more from me - 4.8.2020

 

Wednesday, April 8^th, 2020

So I’ve done a pretty bad job of writing about our quarantine!  I want to, I really do.  But I think it also overwhelms me to think about.  My mind is on overload, and I’m never really sure where to begin or what to say, so I guess I just type nothing.  I’m not sure if I should type details or thoughts or world events, what sort of genre am I going for.  Heartfelt or facts?  Bullet points or long, wayward paragraphs?  But I need to just start, so here goes.

We’re making it, I suppose.  Obviously, I mean we don’t have a choice, right?!  Hehe.  We’re in week four of being home.  Three full weeks of homeschooling, DLD, crisis schooling, whatever you want to call it.  This week is spring break.  And honestly, I like it so much better.  I suppose the routine of school is good, and esp so for Ryan and perhaps even Abby.  School is harder on Chloe, and thus on me too.  I don’t really want to go down that tangent right now, but I am really happy to not have a schedule and to-do lists and lots of calls and assignments.  We’ve enjoyed less structure and sleeping in and I’ve been doing a morning video devotional with Revolution Church.  We’ve done a TON of bike riding.  And more Xbox/ Fort Nite then I’d care to admit.  The only perk of the video games is that the kids talk to each other and have facetime phones going, so they are still keeping in touch.  A lot of times the games are with his Bennington friends [Kaden, Will, Ryan, Sawyer, Cooper], but I do LOVE the occasional game with his bestest school buddy Tripp.  He’s a super sweet kid that obviously we haven’t seen in almost a month.  We’re pretty much self-quarantined at this point.  Nobody’s been inside our house since I don’t even know when.  The last day of school was Friday March 13^th [remember when the memes were going around about the time change, a full moon, and Friday the 13^th?!  Ha, that pales in comparison to how that week actually went down].  But anyways, I know by Thursday the 12^th I was worried about a cough that Chloe had, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the weekend before that we last had anyone in our house.  And in the past two weeks or so, basketball, playing in yards, anything with “contact” has been cut out.  Our kids ride bikes with their friends and we say hi when we’re all outside and we’ll talk across the street, but that’s about it.  For a long time, the silver lining for me was how much everyone is outside.  I love seeing kids playing and so so many bike riders and dog walkers and people working in their yards.  But I don’t know.  It’s also hard knowing we can’t actually be with them.  Chloe and Mari had a great afternoon playing together a few days back – chalk and water guns and all sorts of fun.  But it really goes against the quarantine, so probably won’t have many more days like that.  Mari has become an awesome bike rider, she finally made up her mind to ditch her training wheels.  She joins us on our bike rides a lot.  I love how much she and Chloe try to be together.

I’ve been trying to compile things for an eventual scrapbook/ Shutterfly project.  I’ve mostly got funny, stupid memes.  They help me get through I guess.  Distraction, comedy, you know.  But honestly what I’m trying the most to focus on is treating this time as a sabbath.  I’m not sure what to think or what to believe about what’s actually going on.  Everything is so overwhelming and complicated and political and extreme.  Honestly, I tend to sit back and wonder how we got here.  And I tend to side with those that think perhaps we’ve taken it too far.  I hate the thought of losing our basic freedoms and what makes us American.  But I also have to respect our leaders and do my part and I hate the thought of people getting sick and being alone in ICUs and not having the medical equipment and professionals they need.  I have no idea what the answer is or what’s right or wrong.  And I’m not really sure anyone does.  I don’t like to live in fear, it’s not my natural reaction, and I’m honestly not even scared of the virus.  But I feel like I can’t say that out loud, because everyone else is afraid.  So I’m just trying to focus on my little family and how we can make the best of this.  I’ve been going out on Fridays for Kroger and Chick-fil-a.  It’s not that I’m afraid to go out more, but I guess I just feel like it’s not necessary.  I have to do my part and all.  But I think it’s bigger then that too.  I believe that God has given us this time [or maybe not actively given it to us, but is using it] to slow down and reflect and refocus.  Like a fast or a sabbath.  My greatest fear is missing out on something that God wants to show me/us.  So I feel like going out more would be more along the lines of breaking a fast then breaking the new social norms.  I’m not sure if that makes sense.  I want to be changed, I want to learn from this, I want to reprioritize and figure out who I really am, what’s really most important to me and in my life.  What am I missing the most?  What do I not want to go back to?  So even though I’m not sure I believe in the extreme measures of this quarantine, I do believe that God wants me to use this time for good.  To glorify him.  To draw closer to him.  To my family.  So I’m onboard with all of it, but not exactly for the reasons that society and our government says I should be. 

I haven’t had a glass of wine since Saturday night.  And yes, I had to think about that.  Esp now that we are on spring break, I am completely losing track of the day and date.  This is the first year in forever that I haven’t had a page-a-day calendar on the kitchen counter.  I barely wear my watch anymore.  I put my beloved weekly calendar away in a drawer after writing “no school – covid19” across the top of the rest of April and May.  No school events or sports to keep up with.  I have been using the alarm on my phone more then ever.  Daily reminders for school conference calls, Ryan has Wednesday night zooms with his small group and then RevStudents, reminders for friends and neighbors’ birthdays.  Little things are big things now when there aren’t a lot of things.  My family doesn’t really understand, but I hung up Christmas lights in the playroom/loft.  I love their warmth while we watch the kids play Fort Nite in the evenings.  I hung our American flag in the garage window.  Oh, so back to the wine though.  I was drinking way too much of it.  Yes, it showed on the scale, but more to do with I was drinking it for the wrong reasons – although I guess that’s why a lot of us drink anyways, isn’t it?  I felt like it was an escape and I wasn’t in control.  Not that I was drunk by any means, but more of just I need to put my faith in God instead of looking forward to my evening glass of wine.  He has given us a spirit of self-control, not of fear.  So I need to trust Him more, not drink more.  Although I still do eat way too many cookies.

It’s almost lunch time.  The kids have played more xbox then normal today.  Honestly today has been harder than most.  I have had no motivation today.  But I was super productive and happy the last two days, it’s a balancing act these days, I can’t imagine I’m the only one who feels bi-polar given the current world we live in.  I miss things today.  I miss that Chloe and Mari were becoming really good friends, and we’ve had to remind ourselves to step back and socially distance.  I miss watching Abby play soccer and Ryan play basketball.  The last pictures on my phone before quarantine pictures were from the Atlanta United game on March 7^th.  The home opener, a win!  In so many ways that feels like a million years ago.  I remember that we told the kids [both there and on the cruise] to pretend the stair railings had the flu and try not to touch too much, but honestly I wasn’t anymore worried then any other outing.  I miss seeing people and I’d love to have another lunch with Brooke at Your Pie.  I miss going places.  I just want to get in the car and drive.  Like really drive.  Pack up the family, and probably even Maya, and head west.  The places I keep going back to in my head are Zion National Park, Garden of the Gods, Santa Fe and green chili and playing in the arroyos of El Dorado.  Sitting on that adobe wall in our rental house on Azul.  Just being away from it all in the middle of the big huge space.  Ironic that in the midst of social isolating, some of the things I miss the most are being away from it all.  Going off the grid, taking a big deep breath, forgetting about the problems of the world.  Coleson misses the beach and is hoping for a trip to Kiawah Island.  I sure could go for a lunch at Pompano Joe’s.  And pizza.  Oh I am craving a pizza.  A real pizza, not the frozen ones.  I go back and forth between our pizza place – which I like because it’s ours – and a big fat deep dish pizza.  Our pizza place is thin crust, but it’s so good and comforting and has great coke and yummy Greek salad.  Definitely miss the familiarity and comfort of being there, but I think deep dish is what I’m really craving food-wise.  I think I want to get out more, do more.  Explore more, try more things.  Hattie B’s Nashville hot.  I don’t think it ever crossed my mind to drive to Atlanta just for lunch, but at this point, I’m thinking planning a day around something as epic as hot chicken sounds like a great adventure. 

I am guilty of being comfortable.  I know this.  I’ve said it a million times.  I have to figure out how to shake that up.  How to live more, how to get out of the rut [once there’s a rut to get back into].  So many times in life I feel like I am treading water, barely keeping afloat, and missing out.  There’s so much world out there.  So much more to this life.  I’ve always known it and I feel it now.  I don’t know exactly what that looks like.  I know it starts with being less anxious, giving up control.  I’m not a worrier, but I also don’t always know how to let go and enjoy.  Life tends to overwhelm me, I get frantic and panicky a lot.  And I don’t want to live like that.  I don’t want to feel guilty about typing for the last hour instead of doing breakfast dishes or emptying the dryer.  Guilty perhaps is an accurate word.  I think I feel bad when I slow down.  There’s always something to do, something I need to do.  And it’s probably made harder by the fact that I’m a stay at home mom who’s kids are all in school now.  I feel guilty.  Coleson works so hard.  So I feel guilty if I slow down or take time for myself.  Even today, just doing the crossword puzzle and typing this.  I’m not productive and I’m starting to feel like I need to finish this up, so I can move on to something more “important.”  How to slow down and enjoy life without feeling bad or guilty about it?!  Perhaps I’m typing my way through a self-help therapy session.  Not sure this is the direction I thought I’d go, or meant to go, when I started typing.  Not sure this is content for a Shutterfly time capsule book to display on our bookshelves for the world [or at least family and friends and visitors] to see and read.  Alright, so lunch time it is.  Kids are appearing in the kitchen and claiming they’re starving.  And honestly I’m pretty hungry too.  Perhaps next time I’ll write something suitable for a memory book, but this was good writing too :)  Peace out for now!

               

my writings from March

 

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Where or where to start?!?  Coronavirus, COVID19, quarantine.  I feel like we are living history right now.  And we, as a family, thought it’d be fun and interesting to document, journal, write down our thoughts.  Perhaps someday our kids and grandkids will be reading this as they study the world wide crisis, craziness that was the year 2020.  I’ve asked Ryan, Abby, and Chloe to write down their thoughts too.  I’d like to combine it all into some sort of Shutterfly book for us to look back on in time. 

I guess I should start with how we got here?  We went on a cruise for our February break.  Shortly before that, we first heard of the corona virus.  At the time, I didn’t even know what it was, and there were a few jokes about hoping we make it back.  But it felt sort of like when you go to Mexico and you tell people not to drink the water.  Our cruise was great!  No issues at all.  Now Chloe and I both did get a little sick the very first night back on land.  We thought it was just getting our land legs back; Coleson and I both were wobbly and woozy and the world kept rocking.  But by the time we went to bed, my throat was pretty sore.  Chloe woke up in the night crying about her throat as well.  Hers was better the next day, but I kept the winter time yuck feeling [cough, sinus, a swollen lymphoid in my neck, but only the occasional sore throat, never a fever].  Was it corona?  Honestly, I doubt it, but we’ll never know for sure I suppose.  I do remember telling Coleson and a few others that there was no way I’d go to a doctor right about now anyways – how am I going to explain that I just got home from a cruise and I don’t feel good?!  Those early days of the virus, back in February, it was like the plaque or something.  The cases were coming in very slowly and thus they were each making news individually.  I’m still not sure how privacy and HIPPA laws weren’t violated, but the last thing I would have wanted was the news reporting that I had the case and painting a scarlet letter on my door!       

 

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Well, I didn’t make it very far on yesterday’s writing!  The kiddos are doing Digital Learning Days.  And they’re not kidding!  The teachers are keeping them busy, which all-in-all I think I’m grateful for.  But some days are pretty rough.  And they can’t do the assignments well on ipads and tablets, so that leaves somebody needing my laptop.  I had these quaint little visions going into this of our morning routine- kiddos doing school work, me being able to keep up on bill paying, budgeting, emails, extras like this journal typing.  But alas, our days don’t look like that.  Tears [yes, tears], meltdowns, not-so-great-grades.  But we’re adjusting and we’re getting there.  Ryan is doing awesome!!  I am so thankful right now for his self-motivated, type A, get it done, first-born, crazy smart self.  He’s all set up in his room and he gets it done and he gets straight As still.  Downstairs, the girls and I are having to work together – they need a lot of assistance.  And yesterday we had to have a talk about showing Mommy everything before you hit the blue submit button.  Case in point – our Abby has the smarts, but doesn’t always slow down and have patience, so she got a 50 on math grade.  But when I re-did it with her, on paper, she absolutely knew all the stuff.  I felt so bad for her [the 50 prompted her tears and it was all I could do not to cry with her].  But we’re all learning, we’re all adjusting – teachers too – and we’re getting there and we’re figuring it out.  I am so proud of my kids, their teachers, our schools, our community for the resilience they’ve shown.  We jumped right on into this!  They’ve done one or two assignments here and there as homework digital learning assignments, and ironically I suppose, they were supposed to be out of school this coming Tuesday, the 24^th, for the primary elections and a test run of the Digital Learning Days [DLD].  Cherokee county has been working on this platform for two years now – since they missed eight or ten days or something like that for snow.  They ended up taking away our February break that year [although I’d guess about half the kids still skipped, I know we skipped out on two days for already made plans].  But anyways, all that to say, we’ll adjust and we’ll get a new normal, but until then I don’t know that I’ll be able to write as much as I’d like in between being teacher and sharing my laptop with my students :)

And speaking of students, down they are for breakfast … 8:05am.  Chloe starts her school days with live chats with Mrs. Shakespeare at 9am which I love!!!  She has been so awesome about keeping in touch and doing interactive activities with her students.  I knew she was great, but she’s totally showing it during this week of turmoil.

Hopefully more later today …

 

Monday, March 23, 2020

Finding time and energy to type is harder then I thought it would be.  We’ve ordered a third Chromebook, but it won’t be here for another week or so.  Perhaps that will help.  Then each kiddo will have a dedicated Chromebook, and I’ll have my laptop back :)

I don’t even know where to begin!  It’s like a dream.  It is soooo crazy.  I can’t even fathom how we got where we are in the world.  We’re not on total lockdown yet, but heading that way perhaps.  With the exception of a hike the first day, the kids haven’t gone out since they got home from school Friday ten days ago.  They are still playing in the neighborhood, but I’m not sure if that’s okay or how long it will last.  I know some neighbors are upset that they are still getting together and aren’t self- quarantined.  At this point, Coleson and I figure that since it’s the same few kids and they aren’t going anywhere or interacting with other kids from the “outside” that it’s probably not an issue.  There shouldn’t be new germs or risks at this point, right?  But no one really knows or understands, so a lot of the kids aren’t allowed to play.  We’ve changed the rules quite a bit of course – no one is allowed in anyone else’s house, period.  If you need a bathroom break or glass of water, you go home.  No knocking on other people’s doors; if they’re outside in the driveway, you can ask to play.  Although we have been telling the kids, as we know about them, the families that are self-quarantined so they know not to ask them.  Really, it’s only the Esterlings and Mahers that my kids are still playing with.  And recently we’ve added Maddux to our mix.  This has been great for Abby.  Ryan has all the boys of course, and Chloe has Mari.  But Abby doesn’t really have anyone local.  She did get to facetime with Taylor on Saturday though, yay!  Maddux has been so sweet.  He and Abby played ALL day long yesterday.  Even the kids that can’t play, can usually bike ride.  Safer distance, not touching the same basketball, that sort of thing.  We had some awesome bike parades going on yesterday.  We will have the best bike-riding, soccer-ball-juggling, basketball-playing kids ever when this is over.  Silver linings!!  Abby and Maddux played soccer in our driveway together, basketball in Maddux’s driveway, and even down by the creek that goes along his backyard.  I love dirty kids!!  [well dirt dirt, not germ dirt!].  At the end of the day, everybody has to strip down, put their clothes straight into the washer, and head for the showers. 

Last night, we had Las Palmas!!  The two big “themes” if you will have been – stay home and support local.  I’m not sure which it is.  They kinda go against each other.  As I mentioned above, the kids don’t go out, no need for that.  I’ve been out twice now and Coleson once.  Same thing – sanitizer baths, handwashing, shirt changing.  On Friday I went to Kroger and grabbed as much as I could.  We’re definitely missing fresh fruits.  I did buy extra though and froze grapes and bananas.  After Kroger, I drove through Dunkin’ Donuts and Chickfila.  The dining rooms aren’t open, but drive-thrus are.  Restaurants without drive-thrus, like Your Pie and Catch 22, have started doing order-ahead with curbside service.  Yesterday I went out specifically to pick up our Las Palmas order; it was soooo good!  Support local!!  I can’t even think about the possibility of Las Palmas not surviving these times of economic chaos :) We love that place.  We’ve celebrated so many milestones and birthdays and victories there over the 13 plus years we’ve lived in Canton. 

Covid

Tuesday, 9.15.2020

So, the world has been in a wee bit of turmoil for the past six months.  Coronavirus, covid19, quarantine.  The world totally up-ended in mid-March with very little warning.  The kids' last day of school was March 13th and slowly the weeks off added up until school was eventually cancelled for the remainder of the year.  Sure they did digital learning, but I'll be honest, it was pretty painful and I'm not sure how much they actually learned.  And thankfully that fully finished on May 8th, a few weeks earlier then the traditional school year would have.  The second half of March and all of April were pretty much in lock-down.  In May, we slowly starting re-emerging.  By maybe mid-June, we were pretty comfortable going back to stores, and the kids were doing summer sports practices.  And our county gained national attention [I'm not kidding] when we started back face-to-face in person school on August 1st.  Parents were given options, and about 25% went virtual.  We chose in-school and as of mid-September, we have zero regrets.  Macedonia is still at zero reported cases [!!!], and Creekland - Ryan's middle school - has only had a handful of cases, but none near him.  Instead of closing whole schools, they are only quarantining kids that were in close contact.  There are seating charts for everything - classes, lunch, buses, etc - to aid in the contact tracing.  

Oh, and Coleson has been working from home this entire time too!  It's really been nice actually :)  We were able to work-from-home from other homes over the summer.  It was nice to get out and travel a bit, but not use a ton of vacation.  He worked from Augusta for a few days while we explored the city.  That was a really nice few days, a change of scenery and visiting somewhere we'd never been before.  He's worked from home from Tampa.  He's worked from home from the car while I've driven places.  And he's always here, so I can run out anytime I need to.  He's here for the girls' bus at 2:30 if I'm not back.  And perhaps the best is that he's here for the evening sports.  I don't think there's any way we could do what we're doing this fall if he was in the office and had a commute.  This sport season might just be the busiest one yet, but it doesn't feel that way.  I think a huge part of it is that Coleson is here all day, so we can eat lunch together and sometimes sneak out on a dog walk.  It's not like before when I wouldn't see him until 8:00 at night.  We can have snacky dinners together at 4:30 [eekk!] before we head off our various ways for practices.  Busy and yet low stress, pretty nice.

Anyways, during the early days of quarantine, I tried real hard to write about what was going on in our lives and in the world, and I tried really hard to get the kids to write stuff too.  It didn't work quite as well as I envisioned.  And honestly, I thought it would be a short-term thing, and it'd all fit nicely in a shutterfly book that they could share with their kids one day to say, look, we were living history.  But this whole chaos is still going on.  I don't think there's going to be a nice, clean end date that would allow me to make a cute, little book.  Honestly, the country has gotten pretty ugly, and I'm not sure when or if we'll ever go back to "normal" again.  The country is very, very divided right now on so many, many issues.  There's so much confusion, anger, miscommunication.  Social media - and media too - is so opinionated, and no one knows what to believe anymore [or at least I don't!].  Do we quarantine?  Do we go out and build herd immunity?  Do we wear masks or do they not really do any good?  Nobody seems to truly understand the virus and how it spreads.  But everyone sure thinks they do.  And then there's political issues, and the economic fallout of the world shutting down, and black lives matter, and back the blue, and coin shortages, and the election in a couple of months.  There's rioting and violence, and I'm not sure when or if we'll be comfortable walking the mile to and from Atlanta United games again - of course, there's no fans attending any sporting events for the foreseeable future anyways.  It feels like so much has returned and reopened, and yet I struggle with feeling like it's the things that make us human that are still being kept from us.  Churches, concerts, sports.  Hugs, handshakes.  And of course not everyone is like that, but the ones that are just kinda ruin your day.  When you automatically go to shake someone's hand and they look at you like you've got the plague.  People everywhere in masks - it's really hard to see smiles and facial expressions, and I feel like most people just walk around with their heads down.  I miss making eye contact and smiling and seeing friends in the stores.  

Okay, anyways, I digress again.  The original intent of this post was to be an introduction of sorts.  I have writings and pictures and power points and emails and I don't even know what saved in lots of different places that the kids and I worked on, mostly in March and April.  I need someway to organize them effectively and in one spot.  So this is my introduction to what I imagine will be quite a few, totally random, out of order posts from six months ago.  This just seems like the best place to store everything safely.  And perhaps one day I will decide to organize it all into some sort of book, and this will hopefully make that a whole lot easier if and when that day ever comes.    

Carnival Elation! February Break 2020

Friday 2.14.2020 – Abby’s final basketball game of the season, so we didn’t leave until Saturday morning

Saturday 2.15 – Driving day!  Last minute packing [although the kids and I had done a lot on Friday] and showering and whatnot.  Left a few mins after 10.  Lunch at a Chick-fil-a somewhere south of Atlanta.  Easy drive, no traffic trouble, made it to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Land O Lakes by 5:30 or so.  Yummy meatloaf dinner and the NBA three point and slam dunk contests on in the background.

Sunday – in LOL – big breakfast, running, golf-carting, biking for Ryan, etc.  Cleaned up and headed to Tampa to see Laura and family [grandma and grandpa had plans].  Lots of fun playing with cousins and Aunt Lolly made a really yummy lamb gyro dinner followed by fried oreos!  Nice visiting with them!

Monday morning – we left from LOL for the east coast!  I-4 traffic is never fun, esp near Disney, but we made it.  I braided the girls’ hair while Coleson drove.  We ate lunch at Subway in Cape Canaveral, followed by a few minutes at Manatee Park on the river.  Love the east coast – felt like home :) water, palm trees, beautiful weather.  Then it was time to head to the boat!!!  We parked and had a great view of the ship out the parking garage.  It was easier than I thought to get everyone on board [birth certificates for the kids and I, but easy peasy].  And apparently since we booked a suite, we’re VIPs, so we got to go in the short line.  We got to our awesome room at 1:30.  Carnival is probably a little lower on the totem pole, if you know what I mean, but we were able to get our junior suite with a balcony for less then an interior on other cruise lines.  And our room was worth it!  We explored the boat and stood up top to watch our departure from Port Canaveral.  All you can eat ice cream!!  Putt putt.  We dressed up for dinner in the dining room.  It was open seating, but we requested Rico every time, he was great.  We came back to our room to our first towel animal – a duck.  Our room stewardess was Nia and she was wonderful and I was amazed that she always remembered our names [well, except for the more-often-then-not mix up for Abby and Chloe, but hey we all do it from time to time, hehe]

Tuesday – 2.18 – fun day at sea.  Yummy breakfast – all you can eat everything was fun.  We went to a Dr Seuss parade, but it was only so-so, so we broke away from that.  The kids put on bathing suits, and they did a couple of the smaller slides.  Ryan and Abby made it about halfway up the spiral staircase for the tall one before turning around.  They love water slides [Great Wolf Lodge three months ago!], but they said it was crazy windy.  And cold.  We didn’t last long before cleaning up and putting on dry clothes.  80* is great until you are trying to swim in an unheated pool with insanely high winds!  We walked the boat some more, ventured into gift shops, rode the glass elevators, ate food.  This was the only evening we didn’t eat in the dining room – it was formal night and that just didn’t happen for us.  Packing those types of clothes and accessories for five people to wear one night just didn’t seem worth it.  We ate pizza instead!  And Coleson and I took turns in the fitness center.  I was really bummed there wasn’t a running track around the top of the boat, and we were all bummed there was no basketball court.  We watched two PG rated comedians – well Coleson and Chloe only watched the first one before she went back for bed. 

Wednesday – the Dominican Republic!  This was nice because we didn’t arrive until 11am, so we were able to leisurely get up and eat breakfast and watch our arrival from the top decks.  The Dominican Republic is beautiful!!!!  So gorgeous as we arrived – mountains and tropical rainforest and pretty beaches and even those new fancy windmills that make you think you are in Oklahoma.  The mountains do apparently make frequent rain showers and we experienced one as we ran off the boat.  But it didn’t last more than maybe ten mins.  We went straight to our Monkey Land tour.  Our guides were great, everyone we came across was really nice.  Monkey Land was amazing.  Poor Abby worked herself up and was pretty scared of the monkeys, but the rest of us loved every minute of it.  There were about thirty of us in our group and we sat along a bench inside the monkey park.  The guides gave us fruit dishes for the monkeys to come eat out of.  And then they put sunflower seeds [a yummy treat!] on our shoulders, in our hair, etc.  So the little squirrel monkeys were jumping all over us and from person-to-person.  I’ll give Abby that it was a bit overwhelming, but I loved it.  There are maybe two dozen monkeys and if I remember correctly eight more babies.  The babies were the best – they’d hang on their mommys’ backs.  One was even sleeping the whole time that Momma was jumping around.  It was such a cool experience, and yes, we even got pooped on.  Despite not liking the living monkeys, Abby got a stuffed monkey souvenir that she proudly and lovingly wore around her neck the rest of the trip :)  She named him Cocoa after the cocoa beans that they grow in the Dominican, and we also realized later that it doubled for our port/ Mommy’s hometown- Cocoa Beach!  Great name, Abs!  

After the monkeys, the second part of the excursion was some sort of taste of the Dominican thing.  Almost like a living museum, complete with a staged house and outdoors area.  It was a little odd, and I’ll confess, a little boring.  But we got to sample quite a few things including coconut water, sugar cane, Dominican coffee, and some sort of mamajama alcoholic thing that tasted a little like wine and a little like cough syrup and I never really decided if I actually liked it or not.  The ride back to the port was so beautiful.  I did enjoy that we at least got to see a little of the countryside and the cities, even if it was from our huge, charted, air-conditioned bus.  Everywhere we went, I felt catered to, and I didn’t enjoy that feeling, I wish that somehow we could have truly experienced more of the countries we visited, instead of feeling like an awkward rich white American the whole time.  But it was all good and the monkeys were cute and it was safe and kid friendly and all that stuff.  The ports are these fenced-in touristy traps, but we explored our Amber Cover port for a bit after the bus returned us.  Some pictures and souvenirs and a few minutes at the fun little waterpark area.  The kids rode some great slides, and I got my hair braided.  then back on the boat.  A new cute towel animal and we dressed up for dinner in the dining room with Rico.  Abby and Chloe ate a lot of chicken nuggets and spaghetti, but Coleson and Ryan and I did a pretty good job of being adventurous.  Coleson had steak, pork chops, that sort of thing a couple of times.  Ryan ordered off the adult menu- ribs, lasagna, etc.  I had fish twice.  And Coleson and I both had the special port of call meals a couple of times – local yummy food, usually chicken, rice, beans.  And appetizers and desserts of course. 

Wednesday is still going – after dinner we went to the Hasbro Game Show show.  Super proud of our brave and confident Ryan!  The announcer said he would be picking contestants that did something unique and caught his attention.  Ryan jumped up and started doing the floss [a dance that’s all the rage with the cool kids].  He was the first one picked!  He participated in a connect four basketball game.  Unfortunately his team lost, but it was so much fun to watch him and I think he really enjoyed it, he said he wasn’t nervous or scared at all to be up on stage like that.  I wish I had pulled out the phone in time to video his floss, but I did get everything else on video, love it.  [and I loved that my phone was nothing more than a camera the whole trip.  That and the Carnival app.  Nothing else worked, the phone was on airplane mode the whole time]. 

Thursday, 2.20 – Turks and Caicos – this was an earlier port time [maybe 8:30?], so we watched the arrival from our balcony room, ate a quick breakfast, and ran out to meet our snorkeling excursion group.  Lots of sunscreen and then we boarded a small boat with three guides and maybe 25-30 of us.  We rode out about ten minutes before our first snorkeling stop.  Abby may not have liked monkeys, and Chloe sure didn’t like snorkeling.  One tour guide in particular was awesome with her – his name tag said Happy although he always referred to himself as Handsome Happy.  And he was great with the kiddos that weren’t doing so great.  Chloe had a thin little life vest thing [we all did] as well as a pool noodle and clung to Happy’s life ring thing.  Poor thing wouldn’t even try to put her head in.  Abby LOVED it!  Ryan took a couple of minutes, but he got the hang of it and was really enjoying it.  We snorkeled around for about half an hour I think, before climbing back on the boat and riding a couple of minutes to a second spot where we snorkeled for another half an hour probably.  This time we made Chloe come stay with us instead of Happy, and we took turns keeping one hand on her pool noodle while snorkeling.  It was fun – but it sure is different snorkeling as a parent.  This was one of those times when I felt like three kids definitely outnumbers two parents.  I was counting to three a lot :)  Abby’s bright red shorts helped a lot.  It was nice that both our snorkeling boat and the Monkeyland bus the day before had beverages – I was worried ahead of time that I’d be thirsty, but there was lots of good water everywhere we were.  And usually coffee and juices too.  On our way back to the port, we saw dolphins.  Extra cool since Chloe had recently informed us that she now loves dolphins.  One of her Turks and Caicos souvenirs is a dolphin keychain for her back pack.  Once we were returned to shore, we walked for a few minutes and Chloe played in the pool area.  We got back on the boat to change into dry clothes and eat some lunch, before returning to shore for some walking and shopping.  And a Starbucks coffee for me.  A new sting ray towel animal, Daddy flying the kiddos down the stairs, a full rainbow over the port as we pulled away – perfect view of it from our balcony, more ice cream, putt putt, wine on the balcony at sunset, “sunset heart hands!!”  We dressed up again for the dining room and even went to several of the photo spots on the boat for photo shoots.  This was fun, at least for Mommy, and in the end we bought two awesome pictures.  I don’t think we saw any shows this night – probably just hgtv, hehe!!  It was definitely nice having a bigger room.  We could regroup and rest in there.  The kids played hide and seek quite a few times.  Watched hgtv.  Coleson and I would read on the balcony.  I actually finished a whole book! 

Friday – fun day at sea  - Green Eggs and Ham breakfast for the girls and I!  This was an extra, but totally worth it.  And I actually ordered the green eggs and ham, and they were really, really good.  And oh the coffee.  So much better than the free stuff that’s readily available at the drink stations.  Good coffee, I had a lot of it :)  Thing One and Thing Two were there, and then Sam-I-Am and the Cat in The Hat.  Abby was funny – the eggs are just food coloring.  And Thing One and Thing Two are really leaving because the people have to change into Sam and the Cat.  Based on the two other groups that we shared a table with, I think this meal is all for my generation!!  The four of us that were parent-aged seemed to really enjoy it.  The kids were fine, but I think a little bored, and I even overheard the other girl say the same thing Abby did about it was all just food coloring.  And the grandma in the other party couldn’t have cared less.  Interesting to me.  I remember thinking the same thing at Disney a few years ago – I think they cater to our generation [probably because we’re the ones paying!].  I love that Disney has so many rides and experiences based on the movies of the 90s – Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast.  Anyways, shocker I know, but I digress.  Back to the boat!  Daddy and Ryan ate breakfast and went to a paper-airplane making event while we were at breakfast.  A heart shaped towel.  Puzzles – we would pick up the daily crossword and sudoku and those were fun to work on.  Ryan took a ton of pictures on my phone.  More hgtv.  Another run on the treadmill for me – this time it was daylight so I could watch the waves.  Coleson took the kids to the putt putt area, but it was so windy they had brought the supplies inside and actually made them leave shortly after they go there.  We dressed up for dinner again, and Coleson and I splurged on real drinks this evening – a margarita for him and Bahama Mama for me.  They were really good.  Alcohol and Cokes were extra.  Oh and there were two violinists who played in the atrium lobby every evening.  They were really good, very upbeat, electric.  We thought it was quite humorous that they were playing the “near, far, wherever you are” theme song from Titanic as we left the dining room this evening.  Really, who plays that song on a cruise ship?!!  We went to the PG comedians again this evening.  Chloe promptly curled up in my lap and was asleep before the first one even started, so that was nice and we stayed for both shows [until almost 10?].  It was the same two guys as a few nights before.  We all really enjoyed the Cowboy Comedian.  He was funny and down to earth [maybe because he’s a southern redneck and more relatable to us?!] and best of all he had new material.  The other one, Dennis Gaines, repeated his show from the night before.  Seems odd to me that you only do two PG shows the whole week to pretty much the same audience and you do the same show.  He had some funny stuff, but we also thought he was pretty condescending.  Oh well.  And then we hit the waves!  Oh my goodness.  Somehow Chloe, who wakes up for everything at home, slept through it all.  We were rocking and rolling.  Nobody threw up or anything, thankfully, but it was awful.  Coleson looked it up later – the waves were 16-20 feet high that night!  And we were about an hour and a half late getting to Port Canaveral the next morning because we had to slow down so much to compensate.  And it was windy!  It took us awhile to fall asleep and then none of us [except Chloe] slept well.  I was so happy to be back on solid land the next morning.

Saturday, 2.22 – Port Canaveral.  We arrived quite a bit later than expected because of the waves the night before.  We ate breakfast on the Lido Deck again, and of course all the buzz was the waves.  We packed up and eventually headed off.  Again, it was great being a suite/vip – we got to leave early, woohoo.  Once happily back to our car, we were free!  We went to Ron Jon’s first and spent a pretty penny there.  I love Ron Jon’s – even though I don’t have a lot of memories, it’s my hometown!  And speaking of hometown, after Ron Jon’s and some real coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts, we drove by our Covina St house.  It looked surprisingly good.  I was brought home to that house and lived there until I was five.  I’d love to see our Palm Bay house again sometime soon too, but it was about 45 mins away in the wrong directions, and we just didn’t have it in us by then.  We started the journey across the state, stopping at a service plaza in the middle of the turnpike for just a little food/lunch.  Waaayyy too much to eat all week on the boat!  And oddly enough, the boat itself never really bothered us, so I don’t know if was the storm or just a normal adjusting to land again, but boy or boy were we dizzy and rocking.  Everything was swaying.  We made it back to Maya and Grandma and Grandpa at maybe 3:30.  Almost immediately, the girls were taking out braids and then long, hot showers with lots of conditioner!  Coleson and I walked dogs, running was out of the question anyways for me and my sea legs.  Laura and the family came over, and the cousins played and played and we ate a yummy dinner of burgers and baked beans.  My throat really started to hurt bad as the evening went on.  And then Chloe ended up in our bed in the middle of the night crying about her throat too.  So that really worried me since we both had the same symptoms!  Fortunately, Chloe claims to have been totally fine once she woke up and hasn’t had any more issues.  My throat got better, but now several days later, I am losing my voice and I cough occasionally and this morning I woke up congested.  Hopefully it’ll pass quickly!    

Sunday – Coleson and Mom walked the dogs, Grandpa made breakfast, we packed up, I made sandwiches, etc, before we hit the road about 9:15.  Bringing lunches worked really well – they could eat when they were ready and it saved time and money and all that jazz.  We finally stopped at Carroll’s for the first time and got three different types of sausages.  Gas, bathroom, coffee, nothing too major, and we were home about 5:15 or so.  And let me tell you – leaving sunny and 80* and returning to dreary and 40s was NOT fun.  Driving across Gaddis and that dead golf course was just ugly :) I had hoped a few signs of spring would have appeared while we were gone, but nope.  I love our community and our schools and the sports and the kids’ friends, but man oh man, sometimes [mostly in January and February] I wish could just run away to a tropical island.  And thus coming back from one was extra hard!  But it’s all good, we love it here!  We unpacked, and I did a million and one loads of laundry, and we ate pizza and frozen veggies for dinner – no milk or anything fresh in the house after over a week.  A decent bedtime Sunday night!!  And back to reality Monday morning, not a lot of recovery time.  But what a great getaway!!  I loved it and I have zero regrets.  I’m not jumping up and down at the idea of another cruise again soon, but I wouldn’t rule it out either.  It was great to be together and try new things and pet monkeys.  And not having to worry about cooking or cleaning up afterwards was AMAZING.  I think I’d like to try an all-inclusive beach resort type of thing with the kids sometime; that might be fun and maybe provide a little relief from the rocking and the confines of the boat. 

"Y'all stay awesome, party people!" - how Cruise Director Alex would end all of his announcements

Nashville!!

Similar to our Thanksgiving post, here's my handy-dandy, old-school, all-in-one-place trip itinerary word document for our Nashville trip this past weekend!  Adults only!  Grandma stayed with our babies!  Grandpa was supposed to come as well, but stayed home feeling sick with a head cold and cough and all the wintery yucks.  Mom arrived Friday night in time to watch both Ryan and Abby play basketball.  Ryan had a great game, and they won by two [although we were in control the whole game, not as close as the score would reflect].  Abs lost, but fun was still had, and she scored four of her team's seven points.  Coleson didn't arrive home until late Friday night.  After a good night's sleep in his own bed and a couple of loads of laundry so that he could repack, we left mid-morning on Saturday.

We made it to Chattanooga in time for a yummy lunch at Urban Stack hamburgers.  We shared a really yummy hot pimento cheese dip that came highly recommended by our waiter [and didn't disappoint], as well as a burger and fries.  From there, we went a little bit out of town to check out the Russell Cave National Monument.  We had a fun visit and walked about a mile and a half.  The cement was crazy and curvy and covered in moss, and we had fun pondering the reasoning for all the jig-jagging.  We then drove the rest of the way to Brentwood, in between Nashville and Franklin.  We came to Nashville for the first time in the fall of 2018 for a For King and Country concert.  We stayed in downtown right next to the Ryman and the main Broadway strip of bars.  We didn't enjoy that part of town and for this trip wanted to be closer to Franklin and the suburbs :)  For dinner we headed down to Franklin to eat at Big Shake's - same as our previous trip.  It was good!!  insanely loud, but good.  They have the best milkshakes to go along with hot chicken and mac and cheese [I got my chicken in tacos].

Sunday morning was absolutely beautiful!!  We had the unseasonably best weather in Denver as well, so we're thinking future vacations should be sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerces.  We walked about three miles around Radnor Lake.  Pretty views, dozens of turtles, the sweet smell of freshly recycled Christmas trees, and eight deer slowly walking along within maybe 15-20 yards of us!  From there, we went into Nashville for Hattie B's hot chicken.  We had thought we enjoyed Big Shake's the night before, but everything pales in comparison to Hattie B's!  We first went there this past fall to the Atlanta location after our day-date to an Atlanta United playoff game.  Soooo good!!  Since we don't get hot chicken much at all, we don't get too adventurous when ordering - I got the sandwich and mac & cheese, and I'm pretty sure it's my current favorite meal anywhere, ever!  After lunch, we drove around the city some, around Vanderbilt before parking near the capital.  By this point, it's about 72* and sunny, the most perfect February day ever I'd imagine.  We walked all around the greenspace and capital building and farmer's market - nothing like Atlanta's capital, hehe, think more like DC.  Back to the hotel in the afternoon where I ran on a greenway that passed right by our hotel parking lot.  Best run I've had in a very, very long time.  I think I could have gone forever, what with the beautiful warm sun and flat sidewalk and shorts & tshirt!  

Sunday dinner was trickier - we had wanted to go to Franklin, but everything we pulled up was closed!  The very things that appeal about small towns can also cause trouble - like being closed on Sundays.  Coleson found a taco spot that looked great and said it was open, however, it definitely wasn't.  and definitely was supposed to be, several other cars pulled into the parking lot too while we were trying to regroup and come up with plan E by this point?! :) I think it had something to do with a rather significant sporting event that was going on?!  Apparently, some places close on Super Bowl Sunday.  So we ended up back near Vanderbilt eating at Taco Mamacita.  It was really good!  We each had a margarita and shared an appetizer sampler with salsa, cheese dip, and guac, as well as a bowl of really fresh tortilla chicken soup.  Perfect!  Taco Mamacita is actually owned by the same company as the Urban Stack we went to for burgers - I had originally come across Taco Mamacita in Chattanooga, before we decided the burger place sounded better.  They have three or four different styles of restaurants, each with a location in Nashville and one in Chattanooga.  We sat outside on the patio which was really nice and only a wee bit cold, hooray for warm weather!  Right next door was dessert - picture a cute little ice cream shop, but it was safe-to-eat cookie dough!  Yummyyy!!!!!  We went back to the hotel and watched the halftime show [awful and totally inappropriate] and saw the Chiefs come back in the 4th quarter to win big.

Monday morning, Coleson and I had a great power walk along the greenway and neighboring residential street.  Brentwood has some great houses and character and money apparently too!  We loved how all the lots were so big and nice and the trees were amazing, no clear-cut cookie-cutter neighborhoods, at least not in the area we stayed.  After our walk, we shared a waffle [we really aren't much for breakfast, but it looked [and was] so good] and coffee.  Too quickly, we were having to pack up so Coleson could get to his conference.  But on our way into Nashville, we stopped again at Hattie B's for lunch.  I mean we basically planned this trip around food and our new love of hot chicken, so it was only fitting.  

Coleson's annual Hanger Live [Ed Fair] conference was at the Gaylord Opryland this year.  Perhaps even bigger and more impressive then the Gaylord in DC that we dropped him off at a few years ago?!  He went off to meetings pretty quickly, and I logged about 85,00 steps exploring my new surroundings.  Okay, maybe not quite 85,000, but since I don't have a step counter, not only can I not prove that I went that far, but you can't prove I didn't.  Anyways ... I went all over the Gaylord as well as the neighboring Grand Ole Opry and the Opry Mills shops.  I had the worst carmel macchiato ever at the Starbucks in the shopping mall, but other then that it was great.  I walked and walked and walked and even picked up a few souvenirs.  Coleson had a cocktails thing to go to, so I grabbed a slice of veggie pizza and an Auntie Anne's pretzel in the hotel and watched the evening fountain and lights show, I always love that sort of thing!  Of course, just after I settled into the room and found the Hawks game, Coleson called :)  We had a nice evening walking a bit, meeting a few people, and then finding a spot to sit and enjoy a glass of wine.  

Tuesday morning, I walked him to his conference room and that was the last I saw him, bummer.  But from there I went and got a lot of brownie points with my mom, by meeting her old friend Roxanne for coffee.  She was a sweet lady and we visited for maybe 20 minutes before her first meeting of the day.  While we sat there, we also saw quite a few other people that knew me as "Donna's daughter" including, but not limited to, Debbie Polley and Sue Mellor.  Old home week I suppose.  After the coffee, I ran on the hotel treadmill for 3.5 miles.  I'm not usually a treadmill girl, but they aren't as boring when you're in a fitness center with other people.  And even though no one was swimming, I had a great view of the pool and then to the outside, so I didn't go too crazy.  A shower, a couple of pages in my book, a leftover lunch [bagel and yogurt from the Residence Inn continental breakfast, Great-Grandma would have been proud, and I mean that in an insanely loving way!].  I left about noon eastern for my journey home.  Unfortunately our amazing weather had turned to rain showers, although still relatively warm at least.  But I had jotted down a few places I wanted to explore on the way home, and of course, they were mostly outside spots.  I did stop in the town of Bell Buckle for a gingerbread latte.  It was good, no regrets, but I also don't see myself going out of the way to go there again.  For future bucket list trip ideas : I had really wanted to explore the Old Stone Fort State Park.  But I also really didn't want to get caught in a rainstorm.  I had also considered stopping for a ride on the Incline Railway in Chattanooga.  I hadn't decided if that would be worth doing in the rain or not, when I discovered that it was closed anyways for routine repairs.  Also on the bucket list, is spending a long weekend/ week on Nickajack Lake.  Sooo crazy pretty!!!  And being right near Chattanooga there would be so many fun things to do in addition to the lake [like the Old Stone Fort or the Incline Railway!].  

I made it back to town in time to grab a publix sub and have a picnic dinner at Badger Creek.  Taylor was sick and didn't go to practice, and I didn't want Mom [and mostly Chloe] to have to stay there for the whole practice, so they dropped her off and went back home.  After eating and a stroll around the park, Abby and I were reunited and headed home to see Ryan and Chloe too!  And Grandma.  And get Abby to basketball practice.  Welcome back to the crazy routine!!  

So there's the really long version of our weekend away.  Or at least my side of it.  Coleson is still in Nasvhille until tomorrow [Friday] afternoon.  It was soo weird leaving the hotel without a final goodbye knowing that he was in meetings somewhere in there.  And walking right past the spot where we had sat the night before having a drink.  It was good to be home and to see my babies, bummer I had to leave Coleson there though :)  But hey, only about ten days until our big vacation ....  a cruise!!!!!!  It's gonna be amazing!!!

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*** We didn't make it to the Factory at Franklin, or to those last three restaurant ideas that I had looked up.  We had hoped to spend Sunday night in Franklin, but the Factory had closed early, Oscar's wasn't open at all, etc etc.  Plus, we wanted the hot chicken more, so we had it three times, hehehe.    

         

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Friday, January 31^st – basketball games at 6 and 8 [no games Saturday]

Saturday, February 1^st – get up and leave

*lunch was in Chattanooga, Urban Stack hamburgers 

Russell Cave National Monument?  And then head on towards Franklin/ Brentwood?

Residence Inn, 206 Ward Circle Brentwood TN

Checkin Saturday 4pm, checkout Monday 12noon

Sat, Feb 01, 2020 – Mon, Feb 03, 2020

Confirmation Number: 97414194

The Factory at Franklin

Radnor Lake State Park

Near hotel in Brentwood – hiking trails, great reviews, one-ish hour walk around lake

Hattie B’s and Big Shake’s!!!!!

Oscar's Taco Shop

4115 Mallory Ln, Franklin, TN 37067

Pancho's Place - Franklin

209 S Royal Oaks Blvd, Franklin, TN 37064

Tupelo Honey

2000 Meridian Blvd #110, Franklin, TN 37067

poor Chlo-Chlo

Our baby has the flu.  She's been so sad and tired and pitiful all week.  Sunday evening we had friends over spaghetti and just a few mins before they arrived, she said she wasn't feeling great.  But on with the dinner we went, you just never really know.  And then Sunday night after everyone was gone, and we had settled in for the night, she threw up.  And again once more Monday morning.  But that was it, totally fine Monday.  Woke up Tuesday with a low fever and crying from a headache.  She was pretty good again Tuesday afternoon after a long morning nap.  Wednesday morning I thought for sure I'd be taking her to the doctor.  But she woke up at her normal time, ate breakfast, cried because I wouldn't let her go to school, helped me wrap presents.  So I eventually checked her in tardy at 10:30.  I did a few things, went out to a quick lunch all by myself, and then helped in her classroom from 1-2:00.  When she got off the bus at 2:30, she just wasn't quite herself.  She sat at the table and tried to catch up on some of the work she had brought home from school, but she just looked so tired.  I asked her if she wanted to lay on the couch, and she was pretty much immediately asleep.  Thursday morning, I carried her out of bed, put her in the car so I could drive Ryan to academic bowl and then drop Abby off at school, and then returned her to my bed where she continued sleeping.  Coleson was out of town all day Wednesday and Thursday.  Academic bowl drop off is 7am, which means if there's only one of us, the elementary schoolers have to be dropped off too since they miss the bus pickup.  But it works out well and morning carline isn't bad at all.

So anyways, I finally make Chloe a sick visit appt for 10:30 on Thursday morning.  I had to wake her up at 9:30.  That's how you know our early bird is sick; Saturday morning she woke Abby up at 5:50 to tell her about the watch that she was planning to ask Santa for.  I managed to get her showered and teeth-brushed and out the door we went.  I was kinda hoping for an easy fix and some antibiotics.  Strep negative, ears & lungs good, so the nurse came back to swab her nose for flu.  It's strain B, the rarer one apparently, and she hasn't been crazy sick, so I guess that's because she had the shot?  She hasn't had a fever over 101 and threw up only those two times.  It's been so weird how she's sick and then totally fine and then sick again.  But now we know why it keeps lingering, the flu takes a week.  We discussed tamiflu, but decided it really wasn't worth it.  Either way she wouldn't be able to go back to school today, Friday, and then it is the weekend.  Hopefully it'll move on on it's own in the next few days.  But at least we know what it is, and we knew to plan on no school today.  And we have doctor's orders to watch all the Christmas specials we can?!!

Her biggest symptom has just been sleep, she's been doing a ton of it.  I love the cuddles though.  And there's just something about watching your babies sleep.  She's still sleeping at 9:40 this morning.  Coleson came home late last night and had his Macedonia Mornings with Dad this morning.  I'm sooo proud of him for stepping up and doing this for the school and for Abs & Chlo!!  The all-pro dads program had died out, but it's actually a franchise type deal, so he couldn't continue it, he doesn't have the rights.  So he's doing this all on his own - with help from an awesome committee including Zach, David, Seth, Jim.  Anyways, Chloe couldn't go to the meeting this morning obviously and I couldn't leave her home alone [or with a sleeping brother!], so for the second day in a row, I rolled her straight into the car and she rode along to pick up 225 chickfila biscuits and deliver them to the guys at school.  From there, she got into my bed and fell right back asleep - I'm really grateful for that, she needs it apparently!

This poor girlie catches everything and hangs on to it forever.  I suppose we can go all the way back to being hospitalized for three days for rsv at ten weeks old?  I can remember the year that Ryan's den was in charge of the Cub Scout banquet and between Den Leader Daddy and party planner Mommy, we all had to be there, so we sat a very sick Chloe in a stroller in the corner!  And then this April when she was sick all of spring break with pneumonia, a double ear infection, and a stomach virus to boot.  Mom of the year over here thought it was allergies and didn't take her in until halfway through the week.

Here's hoping this flu has almost finished running its course!  And that nobody else comes down with it.  And here's one of many super sweet, sleeping Chloe pictures that I've taken this week...  Maya is truly the best friend a person could ever ask for!  I love you my sweet Chloe!!!  Feel better soon!!!

December fun

I have to say, I think I'm doing pretty well this December!!  Last year was probably the craziest one yet, and I've been determined not to let that happen again this year!  I was filling in for the lunch room this time last year - Thanksgiving to Christmas - worse time of all to work in there!  I was solo room mom times two for party planning.  I made a day trip to Florida and back to hug my sick sister.  Christmas was here before I knew it and was totally rushed.

This year, esp with Thanksgiving being on the latest day it possibly could, I knew I had to be on top of it.  It was December when we came back from break!  I'm trying to remember that less is more and to be more intentional with the time we have.  And not having the lunch room or party-planning has been huge!  We've picked out a few favorite things we'd like to do.  I did a ton of shopping super early.  In fact, I did my personalized Shutterfly gifts before Thanksgiving.  It's really been going well.  I just checked Chloe in tardy today after missing the first two days of the week.  But even so, it's all worked out, and I haven't been worried about getting behind!

Nana came last week for a few nights which was really nice and fun!  Wednesday night we brought crockpot bbq chicken to our neighbors after Kathy's surgery.  I doubled it, and we had dinner with Nana!  Yumm.  And Thursday afternoon was the BEST!  Ryan was off playing with the neighbors as usual, but they got in a little tuft and Zach sent everybody home.  Chloe was playing in the backyard with neighbor Emmaline, which left Ryan and Abby and I in the driveway playing knockout.  It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon, and I had the best time playing with them.  And I won!!!  [once out of probably 15 games.  But I still won!].  My Big Two are quite the competitors and they have some serious knockout/ basketball skills.  When Nana and Daddy got home Thursday night, it was date night!!  Coleson and I walked the Avalon and took in Christmas lights and did some window-shopping and ate a wonderful dinner at The El Felix.  Nana and the kiddos had Las Palmas.

Friday was fun too!  Barbara and I went down to Apple Annie's craft show.  I got sooo many great Christmas gifts.  We had a lot of fun browsing.  Barbara left from there for home, and I did a few errands and treated myself to Chicken Salad Chick for lunch since I was out and about and had left the county and all.  Friday after school, Ryan and I picked up our race packets for the Reindeer Run.  We've run this at least the past two years, and it's always fun.  Last year was CRAZY rainy and everything was flooded [it is at a river park after all].  It was like high marching to get through the streams of water covering over the sidewalks.  I've run a handful of half marathons, but I still think last year's reindeer run was the hardest race I've done :)  But we did it and we had fun and now we have a story!!  This year we found out we couldn't run on Saturday because of an academic bowl tournament, so we picked up our packets Friday night and ran three miles ourselves - DIY Reindeer Run 2019.  Ryan wanted to do six laps instead of an out and back over the bridge which worked out well since it was dark by the time we finished.  He ran ahead of me the first three, but he was having some cramps, so he waited on me and we slowed quite a bit for the second half.  It was really fun actually running together and chit-chatting.  From there we met Daddy and the girls in downtown Canton for a Christmas festival.  There wasn't a ton of stuff to do [at least without long lines that the kids didn't want to wait in any more then we wanted to either], but honestly it was really nice just walking around and being together.  The kiddos got hot chocolate, and then we ate a late dinner at the new Panera bread.  It was simple and fun.  The girls rode in my car home - Chloe fell asleep and Abby must have told me a dozen times what a nice evening it was, awwwww.

Saturday morning the guys went to academic bowl, and I took the girls to see Santa at church.  It was a really well done event and Santa was great!  We enjoyed seeing friends, especially the Khodabakhshs.  I took a couple pictures, but they had a photographer there, so hopefully in a few days I'll have some great Santa pictures of my girlies!  Oh, and the shoes!  So we're going from there to Abby's basketball game.  Which meant changing clothes.  And despite all my reminders, Abby didn't bring any basketball shoes, and she's in her cowboy boots.  So she and Parker swap shoes in the parking lot since he came from a basketball game.  Soo much fun watching Parker line-dance all around the parking lot in Abby's boots.  He's such a fun kid!!  We took Taylor with us to Abby's game.  It was the first game of the season, so it took awhile for both teams to warm up.  It was 2-2 forever!!  The second half went better and Abby scored eight points - three baskets and both of her free throws.  She fouled out with five minutes to go!  She's the point guard and leader of the team for sure, so it kinda fell apart without her and they lost 18-13.  But it was fun, and it's great to be back in basketball season!!  Ryan's academic bowl tournament wasn't going well and there was some tension, so they ended up leaving to go to Ryan's game.  He fouled out too, way to go?!?!  [Coaches like to see that aggressiveness at this age, esp on Abby's girl teams].  They lost as well, but Coleson said Ryan looked really good.  From basketball, I took my three girls right down the road to Soho bagel; we used to love going there when we were at Watermarke church.  The bagel sandwiches were soo good and a hit with all the girls.  And the staff was super friendly, esp considering I had three kiddos [and myself!] randomly ordering piecemeal, personalized sandwiches :)  From there, we played at our neighborhood playground until Taylor left.  It was another beautiful and sunny day, so you gotta enjoy them when you can!  Ryan spent Saturday evening at Tripp's house while we all watched the Dawgs lose painfully in the SEC championship game.

Sunday was church and the grocery store and FINALLY decorating the tree that we had put up the weekend before!  We had the Esterlings [minus Jessi], the Khodabakhshs [plus one!], and David Niles over for a fun evening and a spaghetti dinner.  I'm so glad it worked out!  This whole less-is-more approach in December and hosting a dinner made our short list :)  I think the kiddos had a blast playing, and I know I had a wonderful time visiting with friends.

And then Chloe threw up Sunday night and again first thing Monday morning.  Fortunately, Coleson was able to work from home Monday, but only until 10:30 as he had an 11:00 meeting.  I was able to make my yearly lady appt [which I'd already rescheduled once] and do a bunch of errands - the dollar store, Michaels, the bank, the post office, and Hallmark.  And I made it back at 10:25, pheww!!  I must say, I felt pretty accomplished.  I should also note, after Chloe threw up she was totally fine the rest of Monday.  Tuesday morning she woke up crying with a headache and had a low fever, about 100*.  She went back to sleep until about 9:30 and was fine again most of Tuesday.  So when Coleson came home a little early yesterday - although he went straight into his office on phone calls until 6:30 - I handed the tv remote to Chloe and I was outta here.  I had a couple things I had to get at Kroger and drop off for school, and then I got in a nice run.  Chloe had a headache again last night and I thought for sure we'd be at the doctor's this morning.  It's been tough the way whatever this is just keeps lingering.  She'll be fine for hours and then have a headache and then be okay again.  Let's either kick this or get an antibiotic, you know?!  But she woke up totally fine today, ate breakfast, helped me wrap some presents, and even cried at one point because school is "awesome" and she wanted to be there.  I eventually checked her in.  It's not been a full 24 hours since the headache/ low fever last evening, but we've always said if we keep Chloe home every time we thought she might be sick, she'd never go to school.  So here's hoping she's truly better and not getting anyone sick!  And it's book cook day!  I'll be up there too in a couple hours helping the class make pancakes.  Second grade with Mrs. Shakespeare is the best!!!!  On a side note, I feel sooo bad for Abs this year.  Fourth grade is big kid, and they don't get to do the Grinch days and watch the Polar Express and wear pjs and have a class elf.  I don't remember this transition phasing Ryan, but she's been so sad which makes me so sad!!  But at least she's got a class party coming up?!  We keep reminding her of that, because sixth grade really is big time.  Not even a party for Ryan, in fact he's got five midterms next week, one each day.  Bummer.  The real world isn't all it is cracked up to be.  I keep suggesting to them that they should just stay little and stop growing up so fast.  To which cute and sweet Chloe says, I can't help it I have to grow!  Okay, fair enough...

So anyways, Happy December and Merry Christmas season from this rambler!!

Thanksgiving Break 2019

I love to plan trips and type it all out in one spot.  Throw back to the days of planning trips before smart phones I suppose.  I was actually explaining to Ryan about how we used to have to print out mapquest directions too before we would leave.  Times have certainly changed in just a few short years!  I do love me some google maps and rerouting and avoiding accidents :)  Here's the cut and pasted version of the word document that I used to organize ideas for our break last week.  We had so much fun!  I LOVED the Great Wolf Lodge, highly recommend it.  We did the tubes over and over and over [boing].  The Hornets game was fun too, even though they're terrible!  And the best part was out hotel was literally across the street.  Like maybe 20 yards tops.  Perfect planning on Daddy's part booking that hotel.  Abby loved the Kings Mountain National Battlefield and all the history.  Fourth grade studies the Revolutionary War in depth.  I didn't realize how far south the battles were fought and what a turning point the battles in the Carolinas were.  Thanksgiving and Black Friday were with Nana and Auntie Sarah and the rest of the Greenville family.  Lots of fun, playtime, good food, ugly sweaters, beautiful weather.  We met Blossom, the Zerings' new sweet pup.  She and Maya played well!  It was a wonderful, wonderful week.  But also really nice to be home and sleeping in our own beds!

THANKSGIVING BREAK 2019  - THREE VACATION DAYS  [TWO HOLIDAYS ON THURS AND FRI]

Friday 11.22.19  - drive to Barbara’s sometime after school/ work.  Spend night there, leave Maya

Saturday, 11.23  - wake up in Greenville,  Ryan and Amy – 5k fun run with Zerings at 8:30 - 

Cancelled because of rain?!  Bummer!

Saturday at 10am – hang out with Tyler, Nichole, Kenley - won’t see Tyler’s crew at end of week

Leave around 2pm.  Drive two hours to Charlotte.  Eat before game?  Within walking distance is Vida Mexican, Fuel Pizza, Rooster’s Wood-fired Kitchen, Mert’s Heart and Soul [ma&pop southern], etc  **Went to Fuel for pizza and wings - yummy!!**

               Hornets [NBA] game vs. Bulls at 7pm.  Spend night in Charlotte –

SpringHill Suites Charlotte Uptown  311 East 5^th St

                        Confirmation Number: 98266733  check in 3pm, checkout Sunday 11am

Sunday, 11.24  - explore Charlotte some – Walked Clarks Creek Greenway and ate lunch at Tijuana Flats [where we eat in Florida with Grandma & Grandpa a lot!] 

check in to Great Wolf Lodge at 4:00pm, about 20 mins from Charlotte/hotel 

Room check-in does not begin until 4:00 p.m. or as your room becomes available. However, you can arrive as early as 1:00 p.m. to begin using the water park. There are changing rooms, lockers and showers available for you.

               Our room was ready when we got there at 1:00, yay!!!  Water park followed by showers and dinner at Freddy's - burgers, fries, an amazing strawberry milkshake

Monday – GWL                    Reservation Number: 27823654

Bagels in the hotel room, waterpark with a pizza for lunch, Coleson and I took turns running, gift shop, showers, dinner at PDQ [chicken]

Tuesday 11.26 – check out at 11am [add $55 to stay until 2pm] Dunkin Donuts room service for breakfast!

somewhere fun for lunch in Charlotte?  Tacos 4  Life - I loved this lunch spot.  Perfect kids' meals - two tacos, cheese dip, and a drink.

Slowly work our way back to Barbara’s, explore someplace on the way?

Kings Mountain National Military Park?  Free with 4^th grade pass?!  Abby LOVED this spot!

Back to Barbara’s in time to spend the night

Wednesday –  in Greenville - hung out at Auntie Sarah's some - crafts and games, dinner at Barbara's

Thursday, Thanksgiving!  - in Greenville.  Auntie Sarah hosted, Ryan spent the night.

Friday, Black Friday – in Greenville.  Amy, Barbara, Sarah shopping and ugly sweater pictures

             Coleson took girls to Big Air.  Ryan still with Uncle Christian and cousins, they went to Frankie's.

Disney on Ice at 5pm, Mommy/Chloe/Nana/ Auntie Sarah – tickets purchased!

Left for home about 7:30pm.  Zero traffic and no stops, we were home by 10:00.

Saturday, 11.30 – home, watch football [uga vs gt at noon], Christmas decorating, recover 😊

Sunday – around the house, home!  Abby- Taylor’s bday party

                    After church, we went to Cheeseburger Bobby's for lunch, Target to purchase gifts for the Christmas tree at church, and to the super fanyc Christmas tree farm in the Lowe's parking lot to pick out our tree.

Costs:

GWL would be about $700 for two nights with bunkbed rooms – not including dining package [so glad we did not bother with dining package!  nothing special for food there and a TON of good options right outside the hotel]

 Total: $610.16   $305.08 charged when booked, second $305.08 due at checkin

Didn’t add any packages – bring breakfast food and snacks to keep in the room

a few random meals  - hotel in Charlotte Saturday night $150+parking – Hornets tickets $138 – Disney on Ice $36

Kings Mountain National Military Park is about halfway between Greenville and Charlotte.  **Get free fourth grade pass.  Revolutionary War which Abby is studying in depth this year!  Never did figure out how to get the pass, link appears to have been broken for months.  But there wasn't a charge to get in the park anyways!