Vacation

Shane & I had a nice weekend trip to Gatlinburg last weekend. C was on fall break, so he and B went to IL to visit my parents. They had a BLAST, and we had a relaxing and wonderful time.

We left on Thurs morning, stopped for lunch, then just hung out at the cabin that evening. Friday we set out for hiking in Smoky Mountain National Park. The car suddenly overheated on us. It turned out to be a hose that decided to come loose. Shane fixed it and we poured in a good portion of the case of bottled water that we had. :) We went hiking, then mini golf. We went to see the Dixie Stampede show in the afternoon. It was good, but skip the tea. You'd think a place with "Dixie" in the name would know how to make sweet tea. Then we watched a movie and hung out. Our cabin had a hot tub and a pool table, so we weren't without diversion.

Saturday, we did the "tourist" thing in Gatlinburg. There was a craftsman's fair going on that we enjoyed. Then we played Hillbilly Golf (miniature), which was a pretty fun course. Shane & I tied on the score for the 18 holes!! Then we went to dinner at Gondolier Italian & Greek Restaurant. It was casual and nice, and yummy!

Sunday, it was time to go, but we took a driving tour in the park, including some old homesteads (Roaring Fork). That was neat. We stopped a couple more places for souvenirs, then headed back home. We stopped for dinner at a nice restaurant, then rented some movies for the evening: Next and Wild Hogs. Both of them were worth watching.

Monday, I went to retrieve the children from IL. They had made pizza and brownies, gone to an orchard where they went in a hay maze and got cider, carved pumpkins, went in the pedal boat, played games, went to "Grandma's church", and who knows what else.

On the way home Tuesday, we stopped by the Superman statue in Metropolis, then Fort Massac. They were both worth seeing, and the Fort was good for stretching our legs (and getting the kids a little tired so they'd nap on the way home.)

C had to be back in school on Wed.

Overall it was a very nice weekend adventure for everyone.

Reef

C was looking at one of my games with me, and I have a pet that looks Christmasy. So he told me to name it "Reef". I asked if he meant "wreath" and he said "No. R-E-E-F. Reef". Well, all right then, Reef it is. So, what's a reef C? It's a leafy Christmas thing that you put on your door. (Didn't you already know this Mom???) Well, even after the explanation, we left the Reef. :) I also have one named Toorlo, because B LOVED the turtles on Nemo. I'm from the EAC, Dude!

Pull-ups

My mother in law kept my daughter last night. She called me while b was napping.

"Um, I'm sure there's a good reason, but I'm curious. Why is b wearing two pull-ups?"

I reply "What?"

Yeah. She somehow went out wearing TWO pull ups yesterday. Don't know what happened. Other than that she's now changing her own wet pants. Perhaps she had already put on a pair and I handed her one to put on? I don't know.

Knock, Knock... Banana

Baby girl (age 3 1/2): Knock, Knock
Grandmother: Who's there?
B: Banana
G: Banana who?
B: Orange you gla... um... no no... um....

Me (prompting): Knock, knock?
B (brightening): Who's there??

Me: falls out of her chair laughing.

Okay, I didn't really fall out of my chair.

Dork

I dragged Shane to see Sydney White this weekend (thank you Sweetie!). It was a really really cute movie based loosely on Snow White. It's about a girl going off to college and learning to just be herself. Without revealing too much, it's a feel-good movie. :) and hubby says "a chick flick". There is one scene where several of the "non-dork" characters reveal their inner dork-itude. We were talking after and I told Shane he's not a dork. He said "I enter and win chess tournaments". Well, I guess if that doesn't qualify you as a dork, I don't know what does! In the spirit of dorkiness though, I thought I would reveal some of the things that perhaps you may not know about me. I was on the Yearbook staff in high school (and a bit in college), I was also on the Scholar Bowl (Quiz bowl) team, and JETS (Junior Engineering Technological Society or some such) where the whole point was to competitively take tests. Okay, so I was a nerd in high school, but what about now? I'm probably, okay definitely, still a dork, but show many fewer symptoms. Perhaps I am quelling my inner dork? Here are my most dorky things now. I play Neopets, I subscribe to GAMES magazine (crosswords and other puzzles), my favorite movie is still "Princess Bride" although I haven't watched it lately, I enjoy photo manipulation and making cards and fliers, I am the Membership Vice President of my local MOMS Club. I also sing in my church choir, volunteer when I can with TN Organization of Deaf-Blind, work part time with children between birth and 3 who have developmental delays, teach at church, and do my best to be a GREAT mom to my two kids. I don't know what of that qualifies me to be a dork, but I DO know that it's fine to just be who I am.

Explanation

Okay, I made this blog a while ago and never wrote anything for it. I will try to do better, but I don't know if I will have witty and interesting things to say. We'll see.

I realize that I chose a somewhat strange title. So, no, not real monkeys. Just my children. But they DO love "dance parties". Some movies, this is the best part! At the end, when the credits come on, my kids get up and dance. And they are interesting dancers! We all really enjoy it, and sometimes Mommy dances along.

My "different" daughter

Due to an unfortunate word choice in front of the mother of a developmentally delayed child that I work with ("weird"), my son, daughter, and I were discussing appropriate behavior and vocabulary. So I said that everyone is different. Some people can't hear, some people are blind, some can't walk, different people have different issues, but everyone is unique. My daughter (3 years old) says "I'm blind!". "No, sweetie, you can see." "But I'm blind!" (um... she's not) "My hair's blind!" "Yes, your hair is blonde." You gotta love them.