Girls Trip - Day 4

It's pretty bad when the girl on Pacific time wakes up long before the Eastern time people!!!  Beyond the fact that the damn oven timer would go off at random times during the day/night, I was up by 9am.  No one else was up until well past 10am, so I got lots of pictures of the cabin, its decor, cleaned up my sofa bed, and checked news and such online (via my phone).  Once everyone was up, we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and go to the pool behind the owners' house.  It was so fun, and it was like our own personal pool since no one else was around.  Two hours there and we headed back for a picnic lunch.  Then more board games, then more pool time, then dinner again, then a fire with marshmallow roasting, more hot tub time, a visit from the owners' cat, packing, dividing up goodies, and figuring out when we'd all be able to get together again.

The cabin and our vehicles.

Pool time with Nemo.

Picnic lunch!

Me roasting my marshmallow over the fire.

Hello, sweet kitty!  Thanks for visiting us at the cabin - we hope you liked your cheese!

CC and I have to make that loooong drive back to Nashville again tomorrow, so we're hoping for an early start and good weather.  It's going to be sad leaving everyone again tomorrow, but it helps to have CC with me for a good deal of the day before I get on a plane back to Arizona.  I really do hope we get back together again in less than five years this time! 

Girls Trip - Day 3

Our first business of the day was hiking.  We figured we'd try something fairly simple/easy first, see how that went, and then decide what we were going to do from there.  So, off to Ash Cave we went.  It was definitely an easy hike up to the cave on a paved path, and the cave itself was fun to wander through and around.  AF and I decided to hike up to the rim above and look down, which was a little disconcerting!  However, I loved it.  I was so glad when the girls decided that we should go hiking more after lunch. 

Ash Cave, from the trail leading up to it

Area inside the cave.

Waterfall trickling down over the lip of the cave.

Me at Ash Cave.

We went back to the cabin, had lunch, and then off to Cedar Falls for more hiking.  This hike was definitely a bit more strenuous than Ash Cave.  You could either take a really steep descent down from the parking lot area through some really rocky areas (but get there quickly), or you could take a lazy winding course with an easier descent that went over a bridge and alongside the creek (but took longer).  We started on the steeper trail but, realizing it was steeper, the girls decided to go back up to the top and take the easier trail down with CC.  I was already halfway through the trail and decided to continue on, telling them I'd meet them at the falls.  I got there and waited for what seemed like ages before my "mom" instinct starting nagging at me that maybe something had gone wrong.  I walked halfway back up the easier trail, waited for awhile, and then realized they weren't coming.  So, I ran back up the steeper trail to the main area to find them.  I found CC at a picnic table alone.  Oh no!  Is she injured?  Unwell?  What's happening?!??  It turns out she didn't think she could make it down and up the stairs again.  I offered to help her along and so she and I went down the easier trail together.  Once we got to the falls, we found AB and AF, and then the fun started.  We walked up toward where the falls began, I walked into the water and touched the waterfall, got pictures, scampered up a hill side, walked through the creek on the way back up, and listened to the thunder roll in over us as we headed back to the car.  It started raining just as we got back to the car.  Perfect timing!

Cedar Falls

Me touching the waterfall.  The water wasn't so deep!

More of the waterfall up close.

The creek area flowing away from the waterfall.

After heading back to the cabin in the rain, AB and CC decided to watch Princess Bride while AF and I went for a run in the woods.  I should have realized "Hocking Hills" meant hills when running, but it didn't connect in my brain until we started running.  It was pouring down rain, we were going up and down some pretty steep hills, everything was covered in yellow-colored mud, and we were having a BALL.  For a ridiculous tough run, we were laughing ridiculously hard most of the time.  I love that we were able to do probably 4.5 miles of running and 0.5 miles of walking in that kind of situation together, and it was too much fun.  If my knee I injured during my half marathon in March hadn't started acting up, it would have been much better (ugh, going down hill sucks - how the heck am I going to do the all-downhill Tucson half marathon in December?!??).  Came back, watched the end of the movie, and then got cleaned up.

Muddy running up hills, anyone?

AF and I during our run, soaked, dirty, and happy.

CC made an amazing crock pot dinner, so we had that for the evening.  Then, more board games, hot tub, The Hobbit on DVD, and collapsing into bed at the ungodly-early hour of 11pm.  We are zonked!  No early wake up tomorrow morning, so here's to a good night's rest.

Mmmm, crock pot meal.

Fabulously healthy dinner.

Proof we were hot tubbing, though images of those in the tub are obscured (per their request).

Girls Trip - Day 2

CC and I got up way too early, loaded up the car, and left Nashville.  We traveled somewhere between 8-9 hours to get up to the Hocking Hills in southeastern Ohio with us dividing up the driving about equally.  CC did most of the highway driving while I did most of the rural driving.  Lunch at the Firehouse Subs in Lexington, KY was about our longest stop, and we didn't hit rain until we were in the Hocking Hills.  Joy.  Some of the most interesting things about our drive:  super nice rest areas in Kentucky, Dinosaur World dinosaurs along the freeway, gorgeous rolling hills through horse country in central Kentucky, a castle near Versailles, KY, crossing the Ohio River on a bitty little road/bridge, and just seeing all the things that I grew up around again.  It made me homesick a bit, but not enough to want to move back on a permanent basis.  Suffice to say, I was so, SO glad to get out of the car once we got our cabin key and found the cabin!

We were supposed to be at the cabin around 4pm.  After we realized that our trip was taking longer than we anticipated, and then the rain was coming in, I was worried that we'd leave AB and AF waiting at the cabin for us too long.  CC and I showed up at 4:50pm, and no one was there yet.  I was terrified that someone had gotten into a car accident, they were lost and couldn't call because there was hardly any cell signal out there, etc., etc.  Thankfully, AB showed up at 5:15pm and AF came around 6:30pm (we called her).  Our crew was here!  Our crew was together again!  Oh, it was going to be FUN!!!!!

Unloaded all the stuff, figured out who was going to get what room, and then loaded up in AF's car to go into Logan, OH for dinner.  We went to a place CC's sister had recommended and it was fantastic.  Then, we discovered a petting zoo and miniature golf place behind it, so of course we had to check it out.  Then, drive back to the cabin, break out the booze, and play...board games!  We're all such dorks, lol.  It was an incredibly fun evening of catching up, being silly, and just relaxing back into our 21-year-old selves.  I love these girls!

Rustic countryside.  Reminds me so much of where I grew up.

Fancy-schmancy rest area in Kentucky.

Yeah, dude, I was driving through the middle of Kentucky...wait, KENTUCKY?!??  Why is there a CASTLE in the middle of freaking KENTUCKY?!???????

Gorgeous horse ranches in central Kentucky.  Picturesque beyond words.

The wee bridge we crossed from Kentucky into Ohio!

Apparently, I pointed out too many of these little cemeteries to CC, as she took this photo for me.  Why aren't there pretty ones like this in Arizona?  This is the kind of place I'd love to be buried in!

Cabin!  Perfect for the four of us.  :)

Petting zoo behind the restaurant.  Maaaaa?

Girls Trip - Day 1

I got up at 4:15am this morning in order to get to the airport on time for my flight.  Kissed the girls and husband good bye and was off.  Flew from Tucson to Chicago to Nashville, and quite honestly it was the easiest flying day I've had in ages.  No kids stuff to tote, no kids to watch all the time, nobody else to feed, and I could just read and listen to my music the entire time.  Everything was on time, it was easy to get where I needed (no rushing), and I almost felt naked just traveling with my backpack and suitcase!  My friend CC picked me up at the airport in Nashville and we went to her house.

CC's dog must have thought I was the best thing known to dog because I just played with him forEVER.  He was super cute too.  When CC's husband got off work, we drove across Nashville to the Loveless Cafe for dinner.  Talk about GREAT food and southern hospitality!  I'd go back there in a heart beat.  Found some stuff in their "general" store for the girls, took pictures, and then headed back through the ritzy area of town to the grocery store for trip supplies.  After that jaunt, it was back to the house to get some rest before driving tomorrow.  Excited to see CC again (it's been 5 years!), and excited to see our friends AB and AF tomorrow.

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

The never-ending-energy dog, but so sweet and cute too!

Part of the menu - I had the caramel sweet potatoes and hash brown casserole.

Mmm, moonshine!

My dinner - country-friend pork chops, gravy, caramel sweet potatoes, and hash brown casserole.  I couldn't finish it!

BANANA PUDDING, SOUTHERN STYLE!!!!!!!

The Loveless Cafe sign

Packing

I always pack at the last minute.  Case and point - I just finished packing for a trip that I leave on tomorrow morning.  I don't like doing it ahead of time because I just feel like I'm going to end up rooting through what I already packed, and then I always feel like I'm going to forget something once I pack at the last minute because, well, I did it at the last minute!  I always pack way more than I need, and then I just feel idiotic at the end of my trip for bringing so much.  Oh well, c'est la vie.

I'm definitely looking forward to five days with my college girls.  Can. Not. WAIT.

Why must they touch me constantly?!??

I don't know if this is a unique problem to my family, but I've had this for almost 4.5 years now and it's now driving me insane.  My daughters need to be touching me in some way, shape, or form when they are near me.  If they are playing somewhere else, or in another room, it's fine, they don't need to be near me.  If, however, I'm nearby, or they are sitting near me, or I suddenly start moving out of their range, they have to touch me, hang on to me, follow me, and/or have me hold them.  I call this The Husband Syndrome, as my husband does this puppy-following thing to me too.  Lately, it's driving me crazy.  Sometimes, I just want to be able to sit on the couch without someone sitting on my lap and someone else sitting right next to me (against me) and clutching my hand/leg/clothes.  It would be nice to be able to go to the bathroom without having someone trying to figure out the zipper on my pants while I'm in there.  It would be excellent to be able to take a bath without having two naked girls jump in with me.  It would be beyond phenomenal if these girls wouldn't cry and practically have an aneurysm when told to leave Mommy alone and/or let me be in my room away from them. 

I love that they love me.  I love them very much too.  They tell me all the time, too, that "I love you, Mommy."  Melts my heart into little puddles.  However, sometimes I just want to have no one touching me, no one on top of me, and no one trying to snuggle their way back into my uterus (E actually said today "Mama, when I grow up and be a baby again, I go back in your tummy!").  How the heck do I explain this to my children without them feeling like I'm saying I don't want you around and/or I don't love you??!????

Migraine - the aftermath

Apparently, all I needed to get rid of my migraine was not sleep, darkness, quiet, or pain meds - it was a freaking run.  After my run with the girls this morning, I felt perfect.  What the heck?!?  I'll take it though!  I've been feeling it try to creep in all day again but it's stayed at bay (mostly).  I guess I'll be running again tomorrow to get rid of this pain too.  :p

Migraine

This post is brought to you by the letter M, for migraine, and Ibuprofin.  Both are sponsored by sleep, darkness, quiet, and children that seem to think that putting pillows on your forehead will make the pain go away.

The circus

We bought tickets early last month to go to the circus, and today was the day!  The girls were super excited and, not knowing what to expect, were also thoroughly curious.  There was a pre-show for about 45 minutes prior to the circus starting, and that was a lot of fun for all of us.  You could get down on the floor and see some things close up, try on circus costumes, jump in the bouncy house, watch the elephants do fun stuff, and meet clowns.  Then, the circus itself was amazingly well put together, all the acts were phenomenal, and our seats were excellent.  E got bored part of the way through and started walking between Mommy and Daddy (ARGH!), L wanted everything in sight that the vendors were hawking (all we got her was $14 cotton candy that came with a cheap hat to share with her sister), and I completely missed the trapeze artists because E had to potty.  That sucks the most for me because that was the part I was looking forward to the most!  Oh well.  I'm glad we went, I'm glad I packed a lunch for all of us to eat while we were there, and I'm ever so grateful for the nap that everyone took when we got home.

Clown giving a high five to a kid.

Amazing acrobatics.

More acrobatics, this time from the ceiling and sash!

I swear that stilt walked only came out three times.  What a job, right?!?

There is not enough alcohol in the world...

There is not enough alcohol in the world to drown my hair-pullingly awful day with my children away. 

Packing

After finally picking up some banker boxes at Wal-Mart, I set to work packing up some of the massive amount of books, notebooks, binders, and other miscellaneous items on our giant bookshelf in the living room.  Mostly, I wanted to get the stuff from college and graduate school into boxes that I no longer use, want, or need for reference (piano stuff stays out).  It took about a hour, but it was kind of surreal that almost six years worth of items could fit into three boxes.  One box actually had more professional things in it (post grad school) than academic!  The positive side is that we now have more room on our shelves for other stuff; however, I am a bit nostalgic that my college and grad school days really are way in my past now.

Bye bye boxes - enjoy your time in the garage!

Piano thoughts

This morning, the girls and I went to the piano store in town to pick up the bags I dropped off there earlier in May.  Also, since I've been picking up more private students, I thought I'd check and see what was available in my super-modest price range for an upgrade.  You see, when we first got married, the husband and I were able to afford this lovely piano:

My wonderful current piano (cleaned off!)

I found it via Craigslist from a lady in North Phoenix who was downsizing from her house to a senior home.  She couldn't take it with her, so I got a smoking deal on it.  We stored it at the husband's grandparents' house until we moved into our condo in Chandler, and then it was ours.  I have LOVED this piano so very much.

Now, however, I'm seeing a need to upgrade.  I'm playing more again (I'm actually practicing once a week now, HA!), getting more private students, and I want to have a really good instrument for the girls to learn and play.  So, to the piano store and its super-helpful employees (truly, I love that store).

My options are really between getting a super-high quality (used) upright piano (taller than the one pictured above), or getting a (used) baby grand.  I'm leaning toward the baby grand because it has a better action and sound, is only a touch more than the good uprights, and...well, it's a baby grand!  The downside to a baby grand is the amount of space it would take up in our living room (even if it's shoved up against the wall), the cost, and the ever-present worry that the girls (or the pets) would somehow ruin/destroy the instrument.  ARGH!  The one I'm leaning toward the most is this one:

The white Yamaha 5'3" baby grand.

 The store owner said that he's had it for a few months now because nobody wants a white piano - everyone wants black or wood-colored, and white is sort of tacky.  The word tacky set off my husband alert, as he lives and breathes tacky things.  Maybe this could work for him?  LOL, we'll see.  The others we looked at were way, way out of our price range.

This was L's favorite.  She said it was the prettiest, but at $10K?  I'm not sure "pretty" should cost that much.

This is exactly of baby grand piano at the husband's grandparents' house, except that one is wood colored.  It comes with the duo artist bench!  SWOON!  However, $14K is a bit steep for me (but a great price for the instrument).

Decisions, decisions, decisions!  Do I buy now, get trade credit for our current piano, and just do it?  Or do I hold off until 2014, after we get our new puppy, travel to Colorado for Thanksgiving, and do Christmas/girls' birthdays?  Ugh.  What would you do?

Naked yoga

I've never done yoga before, and the husband introduced me to the fact that we have a little introductory yoga thing on the Wii Fit.  We broke it out over the weekend and I really like it - I feel stretched, open, and energized!  The girl love it too, and now ask me "you do yoga now?" so that they can join in.  It's great.  E, however, pretty much insists on doing everything without clothes on, so now we have:  naked yoga.

E doing the tree pose on her modified yoga mat.  Not too shabby!

Good job, E!  And you still have your undies on - excellent.

...and the undies came off.  Downward dog, anyone?

Not really sure what she was doing here.  We got out the REAL yoga mat for her too!

L participating, with E doing her own version of yoga.

Who knows what either of them are doing here!

A new baby

We went to play with L's preschool friend B this morning, and to meet B's new baby brother T.  We had a great time playing with B, swimming in the pool, devouring fruit, and playing with all his toys.  The girls also cooed, snuggled, kissed, hugged, and held baby T as much as they could.  Both of them are so sweet with babies!  Holding baby T made me want to have another baby, but I think I'll just have to make do with baby nieces and/or nephews.  ;)  It was a really fun way to spend the morning!

L with baby T (she was watching cartoons too).  She kept saying "he's so cute!"

E with baby T.  E wanted to constantly hold him, hug him, and kiss him.  She told me she wants 10 babies someday!