Bluegrass & BBQ

Mark took Friday off and with our bring a friend tickets, we took (his brother) Paul and Ann to Silver Dollar City. It was SOOO fun. We heard a few new songs we want to learn, and we decided one day wasn't enough. So SATURDAY we took the kids down. I LOVE bluegrass. No, let me rephrase, I love GOOD bluegrass. (not to be confused with Gospel. ...two separate things, but apparently not everyone thinks so) ANYWAY. We enjoyed the music and so did the kids, but talk about being put in my place. WOW there were some good Banjo players (there were some good EVERYTHING players) People are so often impressed with me on the Banjo, and I try not to let it go to my head, cause I know I'm really not that good compared to a lot of Banjo players.
But since the Banjo is not a popular instrument it's easy to impress people. AND I learned something while I was in Cincinnati...if you don't play the banjo, or listen to it very often, every song sounds pretty much the same. SO, in reality I really DO sound that good to most people! ...Maybe THAT'S why I like instruments that are "different" like the Banjo, and Concertina. I don't have to be very good to be super impressive. :)

I also found this little jewel

I also found this in my "Mark" folder (if you don't' know what I"m talking about it's cause you haven't read the post below yet)
My sister Sheri sent me this just before Mark and I got married. She wasn't "technically" my sister yet, (cause she hadn't married Garry yet) but she has always been my sister. Every pregnancy I have had Sheri has referred to the unborn as Smark till we find out the sex of the baby, here is why... And I quote, *ahem*

"So...I was thinking....("a dangerous past-time, I know"). You know how my sister Deleen's name was made by putting my grandparents names 'Delsa' and 'Lee' together? Well, I decided to try that with you and Mark...just so you know you have some options as far as kid names. (yes yes, I am so helpful, I know) Unfortunately, I've discovered that all the names that can be made by combining 'Sarah' and 'Mark' are intensely painful and cruel to inflict upon a poor, innocent child. For example: Sark. Now really...that is FAR too much like Spock. No one can respect a person named Sark. So Sark is out. Okay, on to choice number 2: Mararah. This name is a definite improvement over Sark, but it sounds too cheer-leadery. Like "ma-RAH-RAH-RAH...gooooooooooooooo TIGERS!!!!" Ick. Zilch that one.

Those two are the most obvious solutions...the rest are merely pathetic variations like Smark and Sarark and Marah and Marsarah. None seem to sound particularly pleasant. You see? So I regret to inform you of my failure to contribute names to your blossoming family. I have failed in my endeavors and send my deepest apologies to you and yours. I ESPECIALLY send my apologies to your future children should you choose to actually USE any of those ridiculously horrid names."

HA HA HA HA!! I love Sheri.

* Love Notes *

I forgot about a little folder I have in my email titled "Mark". You see, when we were dating Mark had saved all of our emails back and forth, both mine and his on his computer. Now I don't really remember what happened, but I remember finding out shortly after we got married that the file was no longer there. We were sad cause we lost all our dating emails. You know, a whole whopping 3 months worth. :) Anyway, thanks to my habit of never deleting emails I realized today that not only had I not deleted Marks emails, but I had moved them into their own folder. HA! I read a few of them, and it made me smile and remember a few things that I forgot....it's no wonder I fell in love with Mark. He really is quite the catch!
So it's still sad that we don't have the whole correspondence, but at least we have 1/2 of it!

The Dollar Store---not what you think

So we went to Silver Dollar City several weeks ago with my parents, siblings and kids. It was the first time my kids had ever been and they were impressed with the bus ride from the parking lot to the front gate. It rained ALL day everyone was a little wet and a little cold. In retrospect we really didn't do a whole lot that day. Watched a few street shows in passing, went on the train, had lunch. Mostly just walking and spending time with family. It was a FUN day though.
Anyway, to my point. We DID get to take the little kids on one ride. Fire in the Hole is the only indoor ride so it operates pretty much all year round, rain or shine. It's a dark ride, you ride past several scenes of a little town , and toward the end it appears to be on fire. Then you drop down 3 hills, one to avoid an on coming train. And they say "FIRE IN THE HOLE" as you go down.
Lydia met the height requirements for this ride, so we took her on it, prepping her before telling her it's just a ride,and it's all pretend.
She STILL talks about it all the time. "We go to the Dollar Store, and they have Fire in the Hole, and it's SCARY! We go down the hills and I covered my eyed and Grandpa covered my head, and Mommy grabbed my hand. But it's all pretend" and "I went on Fire in the Hole, there is lots of fire, but not any holes" and 'Lydia, do you like fire in the hole?' "YEAH! I like fire in the hole" 'do you want to go on it again?' "No, it's scary. " and just randomly " Fire in the hole! -say it louder!- FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!"
She is now telling me about it.
"We ate at the dollar store, and we wait for the train
We go on fire in the hole and it's a big ride, and it's a scary ride, and I don't like it cause it's scary , and I don't like it either
You go on fire in the hole and that was NOISY. There was a noisy train and it says CHOO CHOO. And the guy that's whistling like that he says choo choo, and he can pull on the Handel and say choo choo and go faster.
And the guy shoot the guy, and he was naughty. He shoot the guy and it was funny. It was a loud gun, and he shoot the people."
ha ha ha I think I caught most of that. She was talking fast I missed a few lines, but after fire in the hole we went on the train and that is what she was telling me about. They had a staged robbery they she LOVED.
She can't wait to go back to the Dollar Store.

Naked

Yesterday when I went up stairs to get Danton after he woke up from his nap I half expected the room to be smelling like a diaper cause he was crying. It took me a few mins once he woke up to actually get him though. I looked at him thinking wait, what was he wearing when I put him in bed...cause it didn't look like he was wearing the same thing, then I realized that he wasn't in a new shirt, he was naked. He took his shirt off, and then he took his diaper off.
I got closer wincing with every step expecting to see a big nasty mess to clean up, but there was none, not even a wet spot. He peed in his diaper, THEN took it off. He was holding it, and when I took it from him he got MAD and grabbed it again. Gross, let it go man!
He did that a couple days ago too. Striped down and took off his diaper. I don't think I'm ready to dive into potty training again, but this no diaper business is just trouble waiting to happen.

Adventures in Banjo Land

About 2 years ago I thought it'd be cool to make my banjo look a little more unique by changing the color of the banjo head (the round part).
Good News:
They make other colors besides white

Bad News:
The only other colors are black and clear

Good News:
I REALLY like black.

Bad News:
It took me 2 YEARS to finally order one

Good News:
I shopped around and got the best deal

Good News :
It only took a few days to get here and I got it on FRIDAY!! Yeah Baby!
Good News:
I didn't have to pay someone to put it on, cause I know how to do repairs on my banjos.

Bad News:
I got it all in pieces (there are a LOT of little pieces to a banjo) got the pot off the neck, got the old white head off, MOMENT OF TRUTH! Put the NEW HEAD ON AND....it's too SMALL?!?!

Good News:
This ain't my first 'coon hunt, and at least I know how to put it all back together, so I can keep on playing.

Bad News:
My poor neighbors...

Good News:
I held both heads up side by side and the difference is LESS then 1/8 in. So Maybe a music store will have a trick to putting them on.

Bad News:
Guy at the music store said if it doesn't fit it doesn't fit.

Bad News:
I have an odd sized pot so it's nearly impossible to buy a head on line

Bad News:
Black heads are a little hard find to begin with and I have ONLY seen them in 11 in ( you know, the size that won't fit)

Good News:
I found out that there is a BLUEGRASS Music store here in Springfield that knows a heck of a lot more about banjo's then your average run of the mill music store does.

Bad News:
I called and they don't have any

Good News:
They can ORDER one

Bad News:
Since it's a specialty size it will take about 3 MONTHS to get it in.

Good News :
It's about the same price as the one I bought on line is.

So yes, I am going in today, with my banjo to get it measured and "fitted" for a new look. And I'm SUPER excited about it. And yes, I know I'm a nerd. :) But seriously do you know how cool it's going to look?!?!

Bad News:
Having a different kind of head will effect the sound of the banjo. And I may not like how it effects the sound

Good News:
I have read that with the type of pot I have it usually makes it sound better then having the usual frosted white head.

So I guess we will see in about 3 months now won't we.

Cincinnati--Final Chapter...I swear

So Friday night we ended up staying up later then any of us thought we would. We were up till 4 in the morning having some ...interesting conversations...and once again laughing a lot. I kept looking at the clock thinking "I'm going to DIE in the morning" and "I'm going to make Nancyann get up with the kids so I can sleep" Nancyann only kind of stayed up, she fell asleep on the couch EARLY and slept till we all went to bed, then she came up stairs and went to bed too.
But lucky for me I was wrong about both. I did only get 3 hours of sleep, but in fact I didn't die. Much to my delight. I did doze on the couch while watching the kids in the morning though, like I do at home when I don't get enough sleep.
ANYWAY, Saturday DAY 5
Once we all got up and got moving, bright and early (which is was really neither of those, cause it was raining AND we stayed up late) we went out for lunch.
RED SQUIRREL.
And Danton was helping me out by clearing off the table. Tami caught my close call...I think he pushed my camera off and I caught it with my cat-like reflexes.

Then Jeremy took his kids home for naps, and the rest of us went to The Gap Outlet. That was fun, I got a pair of jeans, a skirt, and 2 shirts for $23...I can barely get ONE pair of jeans for that much. Then we took ALL the kids back to Cassie's and waited for the babysitter.
That's right, NO KIDS ALOUD. Nancyann ended up hooking up with Paula who is stationed about an hour away from Cincy, and she stayed the night there.
So it was the 4 of us girls and Jeremy.
Shout out to Jeremy! He was great. For nearly a week he put up with 5 women and 6 children/babies. Told us great stories from work, grilled for us out side, put up with a little abuse, and didn't seem to get sick of us. Way to go!
So we wanted to get a group picture. Here we go, everybody SMILE!

OP! Nope, missed one, lets try again. Ready ONE...TWO...THREE!

Man, getting a whole group together at the same time is hard. Ok, This one's for Tami...SMILE!

HEY!!! We did it!
...Twice:

Then Back to Cassie's for the last night. (and their garage for little people)
It turned out to be a good thing that we all stayed up so late Friday night cause we were too exhausted to stay up too late Saturday. I think we were all in bed before midnight.

The drive home was not too bad. Danton had a nice dose of meds for his fever before we left and he slept a lot of the way. Lydia I learned can hold it for a LOOONG time. She had an urgency in her voice about 15 mins after our last stop, and we were only 2 hours from home. I was NOT stopping again. We offered her a diaper, she put it on but REFUSED to go in it. So she held it for 2 more hours. (which makes the whole pooping in her pants all that much more annoying)

So I had an AWESOME week with 3 of my favorite friends. I think we all agreed that 7 years was too long. We need to do it again in another 2 or 3 years. These ladies are hilarious!

TAMI

D

And CASSIE

Ladies, you are welcome at my house any time!

Day 4 --- The Zoo

DAY 4 (Friday)---The Zoo
So we had a late breakfast and headed to the Zoo.

We did some walking, and pushing strollers.

Then we saw a SNAKE! They were letting people hold it...LITTLE people. It was a rainbow boa, and Lydia said she wanted to hold it. So when it came to be her turn, she did really good. Never freaked out ONCE.
Hallie on the other hand....well see for your self...
But then she got a little more brave...
A little more walking...

Observation area for a HUGE bird
Everyone had to check their wing span
Then there was the reptile house, Cassie and Hallie are in front of the little crocodiles
And let me tell ya, this snake was massive!
They had these little statues of animals around, so the kids got on the monkeys back
Then I took it DOWN!


D mimicking the statue...
Then some how got into deep conversation, But Cassie wasn't buying what that bronze chick was saying...
Tami and I with our matching strollers
Tami giving the Giraffe Eskimo kisses. :)
Oh LOOK! Another statue! PICTURE TIME....how do you get on this thing?
Here, try this...
SUCCESS!

Long day=tired kids

For dinner we had pizza, then we had ice cream from two different places, that was some GOOD ice cream folks, let me tell ya!

DAY 5...you can tell it was the last day cause we took a TON of pictures. Like a lot of pictures from lunch...but I'm tired, so I'll post that later. so once again
Cincinnati Trip to be continued...

Day 3 and 4...on second thought, just 3

I forgot, Hallie, Lydia and Kennie played their own version of Rock Band nearly every day. Hallie would start them off " One Two Three Four" then they would ALL sing, and they really got in to it too. DAY 3 (Thursday)
Jeremy helped me get Danton dressed and ready to go for the day. It's nice to have willing help.
Danton didn't even say THANK YOU!!
He got his cup and he was fine.

We got all packed up and headed to the park/petting zoo. Got all the kids out, and the strollers up....
Nope hang on, we aren't quiet ready yet
We let the kids play
While we sat and watched them, and chatted a bit
And stayed hydrated...

Danton was done playing before the other kids, cause while he was trying to climb the chain ladder thing he slipped, and basically was hanging upside down by his knees. I didn't actually see it, I was taking kids to the potty, but I did hear him scream...that pretty much the same as seeing it right?

So then we walked across the park to the petting zoo. They had the cutest animals there:

And LOOK!!! They have Chickens just like Great Grandpa Adams!!

I'm almost positive she wanted to give the poor chicken a kiss
HEEEERE chick-chick-chick!
Kennie likes the chickens too

...oops...

They also had goats...
And horses...can't you see the horses? ...well you could SMELL them!

And Llamas

Then we went down the street to another park, got some ice cream, and some cold drinks and we went for a walk around the lake. The kids rode bikes...kind of
...and D and Tami took a picture...
Then we went back to Cassie's for Dinner. BBQ chicken, burgers and dogs, oh yeah, we ate gooood.

Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on here...
Ok Ladies correct me if I'm wrong, but Cassie's sister came over that evening and her 6 (?) year old son drew this picture of his dream (?) about getting sucked into a tornado.
Ok, so maybe you had to be there, but we didn't erase it for a day or so, we all thought it was pretty funny.
DAY 4 (Friday)
I'm not sure if it was Friday morning or Thursday evening, but at one point Lydia was playing out side with Hallie and she comes into the kitchen and says to me (very casually) "Mom, I pooped" Yep, she sure did...IN HER PANTS!!!! Oh can I TELL you how HAPPY that made me?!?!?! grrrrrr. If there was one thing I learned about Lydia on this trip it is how LONG she can hold it. I'll explain better when I talk about our trip home. She was just busy playing and didn't want to come inside, so she just pooped in her pants. Well when you poop in your pants you get all messy and we have to clean you up. SHOWER IT IS!!! (She is mortified of showers.) Don't worry, this time I at least warmed up the water first. :)
I may have given her a cold one if I didn't have to stick my arms in there to soap her and rinse her. I was just that thrilled with her.
So we finish the shower and wrap in the towel and walk up the stairs to get her some clean clothes and Lydia says cheerfully "I LIKE showers" ha ha ha trying to convince her self that it wasn't' that bad.
So anyway the kids rocked it out again....
And we headed to the zoo once every one was up and moving.

But I think we will stop here today. I have lots of zoo pictures, and this post is already pretty long.
We did TONS of stuff, it's no wonder we were all so exhausted by the time it was over. We did all that WITH 6 little kids.
...to be continued...