Thursday, 25 June 2009

• SOOOOOOO.....

  
  

  
  I got on here to update the other day, uploaded some photos, got distracted, got busy...  and never came back!  You know how it is.  RIGHT?!  You KNOW you know.    But today I am determined to finally write about our weekend and some little tidbits about family and stuff...  All the little details that nobody really NEEDS to know but I like to write about! :) 
  
  So a couple weekends ago when we went to Fairhope (AL) for the day, we passed several signs that said there would be a hot air balloon festival in Foley (AL) the weekend of Father's Day.  We talked about coming, planned on coming, but then it has been SOOOOO hot that we didn't really think we wanted to be outside in that heat all day!  Anyway, Friday I looked it up online to get the schedule and stuff, and I think we had pretty much decided not to go b/c of the heat (which also tends to make me really tired--even more so than usual ).  But I saw that the festival was all day Friday through Sunday, and there would be fireworks Saturday night.  We tossed around a couple of options, and then Victor said, Why don't we just stay overnight and make it a mini-vacation?!  I was immediately SOOO excited--I can't even remember the last time we did something spontaneous! :)  (The last big thing that comes to mind was when we decided to go to N. Carolina for my sis-in-law's also-spontaneous wedding the day before we'd have to leave...  That of course was much bigger--but also much easier, being pre-children...)  ANYWAY, we left first thing Saturday morning and drove to Mobile, since we thought we'd spend the hotter parts (?) of the day in the a/c as much as possible. 
  
  

  
  
  My boys in front of the Museum of Mobile--not the one we'd originally intended to go to, but we ended up going in the wrong entrance (the two were in the same huge building) and paying admission at this one and finding the (small) children's area before realizing that it was a different museum... and so we went ahead and looked around quickly.  I did as much sitting as possible, b/c something about this museum made me feel like I was going to have a baby fall out of me at any moment.  So fun!! :) :) 
  
  
  
  Family-effort arch...  It was pretty hard to get it up!  Of course these two little girls came in after us and had it up in minutes...
  
  
  
  
  
  Had to tell Gabriel the story of Samson after this.  Some parts are hard to explain to a three year old. :)
  
  
  
  They had a little "fish market" with tons of play food that Zachary could have played in all day long.  He kept filling the baskets up... dumping them out... filling them up... dumping them out... :) 
  
  
  
  Love this wild child!  I didn't say I *understand* him all the time, but I love him! :)
  
  

  So next we headed on to the "Exploreum" which is where we had originally intended to go.  It's a museum made with children specifically in mind, and I knew there was a section intended for 0-5 year olds, which is what made me want to go in the first place.  Museums can be a LITTLE boring for 16 month olds, but I figured a section just for the little guys would be fun.  We watched an IMAX film called "The Living Sea"--I think I'd seen it before, but it was still beautiful, and their theater is a lot different from the one at the Naval Aviation Museum here.  It wraps up on the ceiling and everything, and the seats lean back slightly, so you're sort of underneath the movie.  Anyway, I was soooo happy that Gabriel absolutely LOVED it.  His little mouth ran non-stop throughout the entire show--he wasn't being loud, so I let him talk--and it was constantly questions and comparisons and exclamations about EVERYTHING he was seeing.  SO neat to see it through a child's eyes a little bit, and so exciting to see him taking everything in like a little sponge!  We did mention a FEW things after the show, like how *God* made the fish and the oceans. (Gabriel insisted that God didn't make the ones that we saw on the film b/c that was just a movie.  I guess he had a point.  A person made the movie.)
  
  

  
  
  LOVE this picture!!!  Not sure how well you'll be able to read it, but there was this display of "Human Body Noises"--of course "fart" had to be included, and it was just at Zachary's height.  He pushed that button OVER and OVER and thought it was the greatest thing!  He's looking up at the speakers here that the lovely sound effects came from...
  
  The next (lots of) photos are all from the "Wharf of Wonder"--the section for the little kiddoes.  I don't think I uploaded a wider angle one to show the whole thing, but they had a really neat wooden boat the kids could climb literally all over, surrounded by balls (for the water) w/ all kinds of plastic sea animals thrown all over... nets for "catching" the animals... Another little "food market" with more plastic food... Cars and trucks and puzzles and a slide and.... LOTS of fun stuff!
  
  
  
  
  
  I *think* he was a happy prisoner...???
  
  
  
  
  
  
  These pipes had air blowing up out of them that you could put the balls over and they would stay there "suspended" in air; if you covered up some of the pipes, the higher pressure would blow the balls up higher...  And then of course you can SMACK them and watch them fly across the room!! :)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Zachary really liked "catching" the water more than the animals..
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I LOVED these windows!!
  
  We did walk around much of the rest of the museum too, but it was getting late and the boys and I were getting tired and HUNGRY.  We did take a few "belly pics" of sorts... :)
  
  
  
  Hehe... There was this room (can't remember what it was called) where you could do whatever and it would make you all psychedelic looking on the screen...  I know that's not a good explanation, but I don't know how else to explain it!  Because I was standing still here, there aren't any of the colors and crazy stuff.  But when you would wave your arms or walk or whatever, these crazy colors would sort of trail your reflection after you and it looked... wild... :) :)  OK ANYWAY.  So there's my humongo belly for you all who have been wanting to see it.  Don't know WHY but there you go! :)
  
  
  
  
  Leaving Mobile...  We were in such a beautiful section of the city.  I've never thought of Mobile like that, all quaint and colonial looking, with such gorgeous old architecture.  Wish we could have looked around more just to see all the lovely old buildings.
  
  
  

  SO then we moved on to Foley.  By the time we got into town the line at Lambert's was HUGE and I was soooo hungry, I didn't want to wait. :(  We were looking forward to our throwed rolls, but we enjoyed delicious shrimp at Applebee's instead. :)  Checked into our hotel, rested for a little bit, and then went to the actual original reason for our trip--the balloon festival.  It was after 8:00p by the time we got here, and it was still hot hot HOT.  It was just starting to get dark, and the balloon people :) were giving "tether rides" and making the balloons glow b/c of the flames they shoot up inside.  Soooo pretty! 
  
  
  
  We got the best pics of this balloon--but there were probably over 20 of them out there, all lighting up like giant fireflies randomly and unexpectedly...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Jessica, Victor took this picture for you, so he said! :)  A band called "Cheyenne" singing "Sweet Home Alabama"...  I will say this much--they had their speakers on HI.  :)  No really, they sounded pretty good, but I thought my ears were going to explode!!  I could feel every note reverberating in my chest.  It was a weird feeling.  Felt a little "deef" after that! :)
  
  
  
  
  Zachary laughing b/c the ice in our water bottles kept crashing down onto his face when he'd tip the bottle up for a drink. :)
  
  
  
  Trying to keep cool!
  
  
  
  
  Is there a wocket in YOUR pocket??
  
  
  At last the long awaited fireworks came... behind the trees from where we had set up... :)  Of course!  We quickly moved and got some neato pics, I thought...  The kiddoes by this time were falling over tired, and I was getting close myself!  But since we have a good chance of NOT seeing fireworks on the 4th, we thought we'd better take advantage of these ones!! :)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (Quick break to check on tonight's bean soup...  Soon I have to get the cornbread in, too...)
  
  So anyway, we had a BLAST on our weekend away!  We had hoped to sleep in Sunday morning, having ALL stayed up 'til 11:00 or so Saturday night (unheard of for children in this household) but HAHA no.  That was not to be.  Zachary and Gabriel both woke up right on time, ready to go and just a little crabby! :)  We had breakfast at our hotel, swam in the pool for a while, showered and checked out and drove to Orange Beach (also AL) specifically to go to Cosmo's--an amazing seafood that Victor read about online.  It was a big surprise to me--it was sort of a little hole-in-the-wall place, or meant to look like one.  It was in a sort of.... building complex... (??) with a lot of little shops and stuff, and the menu was not very extensive.  I was a little apprehensive when our appetizer (crab cakes) came and there were two--two!--of them on the plate.  They were good sized, maybe 4 inches across each, but still, I thought, TWO??  Anyway, once I bit into them I was in HEAVEN!!!!!  SOOOOOO good!  I decided that I didn't really care how much they cost, they were good enough to be worth it.  Really.  :)  Won't go into TOO many details on the rest of our meal except to say that I got blackened tuna (catch of the day) with mixed veggie side which was BEYOND amazing, and Victor got a fish taco (makes me sigh just thinking about it) with some sort of fresh asparagus as the side and the asparagus was good enough to eat just that for the whole meal.  We both decided at the same time that all of the vegetables were so good that they couldn't possibly still be good FOR us.    UNfortunately!  But we didn't mind eating them anyway!
  
  Went straight home after lunch--we were all exhausted and were hoping to take a nap in our lovely air-conditioned home, but alas... the a/c was broken when we arrived...  It was not as happy an arrival as I'd hoped for.  Thankfully, Barnes & Noble keeps their lovely establishment quite cool.  :)  We finished off our Father's Day celebration with molten lava cake or whatever it's called at Chili's (only they were OUT of the chocolate kind--can you BELIEVE it???--so I got chocolate chip and Victor got the white berry one) and then came home, packed up, and moved into the Campus House for the night.  I tell you, being on staff here does have it perks!  King size beds being one of them... :) 
  
  So today (Thursday) our a/c is (sort of) fixed (temporarily) and we are officially living at home once more...  I started "school" with Gabriel today.  We worked on the letter I and writing his name and some random skills like tracing.  :)  Took all of a half hour or so and he loved it!  He did manage to say "but I'm tired" several times anyway, which is his way of saying he'd rather being playing with his trains or something.  But he was excited with what he learned and happy to tell his daddy about it when he got home, and I think keeping the time limit SHORT will be good for everyone involved! 
  
  Yesterday I asked Gabriel what he wanted to get for a present for his baby sister when she is born.  He "hadn't decided yet" (his new answer for things that are sprung on him spur of the moment), so I suggested "a dolly or a blanket or a little teddy bear."  He immediately said, "A dolly!  I want to get her a dolly!  Little girls like dollies, but big girls only like cleaning."  *sigh*  I guess maybe he thinks I clean because I enjoy it so terribly much... :)  Victor wants me to specify that he has NEVER said anything like that, and Gabriel came up with that on his own!! :) 
  
  Zachary is suddenly starting to "talk" all sorts of random things!  It's so exciting and fun--he can say lots of animal noises, is getting pretty good at "Nononono" (all strung together as one word, and accompanied by the shaking finger--guess he hears that a lot?!), loves to say "ice" (hehe NO CLUE where he got that from), and a few other random things.  He and Gabriel are both at such fun (OK and frustrating) ages that I'm a little sad at the thought of mixing up the status quo so radically in just a couple weeks!  Or sooner!  (Or later...)  Mixed feelings definitely--I'm looking forward to meeting our little girl and getting to know her, DEFINITELY looking forward to a little more physical comfort as far as not getting jabbed and poked every time I turn over... :)  But not sure what to expect, of course, with such a big change coming our way.  Not to mention the fact that it just hit me the other day that I have no idea what to do with a GIRL baby. :) 
  
  ANYWAY, I have to go make cornbread and finish up the rest of dinner prep so I will bring this rather long post to an end.  Quick comment--we got a box today from Victor's grandma STUFFED full of baby things--sooooooooo beautiful!  She makes these blankets for her grandbabies--more like sheets, but they're hand-embroidered and stuff, I don't even know the terms for what she does to them, but they are EXQUISITE.  She also made a couple of adorable little dresses and a few more that she bought...  DEFINITELY going to be taking pics of these things to post because they are AMAZING. 
  
  Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday evening!!  Probably going out tonight to buy supplies for Victor's visuals for his education class... (Oh yes--summer classes have started!!  This first one is a DOOZIE.)
  
  Toodleoo!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  • 4:35 PM
  • 7 Views
  • 2 eProps
  • 2 Comments