Sayin Goodbye

If you have to say goodbye....

...say it with breakfast...

...preferrably waffles.

Leaving is hard when you aren't sure when you'll be back and what will change between now and then.

 I hope the changes will only be new additions (like the front deck). Love you, Mom and Dad!

Cozy's Birthday

Cozy had a birthday!

...a very special one, since she got to share it with a lot of loved ones in Washington.

You can't tell from the very happy, balloon-holding, Dora pillow-hugging picture below, but Cozette was sick and UNhappy on her birthday. It was the fatigue, fever day of her bout of hand, foot, and mouth.

The crankiness shows more in the pictures where I pried her away from the couch and Diego. We had to get pictures with her birthday buddies. First, her Grandma Cozette....

(It took her a while to wrap her head around that one. She kept telling me, "I'm not a grandma! I'm just Cozette! I think she had it figured out by the time we left WA.)

Since these 4 share a birthday, we thought we'd get pictures with their years on them.

 Lilly.

Cozette.

(Feeling better.)

Great-Grandma Cozette and Grandpa Jim.

It wasn't a well-planned, thematic birthday. The big event was being together. But it was clearly enough, since Cozy still talks about it.

Her meow-singing birthday card.

The cake Grandma Linda made her. (Cozy says, " I had a pink cake, and Willy had a pink cake. Tee-hee. I'll be so sad when she learns to say her "L"s.)

 

Lots of cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles.

The Kangs and I were thinking alike on the presents, so Coze got a squirrel family...

...and a kitty family.

Happy 3rd, Cozette!

New Stuff at my Folks' Place

One of the many fun things about visiting my parents is checking out all of the things that have changed since the last visit. And there are always plenty of them. (The folks are busy people.)

James' favorite was his dream toy. He noticed it in the dark, after midnight, when we arrived.

...and he even got to help with the final assembly of the helicopter. James and Grandpa Jim each had a tool, and James didn't leave the entire time they were working on it.

Also, the front deck is missing. Extremely inconvenient. I kept forgetting and walking up the front sidewalk...only to be disappointed.



By the time I left, my brother Mike had made a lot of progress on replacing it.



...and a big sun-blocking cedar is gone. (Well, not so much gone as transformed...into many, many cedar planks, which are curing in the garage.) The grandkids are all sad about it. They loved to hunt for duck eggs in the ivy growing around the tree's base. But don't worry, there are plenty of other lovely things to do at Grandma and Grandpa's.

On the inside:

....the most beautiful woodburning stove insert that I've ever seen. (Yours is free-standing, Mike, so it's in a different competition.)

I just love the the ceramic dohickey in the middle!

...and....there was all kinds of master bath coolness going on. A new bathroom vanity, which happened to match my Mom's bed.....

 

....and tile, that she did herself! (I'm so proud!)

Really, it makes me feel like I should make more of an effort with my home. Tony can consider himself warned.

Annalia's Helpful Tips for Travelling with Children

Soon after returning home from our epic Spring Break Twenty Twelve, the littlest (4) Hooligans and I left on another trip. We had a big birthday to celebrate in Washington...and Tony was nice enough to fly us there (not personally....it's more like we flew on the wings of his credit card and awesome trip planning skillz).

Taking a trip with only my younger kids was scary. (Big, helpful kids are such a crutch. They're hard to give up/leave behind.)

Here are my tips. Give 'em a gander, even though you're super smart and have already thought of every one of them. Still, they're tried and true, and many a airline steward told me how wonderful and polite my children were (while looking askance at the kids sitting in the row behind us).

1. Check your luggage. I know it costs a million dollars, but every one of those dollars seems worth it when you're trying to catch a toddler while lugging two carry-ons thru the airport.

2. Bring lots of non-crumbling snacks, including candy (for bribery purposes only). Your kids are probably already tired and though the excitement of flying might compensate, if you let them get hungry too.....(those are threatening dot-dot-dots)

3. Personal Electronic Devices are your friend. We brought 2 ipods, a DVD player, and a Nintendo DS.

4. Don't let them think playing in the aisle is an option (because it really shouldn't be).

5. Eat whenever they let you leave the plane, because they are so mean that they'll only give you tiny bags of pretzels and little baby cups of whatever beverage you request. (....which my kids thought was the most amazing thing ever.)

We ate "airport Italian" in Wisconsin. I was hoping for an "everying cheese" restaurant, but there was nothing that thematic near our terminal. They had gelato, so we forgave them.

All in all, I'd say it was a highly successful journey....and I would prefer driving....if it wasn't so dang far.

Spring Break: Fish Hatchery

Us, enjoying our country pusuits...


Hard to tell from the picture, but there are all kinds or rainbow trout flopping around in there. (That's what the Lost Sea stocks their lake with.)


James was o-so-tempted to stick his fingers in the raceways, just like the sign said not to. (He's not reading that well yet.)


...but, if you do, they'll be eaten by tiny sharks...


Lovin' that beautiful Tennessee scenery...


...where wild dogwoods abound...


...and tiny ferns are ripe for the stealin'!

Spring Break: The Lost Sea

Ah, the wonders of the Lost Sea. The big kids loved this when they were younger, so of course we had to drag them along this time (just determined to hate it).


Anthony with Coze, as per usual.


But who could hate having a little adventure in a giant cave? Not my kids. (Cozy was a bit unsettled and clingy for the first half. ...and then she was over it and running along with the rest of 'em.)


We looked at various rock formations. (Not to brag, but I did get dripped on by a stalactite...it's good luck you know...and not the one that drips when they flush the upstairs toilet.)


Old graffiti. Carbon-dated and proven authentic.


Moonshine stil. I told the kids that I wasn't sure if they had Tennessee moonshiner ancestors (they'd have to ask Grandma Ruby about that); however, they definitely do have Arkansas moonshiner ancestors. That was the heritage part of the tour.


...and, at the bottom of the cave, the lost sea. They drove us around the underground lake in glass-bottom boats...not that you can see much of the fish they stock it with...it's dark. Still, pretty exciting for kids. (Don't they look it in this picture? Don't let it fool you. They were having a blast.) Anthony was even asking to come back for one of the overnight trips you can do there.


My favorite part:
The guide told us he was about to turn off all of the lights, so that we could experience total cave darkness.
James wasn't paying attention.
The lights went out.
"Hey!" he said, quite indignant.

Guess you had to be there.

I think he needed one of these...

Spring Break: Bald River Falls

We took a little outing with the kids each day of our visit. They may or may not have been timed to coincide with "happy hour" at Sonic. The first trip taught us a little life lesson.

Don't go see this:


Right after you drink this:


It made everyone have to pee - real bad.

So, we didn't follow this path to the top of the waterfall.


Instead, we forged our own trail, so everyone could have the bit of privacy they needed.

We also found a lovely stream, packed with perfect skipping stones...cute sedums that made their way into the car...and James' latest slimy find...


Mossy, ferny goodness! That's my idea of a nice forest.