Mar 30, 2010 | Florida, Travel, United States
We are back to reality.
Durn it.
It was a great week!
The next morning we got up to this…
View from our bedroom
Walkway over the dunes to the beach
We saw a lot of this
And this
Ate some great gulf shrimp
Creole Shrimp over grits at “The Hut” in Eastpoint
Went fishing- didn’t catch anything but saw lots of dolphins!
There was virtually no cell phone service which was great because hubby couldn’t work (well, he snuck in some computer time but it was not much so I won’t complain.)
On the way home we stopped at the U.S.S. Alabama in Mobile to let the kids run a bit. They had a great time looking at the ship and lots of cool airplanes. Ate lunch at
Felix’s Fish Camp, and it was great.
Now to lose the five pounds I gained…
Feb 28, 2010 | Tennessee, Travel, United States
Friday I went with my daughter’s school to Memphis .
(What used to be STAX recording studios where so many recording stars got their starts.)
It was well worth the trip just to see this. Fantastic museum with something for everyone.
The kids ate lunch there while we took off for the
Pink Palace museum. The boys really wanted to do the Children’s Museum (which is awesome too) but they are no longer in the
ASTC and I couldn’t justify paying $50 for the less than an hour we had to play.
(If you don’t know about the benefits I highly recommend it. If you join one museum in the system you get into museums all around the world FREE! For a family it really adds up. We manage to work in at least one every trip we take and it saves us from $50-$100 a visit.)
They had a great exhibit on the history of chocolate which made us all very hungry!
The Parke’s Circus model
This was a powerful museum. Very emotional.
It’s amazing that so much happened in our nation, not so long ago.
The teacher that organized the trip played Dr. King’s last speech at the end of the tour and had the kids sit outside (where MLK was shot) to listen.
I can’t get over how intuitive this speech was.
Dr. King
“And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jan 18, 2010 | Missouri, Travel, Uncategorized, United States
We decided Friday to make a run for the border. (Missouri border that is,) so we headed up to Branson. We hadn’t been there in years and thought we’d give it another chance. I found a free room at this place everyone said was great with kids The Castle Rock Resort and Hotel.
The hotel has an actual waterpark with 2 large slides, large kiddie pool, lazy river, and two other pools indoors. Now, I have to admit the beds were so horrible we didn’t sleep a wink, but there was an alcove for the boys with bunkbeds and their own TV which they loved (we don’t do cable etc. at home so they don’t watch TV normally.) The upswing was the waterpark part is all part of your room fees, and we did get the room free thanks to AMEX points! (EVEN BETTER!)
Half of the waterpark
Loving the Lazy River
They loved it.
After they played a bit we drove around looking for things that were open (it’s the off-season in Branson so not much was open.) We toured the Butterfly Palace. A bit expensive for my tastes- I’d been in better butterfly habitats that weren’t so pricey.
Butterfly Bar
Then we found a new open-air mall down on the river called Branson Landing where the Bass Pro Shop was. We ate at an awful restaurant somehow connected with Bass Pro called The Fish House (I think.) Yuck. Downtown Branson has really changed since we were there about 4 years ago to ride Thomas the Tank Engine!
Got back to the hotel and the boys went to swim for another three hours or so in the waterpark while Emily and I went to the room and vegetated. (The chlorine in the pool was so strong it was making us sick.)
This morning we woke up and hit the town.
Today we got up and hit the town.
First, we toured the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum. (Complete with shrunken heads and world’s largest ball of twine!)
World’s Largest Ball of Twine! (really, aren’t you impressed?)
Next, we did the Titanic Museum. Yes, pretty depressing, but the kids seemed to like touching the cold water and “iceberg.” Very interesting to say the least.
Then we headed back to Branson Landing to some place the kids really wanted to go, Ridemakerz, where they build their own car (think Build-A-Bear for boys.) I normally don’t fall for that corporate junk but the kids are really happy with their dumb cars.
All in all it was a fun, cheesy trip, but I think I’ve had enough of Branson for another ten years or so.
Nov 30, 2009 | Arkansas, Travel, Uncategorized, United States
Red Rock Mountain (view from the field by the cabin!)
We went to the hills this Thanksgiving. Really.
We decided to get out of Dodge and stayed in a beautiful log cabin at the Red Rock Retreat.
Just what you need when you have a family addicted to technology and a husband who usually works all vacation! 🙂
We thought we’d be roughing it, but they even had a blender, movie library, marshmallow sticks, books, games, pretty much everything you would want or need.
There were lovely trails. One to a waterfall, one to a fossil hill where the kids found fossils of prehistoric leaves and bones. They hiked to the waterfall while I cooked our turkey dinner.
Field by the cabin,
complete with cows!
Another beautiful view
At night you could hear the elk calling. Spooky sound!
It was so peaceful up there we started thinking about how nice it would be to live in a little cabin like that.
My dream job has always been to run a bed and breakfast somewhere…
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
Nov 5, 2009 | Louisiana, Travel, Uncategorized, United States
I experienced my first NFL game on Monday night.
I admit, I’m not a sports fan. By that I mean that I don’t like to watch sports on TV or follow in team in particular. I think of it sort of like a Roman gladiator fight.
My mind might have been changed though. The energy in the arena was amazing and the people were great. Live games are so much fun!
I really hope the Saints make it to Superbowl!
When the Saints Came Marching In
Who Dat Say They Gonna Be Dem Saints?
Some great people from Alabama sitting behind us
(The husband was from New Orleans and his mom in law was threatening to make him sit in the trunk on the way home!)
I hadn’t been to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit them. I guess it had been 6 yrs or so for me. I was expecting the worst from what I’ve heard.
I’ve got to tell you it was wonderful. The people of N.O. are fantastic, friendly, originals!
Now to talk about what I love- FOOD!
Scott had a meeting so I walked the quarter with his co-worker’s wife. We had beignets and coffee from Cafe Du Monde for breakfast. YUM!
We had lunch at Mother’s Restaurant. We LOVE that place. He had a Ferdie special and raved about it. I had a bowl of seafood gumbo. Next trip I’m trying the shrimp creole.
Now for the pièce de résistance:
Orleans Grapevine was phenomenal! Scott and I both are pretty particular and this was absolutely amazing. Can’t think of anything not nice to say about it. If you are in the area you HAVE to try it. Lovely!
Oct 6, 2009 | Florida, Travel, Uncategorized, United States
We’re back! Disney was fun. This fall break the kids have is going to be nice. Great deals on vacations, good weather, small crowds! Now for some shameless pics of my kids…
(All taken with my phone so forgive the bad quality.)
We happened to be there during the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, Oktoberfest, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and German Reunification Day which was fun too. (We didn’t make it to the Halloween Party for 2 reasons-
1) It would have been $420 more for us to go.
2) The kids can’t eat any food coloring so candy would have been a problem!
We had loads of fun anyway, and on the last day we went to the parks it was a special fireworks show which was the best I’ve EVER seen. Also Magic Kingdom was open until 1am that night and we actually stayed all day which ended up being really neat. The kids were great, except for maybe two small incidents- not the easiest thing for a severely hypoglycemic kid with sensory issues going into a crowded park- but he only had one melt down. The youngest had his on the plane which lasted a good ten minutes. The worst thing was that we were the ONLY family with kids on that flight! Talk about business people praying they weren’t sitting next to us! He crashed and slept the rest of the way which was good for all.
I am now trying to wade through the laundry. Tonight Emily and I go see “Mamma Mia!” which I’m really looking forward to also!
