Catching Up
Well...we made it back from our vacation. We really had a great time, but we did have some interesting things happen. To sum-up our trip: we drove through 15 states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia--stopped for 1 night, Alabama, Mississippi--stopped for 5 nights, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri--stopped for 5 nights, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio--stopped for 1 night, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and back to Maryland. The map below shows our route. Blue dots are places we stayed overnight.
In Mississippi: both boys took a trip to a walk in clinic for ear infections; we toured the war zone on the coast; we met a pastor friend, his wife and three kids for lunch in Daphne, Alabama (Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay); we discussed my father's health which is failing quickly with a weak heart as well as his frame of mind with Vietnam flashbacks and depression; Zachary bought a trumpet in Alabama and is going to take lessons from me; met with Tracy and Charlie, my 27-year-old niece and her husband, one evening for supper; we took Ashton and Zachary to the school where Tracy is a biology teacher and cheerleading coach and Charlie is Chemistry teacher and soccer coach (I think); Tracy gave the boys each some freebies that they toss out at the games and told them they were Honorary Hornets; Tracy let the boys see her lab, look at some frogs they use for dissecting, and look into a new microscope at cells; Charlie let the boys try some chemistry experiments and lit a Bunsen burner for them; and we did a lot of swimming and eating.
In Missouri: we went to Wendy’s parent’s new church (First Baptist Kimberling City); David, Dana Katie, Nathan and Lilly came down for a short visit (Wendy’s brother and his family); we all went to Silver Dollar City where Wendy’s retired dad works on the roller-coaster Thunderation; it rained all day, but we did get to ride a few rides including the water rides (actually I was the only adult to ride the water rides, but we were already soaked from the rain); we went to the Springfield Zoo and saw lions, and tigers and bears (oh my); we looked at craft and antique stores which the boys hated until they found some Yu-Gi-Oh cards; after buying the Yu-Gi-O cards the boys discovered they were fakes and we had to return them; I bought them some Pokemon cards at the Walmart store to replace the Yu-Gi-O cards; Ashton bought a new Build-A-Bear pal—a Snow Leopard he names Larry; and we rested a lot.
During the vacation I also had to deal with three different issues from the church via e-mail and cell-phone. Did we actually get to take vacations before these inventions?
In Missouri: we went to Wendy’s parent’s new church (First Baptist Kimberling City); David, Dana Katie, Nathan and Lilly came down for a short visit (Wendy’s brother and his family); we all went to Silver Dollar City where Wendy’s retired dad works on the roller-coaster Thunderation; it rained all day, but we did get to ride a few rides including the water rides (actually I was the only adult to ride the water rides, but we were already soaked from the rain); we went to the Springfield Zoo and saw lions, and tigers and bears (oh my); we looked at craft and antique stores which the boys hated until they found some Yu-Gi-Oh cards; after buying the Yu-Gi-O cards the boys discovered they were fakes and we had to return them; I bought them some Pokemon cards at the Walmart store to replace the Yu-Gi-O cards; Ashton bought a new Build-A-Bear pal—a Snow Leopard he names Larry; and we rested a lot.
During the vacation I also had to deal with three different issues from the church via e-mail and cell-phone. Did we actually get to take vacations before these inventions?
Comments
Jenny in Ca