Berry Berry Happy

It's true that there have been a few things that we don't have here (such as family sized tea bags), but there have been plenty of other things to make up for these.

Our latest treat was the wild raspberries in our backyard. For 2 weeks, we've been picking berries. After we've all eaten our fill, including fresh pie, we had enough extra to fill a corner of the freezer.

Jersey Tea Party

You may have seen the latest shopping carts for kids at the grocery store. Unlike the little cars with the cart just behind the little driver seats, this one has an entire car body between you and the cart. When we go to the one store in our area that has one, I have to drive around the parking lot looking for the big red convertible. It's not like it's hard to spot. It's about 15 feet long and practically needs it's own parking space.

The bad news is that when I'm pushing this tank, I usually take down at least 3 or 4 of those store displays that are in the center aisle.

The good news is that after I wrecked into yet another display, it turned out to be a whole display of Lipton family-sized tea bags!

One of the things I haven't been able to find here in the northeast is family-sized tea bags. I can get those little tea bags meant for a cup of hot tea. Or I can get that powdered instant kind. Or I can get bottled tea such as Snapple that comes in flavors such as peach or mango. And as far as I'm concerned, these last two options are not really options. So, for about a year, I've been unwrapping little tea bags to make a pitcher of iced tea. 9 bags for a gallon pitcher.

But, for now, my tea bag unwrapping days are over. At least for a while. I took advantage of my good fortune and stocked up. I bought every one I had knocked to the floor.

Trip Part Two

These pictures are from the second half of our Alabama trip.

We spent this time with my family in Birmingham and had a great time.

The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins, Cameron, Justin, Meagan and Kaili. They all played in the pool together, and then Katherine and Meagan hunted frogs. Unfortunately, at least one of these escaped from it's jar somewhere in my mother's house.

Isaac was happy that his Granddaddy also had a tractee and a truck. The boy's obsessed!

We spent a fun day at Kim's lake house. She fed us well and took us out on the boat for several hours. We rode on the intertube, and, thanks to Cameron and Justin, ended up in the water.

A Real Lucy Moment

Scott has our remaining Alabama pictures on his laptop. I'll post them as soon as I get them. But I'm kind of afraid to ask him for anything right now, though, so it may be a few days. I'm kind of in the doghouse. Literally.

For some reason this week, I've made some spur of the moment decisions. And I'm not a spontaneous person. Not at all. Maybe it's my midlife crisis kicking in early. Really, REALLY early.

No, I didn't get a little red convertible sports car. But I did paint and redecorate a bathroom on a whim.

And got a dog.

So, when Scott walked in last night, he walked into chaos. I had planned to surprise him, but he instead surprised me by arriving home 3 hours early. (He apparently tried to call, but the phone was buried at the bottom of a pile of Isaac's toys. Off the hook.) The paint mess was still everywhere, and the speech the girls were preparing regarding the dog was still in the making. I'm not sure what went through his mind, but both girls started screaming and trying to block him from coming through the door. And I got a classic You got some 'splaining to do look.

Trip Part One

Besides the travel portion of our trip, we had a great time. We spent the first part with Scott's family. These pictures show a few of the highlights.

Scott's mom had a big family get-together with a water slide for the kids. Scott used Isaac as an excuse to get on it, but he was obviously the one having the most fun.

Dylan made an ice cream cake for our 4th of July celebration. She had found the recipe herself, so she was really proud of the end results!

The girls spent hours playing with their cousins, Elizabeth and Emmie, who were visiting from Texas. They went fishing together, shot fireworks, and put miles on the Barbie Jeep.

Isaac loved riding Pawpaw's tractors, (tractees), but he was even more excited about the fire truck (BIG truck!).

We were able to spend an evening catching up with some friends. It was great to see that some things (and some people) never change!

Traveling Tot

This photo was taken on the day we left for Alabama.

Traveling with a toddler is usually a nightmare, so I wanted proof that this was really happening.

Things were going so smoothly.Despite standing in a mile-long security line for over an hour, we made our initial flight. This, and everything else, just seemed to fall into place. Including Isaac. He played sweetly, napped a little, and caused no problems. And this was after leaving home an hour before daybreak! I was living in a dream.

The return trip? Forget the dreamworld. It was a nightmare from the beginning.

From the time we left for the airport at 8:45 a.m. and arrived home after 1:00 a.m. just about everything that could go wrong did. We sat on a grounded plane for 2 hours. Had a flight cancelled. Spent hours waiting in the Atlanta airport. Were scattered across the plane so that we couldn't even see the girls.

And my little angel toddler shown above? Well, I tried to document his behavior this time as well, but his image wouldn't appear on film. If we had passed a mirror, his reflection wouldn't have appeared there either. He was a bad boy. A very, very, very bad boy.

After watching the news yesterday, I was shocked to hear that a toddler had been thrown off a plane for saying "bye-bye" during the flight attendant's safety drill. The fact that we were able to remain on board with our little terror is nothing short of a miracle. Now there's something to be thankful for.