Look out Disney……

Here we come!

T minus two weeks and counting. The kids have totally forgotten to count down to the end of school, the count downis for Disney instead. We leave, the day after school lets out!

I think J is more excited than all of us. He has gone into uber planning mode and I have not seen him in weeks. His “lists” which used to drive me to drink are now humorous. You do not want to know how many lists and how much information he has made into excel charts just in case we need it!

The kids are getting excited too, I think. We are planning a much different trip than last time we went. J and I are even sneaking away one night for a dinner alone at the hibachi restaurant in Japan. Ditching the kids with arcade credits and a room delivery pizza and frankly, they are excited!

So I thought I would browse the files and come up with some pictures from our last trip! C was 5, and K was 7! Seems like a lifetime ago!

 

No stroller this time! although I think I may start to wish they made teenager size ones when the whining about being hot and tired starts!

we are staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge this time with a Savannah view room – a little surprise from Daddy.  I am praying we see lots of animals. Someone even told me there are night vision goggles to look at night. Now THAT is cool. 

A bit bummed about not going to the beach this year, but hopefully we will take some short trips.

And I can’t believe in two weeks, I will be the parent of a JUNIOR and an 8th grader. We survived the first year of high school with only minor injuries!

A niece going to prom, a nephew finishing his first year of college, another nephew in Marine boot camp, where oh where has the time gone?

Even more Mother’s Day……

Could there really be more to that day?? Yes, sirree! Mostly I just want to share some of the pictures I took. <grin>My mother-in-law enjoys them!

After the the first winery, we visited two more, through the rolling hills around Hamburg. The  next one being the “hippy” winery – Long Trout. Way up in the woods (and that does seem to be a common thread with these small wineries) . We really have been having fun finding new ones. Basically they are like microbrews are to beer. Each winery has their own nuance and flavor.

Long Trout by far has the largest selection we have seen. Even chocolate wines and the most interesting decor. All 60’s 70’s themed, even the ceiling.  They even had framed tickets to Woodstock on the wall. Our scheduled “fun event” was frisbee golf on their wooded grounds but the weather curtailed that. The tasting room was small and packed, so I didn’t get many pics.

There were a few really cool tshirts that I would have loved to have gotten, but they didn’t have my size, nor did I want to have to explain their intended “meaning” to the teenagers of the household! “Long Trout” makes for some entertaining puns.

The kids chose to hang out outside for awhile and wound up in the car. So I snapped a few pics while we waited for J to make out purchases.

 

One the way back to civilization, we decided to stop at a peanut shop we had passed outside of Hamburg, and boy oh boy, were the kids glad we did!

Rows and rows of chocolate covered pretzels and other handmade confections.

Lollipops, and classic candy, as well and candy dots stuck on paper strips!

Rows and rows of every gummy confection you could think of, and all lined up in nice little rows on the trays. It really was very pretty and eye catching.

I love this picture.

We allowed the kids quite a few treats, tried some chocolate covered bacon ourselves (eh- it’s ok) and I treated myself to a pecan turtle! Yummmm…..

Then, my oh so sweet and naive husband was again surprised that we could not find a place to stop for dinner that was not an 90 min + wait. Again, endearing or annoying? Not so sure.Until I finally said, let’s just go home and order a pizza, and  we wound up driving past  one of our favorites, Red Robin……

Or as we say here, Reeeeeddddd Roooooobin, and someone else says….yummmmmmm……because evidently we watch way too much television around here.

Because apparently it is not as vogue to take mom for burgers as it is to take her for steaks, the parking lot was empty!  But we love it anyway, swung in,  and had a great dinner…….

Hey look! It is me making a rare appearance on my own blog! :)

Top off the evening with a mini nap and a dish of ice cream and I was a happy mama! So ends, my exciting “planned adventure” for Mother’s Day. Part interesting, part annoying, always fun – and a perfect day spend with my family.

Mother’s Day cont……

As we travelled from breakfast to my first “stop” on my Mother’s adventure, we went farther and farther up into the hills…..the view was pretty….then J announced we had arrived….and I see….

And pretty much have the same look on my face. Huh?

Cows? Dairy farm? A building that  looks just like most of the farm stands at home….and I began wondering what on earth did this man think I wanted from the day?? Was I going to have another  melt down??

Then I see the word wine, and hope blossoms! But could the wine be truly that good in this little wooden shack…..

yes m’am!!!

the day immediately started looking up!

THANK GOODNESS!

J had planned a mini “wine trail” for me. Which was pretty darn cool. We have been having fun exploring some of the local small wineries, and he thought it would be nice to do on Mother’s Day. OK, this is promising!   This place didn’t look like much, but the woman who waited on us was tremendously friendly, they had a great selection of wines including elderberry,which we haven’t found anywhere close to home.

It really turned out to be a very quaint place proving that looks can be deceiving.

The kids enjoyed the cows, and the cows were very interested in them! We enjoyed the wine and atmosphere…..

On the way back out the road I made J stop so I could take some pics of a nice barn/wall I saw on the way in…..

The day really did turn out to be very nice, lazy…..quite a few more “adjustments” to the itinerary, but we rolled with the flow…….

Next stop…….1965….stay tuned…….

The Best Laid Plans……

Mother’s Day….

I was presented the night before with the itinerary….

Which was scary and exciting all at the same time.

Anyone who knows us, and been on the receiving end of any of my “J never pays attention to my special days” rants, while I knashed my teeth and tore my clothes year after year, will remember, J is not well known for being a “plan a head make the day special” kind of husband. I have spent many a birthday and Mother’s Day wishing for more, sometimes even just wishing for a card or my flowers before 8 pm…..

A few years ago I took matters into my own hands and decided that I would plan my own days, and we spent time hiking or going to the zoo on these days, because that is what *I* wanted to torture my family  do.

This year, we had already been to the zoo, and the weather did not look good for hiking, so J let me know that he had planned the day.

What?

really? Awesome.

All I really honestly asked for was that I not be expected to cook.

That’s all. I cook every other day of the year, so on Mother’s Day and my birthday I would rather not.

Then I got the itinerary.. ….

So we headed off – on the road on time…..

and I still didn’t know where we were going except that K was excited,

then J informed me we were heading to Hamburg….it dawned on me…..

He is taking us to Cracker Barrel.

at 10 am on, not only a Sunday morning,

But Mother’s Day morning.

God bless his heart, he really did want to do something different. Really he did.

First of all, Cracker Barrel is not one of my favorite places to eat, but I was willing to suck it up because I knew the kids liked it, but also since losing my mom, as childish as it seems, I still have difficulty with doing the things she liked to do on Mother’s Day. Being the ultimate planner that she was, this usually involved a breakfast buffet at a restaurant or the country club,  or dinner, WHERE WE HAD RESERVATIONS, please remember that for later in our day…..

But,

it dawned on me as we drove in the packed parking lot, was that a room full of multigenerational families enjoying their Mother’s Day as they well should, would be awaiting me and the scene just still really honestly makes my heart hurt way too much.

And to top it off,

J was SHOCKED that it could possibly be so full, and the wait was 90 minutes.

I was trying at that point to remain calm and decide ifh is naivety was endearing or annoying…I just could not fathom how a man could reach the age of 44 years old and be SURPRISED that a restaurant could be crowded on Mother’s Day! I decided, at that moment on annoying, and had a melt down right then and there. There was no way I could suck it up when facing me was literally a general store of wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder people where we would stand for nearly two hours to subject me to reminders around every corner of an empty hole in my heart.

I melted down.

And then apologized for it. I was trying so hard to remember that he WAS TRYING my nerves, but he  really trying to  make my day something different……so out of his comfort zone…….and he said he understood but I am not sure he did…..

Where did we wind up?

Which was perfectly ok with me!

It is “our” thing, it is what “we” do when we travel for the day.It is “our” tradition, not my mom’s.

See why it doesn’t bother me?

So after a really embarrassing delightful breakfast where the conversation between teenagers and daddy revolved around butts and other such entertaining subjects…..but I really do smile inside and out when I listen to the conversations they have…..

Breakfast was x’d off the list..all be it, not the intended destination……

Our next stop involved this…..

My first thought was, dear Lord, seriously????

 

To be continued………

Dress Up

Look who came to visit today??

Puttin’ on the Ritz tonight

at the school Art Expo.

Marilyn Monroe.

 

All of the girls were supposed to dress as Marilyn Monroe.

When K came home and told me,

I paused…and thought….

Honey have you looked in the mirror???

You have short dark hair??

Umm…….Mom hit the costume shop……..

 

I don’t think she turned out too bad.

:)

But I am a bit biased.

She had a lot of fun with it.

And so did I!