Our first event is Queen of the Court volleyball. So, we are playing QotC in our very nice Kenneth Cole clothing (do they even make women's clothing??? Can you tell that this dream is SOOOO not me??), nice button downs, sweaters, jeans, and fancy high heels. So, I'm being all hard core and trying to play well, but everyone else sucks, and I get mad. So, I decide I'm quitting school. I walk out, and then Bird comes to get me. I told her I was quitting school, and had better be able to get my tuition back. And also that I was going to steal all of the nice clothes they had brought out for the models (nice to see I've got morals in my dreams). Bird tells me not to, because they are going to sell the clothes for charity after the "class" is over. I steal them anyway. As I'm leaving, Tim Gunn breaks the bad news that even if I hadn't quit, I'd be the first to get kicked off anyway, because I'm too athletic. And that ends the dream.
Weird, no?
2. Another random occurence (that happened in real life and was not a dream) happened a few weeks ago, but we didn't discover it until recently. One evening we came to find all the nearby neighbors hanging out on the street, and pointing to someone/something in the side yard of our house. As we parked, the neighbors informed us that there was a skunk lurking between our and our neighbors house, and that the Man neighbor had killed the skunk, by crushing it's skull was a precise blow to the head with a shovel. Nice. He had originally tried to shoot it, but apparently he's more accurate with a shovel, than with a .22. (Mental note: stay a shovel-length away from Man-Neighbor at all times) In the process of killing the skunk, Man-Neighbor got sprayed. Ewwww. It was icky, so we just left the gathering and went inside. A few days ago Mike and I were putting things away in our food storage pantry down in the basement, when we noticed a giant hole in our giant box of Ziploc bags. At first we though, RAT! OH NO! But, there were no other chewed up boxes, and why would a rat go for ziploc bags? Then we noticed a hole in the pantry door. And a hole in our basement window. Mike started digging through the box of bags, and found a bullet. Yes, a bullet! In trying to shoot the skunk, our Man-neighbor shot through our basement window, into the pantry and right through our poor Ziploc bags. It was a small bullet, but STILL! Had I been standing at the pantry at that very moment, it would have been right in line to hit me in the head. Wouldn't have killed me, but could have caused some serious damage! SOOOOOOO ANGRY!
3. In brighter randomness, Emma has discovered that she loves to eat baby gold fish. We'd tried giving her the regular gold fish, but when given the choice between regular and baby ones, she always goes for the babies. 'Cause she's cute like that.
4. Also, Emma has a new BFF. It's her Sock Monkey. I have named him, "Mr. Sock Monkey". He is very cute. It's the first toy that Emma has really hugged or kissed, and it's just so cute to see her cozy up with him. She must be a girl after my own heart, because we all know my own BFF was Oswald, the awesome Monkey Chrysta gave to me when I was 8. One day when I know she won't smack herself in the face with the heavy, weighted hands and feet, she'll get to play with Oswald, too. Then she'll have two Monkey BFF's. And I'll be so jealous.
5. So, I did a 16 mile run on Saturday morning! I was a little hesitant going into it, because of other events in the day, I had to get up at 4:30 am to do it, and Emma DID NOT sleep well the night before. So, I was just nervous. But, Darin and I met downtown and did a nice Front Street run along the river, around City Island a couple times and around Italian Lake a couple times, and IT. WAS. AWESOME. My best run ever, really. The weird thing is that the last 6 miles or so were so much better for me than the first 10 miles. It was like I just needed a REALLY LONG warm up before I really got into my groove! But I did, and we finished the run in 2 hrs, 32 min. That's just about a 9:30 min/mile pace! I was so proud of myself! However, after it was over I had to pretty much get right in the car, drive home, shower, get dressed, pack up the car, and head to Jean's bridal shower. After that, I came home, packed up Emma and Mike, and headed for my college roomies' house warming party, where we sat outside in the humidity all afternoon. So, I never was really able to rehydrate myself, or stretch appropriately, so by late afternoon, I felt so, so very sick! I tried drinking, but the more I drank, the worse I felt. I crashed very early that night, and ended up skipping church on Sunday because I just couldn't get rid of the nausea and headache. I am now, happily, fully rehydrated and feeling MUCH better!
6. So, my BFF Jean, is getting married in less than a month! We had her shower on Saturday afternoon, at her mom's house. I played host! It was fun getting all of Jean's friends together and meeting some of them for the first time. Jean and I have been BFF's since 9th grade, but have known each other for much longer than that. When I moved back to Lebanon in 9th grade, Jean really took me under her wing, and made me feel welcome and accepted. We have spent countless hours walking around Wal-Mart, using funny accents, eating Cheesy Poofs, mini egg rolls and TGIFridays Tato Skins! We have embarrasing footage of our own Blair Witch Project, called "CHI CHI OF IONA", and of our "BABY GOT BACK" music video. She is one of those people I could go months without talking to, and just pick back up right where we left off. She is the best friend I've ever had, and I am so happy that she's found Matt, who I will hunt down and murder if he so much as hurts her feelings. Which I'm sure he won't because he's pretty great:) So, yes, we showered her with lots of kitchen utensils and lingerie, and now she's ready to get married! WOOT WOOT FOR JEAN! Love ya, sugar britches!
1. So, I start back to school this week. Night class will be on Thursdays. In preparation, I've had A LOT of reading to do, and have often found myself drifting off to sleep in the middle of a sentence. As such, I think it's been influencing my dreams. I rarely remember my dreams, but this one I thought was worth sharing. So, in my dream, I'm going back to school, walking through the halls of PSU-H. As I enter the classroom, Dr. Kupfer is absent, and in his place is Tim Gunn. And my "class" is really one of those model shows, kind of like ANTM, but not quite. So all of us "students"/"models" go to the first event. And I realize that Bird is there. Our first event is Queen of the Court volleyball. So, we are playing QotC in our very nice Kenneth Cole clothing (do they even make women's clothing??? Can you tell that this dream is SOOOO not me??), nice button downs, sweaters, jeans, and fancy high heels. So, I'm being all hard core and trying to play well, but everyone else sucks, and I get mad. So, I decide I'm quitting school. I walk out, and then Bird comes to get me. I told her I was quitting school, and had better be able to get my tuition back. And also that I was going to steal all of the nice clothes they had brought out for the models (nice to see I've got morals in my dreams). Bird tells me not to, because they are going to sell the clothes for charity after the "class" is over. I steal them anyway. As I'm leaving, Tim Gunn breaks the bad news that even if I hadn't quit, I'd be the first to get kicked off anyway, because I'm too athletic. And that ends the dream.
Weird, no?
2. Another random occurence (that happened in real life and was not a dream) happened a few weeks ago, but we didn't discover it until recently. One evening we came to find all the nearby neighbors hanging out on the street, and pointing to someone/something in the side yard of our house. As we parked, the neighbors informed us that there was a skunk lurking between our and our neighbors house, and that the Man neighbor had killed the skunk, by crushing it's skull was a precise blow to the head with a shovel. Nice. He had originally tried to shoot it, but apparently he's more accurate with a shovel, than with a .22. (Mental note: stay a shovel-length away from Man-Neighbor at all times) In the process of killing the skunk, Man-Neighbor got sprayed. Ewwww. It was icky, so we just left the gathering and went inside. A few days ago Mike and I were putting things away in our food storage pantry down in the basement, when we noticed a giant hole in our giant box of Ziploc bags. At first we though, RAT! OH NO! But, there were no other chewed up boxes, and why would a rat go for ziploc bags? Then we noticed a hole in the pantry door. And a hole in our basement window. Mike started digging through the box of bags, and found a bullet. Yes, a bullet! In trying to shoot the skunk, our Man-neighbor shot through our basement window, into the pantry and right through our poor Ziploc bags. It was a small bullet, but STILL! Had I been standing at the pantry at that very moment, it would have been right in line to hit me in the head. Wouldn't have killed me, but could have caused some serious damage! SOOOOOOO ANGRY!
3. In brighter randomness, Emma has discovered that she loves to eat baby gold fish. We'd tried giving her the regular gold fish, but when given the choice between regular and baby ones, she always goes for the babies. 'Cause she's cute like that.
4. Also, Emma has a new BFF. It's her Sock Monkey. I have named him, "Mr. Sock Monkey". He is very cute. It's the first toy that Emma has really hugged or kissed, and it's just so cute to see her cozy up with him. She must be a girl after my own heart, because we all know my own BFF was Oswald, the awesome Monkey Chrysta gave to me when I was 8. One day when I know she won't smack herself in the face with the heavy, weighted hands and feet, she'll get to play with Oswald, too. Then she'll have two Monkey BFF's. And I'll be so jealous.
5. So, I did a 16 mile run on Saturday morning! I was a little hesitant going into it, because of other events in the day, I had to get up at 4:30 am to do it, and Emma DID NOT sleep well the night before. So, I was just nervous. But, Darin and I met downtown and did a nice Front Street run along the river, around City Island a couple times and around Italian Lake a couple times, and IT. WAS. AWESOME. My best run ever, really. The weird thing is that the last 6 miles or so were so much better for me than the first 10 miles. It was like I just needed a REALLY LONG warm up before I really got into my groove! But I did, and we finished the run in 2 hrs, 32 min. That's just about a 9:30 min/mile pace! I was so proud of myself! However, after it was over I had to pretty much get right in the car, drive home, shower, get dressed, pack up the car, and head to Jean's bridal shower. After that, I came home, packed up Emma and Mike, and headed for my college roomies' house warming party, where we sat outside in the humidity all afternoon. So, I never was really able to rehydrate myself, or stretch appropriately, so by late afternoon, I felt so, so very sick! I tried drinking, but the more I drank, the worse I felt. I crashed very early that night, and ended up skipping church on Sunday because I just couldn't get rid of the nausea and headache. I am now, happily, fully rehydrated and feeling MUCH better!
6. So, my BFF Jean, is getting married in less than a month! We had her shower on Saturday afternoon, at her mom's house. I played host! It was fun getting all of Jean's friends together and meeting some of them for the first time. Jean and I have been BFF's since 9th grade, but have known each other for much longer than that. When I moved back to Lebanon in 9th grade, Jean really took me under her wing, and made me feel welcome and accepted. We have spent countless hours walking around Wal-Mart, using funny accents, eating Cheesy Poofs, mini egg rolls and TGIFridays Tato Skins! We have embarrasing footage of our own Blair Witch Project, called "CHI CHI OF IONA", and of our "BABY GOT BACK" music video. She is one of those people I could go months without talking to, and just pick back up right where we left off. She is the best friend I've ever had, and I am so happy that she's found Matt, who I will hunt down and murder if he so much as hurts her feelings. Which I'm sure he won't because he's pretty great:) So, yes, we showered her with lots of kitchen utensils and lingerie, and now she's ready to get married! WOOT WOOT FOR JEAN! Love ya, sugar britches!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Some pics
As I explained in my last post, I don't have very many vacation pics because we misplaced our camera for the bulk of the trip. That is sad, as I have realized that we have very few pics of our adorable nieces and nephews, of our ridiculously good looking siblings and in-laws, and absolutely no pictures of Bird and Kanye West, I mean Anna, singing Love Shack. That makes me sad. So other Kilgores, please keep posting your pics! This is what I have for now, nothing terribly exciting, but ya know. Once I get my water camera pics back I will post those as well.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Vay-Cay-She-Own
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
I can't really think of any better way to sum it up. Let's start with the worst...
The worst of times revolved around Emma. Because that poor, poor girl could NOT SLEEP. We were nervous going into it about how she'd sleep and it was evident from the get-go that she did not like being away from her own room and her own bed. Pack and play wasn't cutting it, and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't do enough to cover up the ginormous windows in our room to make it dark enough for her. So that was a bummer. She rarely napped, and when she did they were very short (30-40 minute range). At night time she was waking up at least twice a night, and on the bad nights she was up 4-5 times and just not being able to get back to sleep. And then she decided to get up for the day anywhere from 5:45 - 6:30 am. When she usually gets up between 7:30 and 8:30. So that was just brutal. She was also nursing 10-12 times in a 24 hour period, when she normally nurses 4-5 times, because that was the ONLY thing that would calm her down. All the sleeplessness and constant nursing sent me into a state of emotional breakdown. I was able to hide it pretty well (maybe??) until the end of the week, when I went into meltdown mode because I was pretty sure I was going to have to miss the girls day out, because I had nothing left in me, to leave a bottle behind for Mike. But, this is where the worst of times started to turn up, because my Mom and Mike convinced me that I should go on the girls day out anyway, and that Mike would go get some formula for Emma. And MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, she took it! We had tried several times before to get her to take formula, and she just absolutely refused, so I was just amazed and thankful that she took it on vacation. Also, while we were gone, Mike discovered that she had a new tooth. In fact, she got TWO new teeth. So, that explained a lot. I'm not sure if any other mothers feel this way, but just knowing WHAT was causing her freak outs made it a lot easier to cope. So, anyway, yeah, the worst of times was pretty much just the sleepless thing. I caught myself saying "Had I known, I just would have stayed home!" a number of times, but looking back, there's no way I would have missed this!
So, onto the best of times!
Saturday: Arrival at the Lodge. The place was freakin gorgeous! It was high up in the Smoky Mountains. So high, I am pretty sure many of us thought we weren't going to make it up the driveway. Especially the gravel part way up at the top. We got ourselves unloaded and just hung out with the fam as everyone drifted in.
Sunday: Another chill day. Mike and I missed the waterfall hike, because it just got started too late in the day, and Emma had barely slept, and we didn't want to get back toooooo late after her bedtime. So, we had some time to just chill at the lodge.
Monday: The Lazy River Tubing! Mike is not a fan of tubing, so he stayed back with Emma. Just about everybody else came tubing. It was fun! There was this sweet, sweet spot that had a rope swing. I did the swing once, but it was more fun watching others (Karl) take the plunge.
Tuesday: Free day, nothing planned. So Mike, Emma and I went to the Ripleys Aquarium of the Smokies. It was pretty sweet. There were TONS of sharks, and this cool underwater tunnel. I love aquariums, and if I can say it, on my list of favorites this one ranks JUST BEHIND the Maui Ocean Center.
Tuesday Night: Iron Chef: Kilgore. Secret Ingredients, Fruit and Cream. I made some stellar apple dumplings, topped with fresh whipped cream (which I totally bogard-ed from Sara). Kendra won with her real, southern Peach Cobbler, though. I am pretty sure that she could have made Brussel Sprout Cobbler and still won, because dang that syrup and crusty topping was just heaven in my mouth. Although I didn't win the overall competition, I did win eaters favorite:)
Wednesday: Dudes played golf in the morning. They all said it was brutal, so I'm glad I didn't go. I was playing around with the idea, but by Wednesday I just wanted to SLEEP. After the dudes got back, we went to The Sinks. It was this awesome swimming hole, with giant rocks to jump off of. It was seriously a blast!! When I get my waterproof camera finished and developed, I'll scan some pics and post them.
Thursday: Girls day out. Had my public emotional breakdown in the morning. Girls Day Out followed. We went into Gatlinburg to do some shopping. Found some sweet deals, bought Mike some Jalapeno Death Sauce, had a bangin' smoothie. Came home feeling much, MUCH better.
Thursday Night: Kilgore Karaoke Idol. It was the best. thing. ever. This might top my list of favorite events of the whole darn reunion. It was a treat to hear Taylor sing for seriously, because usually when we are singing we are being silly and goofy. But she sang LET IT BE by the Beatles, and totally rocked it. I sang HEAVEN by Bryan Adams. I was a lil frustrated because I didn't really know any of the songs that were available. You know how it goes, you know the chorus, but none of the verses... so I settled for this one (well, ok, Jerry said "just do this one, really you know it!" and he was right, I knew the chorus!!) and did just so-so. But I really didn't care because watching OTHERS do the karaoke was far better than doing it myself. Like, for instance, Anna's rendition of R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and WE BUILT THIS CITY. Birds version of SITTING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY and BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY. Dad sang ON THE ROAD AGAIN by Willie Nelson and mom did NEW YORK NEW YORK. Scott stole the show for a while with JOY TO THE WORLD, and then got censored doing SUPER FREAK, because hey, he's super freaky. (And 8 year old Lydia was in the room!!) Then Bird stole the show again with LOVE SHACK. It was just freakin' amazing. Anna managed to wipe away her tears long enough to do back up vocals, and the result was nothing short of perfect. So yeah, best night ever.
Friday: Free day. Most of the group went to Ober Gatlinburg, but with Emma we just decided to keep things low key. We went into Gatlinburg and did some more of the shops and had a nice sit down lunch, and just walked around with Emma in the Beco. Later, Mike and I went to the Sinks to join up with the rest of the crew who went straight from Ober Gatlinburg. Mom was kind enough to watch Emma for a while, and wouldn't you know it, she had an amazing 1.5 hour nap while we were gone!! Anyway, sinks were awesome. Mike did a sweet Cannon Ball, and I just jumped and jumped and jumped. It was so much fun just playing in the water, hanging out with Mike, Bird, Taylor, Tyler and Lydia (and everyone else, of course!). My brave little niece Gaby (6) had the guts to jump off the big cliff with us, and her lil brother Owen (3) jumped off a 5 foot cliff. Zach (6) jumped off a cliff about 8-10 feet high with his dad (my bro Scott). So the little ones were having a blast, too. The little ones who didn't jump had a nice shallow spot to play in the water and lick logs:) Oh, and right before we were leaving, Dad decided to jump in!! I was so ticked, because I was up there with him, and he said YOU GO AHEAD AND GO, so I did, and he jumped so quickly after me that I wasn't even above water yet. So I missed watching him jump! Hope someone has that on film
Friday Night: White Chili and cupcakes. Anna and Chase cooked. Enough Said. Also, too on Friday night, another favorite moment was the impromptu jam session after dinner. Jerry got his guitar out, and we just passed it around and played a bunch of different songs and sang all together. It was a serious Kumbaya moment, and I liked it. Especially when Carl chimed in with his deep Southern drawl, to Lightning Crashes.
Saturday: Departure. Of course, OF COURSE Emma picked the last night of our vacation to actually sleep through the night. Not that I'm complaining, but it figures:) So, we got to sleep in til 7:30, then we got up, packed up, said our goodbyes, and were on the road by 9:30. Unfortunately, Emma did not appreciate being in her car seat all day. If she wasn't asleep, she was pissed. And she didn.t sleep much. So, ya know.
Ok, a few other items.
Game time. I love Scattegories and Catchphrase. And we got to play both!! The lodge also had this sweet arcade game, and I totally destroyed Taylor in Mortal Kombat. Mike and I also had fun playing Photo Hunt. Good times were had eating, chilling in the hot tub, hanging out on any of the 6 decks, watching the sun set behind the mountains, holding my breath and trying not to puke while coming up the very very steep part of the gravel driveway, listening to Jerry and Chase have a pseudo-intellectual conversation (repeatedly throughout the week) about Ayn Rand, Having a fist fight with Chase over Catch Phrase (not really, but could you tell I was a little cranky by the end of the week?) watching Lydia be fearless over and over again, watching Emma playing with her cousins and get loved on by her aunts and uncles, sleeping in a king size bed, waking up to that beautiful sunrise, and spending time with my family.
In case you haven't noticed, my family is better than your family. In every way possible. I might be biased, but I really don't think I am. Well, maybe.
Um, I have to end with two quotes from Drew, because I could have peed my pants from laughing.
#1. I was having a relaxing soak in the hot tub while everyone else was eating dinner, because I was nursing a giant headache. Soon, Lydi came and was dipping her feet and we were talking quietly. Then Drew came in, and asked if I was trying to relax. I said yes, so he promised not to splash. A few minutes later Cam (5) came in the hot tub. As he got in, Drew said,
"Cameron, no splashing, ok! Aunt lyss is having her big girl time. Her very VERY big girl time!"
Hahaha, why yes, I am a very VERY big girl! Toooooooo funny.
# 2. Emma and I were sitting on the couch just before it was time to pack up and go on Saturday morning. Drew came and sat with us and was playing with Emma. He had set down his deodorant on the couch, and I said "Drew you might want to move that deodorant, or Emma will try to eat it!" And he replied,
"Yeah, I'm at that age now where I have to wear deodorant. You know, puberty. It sucks."
I can't really think of any better way to sum it up. Let's start with the worst...
The worst of times revolved around Emma. Because that poor, poor girl could NOT SLEEP. We were nervous going into it about how she'd sleep and it was evident from the get-go that she did not like being away from her own room and her own bed. Pack and play wasn't cutting it, and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't do enough to cover up the ginormous windows in our room to make it dark enough for her. So that was a bummer. She rarely napped, and when she did they were very short (30-40 minute range). At night time she was waking up at least twice a night, and on the bad nights she was up 4-5 times and just not being able to get back to sleep. And then she decided to get up for the day anywhere from 5:45 - 6:30 am. When she usually gets up between 7:30 and 8:30. So that was just brutal. She was also nursing 10-12 times in a 24 hour period, when she normally nurses 4-5 times, because that was the ONLY thing that would calm her down. All the sleeplessness and constant nursing sent me into a state of emotional breakdown. I was able to hide it pretty well (maybe??) until the end of the week, when I went into meltdown mode because I was pretty sure I was going to have to miss the girls day out, because I had nothing left in me, to leave a bottle behind for Mike. But, this is where the worst of times started to turn up, because my Mom and Mike convinced me that I should go on the girls day out anyway, and that Mike would go get some formula for Emma. And MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, she took it! We had tried several times before to get her to take formula, and she just absolutely refused, so I was just amazed and thankful that she took it on vacation. Also, while we were gone, Mike discovered that she had a new tooth. In fact, she got TWO new teeth. So, that explained a lot. I'm not sure if any other mothers feel this way, but just knowing WHAT was causing her freak outs made it a lot easier to cope. So, anyway, yeah, the worst of times was pretty much just the sleepless thing. I caught myself saying "Had I known, I just would have stayed home!" a number of times, but looking back, there's no way I would have missed this!
So, onto the best of times!
Saturday: Arrival at the Lodge. The place was freakin gorgeous! It was high up in the Smoky Mountains. So high, I am pretty sure many of us thought we weren't going to make it up the driveway. Especially the gravel part way up at the top. We got ourselves unloaded and just hung out with the fam as everyone drifted in.
Sunday: Another chill day. Mike and I missed the waterfall hike, because it just got started too late in the day, and Emma had barely slept, and we didn't want to get back toooooo late after her bedtime. So, we had some time to just chill at the lodge.
Monday: The Lazy River Tubing! Mike is not a fan of tubing, so he stayed back with Emma. Just about everybody else came tubing. It was fun! There was this sweet, sweet spot that had a rope swing. I did the swing once, but it was more fun watching others (Karl) take the plunge.
Tuesday: Free day, nothing planned. So Mike, Emma and I went to the Ripleys Aquarium of the Smokies. It was pretty sweet. There were TONS of sharks, and this cool underwater tunnel. I love aquariums, and if I can say it, on my list of favorites this one ranks JUST BEHIND the Maui Ocean Center.
Tuesday Night: Iron Chef: Kilgore. Secret Ingredients, Fruit and Cream. I made some stellar apple dumplings, topped with fresh whipped cream (which I totally bogard-ed from Sara). Kendra won with her real, southern Peach Cobbler, though. I am pretty sure that she could have made Brussel Sprout Cobbler and still won, because dang that syrup and crusty topping was just heaven in my mouth. Although I didn't win the overall competition, I did win eaters favorite:)
Wednesday: Dudes played golf in the morning. They all said it was brutal, so I'm glad I didn't go. I was playing around with the idea, but by Wednesday I just wanted to SLEEP. After the dudes got back, we went to The Sinks. It was this awesome swimming hole, with giant rocks to jump off of. It was seriously a blast!! When I get my waterproof camera finished and developed, I'll scan some pics and post them.
Thursday: Girls day out. Had my public emotional breakdown in the morning. Girls Day Out followed. We went into Gatlinburg to do some shopping. Found some sweet deals, bought Mike some Jalapeno Death Sauce, had a bangin' smoothie. Came home feeling much, MUCH better.
Thursday Night: Kilgore Karaoke Idol. It was the best. thing. ever. This might top my list of favorite events of the whole darn reunion. It was a treat to hear Taylor sing for seriously, because usually when we are singing we are being silly and goofy. But she sang LET IT BE by the Beatles, and totally rocked it. I sang HEAVEN by Bryan Adams. I was a lil frustrated because I didn't really know any of the songs that were available. You know how it goes, you know the chorus, but none of the verses... so I settled for this one (well, ok, Jerry said "just do this one, really you know it!" and he was right, I knew the chorus!!) and did just so-so. But I really didn't care because watching OTHERS do the karaoke was far better than doing it myself. Like, for instance, Anna's rendition of R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and WE BUILT THIS CITY. Birds version of SITTING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY and BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY. Dad sang ON THE ROAD AGAIN by Willie Nelson and mom did NEW YORK NEW YORK. Scott stole the show for a while with JOY TO THE WORLD, and then got censored doing SUPER FREAK, because hey, he's super freaky. (And 8 year old Lydia was in the room!!) Then Bird stole the show again with LOVE SHACK. It was just freakin' amazing. Anna managed to wipe away her tears long enough to do back up vocals, and the result was nothing short of perfect. So yeah, best night ever.
Friday: Free day. Most of the group went to Ober Gatlinburg, but with Emma we just decided to keep things low key. We went into Gatlinburg and did some more of the shops and had a nice sit down lunch, and just walked around with Emma in the Beco. Later, Mike and I went to the Sinks to join up with the rest of the crew who went straight from Ober Gatlinburg. Mom was kind enough to watch Emma for a while, and wouldn't you know it, she had an amazing 1.5 hour nap while we were gone!! Anyway, sinks were awesome. Mike did a sweet Cannon Ball, and I just jumped and jumped and jumped. It was so much fun just playing in the water, hanging out with Mike, Bird, Taylor, Tyler and Lydia (and everyone else, of course!). My brave little niece Gaby (6) had the guts to jump off the big cliff with us, and her lil brother Owen (3) jumped off a 5 foot cliff. Zach (6) jumped off a cliff about 8-10 feet high with his dad (my bro Scott). So the little ones were having a blast, too. The little ones who didn't jump had a nice shallow spot to play in the water and lick logs:) Oh, and right before we were leaving, Dad decided to jump in!! I was so ticked, because I was up there with him, and he said YOU GO AHEAD AND GO, so I did, and he jumped so quickly after me that I wasn't even above water yet. So I missed watching him jump! Hope someone has that on film
Friday Night: White Chili and cupcakes. Anna and Chase cooked. Enough Said. Also, too on Friday night, another favorite moment was the impromptu jam session after dinner. Jerry got his guitar out, and we just passed it around and played a bunch of different songs and sang all together. It was a serious Kumbaya moment, and I liked it. Especially when Carl chimed in with his deep Southern drawl, to Lightning Crashes.
Saturday: Departure. Of course, OF COURSE Emma picked the last night of our vacation to actually sleep through the night. Not that I'm complaining, but it figures:) So, we got to sleep in til 7:30, then we got up, packed up, said our goodbyes, and were on the road by 9:30. Unfortunately, Emma did not appreciate being in her car seat all day. If she wasn't asleep, she was pissed. And she didn.t sleep much. So, ya know.
Ok, a few other items.
Game time. I love Scattegories and Catchphrase. And we got to play both!! The lodge also had this sweet arcade game, and I totally destroyed Taylor in Mortal Kombat. Mike and I also had fun playing Photo Hunt. Good times were had eating, chilling in the hot tub, hanging out on any of the 6 decks, watching the sun set behind the mountains, holding my breath and trying not to puke while coming up the very very steep part of the gravel driveway, listening to Jerry and Chase have a pseudo-intellectual conversation (repeatedly throughout the week) about Ayn Rand, Having a fist fight with Chase over Catch Phrase (not really, but could you tell I was a little cranky by the end of the week?) watching Lydia be fearless over and over again, watching Emma playing with her cousins and get loved on by her aunts and uncles, sleeping in a king size bed, waking up to that beautiful sunrise, and spending time with my family.
In case you haven't noticed, my family is better than your family. In every way possible. I might be biased, but I really don't think I am. Well, maybe.
Um, I have to end with two quotes from Drew, because I could have peed my pants from laughing.
#1. I was having a relaxing soak in the hot tub while everyone else was eating dinner, because I was nursing a giant headache. Soon, Lydi came and was dipping her feet and we were talking quietly. Then Drew came in, and asked if I was trying to relax. I said yes, so he promised not to splash. A few minutes later Cam (5) came in the hot tub. As he got in, Drew said,
"Cameron, no splashing, ok! Aunt lyss is having her big girl time. Her very VERY big girl time!"
Hahaha, why yes, I am a very VERY big girl! Toooooooo funny.
# 2. Emma and I were sitting on the couch just before it was time to pack up and go on Saturday morning. Drew came and sat with us and was playing with Emma. He had set down his deodorant on the couch, and I said "Drew you might want to move that deodorant, or Emma will try to eat it!" And he replied,
"Yeah, I'm at that age now where I have to wear deodorant. You know, puberty. It sucks."
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