Wordless Wednesday - Spin

Uncle T is a very tall guy, which is what makes this game so much fun!

I can't be the ONLY one who thinks about these things. Can I?

Regardless of the fact that their pictures are EVERYwhere, there are some Disney princess movies I am okay with the kids watching (Cinderella), and some that I still don't want them to see (Sleeping Beauty). And if I haven't let the kids see it, chances are that Husband hasn't seen it either. Which is why we found ourselves on the couch watching Sleeping Beauty after the kids had gone to sleep.

I had forgotten how much I LOVED this movie. I love Medieval things anyhow, and the combination of the Medieval/Gothic drawing and the classical ballet music is just gorgeous!!

But that's not why I'm writing. I'm writing because of Prince Phillip. You see, he's the first prince that's slightly more useful than a strip of cardboard. Even Husband noticed when we first saw him in the movie. I mention this because the conversation that followed... well...

Husband: He talks? Do the old Disney princes really talk?
Me: I always liked Prince Phillip. He has all his Princely Parts.
Husband: Princely Parts? He's a cartoon.
Me: But, he's got character! He has personality! He actually does something to save the Princess & win her heart! (I was trying to avoid specifically mentioning slaying the dragon since we were nowhere near that part of the movie.)
Husband: Don't all princes?
Me: No! The Prince in Snow White didn't have to do anything but kiss her. He didn't even have to find her - the woodland creatures find him & drag him over to her bed. He's no better than a Ken doll.
Husband: A Ken doll?
Me: Yes - as in Barbie & Ken. You know. Ken dolls have no Princely Parts.
Husband: They don't?
Me: Of course not. He's just a pretty piece of plastic with the personality to match. And so was Snow White's Prince.
Husband: I can't believe you're ranking the Princes. Or this crazy system.
Me: It's really quite simple.
Husband: Well, what about Cinderella's Prince?
Me: Hmmm.... He's better than a Ken doll since he actually wanted to find her, but he loses points since he made the Grand Duke do all his work. Let's say he's... a Uni-baller.

Bug Logic

(Yes, the typos are on purpose. That's how he talks.)

Bug: Mommy, I want to nuggle. (crawls up into my lap)
Me: (happily snuggling my arms around him) You're my little baby Bug.
Bug: I not a bady! I not two years old! I three years old! I big boy!
Me: How do you know you're a big boy?
Bug: My feet! (sticking them out & showing me) They're very big. They don't touch the floor though.

Saturday Fun

The results surprised me too.

82 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

We Love Cows!!!

Two Fridays ago, two of our favorite places were giving away free food & drinks: 7-11 and Chick-fil-a. Naturally, the kids & I had to make the rounds!

7-11 was easy - all you had to do was go in and get your free 7.11 oz Slurpee (mmmm.... Slurpee). In order to get our free food from Chick-fil-a, however, we had to dress up as cows.



How do you like my tropi-spotted cows?! Funnily enough, the kids' costumes are from several different birthday parties. And yes, I admit that Bug's wearing puppy ears, but at least they were spotted. I think they count. As for Bird... she remembered how the cows dressed up like bunnies at Easter. There was no talking her out of those ears!!

And yes, we may have visited both places for lunch & dinner. Separate stores, of course!

Where Did the Time Go?

I realized a few things this morning:

* I haven't blogged in 2 weeks.
* Today begins my last official week of summer. (or is it tomorrow?)

So, for the few of you who are still out there.... I'm still here!! And while I did not necessarily plan this Blog-cation, I did enjoy it. One of my favorite things about summer is the opportunity to truly let my mind wander - almost free from any kind of obligation.

While I have done some (not enough) housekeeping & organizing (all sorts of stuff has been boxed & taken to thrift stores), I've also been reading as many books as I can get away with reading, logging in lots of Internet time, and playing with the kids. We've been able to see friends more often than normal, and that is always refreshing.

And as summer starts to wind down, I find myself wanting to establish regular habits again. Well, some regular habits. And part of that is writing here. Although I started this blog on a bit of a lark, I've surprisingly come to like it - quite a bit!

So, although posting will perhaps be sporadic in this last week, I will certainly be here more often!

Email of the Week

Thank you for joining the ***** Fan Club! You will be receiving your ***** coupon in roughly one week. In the meantime, stay posted for more ***** treats sent your way and enjoy the satisfaction of belonging to something tastier than yourself!

What I want to know is.... when did they find me to taste me? And how did they manage that without me noticing??!!

(oh, I fear the Google engine hits now!)

A Camera in Dangerous Hands....

On our recent adventures I let Bird use my old camera on occasion. Most of the time, it was when we were in the car & she needed a little something to do.

It's kind of odd what a 5-year-old finds interesting.

There were about 20 pictures of her shoes. This particular pair is a set of the silver gilttery shoes you find at Target. They were already well worn & split by the end of the trip.

Also note the lacy socks - we must always look our best!



A shop display in Colorado (Manitou Springs). I'm not sure what she was trying to focus on.



Bug.


One of the 100 or so pictures of me in the front seat. At least here I look thoughtful, like I'm trying to solve all the world's problems.


And, of course, Bird herself. I think this one is my favorite.

Not-So-Deep Thought

You know you've had to listen to Charlotte's Web a few too many times in the car when you start to wish that Charlottle had just gone ahead and written "Crunchy" or "Tasty" in her web instead.

What We Missed

As we hit the interstate leading to our house, I asked everybody what they'd missed the most on our trip:

Husband: My car. And orange juice.
Bird: My brown puppy. (oh, she was MAD that I hadn't packed that dog!)
Bug: My bed!!

What did I miss? My house's water filter. Yes, with the exception of Mississippi, the water was drinkable everywhere, but it didn't mean that it wasn't hard. (Although, Kansas? You were really good.) It made my hair IMPOSSIBLE to deal with!

Day 23: HOME

Sunday, June 29

Fast Facts
Starting: Florida
Ending: Florida (HOME!!)
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 298 mi /5378 mi

As we coasted towards home, I began mulling over all the things I'd learned on this trip:

* I always knew there was a McDonalds in every town. What I did not realize was that Pizza Hut has similar ambitions - they were everywhere!

* Cooking outside in major heat just plain stinks! We were really good about eating the food we'd packed for breakfast & lunch, but there were only a few places that we even wanted to cook dinner. So yes, we did eat at a few of those Pizza Huts.

Continuing in the cooking vein...
* Spaghetti with honey on it is actually pretty tasty.
* Since the kids are big milk drinkers & we did pack cereal, I thought dry milk was the way to go. Except, the kids wouldn't drink it. However, dry milk + Nesquik = 'chocolate milk', and they couldn't get enough!

Moving on...

* Surprisingly, for the first two weeks of the trip, it was rather chilly at night! We really didn't expect that - temperatures regularly fell as low as 50F (10C). It did make me sad that I had forgotten to pack my pajama pants!! (never, NEVER get distracted while packing your own suitcase!)

* We figured we'd run into quite a few people who were regular campers, and sure enough we did. What we hadn't expected was how many of them were heavy smokers! It just didn't seem to fit with the great outdoors.

* That whole debate between dry heat & wet heat? Pure, unadulterated trash. Yes, the West has a dry heat. It is no less hot than the humidity over here in the East. Over there, it feels like you've just walked into an oven. It's HOT.

* I really CAN drive in the mountains. I was terrified, and I slept really well those nights, but we survived!

* We did spend a lot of time in the car. And no, the kids were not perfect angels the entire time. However, one of the funniest 'games' we played did not even start that way.
Bug: Mommy, I want to get out!
Jaime: (having heard this far too many times in the last 5 minutes): Okay, get out!
Bug: (staring at the back of my seat like lobsters are crawling out of my ears
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Repeat whenever the road gets rough. He & Bird would even say it to each other.

In the end, I'm glad we took this trip. We saw all kinds of new things, met some old friends and have a bazillion pictures to remind us of it all when we're old & senile.

Day 22: Crossing Into Florida

Saturday, June 28

Fast Facts
Starting: Mississippi
Ending: Florida
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 254 mi (408 km)/5080 mi (8175 km)

WHOOP WHOOP! We really passed the 5000 mile mark today!! (I fixed yesterday's entry. Apparently this trip is getting to me - I can't even read a simple calendar anymore!)

And let me tell you, THIS was a happy occasion!



Since this was to be our last night away from home, Husband & I had pondered the idea of just getting a hotel room instead of camping. It would be nice, we said, to be able to get some of that "trip dirt" off ahead of time - not to mention sleep in real beds with real air conditioning.

But in the end, we're cheap and had already had a few unexpected expenses, so we decided to just stay camping.

We stayed at a place just west of Tallahassee, and kind of regretted it. It was nice enough, but it kind of felt like the place was conspiring against us.

- ALL the roads were dirt. Which meant you were tracking it everywhere.

- the folks to the right were heavy chain smokers (blech!)

- the folks to the left had loud yapper dogs, who were not always leashed
(here I am, stuck in the middle with you!)

- this was one of the few places that was not spraying for bugs

- then, there were the FOUR kittens. I have no idea how the kittens came to be at this camp, but they lived there and the owners were feeding them. no collars (so probably no shots either), and they went where they pleased.

And where they pleased was our site. Making meals very amusing - and not in a funny way. I can't tell you how many times I threw that blasted cat off our table. (and yes, by the end I was throwing the cat. Not like anybody was claiming the stupid thing.) Fortunately, I'd made the kids plenty wary of the things & they wouldn't touch them. But still.... blah....

Strangely enough, the AC did work at this place.

Day 21: Fun in Mississippi

Friday, June 27
(Happy Birthday, the Sister!)

Fast Facts
Starting: Louisiana
Ending: Mississippi
Today's Mileage/Total Mileage: 225 mi (362 km)/4826 mi (7766 km)

WHOOP WHOOP - we've returned to the East!! We celebrated by going through Baton Rouge & crossing over the Mississippi River again, putting us officially back on the Eastern Seaboard (more or less!).

The end of our driving today found us in Mississippi - hot & sticky. Campground was nice enough, and had probably one of the nicest swimming pools we'd seen on the entire trip - a third of it was only 2 feet deep, so the kids could run around all they wanted without hanging off of Husband like sea monkeys.

The only icky part about the place was that the water was undrinkable. Okay, THEY said it was perfectly fine, but when I fill a gallon jug and it has a brownish tint.... NOPE!! (Wal-Mart, here we come!!)

Perhaps the nicest surprise occured as we were putting the kids in bed. The campground backup up against a BBQ "restaurant" - I use that term loosely because all I saw was a huge smoker & lots of tables. That night, however, they had live music. Kind of unusual - bluesy/oldies/classic rock all blended together. But it was loud, and we could sit on our porch & listen as we waited for the kids to fall asleep.