Getting to Disney part 1

We just got back home after being gone for 13 days.  Early on the 9th the kids and I left for Disney World.  To maximize our time there I started driving several days early while Buddy flew.  It's over 14 hours there and it takes two days minimum.  I stretched it to four days so it wouldn't be so difficult for Cora.  I noticed a huge change since our last trip in July and there was never any big problems with her.

Our first day was the longest drive and every day would get shorter.  I left around 6 in the morning thinking the kids would go back to sleep.  Cora eventually did but Bohdin and Nyla did not.  They were able to watch the sun rise but I don't think they were very interested.  After a few hours of driving we stopped at our first pit stop, Cumberland Falls.  The kids were semi interested.  It killed some time and I thought it was pleasant.  The rode getting there was windy and Bohdin sort of threw up when we arrived.  Every once in a while he gets motion sickness.  He was fine after a few minutes and I spent most of the time trying to keep everybody somewhat together.

We then drove through the mountains of Tennessee which are quite pretty.  I was the only one impressed.  I might come back here someday.  We arrived in Asheville, North Carolina around three.  There is a small earth science museum there that we spent some time in.  I had a hard time keeping Cora out of trouble there and chasing her around occupied a lot of time.  She refused to be in the carrier.  We had dinner at a restaurant and Cora didn't do too terrible.  Buddy was jealous because it was our favorite restaurant.  Unfortunately it has gone way downhill since the last time Buddy and I went about ten years ago.  I was pretty tired so we just went to the hotel.

The next morning we were scheduled to drive into Savannah Georgia.  We stopped for lunch in South Carolina to try some of the mustard sauce.  Bohdin didn't like it and the girls didn't even try it.  It felt like a long day driving and we were all glad to make it to the hotel.  I wanted to explore the historic section of the town but took the kids to the beach at Tybee Island instead.  I knew they would have more fun there.  There wasn't a lot of daylight left so we had to enjoy it quickly.  Nyla spent most of her time dancing on the beach.  Cora held my hand in fright for a few minutes before running off to play.  Bohdin spent most of his time in the water.















The next morning we spent a little time walking around town.  We visited Forsyth Park which was lovely.  It was a beautiful town that I need to return to with Buddy.  The kids don't make the best travel partners because they are always acting like children.  At least I've had a little taste of Savannah.





We drove a couple of hours south to Jekyll beach.  I had planned for us to visit the turtle center there but we ended up just spending a little bit of time at the beach.  The water was filled with a lot of sediment so the kids didn't enjoy this beach much.  I rather liked it because I didn't have to watch the kids as closely with none of them in the water.  I was able to lay down and enjoy some quiet time.
It wasn't long before we were on our way south into Florida.

Apple Picking

We went up to Indiana to go apple picking on Friday with E- whom we haven't seen in quite a while.  I wasn't sure if Cora would be able to participate because she had received a shot in her leg on Thursday.  During her nap she woke up crying that her leg hurt.  She fell back asleep only to wake up again later.  She was miserable throughout the evening and could hardly walk.  She was limping a little in the morning but it cleared up by the time we arrived at the orchard.

The trees had so many apples in reach that it took about a minute to get more apples than we needed.  We stopped in the store and bought a few other things then went to the playground.  The playground charges admission but there was nobody there to collect money.  We had the kids stay out of the area and play with the animal statues.  Eventually one of the kids went into the paid area.  We were hesitant to go in without paying but we gradually lost our apprehension about that.  In addition to the play area they have other activities like a pony ride which wasn't operating while we were there.  The favorite thing was the 40 foot barn slide.  They built a smaller scale barn and attached a large black pipe as a slide from the top area.  Bohdin and E- loved it the most.  Nyla and Cora did it several times as well.

Different deer in our backyard.  This time it was a buck and a doe.


Bohdin has an idea for solving global warming.  I'll share it in his own words.

Power plants produce carbon dioxide which is warming up the planet.  The current solution is to capture carbon dioxide and turn it into carbon rich chemicals and store them underground.  My solution is to separate the carbon from the oxygen in carbon dioxide and then put all the carbon together in a pyramid structure to make diamonds.  Then you have a power plant producing diamonds AND electricity.  But you can't do that too much because without carbon dioxide we would run out of oxygen. 

I asked him how the process would generate electricity but he dodged the question.  I decided not to ask him about the energy required to split molecules or any other details.  He did add that it would be really cool if it would rain diamonds.  I was impressed with how well he presented his idea.  Sometimes he doesn't sound like a seven year old.

Ta Da

Nyla watching the deer leave our yard.  Either the deer know how to open the gate or the wind is opening it for them.  Since they can easily jump the fence it doesn't really matter.  It was a mom with two baby deer this time.


Cora sticking her tongue out.


Last week Cora insisted that we watch her do whatever popped into her head.  It was mostly running and jumping off the couch.  Afterward she would say ta da!  Most of her stunts we did not approve of.    She climbed the small ladder and balanced on one foot, she jumped from the couch to the coffee table, and various other things.  She hasn't done it in several days which I think is a good thing.  One of the girls from Lego League today was practicing hand stands and Cora watched intently.  She thought about copying but couldn't figure out how to get her legs off the ground.  I bet if she had she would have said ta da.



We had some of our favorite visitors over the weekend.  Buddy's grandmother, aunt, and uncle arrived late Sunday afternoon.  Nyla nearly died from impatience.  She even called once to find out how much longer until they arrived.  It was just a short visit but it was lovely as always.  On Monday we went to the Kentucky Derby Museum which had long been on my places to visit list.  I had heard good things about it but was a little skeptical.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  The museum was a lot of fun.  We spent several hours there and didn't see it all.  Cora's favorite part was the horse video game.  She did that one a lot.  It's a good thing that it was not a busy day.  I think my favorite part was the betting display.  There was a computer screen with the horses for the upcoming race as well as their odds.  A horse was chosen for first, second, and third place.  Then a tv screen shows that actual race from years ago and then you find out what you would have won.  It would have been even better with more complex bids possible but I still liked it.  It probably helped that I was the big winner with $13.10 in hypothetical winnings.   It was a really wonderful museum.




















A few hours after returning from the Derby Museum, Nyla went nuts.  She was tired and fell asleep in her room for a little while and when we woke her up she was a beast.  She screamed and cried for quite some time.  In some ways, being five is difficult for her.  She's been more emotional the past month.  She is also becoming way more independent.  This morning she yelled at me but apologized seconds later.  She was crying and saying sorry.  Cora has picked up on this behavior and twice today she has told me sorry.  I've already forgotten the first incident but the second time I was syncing the ipod and Cora wouldn't stop touching the cord even though I told her to stop touching it numerous times.  I finally moved her away from it into Buddy's arms.  Cora was so sad.  Eventually she came over to me crying and saying sorry over and over.

Still busy

I just don't have as much time free time as I used to.  We've been busy the past several days.  I took the kids to the fair on Friday and Buddy took them on Saturday.  On Friday we looked at the animals, food, and the 4H projects.  Saturday was rides day. 

Monday we had to pick up Bohdin's pillow and then we went to the zoo.  The splash park will be closing soon and I thought the kids would enjoy it one last time.  Since school has started here the zoo was very lightly attended.   All three kids had fun at the splash park for the first time.  Normally only Bohdin likes it but this time Nyla had a lot of fun also.  Cora had a few fun times as well but it took her a while to warm up to the place.

Deer and the drought have decimated most of the garden this year.  We had a few squash and we get a couple of cherry tomatoes.  The raspberries looked bad earlier in the season but they've begun producing and every day there are a few raspberries.  The competition for them became pretty intense so Cora would go out in the morning to pick them all before anybody else had a chance.  She shared a bit but I think she kept most for herself.  In the picture below she is coming back from harvesting.  She picked up two ticks in the process so we may need to put down another tick treatment. 

I went through the list of county fair categories for next year and told Bohdin to pick three.  He chose bread, cookies, and he's undecided between jewelry and candles.  When he chose candles he remembered the good job he had done in the past with the hand dipped candles from the maple syrup festival.   The goal is that most weeks he will bake a loaf of bread and also make cookies on Tuesday to share with Lego League on Wednesday.  Earlier in the day he had asked to make cinnamon rolls so that became his first bread.  He has helped me bake in the past so he had some knowledge going in.  He made the cookies last night and that went really well.  He's assisted on so many cookies it wasn't a big deal for him to take over and do it all. 

Cora has been better about quiet play this week.  She can go off by herself and not do something destructive.  The other day she took a few books off the shelf and looked through them.  She also wants to play in the front yard by herself.  She is able to open the storm door and slip out quietly.  Yesterday when I was making dinner it was too quiet and I found that she had went outside to collect leaves.  She thinks it is ridiculous that she can't play in the yard without someone watching her.  

Nyla has been complaining that even though she is "almost six" she doesn't feel any differently than she did as a four year old.  Logic has no place in any argument with Nyla but I tried anyway.  It didn't work and she continues to feel let down. 

First meeting

Today was the first meeting for the new Lego League group.  There is one new girl but the rest we knew from last year.  She seems great and the kids had a lot of fun with her.  Today was mostly playing to get the group used to each other.  Bohdin pulled out a board game and afterward they played various things including a variation of duck duck goose that involved the goose posing the ducks.  It's at our house this year and I think it will be a lot of fun for the kids.  Bohdin and Nyla really enjoyed it.  I think Cora will warm up by the end of the season.  She wasn't holding onto me as much as she was two weeks ago. 

Yesterday was a social day as well when the M- clan came over in the afternoon.  Nyla wasn't interested in playing at first because she had a shot earlier in the day and wanted to be sad about it.  Eventually she realized that playing would be more fun and she started playing tag with the rest of them.  When we bought our house we knew it was a great tag house and it has certainly been utilized in that regard.  I don't think we'll even have a circle in the next house.  They are spoiled here with the double circles or triple circles if you include the kitchen island. 

I caught whatever the kids had and it hit me the hardest.  Cora has begun to play more with Bohdin and Nyla instead of hanging out with me all of the time so that was helpful.  She'll go with them for a while but they often play big kid games that she can't do.  Cora tries to play Playmobil but she wants to touch what Nyla touches which results in a screaming Nyla.  She will play chase with the older two and some of the other physical games like jumping from the bench onto the couch.  She's been trying harder to act like them.  She chooses cereal for breakfast like Nyla even though she doesn't like cereal.  Today she wanted to do schoolwork like Nyla.  I copied Nyla's page for her and she scribbled on it.  She was quite proud of her work.  She also has fallen in love with the ladybug shirt that Nyla is wearing on the screensaver I have on the laptop.  Tonight at the library, Cora ran to the board book section and grabbed a stack of books.  She put them in the library bag and carried them herself throughout the library, into the car, and then home.  She looked at books on the way home the same way that Bohdin likes to do when he goes to the library. 

Sick

Cora had a dentist appointment on Monday.  I didn't think she would be very cooperative and she proved me right.  In an effort to make it better for her I let her use the Ipod.  It didn't seem to make too much of a difference.  She thought she would be able to use it at other times though and she was mistaken.  After taking the picture above I took it away.  I don't trust her with expensive electronics. 

Nyla also had a dentist appointment and she did well.  Both Nyla and Cora have new dolls as a result of their appointment.  Nyla put many of her babies to sleep on the couch one day along with Cora.  When I took the camera out Cora just wanted me to take pictures of her so I took a few. 




Bohdin developed a cold on Tuesday I think.  I wanted him to rest and he did his best but it's not his strength.  By Thursday Bohdin was still blowing his nose a lot and Nyla and Cora were getting sick as well.  The girls didn't get it as bad as Bohdin and by Friday evening everybody was fine.  Everybody was really fine before that.  I threw Bohdin outside to play Thursday afternoon and he felt a lot better after running around outside.  In the future we might try that as soon as he gets sick instead of the resting.  Buddy and I were really curious about the state fair results.  Bohdin was pretty uninterested.  Friday evening we just had to go see.  Getting into the fair was extremely time consuming.  The traffic people they hired were awful and the gate situation was slow.  We saw a lot of unhappy people. 

It took a long time but we finally were able to park and get in.  The entire time Bohdin was working on his project I told him not to expect a ribbon because I didn't want him to be disappointed.  The experience was the reward.  He must have believed me because he spouted it back to me and didn't care whether he won one.  Even when he saw the ribbon he wasn't excited.  He was still really proud about sewing on the buttons though.  He won third place out of 19 entries.  In the picture below half of the second place winner can be seen to the right.  I think Bohdin could have won second if his stitching in the back had been straighter.  The second place pillow was done by a ten year old and the first place pillow was done by an eleven year old.  The flower pillow was the winner.  Buddy thought it looked difficult but I know that they sell a tool that easily allows one to make those pompoms.  She deserved the win.  I like the look of Bohdin's pillow better but her construction technique was better.  Bohdin did an amazing job and we're really proud of his effort and hard work.  His pillow was the most complicated.  I think that helped him with the judges.

Time for Fun

With the project turned in, it was time for some fun.  I took the kids to the zoo on Sunday so they could enjoy the splash park.  Cora didn't like it because she tried stepping on one of the upright jets and got water in her nose.  She tried it again and got even more water in her nose.  She stayed out of the water after that.  Bohdin and Nyla had a lot of fun though.  I had to drag Bohdin out of there after nearly an hour.  We saw a few animals on our way out.  Bohdin wandered far ahead which I wasn't fond of.  Cora spent a long time with the elephants and then wanted to explore every kind of fencing material in the zoo.  After she played ring around the rosies around a tree I cut her off from walking and put her in the carrier. 

Nyla had been asking to ride the carousel since we entered. I almost said no because we hadn't caught up with Bohdin yet but I didn't want to punish her for Bohdin's poor choice.  Bohdin waited for us in a good spot patiently.  He had been carrying the food so he ate a snack while waiting.  I think he has learned his lesson about going to far ahead.  He was very glad he was the one carrying the food and said he wanted to continue doing that. 



Somehow the girls from across the street came to our house.  Nyla asked if she could go over there ane we reluctantly agreed but they came over to our house instead.  I saw them with Cora's stuffed animal and Nyla came inside to mention something about giving it to them.  I told Nyla she was not allowed to give away Cora's present.  Nyla rectified the situation but they came in and took some balloons instead.  I don't know if there was much playing going on because Nyla seemed to be be spending a lot of time with Buddy and I telling us random stuff.  At one point Bohdin came up upset and told us they had taken some Playmobil toys.  When Bohdin saw them walking off with it he said he asked them if they were taking it and they apparently said yes.  Buddy went over and rescued the toys.  The girls are not coming over again.  I had a talk with Nyla and compared their behavior with the Lego League kids.  I hope she will learn from this experience.