The ramblings of a mom with triplets plus one and now a mini-farm in the making.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Coke Tour in Atlanta
While visiting Atlanta this summer, Wink and Mimi took us on the Coke tour. At the end of the tour they give you a free bottle of coke along with free all you can drink taste testing of Coke products from around the world. I left with a sugar headache and #2 left with a nifty new bottle opener. As long as he is around, you will always be able to open a Coke bottle. ;)
This past summer, the kids and I did our annual "tour of the South". We visited family in Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. On the way down to the Hovies family reunion, we were able to take the kids to "the rocket". It is a rest area in northern Alabama. It was always neat as child for me to be able to stop there and get a free cup of Coke or water. The next generation got to have a little fun there too this summer. We have already been back to the south in the last several weeks and "the rocket" has become a landmark when traveling for the kids as it was for Spelly and me.
#2 had money that he just had to spend and he found some super sweet spy glasses at Cracker Barrel. These glasses have mirrors on the outer part of the lens so you can see behind you. Here is my super cool spy.
Well in #4's case it was the egg and it turned out not to be a chicken. #4 had money burning a hole in his pocket at Cracker Barrel one morning and found an egg that you put in water to watch it hatch. The directions said it could take up to 3 days for the entire procsess and #4 was not going to wait until we could be settled at our next stop to place it in water. So Spebbie fixed him up and we all got to take turns holding #4's egg on the drive back to Pappy's house.
Spebbie must have some awesome water for hatching eggs because #4's egg had cracked by the time we made it to the house. By that evening, #4 had "helped" by pulling away some of the egg and he pulled out a small dinosaur.
I tried to talk him into letting the dinosaur, now named Robert, soak in a bowl of water to see if he would get bigger. #4 finally agreed to this while visiting Mimi. After two days and one night in a bowl of water, Robert looked like this:
It has been a week since Robert had that good soaking and now he is slowing shrinking. His arms and hands have shrunk the fastest and are now gimpy in comparison to 7 days ago. Poor Robert.
I can't remember the last time the Hovies' got together. Maybe at a funeral but even then not all the grandkids could come. And even then, there weren't all the great grand kids.
Spebbie and Spottie (Pappy's sisters) worked hard to organize the get together and had the Trussville Playstation reserved for us along with having it catered with bbq. Laser tag was awesome and Jay burnt up the roller rink until Speve laced up and started skating backwards.
We also did a round of go carts, which was SOOOOO fun. My plan was to wipe Jay's rear end on the rack but I never did catch up to him. But I did pass many other carts and it was so great. It was exhilarating when I passed Spebbie and Spoog but that much more awesome when I passed Spill. Spat said he got cheated because he had a slow car and was ready for another show down with me back home but we ended up not having time. I personally think he realized that I would have smoked him again!
Here is the whole group. There were only two spouses and two cousins who were unable to attend. I hope we do this next year too!
Spesse wanted me to make sure I included him in this post. He is in the picture (he is the tallest head) but unfortuanately I wasn't able to get clear shots of him roller skating.
Yes, that is what one of my children said about the slide at East Lake Park. Driving by my old stomping grounds, at least while I was in Birmingham, I saw the slide. It looked like one of the two slides I used to slide down. It had the same steps (closed back steps) and it was all metal. I felt for sure it was the same slide from 30 years ago. Or at least I wanted it to be the same slide. But just in case it was, I had my kids go slide down it while i took pictures. That way, the slide will have been slid down by two generations.
While Jay and I were taking the tour at CNN, Wink and Mimi took the kids to Centennial Park to play in the fountains. As you can see from the pictures, they had a great time.
Today, Jay and I took the CNN tour at the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta. It was very interesting along with being fairly inexpensive and something I would recommend to anyone visiting the Atlanta area.
It took many months of saving, working, double checking the website and day dreaming but the girls finally made it to the American Girl store!
Today we made the short trip with Mimi to the store. This being the highlight of their trip. We walked in and #1 went right to the doll case of Julie and #3 wondered around until she found the doll case of Kit.
Next, we will be looking at doll clothes patterns. I think both of them will enjoy sewing doll clothes when they realize how much they can do with their own imagination and their sewing machine.
My desert city kids were SOOOOO excited when Speannie suggested we drive to a creek down the road a piece from her house to wade in the water, assuming it had some water. After driving several miles down dirt roads and going over one lane bridges that had no water flowing under them, we made it to an area that met if not exceeded their expectations. The kids were so surprised that I let them get in the water with their clothes on and not their bathing suits.
The water ended up being a little deeper than expected (a little over their knees) and the rocks were slippery (so #4 tells me). #4 "slipped" and got ALL his clothes wet, so that opened the door for the rest to follow suit. They got to wade/swim in the creek and can't wait to go back.
Again, my little city dwellers surprised me in the fact that NONE of them were scared of the little fish swimming around their legs. They were actually trying to catch the little fish with their hands. They stand back from the lobster tank at Wal-Mart!
We met some other people who pointed out the a better swimming hole was just around the bend but I think our knee deep fun will work out just fine.
We are now visiting Spandma and Spandpa who live in the country. So needless to say, the kids are roaming the country side (the large yard and any adjacent pastures)in search of fun. They have found it with the trampoline, cows, grass, rain and a wagon. At Aunt Speannie's house, they are dying to look for snakes in the cow pond. This surprises me, as they are scared of moths flying around the house at home. #1, #2 and #4 requested a shovel to use as the method of defense against any snakes. They then requested the use of Speanie's shotgun because they felt that would be a easier. They assured Speannie that #2 was a professional with a shotgun, as he had shot a BB gun at the lake bed. Speannie suggested they call me to verify that it would be OK for Quick Draw McGraw and his sidekicks to use the shotgun. Needless to say, the answer was no. So they have all taken a fancy to wondering and exploring. #1 has found her a new pet, the neighbors horse. Her and Sperri have been able to ride it and #1 is ready for one of her own.
Mimi came to visit us a few weeks ago and wanted to take the kids to Fremont. #2 was not really wanting to go but sure was glad he did go! The kids really enjoyed the "American Pie" show and it was fun to watch them sing the song and dance (That is why a few pictures are blurry.) They enjoyed shopping at the souvenir stores even more because Mimi had given them all $5 to spend. One unexpected treat was the "ball of death". It consisted of a steel ball cage and 1-3 motorcycles would ride around inside. At first I thought it was going to be corny but it turned out just the opposite! Jay was even impressed!
This past weekend, we had our Special Assembly Day in Utah. We spent the night and had a picnic at the lunch the break with our friends. I am happy to report that this trip to Utah did not include a trip to the doc-in-the-box, as did our last trip, for sickness.
The girls were able to wear two new dresses I made Friday night for this trip.
This picture is just a random picture of the view from our seats. I believe we had 2,100 people Sunday!
Lynnie from Monkey Bread Tree challenged me to a Photo Find Mission. This mission is simply to look in the fourth folder and find your fourth picture and post it on your blog. Since Jason and I tried to "modify" our last computer and therefore now have a new computer, I no longer have real files for my pictures. So I did the next best thing, I found the fourth picture in the fourth folder on one of my random jump drives and found:
This is a picture of what my dad believes to be Art Bell's house. When Deddy (yes this is how I spell it because this is how I have been told I say it) came to visit a few years ago, he wanted to make a trip to find Art Bell's house. Art Bell's Coast to Coast was the staple late night radio talk show we listened to as we did papers in the middle of the night. Little did I ever know there would come a time in my life that I could name a late night radio talk show host let alone have a picture of this man's house in my possession.
Last year, our family, including Pappy and Spam embarked on the neatest "vacation" ever. We call it "the trip". I had made this entry for my website when we got back home but never updated it. I thought it would be fun to share the post and some pictures.I hope you enjoy "the" story of "the" trip.
And they're off.....
The trip officially started when Pappy and Spam left Tennessee, heading west on Pappy's new Harley. With saddlebags packed full and rain suites in tow, they left on the first leg of the adventure early on a Thursday. They almost made it to Texas before they bedded down for the night. They rolled into our driveway Friday night (Saturday morning) a little after midnight, sunburned and walking funny, but with a story to tell.
Are we ready to go yet? Are we ready to go yet? Sunday
When Sunday morning rolled around, the kids were ready to go. They had on their motorcycle vests Pappy made and they were chanting "Colorado here we come". #2 won the first chance to ride with Pappy but the heat forced us to wait until the middle of the night to head to Uncle Steve's house.
Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Monday and Tuesday
Because we didn't start off until after 1am, most everyone in the car slept until about a 1 1/2 hours before we arrived at Uncle Steve and Aunt Kristi's. Once in Grand Junction, we were entertained and well fed for the next two days. We got to play at the lake, swim in the pool, buy some wine, play with cousins and lay around planning our next leg of the trip. It was hard to leave knowing we would not have really good baked beans or a big breakfast made for us again for a while.
Now where? Yellowstone National Park or Bust!! Wednesday and Thursday
Again, we did not get an early start and drove long into the night. Part of our my plan for the trip was to camp along the way with our tent and cargo trailer at KOA's. But driving late into the night became an expected part of our plan by this first night. With this new component, camping and roughing it took on a new meaning.
Our first night of camping on our way to Yellowstone consisted of Spam and me sleeping in the car with the kids and Pappy and Jason making a nest in the trailer parked at a remote (or so we thought) truck stop. We soon found out a few short hours later that it was the hub for natural gas workers for BLM at Jonah Field, one of the largest on-shore natural gas fields in the US near Pinedale, WY. So with this early wakeup call of diesel motors humming we did a quick swish and a promise, as far as getting cleaned up, knowing we would get a hot shower that night at a campground (or so we thought) and off we went toward Yellowstone.
We stopped to get fueled up in Jackson, WY and drove through Grand Teton National Park with our sites set on Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. That was our only mission and then to head east toward Devil's Tower. It was hard to drive through both parks and not stop and just gaze in amazement at the beauty of it all. But we were had places to go and a short time to do it. We saw Old Faithful shoot up and then ate an early dinner and watched it shoot again. It was awesome.
We then drove through part of Yellowstone going east with me having high hopes of making it to a KOA close to Devil's Tower. It started to rain on our way out of the park and Spam and Pappy donned their rain suites. Again we drove well into the night and had chosen the high road based on it not being too mountain-ey (or so we thought). Pappy pressed on in the rain while I followed in the car. We fearlessly drove up Horseshoe Mountain, which seem to go on and on and on. It would make you think you were beginning the descent but then you would start going up again. I think we topped out at over 9,000 ft. We passed only a few vehicles and one big truck (ask Jason about "passing" the truck) going the opposite way and none going our way. It is a story within a story and will forever be referred to as "going over the mountain". We finally bedded down for our second night at yet another truck stop in Sheridan, WY.
Not quite a KOA...but getting closer Friday
We parked by a babbling brook at a truck stop and slept in the car and trailer again. By this time I really wanted a shower so I hung a sheet at the back of the trailer and washed out of a bucket. I was so glad I had brought soap, a towel, a washcloth and a few gallons of water. If the truth were known, I am sure everyone was happy I had brought those items. Not just because I probally needed to bathe but also because they wanted to bathe too. I also had shampoo so we took turns washing each other’s hair in the grass next to the trailer. After a change of clothes and some muffins from the truck stop for breakfast, we were off again. #1 was the winner of the draw to ride with Pappy.
We stopped for lunch at a rest area and made a day camp while the kids played on the playground, Pappy took a nap, and Jason grilled some hamburgers on our little camping grill. Realizing how time was slipping away, we decided not to go to Devil's Tower but to push on to Sturgis, SD and Mt. Rushmore. #4 won as next rider on the motorcycle and off we went. As drove along the highway, in the far distance to the north, we could see Devil's Tower. We waved and headed on.
Right before we rode into Sturgis, Jason pulled over so that Pappy could be the one to ride the Harley into town. We stopped at the Harley-Davidson store in town, bought a few souvenirs, ate ice cream and headed to Mt. Rushmore.
We pulled into the Mt. Rushmore park in the early evening and the kids got to be Jr. Rangers. They received a badge and a patch and learned about history.
That night we stopped early enough to find a KOA!!! We made a fire, pitched the tent, heated up soup and made sandwiches. This time Sam, #3, and I slept in the tent, #1 and #2 each had their own full seat to stretch out in the car and #4, Jason and Pappy headed for the trailer.
Heading home...or at least to St. Louis.. Saturday
When we got up, we had showers calling all of our names. After cereal for breakfast, we packed up and headed to see Crazy Horse. We were in the mindset of having to head to Nashville, so we decided to see Crazy Horse from the highway. So we waved and headed on. We went back to town and made a trip down the Presidents Alpine Slide. After a quick bite to eat we headed east toward Sioux Falls. We drove late into the night and stopped at truck stop (surprise surprise) in Kansas City, MO to sleep a few hours. Spam and I were awakened by two truck stop employees wanting to know what we were doing. I guess they did not notice all the people sleeping but we got up and were off again.
Almost to Nashville.... Sunday
It wasn't very long and we were in St. Louis. We contemplated taking the kids to see the Arch (We all had seen it. Jason and I met in St. Louis when I lived there.) but thought of being home/Nashville was too great. So we waved and headed on. But I could not go on without stopping at the truck stop were I worked when Jason and I met. It has changed so much but I still got a picture of the kids in front of it to show how Jason and I have come full circle.
We pulled into Pappy's apartment complex that evening, tired but happy. What a story to tell. Pappy circled the mid West and part of the West on his Harley. Jason got to be a Harley rider for part of the trip, and he doesn't even have a Harley. I felt like I was trucking again. The kids thought it was fun not to take a bath everyday, see lots of wildlife, ride the motorcycle and adventure sleep (that is what Opie Taylor called it) in the car.
The triplets have been major road trip kids since they were five months old. Yes that is when Meme and I loaded the three car seats in the back of the van, took out the middle seat and headed east. I only remember parts of that trip. Not that it was bad but I believe that was the trip of the infamous "handy dandy van" incident in OK City in a bad neighborhood in the middle of the night (ask Meme). So from that point on my kids accepted willingly to the open road. They have seen many many things and toured many places but this last trip seemed to be the eye opener. It was like every thing was new. This may have been why I enjoyed it so much. I had buddies with me this time who wanted to share and look and know. Before it was fun and neat as I introduced things that interested me to my young babies. But this time, we shared all the interests. The enjoyable smell of a skunk (again for this oddity you must talk to Meme), counting down the mile markers, eating in the car, singing the same song over and over, crossing bridges, playing "Tennessee River" every time we cross the Tennessee River (we crossed it in several states) and the list goes on. But what they really learned on this trip was all the wonderful things truck stops have to offer (except spray paint); showers, gas, candy, cheese sticks, coffee and toys. How do truckers make money when they can so easily spend it all right there at the Flying J?
As I have said, we have made many stops along the interstates we have traveled but this year we stopped near Amarillo, Tx at Cadillac Ranch. I looked for a can of spray paint at truck stop but had to settle for permant markers. It was so fun to stop and write on a car. So here was the fun we had that day...
Ok, I am leaving for home (minus a few stops on the way) in the early morning. I will not be able to post until the beginning of next week. I know most of you will be able to handle the absence for a few days but for those who are obsessed, you will just have to work through it.
I find it funny because it is somewhat a joke about those obsessing over my blog. Those of you who know me well know what I am talking about. I would love to give you the link of my all time favorite site but then WWW land would cite me for being OCD. But that is what medication is for!!
Anyway... I was reading in one of my magazines, Woman's World I think (I love this magazine because it gives good helpful hints and does not give me quizzes on my sex life or love life or marriage to make me uncertain if I am doing all that can to have society's expectations met. If you have questions on those subjects, I suggest reading the Bible. Now back to my story...) I was reading about "social smarts". One reader wrote in to find a tactful way of telling the reader's friend, who insists on the reader checking out her blog and leaving comments, that her life is boring and the reader has better things to do than to read her friend's blog. My heart sank as I got closer to the end because I felt for sure it was going to say "Sincerely, Stacy's workmates or Stacy's family or the people where Stacy shops". So to those who amuse me by checking me out, Thank you.
As mentioned in an earlier post, the kids and I got to go to Jonesboro, GA for a history lesson in the Civil War and GWTW the last afternoon we were there. While we were at Meme and Wink's house, the kids had the opportunity to earn more Crack Barrel money by picking up pine cones. Wink took us to Cracker Barrel for dinner and each kid took the money they earned and went on a spending spree! The kids were also treated to a spin around town on Wink's motorcycle. He has helmets with microphones which was the highlight of the ride. Here are some pictures.
On our last day in Georgia, we visited the town in which GWTW was based. Jonesboro was a neat small town to visit for history short history lesson. We visited the GWTW museum and did a quick driving tour of Civil War homes and a cemetery. I have seen the movie close to a million times but finally got the book at the museum to read. After dinner at Cracker Barrel (that is two times for those counting in the last week), we headed back to watch GWTW so the kids would have an idea of what we were looking at earlier in the day. Number 3 decided there was too much death in the movie and prefers to read the book. The other kids decided to they liked the movie and were full of questions.
The next day the kids and I packed up and headed north to Tennessee for the BIG wedding of Spam and the Jess Man.
My intention for this entry was to post pictures of the kids at the train depot but alas time is not allowing me to do so. And with this being the BIG day, I will have to wait until tomorrow. Check back for pics!
Wink is a retired Captain from Northwest Airlines. So flying for most his adult life, when he retired from Northwest he did not give up flying altogether. He has two airplanes, one 6 passenger plane and one one seater acrobat plane. He hangs out at the airport and introduced the kids to the airport last year when we were visiting. Last year, he flew the kids around in the six seater and showed off his skills in the acrobat plane. This year Wink is not feeling up to par for flying but the kids wanted to go to the airport to ride the electric scooter around the hangers. They also want to go so they can drink double fudge YooHoos. Last night, a buddy of Wink's was very kind to take each kid for a once around the airport in his plane "scrappy".
I did not have my camera so I had to this photo shoot with my phone camera, so I apologize for the fuzzy no flash photographs. Run your mouse over the picture and it will tell you who and what it is.
Location: blogging about the next phase of family life...country living, United States
I am a mom who had triplets and then had a surprise baby.
We are now living in the country, which is completely opposite from our life just 3 years ago.
