Christmas

Christmas is a magical time. This year it was a bit less magical on account of Jane's C. Diff. infection. We really gave it a valiant effort, but it took an extra 20 days of vancomycin into the new year to finally get rid of it for good. But, really, someone is always sick at Christmas. She tried her best and I have to admire her for it. 

She even made the effort to decorate Jesus' birthday cake with her sister. 

This is one of the strangest things I've ever seen. It kind of looks like a graveyard. Next year, we will not be decorating with peppermint bark chunks. 

New pajamas were had.

Lights were seen. 

And the wonder of Christmas morning came. 

Jane tore through her presents while Scruffy looked on. 

After Emily opened her sewing machine, she didn't have any patience for anything else. She started into sewing like she was getting paid to do it. 

It was a lovely Christmas, despite the fact that we did not celebrate it in Hawaii, which is a unrealistic dream of mine. No matter where we celebrate, it is a wonderful time (but it would still have been slightly more wonderful in Hawaii.)

Jane is 9

When Jane turned 9, she wanted a blue bike with a basket to hold Scruffy the stuffed dog. So that is exactly what she got.

But that's not all, she also got a rare, beautiful, warm December day on which to ride it.

Happy Birthday, Jane! Happy travels!

Adventures of Luna and Supergirl

Halloween is pretty decent as far as holidays go. No one expects too much in the way of paternal effort and it seems to never be a let down.

I mean, you procure a couple of squash. 

You tell the kids that you are absolutely not helping this year and if they picked out the design, they are going to do it themselves. 

But then you end up doing 3/4 of it because it's late and you really need them to go to bed and before that happens, you have to get the holey squash out on the porch. 

And it's all worth it. 

Emily went this year at Supergirl. Jane was Luna Lovegood. They would have been fine rolling around the neighborhood all by themselves while they demanded candy, but Emily said she thinks this might be her last year. So I brewed up some Cranberry Vanilla Wonderland tea (which had just come available) and accompanied them on their sugary adventure. Then I got cold and came home to hand out candy while Chris took the second leg of trick-or-treating.

I really love this time of childhood. I've decided I'm more of a mid-childhood mom than I am a infant/toddler mom. I think we are actually getting to the point where we can have fun with our kids. Right now we're in a small window where they still want us to tag along on their adventures but they no longer look to us for their every need. I'm glad I'm around to be a part of it.  

The Great American Eclipse

Last Monday we had to see this crazy event that the country seemed to be all a-buzz about. After all, I had never seen a total eclipse. Partial, yes. But partial eclipses are lame. 

So we got up in the middle of the night and drove a bit north to Glendo. The trip went smoothly. We arrived just at dawn. 

The kids kept themselves occupied until the Big Show started. 

Leading up to totality, we checked from time to time, but it was not impressive. It wasn't until it got close to totality that we actually began to feel a difference. 

And then.... for two and a half minutes, this is what we saw:

(Full disclosure, this is not my picture. It was taken from Glendo by someone with an awesome camera and serious skills. Then they put it on the internet and I stole it)

Taking off our glasses and looking at the sun was a profound experience. I can't even put it into words. It was absolutely spectacular. The two and a half minutes whizzed by and then it was over. 

Two hours later, we decided it was time to leave. It took us a little over an hour and a half to get to Glendo in the morning. We thought it would take 3 or 4 hours to get back.  

We were wrong. Getting back took 10 hours. We spent 4 hours just traveling to the interstate entrance. It was one of those traffic jams where you start to wonder if the zombie apocalypse has occurred. People were getting out of their cars. Families were getting out and walking. It was seriously scary. There was no cell phone service and no communication with the outside world. 

And let's just say the license plates were seriously green on the way back. Almost exclusively green. I think I could have counted the number of Wyoming plates on one hand. I really hope they generated some tax dollars while they were visiting the great white north. 

Some people thought I was crazy for bringing all the food and water that I did. But in the end, we went through a full cooler of food plus a box of Famous Amos cookies which are disgusting, but count as food in a pinch.

Chris was a hero. He did ALL the driving because he either didn't want me to suffer through it or he didn't want to keep climbing in the back to get the kids snacks. Either way I'm grateful. 

Nonetheless, we got back around midnight. Everybody was safe but bone tired. 

In the end, it was worth it. So worth it. Seeing 98% of the eclipse was nothing compared to totality. The 360° sunset, the stars, the dark blue sky and the fantastic white corona will stay with me forever. I am so glad we made the trip. 

I asked the kids if they felt the same way. 

Emily said that the eclipse was one of the most amazing things she's ever seen. 

Jane said that the trip was great because she caught grasshoppers. 

I think that about sums it up. 

Song of the South

This summer (thanks to my parents) we got to take a Chris and Rachael adventure! 

I love our adventures. We were having a hard time deciding where to go. But thanks to a fantastic Brandi Carlile and Emmylou Harris remake of a John Denver song, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" that I couldn't get out of my head, we decided to go to the South. 

All adventures begin at the airport

 and then a visit to Target at your chosen destination, which was Atlanta. I had never seen a cart conveyor before. Chris was probably embarrassed at how cool I thought this was.

Anyway, after obtaining the necessities, we proceeded with our Road Trip! This road trip was everything I ever wanted out of a road trip.

Look at this joint!

I love it!

Moon Pies somewhere between Georgia and Tennessee? Yes, please!

This was a super cool honey place along the road. Now anyone who has traveled I-80 in southern Wyoming can understand my fascination with roadside stops. Because there really aren't many on I-80. 

Look at these guys, busily making honey. We bought some Tupelo Honey there, and not just because I love Van Morrison. 

Finally we made it to the Smokies. Aren't they gorgeous?

We took a short hike up to Clingmans Dome, which is the highest point in Tennessee, at 6,643 feet above sea level, which is about 600 feet higher than our home and one of the lowest elevation hikes we've ever taken. Trust me, we really appreciated those low elevations with their abundant oxygen the next day. 

Just check out this view! It kills me!

We stayed in Gatlinburg, which is like a cross between Estes Park and a carnival. But we were tourists, so we did some of the touristy things, such as take this weird gondola ride:

The next day, we took our Serious Hike to the top of Mount Leconte. It was an out and back of 10.3 miles , which meant that the 2,965 foot elevation gain was taken up in a little over 5 miles. For anyone that cares, that averages out to an 11% grade and approximately 3 gallons of sweat. By the time we got to the top I was "full of sweat" as Ken Kratz would say. 

But, oh, the views!

Those are clouds down there. It was way less humid at the top than down below. 

Our reward for making it to the top was an outhouse and a pump with potable water, an incredible luxury for a hike. 

Along with a place to sit while we ate our power bars and twizzlers. Pure Heaven.

The way down was much more pleasant so we took time to enjoy Alum Cave, which wasn't a cave at all. 

And Arch Rock, which was a cave.

Everything in the Smokies is covered with moss and dripping with water. So amazing!

What better reward for a strenuous hike than another Moon Pie?

And some fried green tomatoes in Asheville, NC. 

Asheville is the Boulder, CO of the Southeast. At least that's the way it seemed to me. 'Nuff said. However, outside this Boulder of the South, there was this little house called Biltmore. 

Biltmore was pretty cool. You can look up pictures of it online if you're really interested, but the inside looked pretty much like Downton Abbey. 

                                

I felt a little bit like Elizabeth Bennett seeing Pemberly for the first time. Except for instead of Mr. Darcy at the fishing pond, there was this guy:

                                 

which made it that much better. 

There was one part of Biltmore which made me green with envy. This balcony. 

(sorry for the view. It makes it look like I am storming away from Chris. This is the only picture we have of it.)

But forget the view on the balcony, this is the view from the balcony:

Can you imagine walking out of your living room into this? Shut. Up.

And the gardens! They were insane.

It makes me wish I was Edith Vanderbilt. Except for that her husband died at 51 from appendicitis. I guess having modern medicine is a small compensation for not having something like this:

That afternoon it was on to Savannah, GA. 

When I was the weird 3rd grader who had read Gone With the Wind, I always wanted to go to Savannah so I could see the Spanish moss on the trees. I was so excited to finally get to see it. Here is an excellent example of said moss at a Revolutionary War era graveyard:

Savannah is proud of its Revolutionary War history, which is interesting because I was hoping for a bit of Civil War history. After all, they were right at the heart of the fight.

But everywhere you turn, there were reminders of the Revolutionary War. Like this reconstructed battlefield where the Battle of Savannah was fought.

Then, there was the most important part of Savannah history, the spot where Forrest Gump waited for a bus and offered a nurse a chocolate. 

This is where the bench sat:

The bench (or rather one of the benches used) sits in a museum. It's nice seeing a part of history. 

Finally, tucked away in a corner, we saw a piece of Civil War history. A small plaque told us that this was the house that General Sherman used as his home and headquarters for his assault on the area:

I kind of got the sensation that some of the wounds were still fresh. I think I would feel the same way if I was a southerner. After all, the people of Savannah love the south. And they love Savannah. There is a lot to love about it:

This is supposed to be the most beautiful street in America. It was beautiful, though indistinguishable from the rest of historic Savannah. Lots of the houses had dates on them saying they had been built 200 years ago for Mr. So and So by Mr. Such and Such. It was cool to see families living in these pieces of history. 

And, yes, we did meet Paula Deen. Or at least her likeness. 

Her restaurant, The Lady and Sons, was pretty typical. Fried food with a side of fried food. 

It was a fitting end to our wonderful trip to the South. After that, it was back to Atlanta and then to home where summer suddenly feels cold and dry for some reason. All in all, I loved going to the South. I loved the people there. I loved the atmosphere, the scenery and the food. And I loved spending a week with Chris, who makes every trip an adventure.