Route 66 Trip -- Day 2 -- Weather Delays & Butterflies

Wednesday, July 22nd, was our first full day of travel.

We had stayed overnight at the Super 8 in Kingston, TN. It recently changed from a Comfort Inn and is not yet on the Super 8 computer reservation system. I made my reservation online, but luckily I called the hotel directly to confirm. They had not received our information but happily reserved us a room over the phone. Good news since I knew we would be arriving late at night.



I had resolved to keep our luggage to a minimum so we wouldn't feel crowded in our station wagon over the 2 week journey (and would have space for souvenirs). I also worked out a system so we wouldn't have to unpack & re-pack every day. I brought a large Ziploc bag to hold a change of clothes & our toiletries. That's the only thing we carried into the hotel. In theory it was a good idea. But on our first night it was clear the system needed some tweaking. A few extra trips to the car got us all of the necessary provisions.

The Super 8 facility had had a few upgrades recently and was much nicer inside than it appeared from the parking lot. The mattress & pillows were comfy and the bedding was soft. There were plenty of towels for the four of us.

There were really only 2 problems for us during our stay. The bathroom light could not be turned on independently of the exhaust fan, which sounded like a jet engine. The kids were terrified of it & chose to do their business in the dark (unfortunate for the housekeeping staff). In an effort to streamline our luggage, I left the kids' nightlight at home. I was certain I'd be able to crack the bathroom door & leave the light on instead. That wasn't possible at this Super 8. The vanity light had to suffice -- it made the room brighter than I like, but at least the kids didn't have any nightmares.

The other problem for me was the A/C unit. I'm a light sleeper so I knew motel life on the road might be rough. I was right. Every time that baby wound up its engine, I would jolt awake. It continued into the wee hours. Finally around 4a I was too tired to care anymore. So I woke the next morning bleary-eyed, having gotten 2 hours of sleep.

The continental breakfast was fine -- we snarfed down a variety of cereal, waffles, pastries, bagels & juice. The wi-fi signal was strong. And the lobby/breakfast room had a comfy couch.

Jacob & I are self-proclaimed coffee snobs, so we decided to skip the Super 8 offering & stop at the first coffee shop we spotted.
We departed around 9a -- about an hour later than planned. Yep, we also need to work on our morning routine too.

A few miles on I-40 were necessary to get to our "jumping off" location. But thereafter we stuck to state & local roads, especially ones designated as scenic byways. I pointed the car straight toward Kentucky & Jacob navigated our way.



The scenery was relaxing. We were fascinated by the blasting to widen the road.



Our first destination was Cave City, Kentucky. But just as we got to Glasgow (about 10 miles from Cave City), a nasty thunderstorm rolled through. The rain was so heavy the wipers couldn't keep the windshield clear. And lightning was striking nearby. So we decided it might be a good time to stop for lunch. We parked at the Glasgow city square and ran like crazy across a flooded street to the Fine Arts Bistro.



The bistro had a limited menu, but all the sandwiches were delicious. Jacob & I finally got our coffee -- except it wasn't very good. Mostly we enjoyed the artwork that filled the little cafe. There were paintings & photos & jewelry. And the kids entertained themselves with my camera.






By the end of lunch, the storm was letting up. But a quick weather check showed an even nastier storm just minutes away. So during a break in the clouds, we drove over to the local library. The kids read a book while I finished our household bills.

When the thunder had finally moved on, we loaded back in the car on our way to Cave City. It was still raining when we pulled up to Wigwam Village #2 just outside of Mammoth Caves National Park.

The movie CARS was our motivation for this trip and I wanted to visit as many movie-related locations along the way. Since we wouldn't get as far West as the Wigwam Village along Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ, this teepee would have to do.



The owner had closed the main office until check-in time but he offered to open it for us. He even ran back to his residence to get more Wigwam postcards for us to buy. We managed to get a few pictures in between thunder claps.





There were still storms in the distance. And the main teepee/gift shop was leaking something terrible. So I bought my first cheesy souvenir and we continued on our journey.



Keeping to the state roads, we skirted the edge of Mammoth Cave park -- gorgeous tree cover. Saw a family of wild turkeys walking in the rain. We continued through the Kentucky countryside to Hartford, KY. Their welcome sign says, "home to 2,000 happy people....and a few soreheads". LOL

It was getting late & we realized it would be impossible to get to the Giant Catsup Bottle in Collinsville, IL before nightfall. So we decided to stop for a picnic dinner at a park in Owensboro, KY. I had packed the bread & deli meat for lunch, but Mother Nature had changed those plans. We were approaching Owensboro & were nearly at the park when a confusing road sign sent us on a one hour detour back through the Kentucky countryside. (See Jacob's previous post)

Once we were headed in the right direction again, there was no time left for a picnic. We were in a race against darkness & also trying to time our arrival around a storm that was battering our final destination.
We bypassed Owensboro & headed straight for Evansville, IN over the Ohio River.



We passed through Indiana briefly and stopped at the Illinois Welcome Center to fix turkey sandwiches for the road. As we cruised through southern Illinois, the weather broke & we got to see a beautiful sunset.



But our day wasn't over yet. A quick check of my Twitter feed showed an update from St. Louis saying parts of the Interstate were closed due to flooding. That set off a flurry of map-checks and a phone call to Kip Welborn. He is a St. Louis resident I met on the Route 66 e-group. He wrote a book about traveling in St. Louis & I hoped he could help us navigate around the trouble spots. Kip assured us that if we took the proper detour straight to Staunton, IL and bypassed the Interstate, we wouldn't have trouble. Thanks, Kip!

We drove IL Hwy 4 through miles & miles of farmland in the dark. It was a little harrowing with all the tractor trailers using the same tiny 2-lane to get around the Interstate fiasco. And the local bugs seemed to be on a kamikaze mission. But we finally arrived at the Super 8 in Staunton, IL.
Our "hotel procedure" went a little more smoothly. We all went straight to bed & straight to sleep. And the bathroom light (separate from the fan) stayed on for the kids. No air conditioning unit could have kept me awake after a trip like that.


Notes for the day:

-- As I was cruising into KY from TN, I was upset when a butterfly got stuck on the windshield wiper & died. I didn't realize then that butterflies would be a common theme for our day. There were literally thousands of them along our path. They were all different sizes & colors. Some were traveling north, some south. It was impossible to avoid killing a few. And after a while I joked that it was a good thing our windshields were engaged & at maximum power because they seemed to be gunning for us.

-- We left our portable DVD player at home, insisting that our children would not be buried in a movie for the entire trip. I questioned my own sanity in that decision, but it worked out just fine. Though the boys didn't spend the whole day oohing & aahing at the scenery (like Jacob & I), they found their own way to entertain themselves. Charlie read his Harry Potter book.



And Will used his binoculars to spot pirates(?) along the way



-- Along the backroads of Kentucky, we started seeing brilliant folk art on the side of old barns. Turns out we were on the Kentucky Quilt Trail. I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of any. But it was quite a lot of fun to find those little "treasures" along the way.

-- I burned a couple of "Road Music" CDs before we left and they were a big hit. I can only imagine how strange we looked to other drivers rockin' out Wayne & Garth style to Bohemian Rhapsody. Party on!

Second Day and Adventures on the Kentucky Road System

Yesterday was the second day of our Rte 66 trip, but the first full day on the road. We traveled from Kingston, Tn to Staunton, Il. We drove through Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and then into Illinois.
The drive was very scenic since we routed around the interstate system and traveled on the byways of each state, except Indiana and Illinois since we had to make up some lost time. The drive was going very smooth until we reached Owensburg, Ky, then everything went to pot!
We were traveling on Kentucky HWY 231 into Owensburg, and we wanted to go through Owensburg to stop at a park and see a couple of oddities while we were there, but the signage for 231 were lackluster at best. To get into Owensburg you must pass over HWY60, which is an express way style road. The signage for HWY231 put us onto the express way that we were looking to avoid.
"No problem" I thought, we'll hop off the next exit and turn ourselves around, but the first exit put us onto another expressway that took us back to Hartford, KY (Home of 2000 smiling faces and a few soreheads). Now I believe that when this express way was designed the road engineers were taking a few shots of Kickin' Chicken, since this expressway had no exits for 24 miles. We had to go back to Hartford, we had driven through on HWY231, so we could turn around and drive another 24 miles back to HWY 60. This little "detour" put us an hour behind schedule and wasted 50 miles of drive time.
I can say that the silver lining of the detour is that it killed enough time for the storms that were rolling through the area to pass through, and made the interstate/express way drive a little less dramatic.

JStowe

Route 66 Trip -- Day 1 - Sort of

This trip down Route 66 has taken me years to plan. Route 66 was decommissioned in the 80's and no longer appears on a regular road atlas. So it requires special guidebooks to navigate the portions of the Mother Road that are still navigable.



Emily Priddy wrote a free online book called "Route 66 for Kids". I used it as the starting point for our travel plan. I also did my own research to make sure our trip includes plenty of adult-friendly activities too.
The boys originally got the idea to travel Route 66 from the movie CARS. Once I started researching the trip, I found out there is a large community of lovely folks helping maintain the charm of Route 66. I'm looking forward to meeting some of them along the way.

So last night after Jacob got done with work, we set out. Our intention was to get a head-start on our official vacation.



We drove I-40 West over the Tennessee mountains and stopped in Kingston, TN.



As our adventures unfold, I will post the good, the bad & the ugly. Stay tuned.

The Summer Wish List

I read a suggestion in a parenting magazine to have the kids make up their own list of summer activities. The idea is that they will be more enthusiastic & cooperative for an outing they thought up on their own.

Will wanted no part of something that involved sitting, thinking, and writing. His summer activities come to him through movement & happenstance. His list read:

1.) go swimming
2.) skateboard
...and then he left out the door with his skateboard.

Charlie seemed more intrigued by the idea. But he was having a hard time coming up with activities. So I sat down with him to help get his brainstorm started. Here is Charlie's list:

1.) go swimming
2.) see a parade
3.) climb a big tree
4.) ride the trolley
5.) go to the zoo
6.) go camping
7.) make ice cream
8.) see a bald eagle
9.) learn more Spanish
10.) write a blog
11.) ride a horse
12.) go to a baseball game
13.) go see a play
14.) go to the drive-in theater
15.) make real limeade
16.) pick peaches
17.) go on a safari
18.) grow veggies
19.) go to a football game
20.) collect all the quarters for all fifty states
21.) make a movie
22.) ride in a boat
23.) go fishing
24.) go ice skating
25.) read all of the Harry Potter books (Charlie only)
26.) skateboard at a skatepark (Will only)
27.) shoot a bow & arrow

As you can see, once he got started, there was no stopping him. That's a very long list for a fairly short summer. But I'm going to try and cover as many as possible. Clearly he's a young man who wants to experience the world. And I, for one, am going to enjoy being along for the trip.
Keep an eye out for us this summer. We may be shooting arrows from the back of a horse. Or making limeade at the drive-in theater. Time to get started....

A Horribly Entertaining Weekend

We are finally getting comfortable with the lazy days of summer. So I wanted to tell you about how this season began for us.
Due to the boys' Seussical rehearsal schedule, we couldn't go on an extended vacation for Memorial Day. So we settled on a 24-hour whirlwind trip to the North Carolina coast.

We left the house on Saturday morning headed in the general direction of Wilmington, NC. It's a simple drive down Hwy 74 straight into Wilmington. From there we headed south towards Carolina Beach. I had printed online directions to get us through Wilmington and to the beach. They turned out to be completely useless. There are only three numbered highways in Wilmington and they run in all directions. Luckily, the local DOT really wants people to find their way to the beach. So there are road signs pointing the way.

We didn't get to spend all day at the beach, just a few hours. But it was a great way to start the summer. The weather was breezy & beautiful and the water was nice and warm.








My impression of Carolina Beach based on the few hours we spent there:
-- Follow signs to the beach. Online directions are useless.

-- There is plenty of municipal parking at Carolina Beach. Before we left, I checked the city website & located a few lots. The spaces are metered and the automated ticket dispenser accepts debit cards!

-- Other than in the "downtown" area of Carolina Beach, there aren't traffic signals or crosswalks. Pedestrians beware! During busy times, it was really scary crossing the road to get to the beach.

-- Carolina Beach doesn't seem to be as crowded as Wrightsville Beach. There were plenty of people, but it didn't feel like we were falling over each other.

-- At low tide, Carolina Beach is a great place to find seashells. Some big ones were washed up high on the beach. Down in the surf, we only had to scratch off the top layer of sand to find thousands of tiny little treasures. Jacob even found a hunk of sea clay the size of a football.

-- And lastly, my oldest will rarely be featured in our beach photos because he doesn't stand still long enough. He loves the beach!


After a few hours we headed back to Wilmington to check into our hotel. Once again the online directions failed us & we got lost. But following a lovely tour of the waterfront district, we found the Country Inn & Suites. We needed to get cleaned up and rested before heading out for dinner and a show. The Country Inn & Suites was suggested to us by the theatre owner. Just a few days before our trip, I had snagged one of the few remaining rooms for the holiday weekend. For being a destination city so close to the beach, I thought $109/night was quite reasonable. Especially since breakfast was included. The hotel is relatively new and the staff was quite helpful. We used their business center to print the receipt for our theatre tickets. And later in the evening, the boys went swimming in the indoor pool. We will definitely stay there again when we're anywhere near Wilmington.

Our show was at The Browncoat Pub & Theatre on Grace Street in the riverfront district of Wilmington. As a special package deal, we also bought dinner at the Blue Plate Cafe a few doors down. All the food there is made fresh daily so they had run out of a few items by dinnertime. And the service was a bit leisurely considering we only had a little time before the show. But the food was downright amazing! I especially recommend the ribs -- and I'm not usually a rib eater. We polished off dinner and hurried over to the theatre.









Blue Plate Cafe on Grace Street in Wilmington


The Browncoat Pub & Theatre is a small bar attached to a tiny theatre. The bar is designed for the enjoyment of every Firefly/Whedon fan. There are handpainted murals under the bar depicting each Firefly character. The bar top is plastered with every Whedon-designed comic graphic ever printed. And the ceiling has white Christmas light draped with black to look like outer space.
The theatre has about 40 seats. The Browncoat specializes in independent productions, especially by local playwrights. It is a non-profit and genuinely exists for the sake of its art.

The reason we traveled over hill & dale to come to the Browncoat Theatre was to see the Browncoat-essential production of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog". Every member of our family is a huge fan of the movie. The Browncoat Theatre obtained the rights to adapt it for the stage. They worked with Maurissa Tancharoen, one of the Dr. Horrible writers, to make sure the show adhered to the original spirit of the movie.
We arrived just before the show and very nearly had to sit in the last row. But luckily we were tricked-out in full fan gear. So we got upgraded to front row, V.I.P. seats. Check out my fanboys getting ready for the show.




We were NOT disappointed. The whole cast is really talented. They did a great job overcoming the challenges of bringing a movie to the stage. The Wonderflonium-containing van was merely implied, with Captain Hammer perched atop a ladder. There were some moments when pre-taped video was projected onstage to allow for quick plot changes. What was especially appealing is that a stage production allowed the characters to be more over-the-top. Moist became a sniffling, sneezing mess who occasionally spewed some unknown goo towards the audience. He also served as the stand-in dart board for the "So They Say" number. And the mayor, who was extremely minor in the movie, was a complete goofball onstage during "Everyone's a Hero". Somehow, they rigged the Death Ray to smoke & sizzle when it malfunctioned. That was quite impressive.


Dr. Horrible & Moist (sneezing)


Billy meets Penny


Captain Hammer's here, hair blowing in the breeze


I hate the homless.....-ness problem that plagues our city


We came back to the Country Inn after the show, had a restful sleep, a humongous breakfast the next morning, and hurried back to Charlotte so Jacob could work on Sunday afternoon.
By Monday night, the boys were back at the theatre for their first full dress rehearsal. And there were still a few days of school remaining. But our summer had officially started.

On the Radio

Since late January, Will has been going to school every Tuesday at 7:00a to practice with the 4th grade choir for 45 minutes before classes begin. Their Spring choral presentation was a musical number that required quite a bit of practice.

By mid-March, the 4th grade choir joined the 5th grade choir for joint rehearsals. They practiced every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Finally on April 29th, we got to see the finished product.

Parents & students crowded into the cafe/auditorium for a history of radio music presented by KYDZ Radio.

Here is a picture of the entire stage from my viewpoint. There were tons of kids in this production. Some had speaking or dancing parts.



Jacob was sitting down front so the video is filmed from a "Will-cam" point-of-view. Some of the microphones were malfunctioning so I edited out the portions where the dialogue isn't audible. Will worked really hard on this project and we're very proud of him.

Part One


Part Two

My Birthday by Charlie

On my birthday I went to a hockey game with my dad. I got to meet Chubby the Polar Bear. He’s the team mascot. I really liked the Eyeball Race. It’s where people dressed in eyeball suits. I love hockey!

After that I went to Dunkin Donuts. I got an éclair.

Let's Dance

Will and Charlie started taking hip-hop dance lessons last September. By November, Will was asked to join a dance team of 7 - 9 year olds for the purpose of competing in regional dance meets. We originally chose Studio1 Talent because it is a relaxed environment for the kids to learn dance, so I wasn't immediately sold on the idea of competition. But the instructor assured us that she wanted them to have fun and not get stressed-out. Will, ever the optimist, wanted to give it a try.

He spent his Saturday mornings rehearsing with his group -- sometimes just the boys & sometimes the whole gang. It was only for an hour so it wasn't too hard on our schedule. Since November they've done two exhibition shows. One was for parents of the dance studio and the other was at a Dance4Haiti fundraiser.

This past weekend was their first time performing in competition. We spent the day in Lexington, South Carolina where they competed against hundreds of other kids from other studios. Luckily there was a "recreational" dance category for teams who only meet once a week. Some of the other groups were considered true "competition" teams. They meet 4 or more times each week and have costumes worth $200+. Their routines were extremely refined and their dancers looked pageant-ready. It was a little unsettling for me. And it was fairly intimidating for our kids.

Overall, I think it was a good learning experience for the team. While they waited, they got to sit in the audience and watch some of the other routines. Their instructor gave them a pep talk before they went onstage and reminded them that they didn't have to be the best, they just needed to do their best.

I got some video of the routine. I apologize for the quality -- it was filmed in stealth-mode. Video cameras weren't allowed in the auditorium. The tournament sponsors want us to buy an official DVD. Oops, oh well.



All the hard work paid off. Not only did they win a 1st place trophy for their routine, they were also picked as best overall team in the "Recreational" category for their age group. I believe that is a credit to their enthusiasm, positive attitude and teamwork.

Weird Science

April 9th (Friday) was our Spring Break Science Day. The theme was chosen by Charlie and he was anxiously anticipating this day all week. I had prepared several experiments for them from ideas I found in Family Fun magazine and from education.com.

Our first concoction was Homemade Hair Gel with Glitter. The water had to boil, then once the gelatin was added, had to cool for 2 hours before adding the glitter. Our first attempt failed when old gelatin clumped together instead of mixing smoothly. No worries -- our 2nd attempt worked perfectly. We put the bowl in the refrigerator and moved on to experiment #2 -- Lava Lamp.



We put cooking oil, water & food coloring in an old juice bottle. Instead of heat, we used Alka-Seltzer tablets to propel the water through the oil. This turned out to be their favorite experiment of the day. Next I had planned to show them how the carbon dioxide created by fermenting yeast would fill up a balloon. Only I couldn't find the dang balloons! The boys were disappointed. And when a neighbor invited them over to watch a movie, they bailed out. Meanwhile I searched high & low for those balloons (never found them, though).

After a movie break, they were ready for more science. Using online instructions, I had set up a pile of pennies, washers and lemon-juice soaked paper towels. The idea was that if they were stacked up properly, it would create a battery and make the boys' fingers tingle. It was a good idea in theory, but it didn't work for us. I'm not sure if our washers weren't zinc-coated like I thought or if there wasn't enough copper in our pennies (though I did use coins pre-1948). Regardless, we moved our operation outside for experiment #4 - Baking Soda Volcano



This is the experiment that Will was most anticipating. He had heard about spectacular science fair volcano demonstrations and wanted to re-create one himself. I even got them safety glasses in case things got out-of-hand. Following the directions from the magazine, I let them load up the container on their own. The ensuing reaction wasn't so much an eruption as it was a sizzle. The boys were underwhelmed. They theorized that perhaps they didn't use enough vinegar. And so they tried a few more times to produce a catastrophic reaction -- to no avail. And they used up the rest of the vinegar which was needed for experiment #5 -- Acidic & Base Indicator. So our experiments concluded for the day. The hair gel was cooled so we added the glitter and I fashioned them both a new hairdo.

Spring Break - Lazy Day

The boys wanted one day of Spring Break to be a day of rest. On Thursday, we stayed inside the house all morning and most of the afternoon. We played a lively game of Scrabble. The boys spent some time playing Lego Indiana Jones & NHL Hockey on the Playstation. We didn't get out of our pajamas until it was time for violin lessons at 3p. Once we grabbed dinner from Earth Fare, we came back to the house and resumed our lazy ways. I was even too lazy to pick up the camera & take a picture. So relaxing.

Spring Break - Park Day

April 7th (Wednesday) was designated "Park Day". We intended to visit every playground in Rock Hill and a couple in Fort Mill too, if time permitted.
We started the day at our local Earth Fare market. They have a free kids' cooking class that the boys have been dying to try. And as an added bonus, some friends of ours came along too. The Crafton girls are 7 & 4 years old and we don't get to see them nearly as much as we'd like. The "cooking" project for the morning was to experiment with different fruit and see which made the best tasting smoothie. While the kids were blending, I sat with the girls' mom in the cafe area. It was so nice to eat breakfast, drink a big cup of coffee and chat with a friend -- uninterrupted!
Once the class was finished and their bellies were full of fruit, we said goodbye to the Craftons & headed out for our first park. Some early recon last week made us realize that Fewell Park had undergone so many changes that it wasn't much fun anymore. We crossed that one off our list and went straight to playground #2 -- Cedar Crest. It's been refurbished recently and the kids like it even more than they used to. The weather was beautiful and there were plenty of folks who had the same idea as us. I nabbed the last parking space!



There were lots of toddlers at the park and the boys did a great job of avoiding collisions (while racing down the slide). Parks are a great place to play -- not just on the playground equipment -- so we brought along other "recreational items". I brought out our baseball gloves and we had a game of catch. After almost an hour, the boys were ready to move on.



Our next stop was a tiny playground near the Winthrop Coliseum. I don't even know if it has a name. There is one piece of equipment, some swings, and absolutely NO seats or benches for parents. I was hoping their interest in this location would be short-lived. The kids spent some time on the swings -- something that had been removed from the previous park. But, luckily, a bathroom emergency made it necessary to go quickly to our next destination -- Cherry Park.

Cherry Park is arguably the largest park in town. In addition to a rather large playground, it has a baseball and soccer complex, indoor and outdoor picnic pavilions, foot & bike trails, and a bathroom! (several bathrooms, actually)

We took the chance to sit down and eat our picnic lunch before the boys joined the throngs & throngs of other children who were also enjoying a beautiful day at the park. Cherry Park was a little more enjoyable for Will and Charlie because there were busloads of elementary school children from local daycare centers. So they were able to join in with children their own age. They waited patiently for a turn on the swings and helped other kids gather up hundreds of caterpillars. I was the one who eventually had to insist that we move forward with our plans.



There was an older playground about 1/2 mile from Cherry Park, but once again the boys opted to skip it. They were eager to visit Rock Hill's newest park, Manchester Meadows. The soccer complex there is gorgeous. And the clubhouse is headquarters for Rock Hill Parks & Rec so the bathrooms are always clean. They have level, paved paths throughout the complex which are perfect for biking, skating, etc. The boys had chosen their preferred mode of "wheeled transportation" and were ready to get going. But you can tell from the picture that they were already running out of steam. I decided to stick with my sneakers and walked the path. But I had no trouble keeping up with my two tired little boys. After a few laps around the field, they played a while on the playground. It's the newest one in town and is equipped with a climbing wall and gymnastic rings. It has approximately 6 slides and plenty of room for kids of all ages. The boys always have fun at Manchester.

We finally headed home at 4:00p. After 5 hours at various parks we were all sweaty and I was sunburned. The boys, though exhausted, were still hoping to visit the parks in Fort Mill before Will's taekwondo class at 6:30p. But I was afraid that using up their last bit of energy would turn their moods sour & ruin our fun day. I made them a deal -- I would take them out for dinner instead. Ha! My kids can't resist food.

We went to the new Bat's BBQ next to the Food Lion on Celanese. The kids pigged out -- they were starving! If any of you locals go, I highly recommend the smoked sausage and sweet potato fries. They had just enough energy to make it through taekwondo class and get home for bed.

Sports Day

The boys & I decided to have a theme for every day of Spring Break. Yesterday (Monday) was Sports Day. We vowed to spend a big chunk of our day playing sports. The idea was to have fun but to also practice fundamental skills of each. The boys picked basketball, tennis, skateboarding, boxing and gymnastics. Their friend, Sarah, who lives nearby joined us.
We started by shooting baskets at our kid-sized goal in the driveway. I had a feeling it would be less frustrating for Charlie who isn't quite ready for regulation size.



Then we packed the car with gear and headed down the street to our neighborhood sports area. It is a combination tennis/basketball court. It's in utter disrepair but was sufficient for our needs. We played tennis for the first 45 minutes. But the court was in full-sunlight and I soon realized we had forgotten sunblock. So we opted for basketball & skating (in the shade). Luckily I did remember the water bottles and allergy pills. We may have gotten a touch of sunburn. But even with the heavy layer of pollen on every surface, we didn't have a single sneeze or asthma attack. Yay!




Once we were home & had a snack, the boys brought out their boxing gloves & sparring helmets. I thought Sarah was awfully brave to agree to get in "the ring" with my rough & tumble gang. But she's a martial arts student, just like Will, and held her own just fine. I showed them how to protect their heads & asked them to punch "respectfully". But they didn't hear a word of it. They all did their best to obliterate each other. As a result, everyone got their bell rung, got mad, and quit. So, to summarize, boxing did not go well.



We took a break for dinner and a bath. Surprisingly, the boys didn't harbor any ill feelings about the boxing row. I guess that's just part of being a kid. We had intended to make gymnastics our last sport of the evening. The boys were going to practice their handstands & backbends. But it became clear halfway through dinner that Charlie's day was coming to a close. By the end of dinner he was in full meltdown mode. He went to bed crying, with a sore behind.

Tantrums aside, it was a great day. I found out that Will can now skate like a champ -- and that he enjoys tricks that make a mom's heart stop. I was also pleasantly surprised that Charlie has fairly decent basketball skills. Enough so that I offered to send him to camp to improve them. The kids improved at all of their sports, exercised good sportsmanship and had a lot of fun (so did I).

Easter

Easter Sunday was another special day for us. Carmax was closed so Jacob didn't have to work. Instead of starting the day with candy, we made beanie bunnies out of old mismatched baby socks. I got the instructions from Family Fun magazine -- really simple to make. It seemed like a good alternative to sweets (the kids got plenty of that at school last week).



I made the yellow one for Charlie as a prototype. Then Will wanted to help make his own purple one. Will named his rabbit "Michael". Charlie's remains unnamed (poor, bunny).
Then, for the first time in several years, our whole family went to church together. The kids were excited about the Easter Egg hunt during the Sunday school hour. That is until they found out the eggs held puzzle pieces that the whole class could assemble afterward. (LOL, still no candy)



Jacob & I attended the service - some interesting reflections on Passover and Easter. The UU church is founded on the principles of both Christianity and Judaism so this was a big week for them. The music included several old African American spirituals from the days of slavery. The theme was freedom & renewal. We were asked to consider what we would be willing to give up in order to have freedom & begin a new life. Like I said, interesting.
By midday we were headed to north Charlotte to spend the day with our friend (and Jacob's boss), Neil. His daughter is visiting from California this week. We've heard so much about her and this was finally our chance to meet her. We spent all afternoon in the backyard -- the boys played games, grownups chatted, and Neil was the grillmeister.



Neil also has a great workshop and was kind enough to let Jacob use his tools to fix the blown struts on my Honda. So Jacob spent most of the day working on the car.



Potholes & bumps in the road no longer cause my car to careen out of control. It rides like a dream now. Thanks, hon!
We spent all afternoon with good friends eating way too much food. We didn't get home until after dark. And, once again, the kids went straight to bed and right to sleep. I could really get used to this.

One Man's Junk....

Saturday, April 3rd was designated "Family Yardwork Day". The weather was beautiful and there's plenty of work to be done around the outside of the house. But instead it ended up being "Clean Out the Shed" day. The boys helped Jacob haul everything out into the backyard so it could be sorted & discarded. As you can see, there was a lot of stuff.



I'm not even sure how that much stuff fit inside an 8'x10' space. It was like circus clowns coming out of their tiny car.
The boys helped bag all the trash. I boxed up the metal components. Jacob ultimately hauled off 2-1/2 truckloads to the dump and the metal recycling center. I would like to say we all pitched in. But the kids spent most of their time arguing over who was doing the most work (and neither really doing much of any). And most of my day involved shopping for & preparing goodies for the Easter cookout. Didn't matter -- a man's gotta decide what stays & goes in his work space. We were only day-labor anyway.
By the end of the day there was plenty of space for all our mowers, tillers, etc., to have a home instead of languishing outdoors.



As an added bonus, our children once again went straight to sleep without struggle. And all it took was a little manual labor.

A Good Friday

Yesterday was the first day of Spring Break for the boys. And, as luck would have it, Jacob had the day off too. So we labeled today "Daddy Day". Charlie wanted his Dad to take him to the driving range. Will wanted to try out the local ice rink. We thought there would only be time for one, but Jacob put off some car repairs so he could do both. (Awww, nice Daddy)


After a quick lunch, we all headed off to the Pineville Ice House. Will had a chance to try ice skating for the first time a couple of weeks ago. He already knew how to roller-blade and took to the ice like a natural.





But Charlie had never been on the ice before and rarely dons his roller blades. So I was curious how he would handle the whole experience. He had a really rough time at first -- he fell mostly. Jacob was really patient with him and spent quite a bit of time getting him comfortable on the ice. And I am proud to say that no matter how many times he fell, Charlie always got up and tried again. By the end of our visit, he was making laps all by himself. Charlie's buzzword for the day was "perseverance". (I'm still so proud, can you tell?)



Once we filled them up with pizza and put them in their pajamas, they went right to sleep. Busy and exciting day!

Let's give this a try

I promised Big W that if he learned to type, I would start a blog for all of us. I'm not sure his wpm is up-to-speed just yet. But I'm going to give this a try. Stay tuned for a fantastic (or disastrous) log of our (mis)adventures.