Indiana vacation

My mom and I spent three lovely days with my older sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. Jen recently got a compression fracture in her back from a whale-watch [look out for those zodiacs! :)], so we thought we'd go up and spend some time with her. We met at a beautiful lavender farm to pick lavender to make wands, an oh-so-fun and easy project. We also enjoyed watching the 4th of July fireworks in downtown Indianapolis and eating scrumptious barbecue wings. :) Yesterday we spent the morning shopping, visiting multiple yarn stores, Penzeys Spices, and the ever-popular Trader Joe's, which sadly we don't have here and are therefore required to stock up on their products whenever we frequent a TJ's store. They do have the most delicious chocolate mints. :) Mom and I also got to see Jen's Outdoor Learning Center, a cabin from the 1800's. So much fun!

Broken-Armed

Yesterday, my brother sustained a buckle fracture to his left wrist. He'll have to wear a cast for about a month, so at least it's the end of the school year, since he's left-handed. He's already gotten a few signatures on his cast, and one in German and Russian!

Massachussets trip!

On Tuesday, I got home from having spent five days with my older brother and sister in MA. It was such a wonderful time! Their dog Selchie had eight puppies in mid-February, four girls and four boys. Last July, they had invited me out to stay for a few days, and thanks to Frequent Flyer Miles, I made it out there. :) Most puppies are cute, but I think Irish Water Spaniels are among the cutest. With curly dark hair all over and the sweetest eyes ever, these puppies were probably the most adorable I've ever seen. On this trip, I.....

• got to spend awesome time with my older siblings
• cuddled the puppies!!
• experienced the frenzy of feeding eight small puppies
• cleaned up more poop than you would think eight pups can produce
• flew about 1000 miles by myself
• saw the pups on their second trip outside; they absolutely love the outdoors!
• did crafty stuff, such as making zipper pulls and putting together binders for the new puppy owners
• went to Flatbreads, the BEST pizza place in the entire world
• throughly enjoyed myself: Jer and Kim, thanks for such an awesome time!!!!!

Since I didn't take the camera with me, I have no pictures to show you, but if you click this link, you can see plenty of puppy pictures!

Nashville

On Tuesday, my family and I were able to go to Nashville to see my older sister and my nephew. We had quite a wonderful time visiting Trader Joe's, the Parthenon, and Noshville, a delicious restaurant. We also got to hear the band Barefoot Truth; they were quite good!

My brother, historical guru that he is, informed me that the steps of the Parthenon are purposefully designed to be a bit of a stretch for the average person so that one bows as they go up the step. Who knew?

Argh!

My internet died yet again, so I'm sorry again for my silence. I think we have everything worked out, but if not, you'll know why I've disappeared. :)

It was amazing; this morning I woke up and the ground was covered with snow! To get snow in Tennessee at the end of fall is unbelievable! So we went outside with the dogs and had snowball fights and raced down the hill in sleds. So fun!

Family!

This week, my older sister and nephew came down for a visit. It was so much fun! They came in on Wednesday night, late, so everyone said hello and then went to sleep. In the morning, Jen and I introduced Tallie and Bono to their dog, Domingo, and thankfully it went well; no one bit off any limbs or anything like that! I took the day off from school (it was such a sacrifice..... Not!), and we went to the Smoky Mountains. The weather was absolutely gorgeous! One stop we made before we explored the mountains was at a store called "Wood and Strings." The man who owns the store specializes in handmade dulcimers, but also has flutes, lap harps, bow psaltrys, steel drums, and other instruments. My nephew Rhys enjoyed the steel drums especially! After that, we went to the Y (a beautiful stream in the mountains, and a good place to throw rocks). Our next stop was Buddy's, for some true Tennessee barbecue! It was a great time for hanging out and enjoying good family time! Thanks, Jen and Rhys!

Sorry!

I apologize for being so remise in posting these pasts two weeks! School has kept me busy, and the time I have left, I have been spending with family. But, now that I am settled into a routine, I hope to have time to post. :)

• First off, it's soccer season again!! Although I am too old to play, Evan is playing through a church league. I'll be posting lots of pictures, and maybe even some videos with Dad's new digital video-camera! Oh, and please be in prayer: Evan was just out playing airsoft with some school buddies, and he got stung 4 times by yellow jackets. Some of his friends got stung too.
• School is going GREAT! My teachers are awesome, my classmates are great (with a few exceptions-hee hee!), and it's just good overall. I never have much homework, either, which is wonderful!!!

That's all the news for now! Please comment, and have great day!

Vacation pictures!

For those of you who didn't know, my family and I went on a trip to the Northeast, specifically Maine. We returned Thursday after a wonderful time with family. Some friends asked me to post pictures, so here goes! Here's a narrative of events first:

On Wednesday, we arrived in Portland and explored some lighthouses. We also went to an excellent restaurant, Espo's Trattoria. The food was great, the portions, HUGE! Thursday we saw my grandparents in Freeport and shared a meal. We also visited the famous L.L. Bean, which is incredibly impressive! :) On Friday, when the rain poured buckets, we drove to Beals Island, where we met my brother and sister-in-law. We spent three wonderful days with them! Saturday the six of us went to Jasper Beach. It's named Jasper Beach because of the rocks filled with jasper that make up the amazing stone beach. The weather was great! Sunny and cool, with a breeze. After spending most of the day there, we just managed to beat the fog back to Beals Island. Unfortunately, the fog stayed over the island for the remainder of our trip. That night, we did something neither Ev nor I had ever done before; we cooked lobsters. Dad and Kim were the only people who ate them, but to my credit, I did try some. Personally, I thought it was chewy and tasted kind of strange. Like my mom said, it's like eating rubber bands. But to each his own! Sunday we hiked 2 1/2 miles to a beach, but the fog lay over everything, so we just smelled the ocean smells and and stuck our hands in the cold water. We saw a whale's head, or what was left of it. Jer, Kim, Ev, and I went out later and threw bumpers for Jer and Kim's dogs. It was so much fun!! The dogs were usually right on target, so it was very fun to watch! Oh, and early the next morning, at about 4:30 am or 5:00 am, the lobster men went out and then the Coast Guard tested all their very loud equipment. I think fewer people slept well that night. Monday we parted ways with Jer and Kim and then drove down to Bar Harbor, the home of Acadia National Park. But the fog was settled over Acadia too, so we drove back to Freeport. Tuesday we explored Freeport, but Wednesday Dad, Ev, and I went skeet-shooting. My only comment: it's a little harder then it looks, and I'm not going to do it again. My shoulder is still recovering. Thursday was just flying home, which sounds easy, but wasn't. We were delayed about an hour and a half out of Portland, and the Atlanta airport was backed up due to heavy thunderstorms earlier in the day. We finally made it home at 8:00pm. Our checked bags, however, didn't make it to our house until Friday morning. Happily they are now in our possession! Vacation was great! I hope you enjoy the pictures! (I'm sorry, but they're not in chronological order.)

Ev skeet-shooting.

Me, also skeet-shooting.

Two boats coming in after a day at sea....

Portland Head Light: beautiful!

Dad and me, starting our hike back from the beach...in the fog!

Mom sitting on a rock at the beach.

The whale's head.

Dad and Kim...and the lobsters!

Jer putting the lobsters in the pot.

Ev holding a lobster.

Jasper Beach: gorgeous!

Ev and Jer examining some rocks.

Family picture!

Grandma's Birthday Bash!

Yesterday my grandmother turned 74, and last night, we had a wonderful meal and a delicious cake. There were some interesting moments though, like when it started storming while the chicken was on the grill, then the food was almost ready, and she wasn't home yet (thankfully she made it home at the perfect time): things like that. But the cake was perfect. There is a traditional cake that has been made for four generations now: the cake is comprised of lady fingers, chocolate, eggs, and the usual pinch/dash of other ingredients. So Mom made that for Gram, and then I got out our nice dinner dishes. You know, the kind of dishes that have been passed down for years. It was a wonderful night, and "Happy Birthday, Gram!"

Easter!

Well, it is the day after Easter, and I hope everyone had a good day, going to church, seeing special productions, hunting for eggs, eating candy.... Anyway, I had a great day, although it started really early! See, my aunt and uncle stayed with us over the weekend, since they had to go to Nashville to pick up a dog. My uncle had gone out early to get a stake to put in the backyard so that Jake (the yellow lab) wouldn't be cooped up in the crate while we were at church. As soon as he got home though, Tallie flew into a barking rage which woke me up, and then our neighbors let their yippy little dog out, so my day began at 6:37 am. I made muffins for breakfast, went to church (which was really great!) and then the whole family went out for lunch after church, so that was nice. And then in the afternoon, I walked Jake, who by the way, is an adorable sweetheart! He was a little stressed out from travel, but all in all, seemed like a pretty laidback dog. Now, please let me know how your Easter went! "Comments" are right below this post..... :)

Mea Culpa!

My title is for the benefit of all my Latin scholar friends; for those who have not taken Latin, "mea culpa" means "I am guilty." And I am guilty of the sin of not posting very recently and so much has happened! Let's see; my last post was five days ago. Here's what has happened since then...

1. I had my softball practice on Friday night, with my first game on Saturday. Both went absolutely terribly. My coach has always said that if you practice well, you play well. The same can be said for practicing badly, and we did. Nothing went right; people goofed off, balls were missed, and this was just in practice. Game day was really no better. We got in some dynamite hits, but our defense was lousy. Consequently, we lost by 9 runs! 9 runs! It was utterly demoralizing. The good news is that we have eight games to redeem ourselves!
2. We had some great meetings with friends over the weekend. It was wonderful; I got to see some of my good friends twice in two days when I usually see them only once a week! All us kids invented a new game to be played on the trampoline; President and Assasin, in which one person is the president, one the assasin (who is on the ground - everyone else is on the trampoline-), and then everybody else is the president's bodyguards. It's like dodgeball on the trampoline with body guards. So that was a lot of fun!
3. My aunt and uncle are passing through this weekend, so it will be nice to see them. They are coming to pick up a dog a few hours away, but they'll spend a few days with us. I can't wait to see the dog; my uncle breeds purebred labs, and this is a new dog for breeding, so he must be something special!

That's the news from this neck of the woods! Have a great rest of the week, everybody!

Ice Cream Socials and New Pillows

Those two items mentioned in my title may seem like they have nothing in common with each other, so you may be somewhat surprised to find out that they do. They are both happenings or purchases that occured yesterday to me/my family. We decided that to celebrate the last day of Spring Break we would have an ice cream social, complete with brownies, ice cream, whipped cream, sprinkles, nuts, chocolate sauce, and hot fudge. Yes, they were good! And then, when Dad, E, and I were at Wal-mart (shopping for our goodies!), in the central aisle, we discovered a display of the big long pillows that I think are called "body pillows." Anyway, since they were only $7.50, Dad bought me one to match my room:

(It's the big, long teal-ish colored one.)

So, yes; ice cream socials and new pillows can be considered related in some circles!