Deep Thoughts...

Mom says, "If you have an owie, you should pray that it will get better"......(choked on my own spit when he said his prayers tonight)  "Please bless my wiener to feel better..." (anyone ever had a reaction there from being in a chlorinated pool?) Gotta love the no shame, brutal honesty of kids.

Oh what do you do in the summertime....

Since the countdown has officially started, and I haven't blogged about anything but food all summer (or so it seems) I thought I'd throw out a couple pictures of the lazy days of our summer.

Playing with Gak we made.

Swimming in our soap souffle!

Cutting our hair off. (really, he is almost 8- when I asked why the front of his hair was cut off- he said "it was hot and bothering me, so I cut it off." Nice do for school Andrew!)

When we got really bored we all put on princess shoes--and the boys were happy to show them off to me--little do they know I will file these pictures with the others of similar nature and have them in safe keeping for any futures needs I may have.

We spent hours and hours each day swinging, riding bikes, and playing in the backyard--isn't that how summer is suppose to be?

And of course--we slept in every day....cause that's what you do in the summertime. 

Now it's time to go school shopping and start another year way too early. 8 days and counting--I hope the kids are getting excited but I myself am not looking forward to school. - I never do--it should be summer all year long. (but with cooler temperatures please!)

Deep Thoughts...

"Free Agency is overrated."

Thailand

Better late than never- this week we did Thailand. And Mom is lazy and tired and overwhelmed so she admits to taking the easy way out and doing the "all in one" dinner. Good idea- it was wonderful--and everyone liked it.

Pad Thai.

And even though chopsticks are not as readily used in Thailand as they are in other Asian countries, the kids felt the need to try them out. After another explanation from Mom (I am somewhat qualified- we grew up with Japanese exchange students that attempted to teach us how to use them properly), each had their own interpretation of how to use them.

 Ava does the "hold the sticks in one hand so I look like I'm using them and pick it up with my fingers" method.

Ethan Does the "one stick scoop" method.

And Andrew, in attempt to get the most food in his mouth at one time, does the "two stick scoop and slurp" method.

All charming (not!) to watch and we pulled out the spoons (traditional Thai utensil) for dessert.

Mango Sticky rice. I'm not a fan--too much like rice pudding I've never liked.-- but it's authentic and that's what counts!

Next week (If I don't get behind again)......Samoa...sounds like a pig roast to me!

Missed Opportunity

I lament that sometimes the mundane responsibilities in life cause us to miss some great opportunities. Today was a  greatly missed opportunity for me.

I am a big nerd. I can admit it. I am fascinated by weather. I love nature documentaries. And I've secretly always wanted to be an astronaut. Last year when the final flight plans were made for the fleet of shuttles, I determined to take my kids to see it. We are, after all, only 7 hours away- how could I miss this chance?

We aimed for the last flight of Atlantis since is was scheduled for June (later delayed to July). Then life somehow got in the way and the odds began to stack up against me. At the last minute, I still tried to eek out the possibility--we would drive all night and arrive in the wee hours this morning and witness the historic event. But...the weather forecast was 70% against us and we took our chances that the flight would be delayed at least until Saturday. Unfortunately, the planets lined up against me and the clouds parted in Florida just before 11am--and we watched the shuttle take of from the NASA channel at my neighbor's house.

Sad that I cried about this, but I REALLY wanted to be there one time to see this spectacular event. It marks the end of an era and the closing of a chapter that made America great.

I have decided today that great rewards do not come to those who fulfill the mundane responsibilities of life. In return for their dedication to the unimportant, they receive missed opportunities, over and over again.  So if you should receive a postcard from Australia with my new address, you'll know that I finally gave up being so responsible and learned to really live!

The Fourth

I'm getting a little behind here, but I'll share a few pictures of our 4th of July Weekend. We headed up to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky and then spent the rest of the weekend in Nashville.

Mammoth Cave was awesome! I highly recommend it. And frankly, after that, everything was kind of a let down. I guess I'm just not much of a city tourist. I'd rather see the wonders of nature than the wonders of man--hence why New York has never really appealed to me and I think it's just a hole to visit.

Now that I've shared my narrow minded view of a city I've only been to once, I'll get back to the subject-- or better yet, the pictures.

Main entrance to Mammoth Cave. 54 degrees and freezing when it was 95 outside.

 inside the cave

The other end of the cave- very narrow steep stairway we walked down for about 20-30 minutes.

Awesome cave formations near Frozen Niagra- I couldn't get a very good picture of the Frozen Niagra though- it was very beautiful.

The kids outside the Grand Old Opry.

 I would love to see a concert there, but I wasn't about to pay $18 a person to go inside and have my kids begging me to leave.

The quaint little town of Franklin, TN on the 4th of July.

Window shopping in Franklin.

 Old dilapidated cemetery. I love cemeteries--especially in the east. This is the grave of the unknown civil war soldier. They also had a confederate cemetery there and 4 graves belonging to Revolutionary War soldiers.

 Tired kiddos.

Fireworks in Nashville. I need a real camera. Props to the City of Nashville for their awesome display-- one of the best I've seen, but their planning and execution of the event could have used some serious improvement. Their restroom planning was less than effective, and I inadvertently created a new bathroom by taking the kids' behind the gas station dumpster. (we became desperate at that point) I should have taken a picture of the line that formed as soon as I walked out from behind the fence-Gross!