Story Behind The Picture

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

When we went to Disney last month one of the restaurants we ate at was the Biergarten Restaurant at Epcott.

They have "communal, biergarten-style tables" and you're asked if you mind being seated with another party. We didn't mind and we were joined by another family of four who had two boys about the same age as my kids. And, coincidentally, the husband has a brother who has Down syndrome. Neat little connection that we were seated with that family!

This restaurant also has a live band and a dance floor. We were seated right next to the railing that circled the dance floor. The first opportunity there was to dance I told Kayla she could go out on the floor to dance; she was more than happy to be able to do so.

I tried to get a picture of her and managed to get this photo as the lady in the background went down. She went down hard; hit her head hard.

Kayla came back to the table and she was very concerned about the lady; kept glancing over to see if she was up yet, kept saying she didn't want her to go to the hospital ("no hospital, no blood!"), she was worried for her.


She was down for quite a while with different people checking her out (security and medical). She was down for so long that when she finally got up people clapped for her as they do when an athlete is injured. I was surprised she wasn't being escorted out on a stretcher or wheelchair since she was down for so long.

We continued on with our meal and eventually the band started up another round of songs. Kayla took off for the dance floor but was back sooner than I expected. She told me she 'gave a girl a hug.' I usually play 20 questions with Kayla to try and get the whole picture of what she's trying to tell me.

"You gave someone a hug?"
K: "Yeah, the girl."

I turned to look at the dance floor to see what kids were there, but there weren't any. I tried asking her again about who she hugged and she finally gave me a better description.

"That girl fall, I give her a hug."
M: "You hugged the lady that fell down?"
K: "Yeah!"
M: "The lady that fell down on the floor over there? You just went over there and gave her a hug?"
K: "Yeah, I hug that lady."
M: "Where is she?"

She pointed across the floor to the other side of the railing where there were tables and I scanned the diners sitting over there ... and sure enough ... the lady was sitting at the table. I knew Kayla had been concerned for her but I didn't know she paid that much attention that she would be able to pick her out of a crowd.

I told Kayla how nice that was of her to give that lady a hug. A few minutes later Kayla and I walked to the buffet to get dessert and on our way back she wanted to bring me over to their table and show me the lady that she hugged so I could see that she was ok. I still wasn't 100% sure if Kayla did what she said she did.

An example of why I don't always believe her: yesterday I asked if she went to the library at school (yes). So you returned your 2 books? (yes). Both of your books - Bobby's Zoo and Snow Day - you returned to the library? (yes) And you got new books? (yes). When I opened her backpack Bobby's Zoo and Snow Day were still there.

So I asked this lady if Kayla did in fact come by her table and give her a hug and she confirmed that she did and she was really touched by it.

Lesson from my daughter: Sometimes it's ok to hug a stranger, because sometimes they really need a hug. 

My kids closed out the night with some more dancing:

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Disney Tires Him Out

Friday, 13 September 2013

We've been fortunate to have gone to Disney 3 times since 2009.

- When Joe was deployed, my mom went with me to take the kids to FL and we went to the Magic Kingdom (and a side trip to SC to visit the base and area we were going to be stationed at).

- The National Down Syndrome Convention was held at Disney in 2010 (and we took the kids to the Animal Kingdom)

- And we just went over the Labor Day weekend with several families from the Summerville Miracle League.

Disney tires Lucas out. Heck, Disney tires me out! But I can't just fall asleep anywhere like a little kid can.

Each year we've been to Disney I have a picture of Lucas passed out on someone's shoulder.

If there is a next time for Disney (which Joe will say there will be, because Lucas is tall enough for Space Mountain now ... and he loved it. Joe finally has a roller-coaster buddy since Kayla and I sit those out.) I think Lucas will be too big for one of these pictures.

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Blue Ridge Mountains

Thursday, 18 July 2013

A last few random pictures from our vacation 2 weeks ago. We had a wonderful time staying up in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Sapphire, NC and being able to travel throughout the area there.

Mining for gems...
 



Some of the wildlife we found during our stay. Actually, on one of our drives I did spot a small black bear on the side of the road. I think I might have just freaked everyone out a little bit when I started yelling, "A bear! A bear! There's a BEAR right there! Look! On the side of the road!! Joe turned around so I could try and get a picture of it, but a truck coming the other direction scared it further back into the forest. It was still pretty neat to see!







They enjoyed being able to climb on this old train, pull the bell, and holler out "All aboard!"





Lucas found a hiking stick, and Kayla found a leaf as big as her face.

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Land of Waterfalls

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

While we were on vacation last week we discovered we were pretty much in the middle of what is called the "Land of Waterfalls." This area was so pretty and it was so nice to get out of the humidity.

The only complaint was the rain. But you can't do anything about that. We were in the midst of daily downpours - as was much of the East Coast.

We still managed to make the most of it and see what we could of the area, and the waterfalls. Joe really wanted to take the kids to Sliding Rock (and we discovered later there are 2 Sliding Rock Falls) and let the kids slide down the rock waterfall into the swimming hole, but that never happened. Because of all the rain, including the very wet June, the falls had much more volume of water than usual.

Our first falls was on our return trip from the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway. We stopped at Dry Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.

Dry Falls was our favorite because we could walk all the way behind it. The kids had fun hiding in a little cave behind the falls and then running out and down along the path.







As I mentioned, we had lots of rain. We went to Pisgah National Forest so we could do something inside at the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education and the Cradle of Forestry (the kids loved the scavenger hunt here. They wanted to do another one but we didn't have enough time). Each of those places also had outside walking trails. We were fortunate that the rain was off and on and we were able to explore outside as well. Sometimes with it sprinkling and then going inside for the harder rains.

There were also a number of waterfalls in this area. We were able to see 3 of them; although the last one we should have just skipped!

This one is Looking Glass Falls - rain cleared enough to enjoy going to see this one.


Then we made it to the other Sliding Rock Falls (open to viewing but closed to sliding due to high waters).


Couldn't get in the water, but checking to see how cold it was.




And our last falls of the day turned out to be an adventure - Moore Cove. The other falls were pretty much right off the road. You just parked your car and walked down some steps to the viewing area. To get to this one you have to hike through the forest - a little less than a mile one way.

See our family picture in the falls above? That was right before we left to go find this one. As we were leaving it started sprinkling. When we parked for this one it was still sprinkling, but we decided to take our chances thinking this would be a quick walk to the falls. It wasn't. I don't know how long it took us to reach the falls, but it seemed forever ... because the sprinkles turned in to some pretty heavy rain. And it was of course muddy. And we only had 1 umbrella. Lucas tried to stay under the umbrella with Kayla and me, but it's kind of hard to walk 3 abreast like that so he gave up and walked with Joe. Their shirts were soaked by the time we made it out of there.

We can look at this picture and laugh about the adventure we had going to see this falls. When we finally reached it (after debating throughout our walk whether to continue going or turn around) I joked that it was not worth the hike. Although in nicer weather I'm sure it would have been worth it!



























To cap off our night - once we got out of Pisgah we were still about an hour away from where we staying and it was already after 6pm. Do we drive back an hour and try to eat dinner later, or find a restaurant in the closest town and eat first ... while sitting in wet clothes. Thankfully I had zipper sweatshirts for the kids, so they changed in to those, but Joe didn't have a shirt to change in to and half of my shirt was soaked. We still opted for the early dinner.

And if we didn't already have our fill of water and being wet ... I totally knocked over Kayla's cup of ice water right into my lap. It was a 4th of July we won't soon forget!

The next day finally brought us some clear sky and even a bit of sunshine. We visited our last falls - Whitewater Falls - the highest falls in the east.

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The Blue Line

Monday, 8 July 2013

We took the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway from Blue Ridge, GA to the twin border towns of McCaysville, GA and Copperhill, TN.

We started the trip from where we just spent a week on vacation - Sapphire, NC. It was just over 2 hours to get to Blue Ridge, GA. The first almost-hour of that trip was a harrowing (for me!) drive through twisty, narrow mountain roads.

Joe was driving. Not that that was a bad thing. But maybe I should have driven because then I would have been more preoccupied with the act of driving instead of the 3-D images that kept greeting me around every bend and curve of the road. Images of rocks jutting out of the mountainside coming right towards me. Ok it sure did seem like they were coming right towards me, it didn't seem like there was any room for a car to go around those corners without hitting something. It was like watching a 3-D movie and thinking something was coming out to get you.

Seriously. You should have seen me. I was half-way leaned over, ok more than leaned over, most of my body was coming off of my seat and practically jumping in Joe's lap. But we made it - safely - without a scratch on me, or the van.

I thought I could relax on the ride back until I realized I would be on the side of the road that had the sheer drop offs into the unknown. Fun times.

The train ride was worth it though. We sat in the open air car and got popcorn and big pretzels from the concession car. It was a beautiful 1 hr train ride along the Toccoa River.

The border towns of McCaysville, GA and Copperhill, TN have a blue line right through the town that mark the border of the state line.

Lucas thought it was neat that we can stand in one state and be in another state by stepping over the blue line. Or straddling the blue line and having a foot in each state. Ok, we all thought that was pretty neat!

 

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Hiking Whiteside Mountain

Wednesday, 3 July 2013

We took the kids on a hike to the top of Whiteside Mountain in the Nantahala National Forest. This was a 2 mile round-trip hike. From the base of the hike to the top was a difference of about 700 feet. The elevation at the top was 4,930 ft.

There are some beautiful views from the top of that mountain; which would have been even more beautiful if it weren't such an overcast, cloudy day. But still worth the climb to the top. The kids did great on this hike; I don't think we heard any complaints from them the whole time.

It was beautiful to sit at the top and admire the view. We also saw wispy clouds roll right over us...and we made it out just in time as the rain started soon after we left!

The first view we had when we made it to the top:

 

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Guess who's back from the big city, y'all?

Monday, 8 October 2012

Heyyyy there, lovers! How you doin'?

How amazing is PLL? Love that girl to pieces and loved her takeover while I was busy gallivanting through the concrete jungle. Big thanks to her for that amazing post!

We left Friday morning and got back late last night. I'm the brilliant girl who is sitting at work this morning when I should have taken the day off. Who goes to work on Columbus Day after getting in late the night before from vacation? Dumb.

Anyways... let's recap the trip, shall we?

Day 1:

1. Just headed to the terminal at the airport. 2. My NYC polish of choice was Butter London Wallis. 3. 10am beer at the airport - because it's vacation and you can get away with that. 4. Calming the birthday boy with a smooch because he hates flying.

1. We had a fancy not-yellow car service pick us up when we landed at JFK. 2. We are happy people to be in the citayyyy finally. 3. The drive from JFK was a special treat for C - my country boy was amused at New York life. 4. The car service texted me... I was amused.

1. Room view from the front door. 2. Room view from the other side. 3. Our view... I miss it already. Womp womp. 4. The potty flusher makes you choose between whether you went #1 or #2... Yes, I took a picture because this shit is hilar.

1. C and his $20 whiskey martini. 2. Me and my $20 extra dirty vodka martini... These martinis did not have magical powers, as I was assuming they would from the price tag. Oh, New York. 3. We got the lowdown on some dive bars from a nice bartender... which meant we found $2 drinks and were happy little peoples. 4. We walked passed Guy's restaurant. I got totally excited.

I found the broadway show I belong in.

Fun fact: I was hammered drunk in this photo. You're welcome.

Day 2:

1. I don't get fancied up ever - so I was excited to see that I'm capable of cleaning up nicely still. Whatevs. 2. We went to Canal Street - aka. China Town... this is a table full of bongs and other paraphernalia. Awesome. 3. C's fancy faux watch he got in China Town. 4. Some of my China Town goods... I went a little cray. I couldn't help myself, it's been like a month 8 years since I've shopped for myself.

1. We had lunch in Little Italy. 2. Sangria and pasta covered in cheese... we are happy. 3. The sign said "Voted #1 Best Cannoli in New York!" so obvi I needed to test their honesty. They didn't lie... oh, no they did not. 4. Obligatory photo of booze for Instagram, duh.

1. In the cab on the way to Battery Park... I may have been feeling good thanks to that sangria. 2. There's the statue of liberty, which we collaboratively decided was not worth waiting in a line 2 miles long to see any closer. Boom. 3. We hung around Battery Park for a couple hours.. it was beautiful out and nice to actually just sit and relax. Who knew that people sitting in a park doesn't just happen in movies? 4. This crazy thing played whistle sounds when you stomp on it... we were totally intrigued by it. 

1. Saturday night we got all dressed up and fancy to go see the broadway show Jersey Boys. 2. Coolest table of life at a bar we walked by.... I need one of these in my life. 3. The view from our awesome seats at the broadway show... C hooked it up! 4. Double wine in a plastic cup with a straw... I was right at home.

Jersey Boys was AMAZING. Simply AMAZING.

Day 3:

We spent 98% of our last day in New York hopping from bar to bar... mostly because the traffic was too crazy for us to get to any of the places we wanted to go. No complaints from me... beer flights, mimosas, bloody mary's... I love a good Sunday Funday. The big city did not disappoint.

And when we got home at 10:45 last night.... SURPRISE!!! The house was decorated with balloons and cupcakes and all kinds of fun things for the exhausted birthday boy. 

And now I'm going to look through all of our pictures again because I'm so sad I'm not sitting in our hotel's restaurant eating complementary breakfast, preparing for another day in the city. I fell madly in love with NYC this time around and am already begging for a trip back during Christmas time.

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