Camping in the Smokies of North Carolina

Now, don't get me wrong.  I loved my children as babies and toddlers.  They were always so cute and very fun to be around, but I love it even more now that they are a little older.  We are able to do so many fun things like camping.  We decided for fall break that we would take the kids camping to the Smokies in North Carolina (for you Hunger Games fans, we were very close to where they were filming the movie)  We were so lucky to go when the leaves were changing colors.  The weather was amazing, the colors beautiful, and the time was fantastic.  

After we got the tent set up and settled in a bit we were ready to start the camp fire so we could cook the food.  Now I have decided that this is the best part of camping.  For some reason it tastes so much better cooked over a fire.  

Funny thing about these smores.  Megan likes them without the marshmellows.  Emilee likes them without the graham crackers, Hunter likes them with the marshmellows, chocolate, and the graham crackers.  My kids are for sure their own person.

                       

Hot dogs and Smores.  That is what was on the menu.  Of course, what would be better on a camp out, right??  Now, remember when I said the weather was great.  Well, that is true, except when the sun went down.  It got real cold.  Megan not only wore her flannel pajamas, but her sweats over that and I think she might have had a fleece jacket on as well.  We weren't freezing, but it did get down to about 38 degrees at night.  Brrr, Chill, Cold, Freezing!

Before we went to bed, we even told a few ghost stories.  Megan told this one that made me laugh.  There were these boys and they went into this spooky old house and what did they see, but a floating coffin chasing them.  One of the boys decided to throw some cough drops at the coffin and sure enough, the coffin went away.  The other boy asked, "how did you know that would work?" and the boy said, "because cough drops always stop the coffin"  HA!  I love it!  

It was time for bed after that and boy was I tired, but we did get real cold in the night, but we all survived.  I did find out that my kids talk a lot in their sleep and the second night I woke up with the feeling that someone was looking at me.  When I looked up, it was Hunter standing above me.  I asked him if he had to go to the bathroom and all he did was get back in his sleeping bag and fell back to sleep.  OK, that might be just a little bit freaky and could be the plot to a scary movie.  He didn't remember a thing the next morning.  Crazy kids I tell ya, but I suppose I will keep them.

                 
                 

The next day we walked around town, shopped in some of the cute touristy shops.  The kids got to ride a Mechanical Bull, which was totally fun for them.  They rode Go Carts, Bumper Cars, played Laser Tag, and when we got back to the camp site they went swimming and after we cooked and ate our dinner they watched a movie they were playing in the middle of the camp grounds.  When we got back to our site the kids put on a puppet show for us with the puppets that they bought that afternoon.

Megan really wanted to get this picture.  I don't blame her.  When I was a kid, I always thought it looked like so much fun, so we decided to let Megan and Emilee dress up for this photo.  Hunter didn't want to.  They actually took some pretty good ones and some that I thought were totally funny.  

But in the end, we chose this one.  

After a good night's sleep, we woke up to a beautiful morning.  We decided to go on a small hike up to the falls before coming home.

                     


                      
                     

It was a good trip.  It is so much fun to do these fun fun activities with the kids.  I hope that they will always remember them.  We don't have plans for another camping trip for awhile.  We were thinking maybe for Spring Break.  There is a camp site in Kentucky that Jeremy wants to try out.  

New York City

Jeremy had some training for work in New York City.  Just like when he had to go to Hawaii for work, I couldn't possibly let him go alone.  So, of course I had to go with him.  I know, awful, right.  Ya right!  I have always wanted to go to NYC so I had to go with him.  I love cities that you can just walk around and don't need to have a car.  That is why I love San Francisco and London so much which are my two favorite cities in the world.  Like most places though, there are great things about this city and not so great things.

What I love about NYC:

--I love the fact that you don't need a car.  Public transportation is the best here and very convenient.

--I love the big buildings and architecture.  It is fabulous and wonderful to look at.  Most amazing.  

--It is full of history.  It is all around you.  I love it!

--So much food.  There are thousands of restaurants.  Food is very easy to get, anytime, anywhere.

--Despite the reputation of NYC, I found the people there very pleasant.  Most liked hearing where you were from and wanted to know what you thought of their city.  They were very eager to give advice of where to go and what to do.

--I love the famous buildings and landmarks to see.  I love the history that accompanies these landmarks.

--Culture.  So much culture.  It is amazing to see how much culture.  I must have heard walking down the street many different languages of residents that live there and tourists who come far to see this city.

What I did not like so much about NYC:

--It really is a very liberal place to be.  Almost too liberal.  They really do see things very differently in the world.  It made me feel very grateful for my small area of Madison Alabama to live where many have much in common with my values.  (That is to include many who are not members of my church)  We truly do have some wonderful people living here.  I have to laugh.  Being from Las Vegas, I get so many comments about living in sin city and the slogan what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.  Well, Vegas is tame compared to NYC as far as I am concerned.  In Vegas, all the "sinful" things are pretty much in one area of town or close to it.  People that live there, never associate things with the strip unless they work down there.  In NYC, it is everywhere.  How Vegas got the reputation instead of New York,  I will never know.

--It is very expensive and can be quite annoying as such.  Most will say, "Well, welcome to NYC and inflation"  I don't think they should make that an excuse.  It should infuriate them as well.

--Pizza.  I love pizza.  I expected so much more of the pizza there.  Coming from the west, many who were from NYC would brag and brag about their pizza from NYC.  Now, I am not saying it was bad, but it is highly overrated.  Let me tell ya, I have had pizza from all over, including Italy itself, so I have lots to compare it with.  It was nothing special and those who are from the west, really are not missing much.  I am sure that would anger many from NYC, but oh well, that is just my opinion.

--Comedy.  Not good.  Let me give ya some advice.  If you ever go to NYC and you are walking around Time Square, don't buy comedy tickets from the people walking around.  They will tell you whatever you want to know to get you there.  I had asked about bad language and vulgar jokes and they assured us that though they might say a few swear words, but nothing that would be awful.  They also said there would be a two drink minimum.  No big deal, right?  Well, that would be about $15 for one person and since we don't drink that meant Jeremy and I paid $30 for our soda.  By the way, the show was full of swearing and vulgarity with many of the comics.  I don't find that funny in the least and shows me just how untalented they really are.  I would assume many of the other clubs are similar.  If you want comedy in NYC, make sure you see someone you already know. 

--Because the city is so big and so many people and so much to see, it can be a little overwhelming.  Most are just trying to get from A to B as quickly as they can.  I found that a little intimidating, but it takes getting use to, I suppose.  If I ever get back there again, I know exactly what to expect.

For the most part, I really did enjoy the city.  It truly is an amazing place to be.  I don't think I would ever want to live there, but visiting is truly an adventure.

  Up first, was the Empire State Building.  This was a great place to start and I highly recommend getting the audio tour.  I was able to see the whole city and all its burrows.  It was very informative and a great view.  By the way, I was so sad to not be able to see Mt. Olympus at the top.   HEHEHE  

Now, as far as I am concerned, how can you go to NYC and not see the Statue of Liberty.  She is an American symbol and I think an amazing thing to see.  The subway, takes you right there to the ferry that takes you over there.  Some just take the Statton Island Ferry (which is free, but it doesn't stop at the island), but I thought it was nice to walk around the Island and get up nice and close.  I thought she was an amazing site to see.

I know Time Square is truly the touristy place to walk around, but I have to say, I really liked being down there.  Especially at night.  There is so much to see and so many people.  I loved the crowds.  Jeremy, not his thing, but I was in my element there.  

Now if you saw The Night of the Museum and think you know the Natural History Museum, you would be wrong.  There really are not very many similarities.  I did find Dumb Dumb though.  I asked one of the museum guards if they give him any gum and he very annoyingly replied, "ya, one minute after midnight"  I might expect they get that question a lot, but I don't really feel bad for him.  When you work around tourists, guess what, ya gotta answer the tourist's silly questions.  

I liked Washington Square.  It was probably one of the more laid back places to sit and veg.  People are reading, painting, playing music.  And this is also one of the places where all the people are playing chess.  It was a great place to sit and relax.  This was the first time we got hot dogs from a New York vendor.  Some who live there think that's gross to get a hot dog from them, but I think it is very New York and you know what?  It was a pretty good hot dog.  So much, that I got another one the next day as well.  Oh  ya, I also got roasted cashews from vendors more then once.  Mmm, not only do they smell so good, but they taste wonderful.  

I found this fascinating.  I knew that the Manhattan temple was in the middle of the city, but to actually see it in the midst of the New York craziness was fascinating.  You would see all these businesses surrounding it and then there it was all in its glory.  Truly amazing!

You could spend days here and still not see everything.  Of course we all know this is where Percy Jackson began to find out who he was.  I saw some wonderful things here and I saw some weird things as well.    Below is a painting I bought from an artist on the street in front of the Metropolitan Museum.  She had some pretty pictures that she had painted, but in the end I decided on the Rainbow Bridge that is in Central Park.  Pretty, isn't it and I feel a very New York thing to get.  I saw lots of artists there either painting or trying to sell what they have painted.  I thought it was totally fun.

So, I really wanted to see the new 9/11 memorial.  Problem is even though tickets are free, they are reserved clear until the end of November.  When I went to the small museum next to Ground Zero, they said that they do give out 150 tickets every day that aren't reserved, but you have to get there pretty early.  Perhaps if I was staying longer, I could of tried harder, but I knew it would be too hard to get down there with the time I had to get those tickets.  I did walk around the area where the towers were though and looked through the small museum.  It was very humbling.  I saw many who were still affected by what happened as they put flowers, cards, and pictures to the fence of where they are building the new towers.  This is Freedom tower.  It is 

1,776 ft tall.  That is not a coincidence.  I was told though, when everything is finished, it will not be called Freedom tower, but the new World Trade Center, just as it always should be.

Here we have pictures of one of the biggest churches in the city, the "Dakota", where John Lennon was shot for you Beatles fans, the Guggenheim for those who want to see those weird Picassos and other out there works of art, the Brooklyn Bridge which if I had the time would have walked across to Brooklyn and some other city sites.

I took this picture of Central Park.  I thought it was a beautiful picture and you can already see some of those beautiful fall colors coming out.

So I have been to Madam Tussauds in London and also in Vegas.  I just finished reading a book by Michelle Moran about Madam Tussauds, which was a very good book.  I highly recommend it.  So of course, I had to go to Madam Tussauds in New York.  I know, you thought I really did see those famous people.  HA!  Ya right, like Abraham Lincoln is still alive. (I took a picture of him 'cause I just finished the book, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer.  As I was looking at him, I thought, he doesn't look like a vampire slayer at all.  It made me laugh.  By the way, that is a good book as well) I had to get a picture with Robert Pattinson cause he is Edward ya know, and we do love Daniel Craig, and how could we ever forget Bono.  Some of the others here are Helen Keller. ( I took one of her cause I live about 70 miles away from her childhood home)  Madam Tussaud herself, which is the last wax figure she did of herself, Bill Gates for you Microsoft fans, Miley Cyrus for you teeny bopper fans, and of course how could we forget SpiderMan and the Incredible Hulk.  Funny story about this place.  As I was going through the pop cultural part I saw the band "BackStreet Boys".  Well, there was someone taking a picture of them and I was waiting so I wouldn't go in front of her picture.  She seemed to be taking a long time so I proceeded to go behind her.  As I looked back at her I started to laugh, 'cause that person taking a picture was a wax person herself.  She was set up as a papparazzi person taking pictures of the band.  I felt really stupid.  So, I waited to see if others did the same and without fail, the next three or four people did the exact same thing as me.  We all just started laughing.  

The last night we were in New York, Jeremy and I were able to see a broadway show.  We decided to see SpiderMan, After the Dark.  Crazy I know, here we are in NYC and what do we see for a show, but SpiderMan.  Well, it was a compromise.  Jeremy really isn't into broadway so we had to see something he might like as well.  Actually, it was pretty good.  Kind of cool to see SpiderMan and the Green Goblin flying around the theater.  The music is written by Bono from U2 so if you are a U2 fan, you would like it.  Music was great.  Overall, not a bad choice.  

We had a good time.  So much to see and so much still to see.  I would love to go back sometime.

Family and Friends Fun Night

It is always fun to have a fun family night, but it is even more fun to have a family and friends fun night.  We have many good friends here that we enjoy hanging out with.  Tonight we spent some time with some good friends and went bowling on the Aresonal (the army base for those that don't live here).  It was one of those turn the lights off and watch the neon lights and spotlights come on to bowl.  We had a good time.  The kids laughed a lot, the adults had some good conversations, and it was just fun to get together.

Emilee was in the groove with her bowling expertise.  She is shouting for joy after one of her many spares.

This is my beautiful friend Christine and her kids are up above.  We usually have a ton to talk about, whether it is about books we have read, losing weight, school politics, kids, annoyances, and just about anything else you can think of.  Her kids and my kids get along great.  Even though my girls have a bit of an age difference from her little girl they still have tons of fun playing together.

I love my kids a ton.  They make me laugh all of the time.  Even when I am not suppose to laugh because they have done something not acceptable.  I still find myself having to turn my head so they won't see the little chuckle that came out of my mouth.  They have so much energy and they say some of the funniest things.  I love it.

I am here to say that I am a terrible bowler.  Tonight was one of my worst.  One would think if one grows up with a bowling ally in the basement they might be good.  They would be wrong.(That is not as glamorous as it sounds.  It really is no big deal.  Some people just get a pool in the backyard.  My dad must have decided a bowling alley was more practical.  I probably could have put a pool to better use.)

Father and son.  They make a cute couple.  

The night was ended with a treat from dad.  Ice cream.  Well, I think it is actually custard, but really what's the difference, right?  It's all good.

I love it when friends can get together.  Of course we have fun with just our family, but good friends make it even better.

Back to the routine of things

The time has come again.  School Time!  The anticipation is over and we are back to our old routines.  I have many friends who dread this day.  They say that the summer is too short and are sad to see their kids go back to school.  I myself do not feel that way.  I never have.  Does that mean I love my kids less??  I don't think so.  I  just love to get back to the routine of things.  Let's face it.  I do enjoy my time.  It is nice to get the house in order again and to finish projects that I have put off for awhile.  Some how it is always easier to get them done while the kids are at school.  Besides, the kids will never admit it, but I think they enjoy going to school as well.

They woke up refreshed and excited to go.  Outfits picked out for the last 2 weeks, hair done, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, lunches packed, and backpacks packed.  They were off.  What did I do you say on the first day of school?  Exercised, laundry, finished some projects for the Young Women, ran a few errands, and before I knew it, the kids were back home on a most stormy day.  

Megan is in sixth grade this year.  It blows my mind.  I remember her first day of kindergarten and it feels like we just had it.  This year they are doing something a little different.  She is now at the top of the school in ranks.  Big sixth graders who have the rule, right??  They have a schedule, start out in homeroom and switch classes, but not as a class, but individually, just like middle school.  She came home and said she liked it that way much better.  She is also a little worried.  She knows they are more strict and worries if she is ready for all this.  I assured her she will do just fine as long as she always does what is expected of her.  

Emilee is in fourth grade this year.  WOW!  She has the same teacher Megan had, which I am so pleased.  Megan grew so much in that class and I know Emilee will do the same.  She had a fantastic day her first day.  She came home all excited as she told me all the things that she gets to do.  

Then there is Hunter.  My baby.  He is a big second grader now!  I still can't believe it.  I tell Jeremy all the time I don't think it is possible that he is in second grade.  He seems so much like my baby.  I suppose he is and he always will be.  I was also so excited to find out who his teacher was.  She will be awesome with him and I know I will see such great strengths out of him this year.  

So another school year started.  It is exciting.  I am so blessed to live where the kids go to such a great school.  They love it.  They love their friends and they love their teachers.  

Digging for Diamonds

Earlier this year, we decided that we would take the kids to a diamond mine in Arkansas and go dig for diamonds.  Now, let me be the first one to say, this did not excite me.  Think about it.....driving 7 hours with the kids to go dig in the dirt in the hot sun.  Not my dream vacation.  Well, I have to admit.  It wasn't too bad and it was an experience I think the kids will always remember.  Did we find anything you ask?  Well, it depends what you think is a treasure I guess.  I found a lot of fools gold, Megan found some cool rocks that she took home, and Jeremy found a shady spot to sit down in. 

Emilee of course was her happy excited self, Megan found the mud.  She always finds the mud.  Hunter thought he would find the diamond that would fund his dream playground set.  I guess he will have to keep dream'in.

We got to this mine about 8:30 in the morning, thinking that it would be cool enough and then as the afternoon began we would be done and off to swimming we go.  Well, it got hot a lot faster then we thought and it was humid.  I was dreaming of a white sand beach down in Florida.  There are three ways to dig for diamonds.  One way is a surface walk.  Just walking through the mine and spotting what may be on top.  Another way is digging in the dirt and dry sifting it through a screen.  Both of these consist of being out in the hot sun.   By the way, the brighter the sun the better, cause then you can see the sparkling little gems.  The third way is to shovel dirt into a bucket a sift it through a screen in the water using an area under a shaded area.  Well, once I figured out the third part.  It wasn't so bad.  The girls and I had a blast getting all wet and dirty searching for diamonds.  We talked to tons of people from all over the country.  I think I actually had a good time.  Shh, don't tell anyone though.  

Here we are, all dirty and ready to go swimming.  They had a great pool next to the mine that you could go to.  Had water slides and everything.  When we hosed off before we got in the pool, it was like a huge mud slide going down the drain.  Let me tell you though....that pool felt so good.  

The next day, we spent the day in Hot Springs.  We shopped through the downtown shops, went miniature golfing indoors ('cause it was to hot outside), went to the mid-America Science Center, and closed the day with a magic show with a master Illusionist.

This was a cool show in the Science museum.  It was a demonstration of a Telsa Coil.  Now, most of us have seen this in some sort of glass ball, but this was huge and it was very loud.  We learned that tons of things we use today came through this technology such as fluorescent and neon lights, cell phones, cars, televisions, and tons of other modern conveniences we might use today.  Afterward the kids got to go up there and touch part of the demonstration using there bodies and other objects to produce negative and positive energy.  They said it tickled their bodies.

That evening, we went to a magic show.  Because we sat on the front row, Megan and Emilee got picked to help out.  Now, they were totally excited, but when Emilee got up there she freaked out.  He rewarded her with a drink of her choice and about 3 bags of candy and a bag of popcorn.  Megan was doing great.  She had some dance moves that I didn't know she had.  She laughed tons and was having a great time until he brought out the guillotine.  Her face changed expressions very quickly.  It was very funny.  I think it was a pretty good show and the kids enjoyed it tons.

That was our trip.  Not much else to say about it, but we did have a good time.  Now it is time to get ready for school, which I have to say is very exciting.  As much as I love my children, I love it when they are learning in school as well.  By the time summer is over, I am all worn out and so ready to get things back to normal.