Road Trip, Part One

The Geezer was successfully repaired and we hit the road Sunday morning. Our first stop was North Carolina for a quick (one day) visit with my mom before hitting the road again for the long trek to Michigan for a visit with Mr. Wonderful's family.

The drive was made much easier thanks to our new(ish) driver!

We had a great visit with GG in North Carolina and are looking forward to a longer visit next week when we stop on the way home. I love the mountains!

We saw lovely trees and flowers and saw quite a few chipmunks and hummingbirds - but not the bear (+ her cubs) that has been hanging around. Truthfully, I'm not sure if I'm disappointed to have missed a photo op or relieved!

We went sightseeing in Cashiers and the kids thoroughly enjoyed hamming it up in the taxidermy store!

And when I spotted this piece of pure awesomeness I had to take a picture. I think this one is destined to become my new facebook profile picture.

When The Princess and GG (our resident cheese lovers) saw this sign, we knew where we were eating lunch!

After lunch we stopped at a few more quirky little shops...

If this little bear hadn't been so expensive, I totally would have gotten him for Mr. Wonderful. It's the thought that counts, right?

Ditto for this bottle of wine, which had  the BEST name!

We packed quite a bit into our one day visit and 

can't wait to go back!

Sadly, our 24 hour respite ended much too soon and we were back on the road at 6:30 am the next morning...

We saw some beautiful vistas as we drove through the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, but once we left the mountains the most exciting thing we saw was a wind farm.

By the time we stopped for lunch, the kids were...

Well, see for yourself!

Thankfully, 14 long and tedious hours later, we arrived.

This Week...

If this week had a theme, it would have to be dance. To begin with, I think I've watched more television this week than I have in the past year. I'm not a big fan of television and we usually just read books or watch movies. But The Princess has been in an absolute tizzy anticipating this week's television shows and I decided to see what they were all about. 


Monday we watched the premiere of Bunheads on ABC Family - and loved it! It's a cute show and The Princess loved it too. She especially loved that it is about bunheads! (Although she wasn't especially impressed with the dancers' technique. She's a bit nit-picky about that!)

Tuesday, she convinced me to watch her favorite guilty pleasure - Dance Moms. Have any of you watched it? It's AWFUL!! I cringed at the terrible behavior showcased on this program and was completely appalled at the glee my daughter found in it! Apparently, all the dancers and teachers at her school and studio watch this show religiously.

The absolute worst thing about this show is how addicting it is, in spite of how awful it is. (Think Real Housewives or Toddlers and Tiaras.)

Wednesday and Thursday we watched So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD)...which is a bit of a tradition for The Princess and I. We have watched this show together every summer since she was about 9 or 10. We love it.

In addition to the glut of dance shows on television, The Princess had rehearsals this week for her studio's dance recital, which was last night. As usual, no videos or photography was allowed - so I "borrowed" this photo that one of The Princess's friends took backstage with the stage makeup on (and with The Princess making a really, really strange face.)

The Boy brought his girlfriend...which was sweet, except that he kept sighing and asking if they could leave yet. (*Note to self: instagram photos don't really work so great on the blog.)

In addition to the dance shows on television and the dance rehearsals and dance recital and having to buy eyeliner and blue eyeshadow for the recital and so forth and so on, we also did a few other things this week that didn't revolve around dance.

The Princess and I had a mother/daughter day and had our hair done. Back in September, The Princess got highlights to celebrate turning 15 and beginning high school, and they needed a bit of a touch up. As for me? I was beginning to feel ancient as the gray was rapidly taking over.

I also got new contacts and glasses, which is pretty awesome because I didn't even realize how much I needed them - until I put the news ones on and realized I could see again!

Have I mentioned lately that getting older really sucks?

Also, The Geezer (the kid's car) was feeling poorly (i.e. making strange growly noises) and had to go to the car doctor. Sadly, we're still waiting for The Geezer to be released and dreading the bill for making her work properly. We were planning on a road trip soon - in The Geezer, since she is the largest and most comfortable - but we'll have to wait and see what the damage ($$) is. Yikes. 

Here comes the sun...

I know, I know...I haven't posted in a week. But, really - there hasn't been anything to share. I had a week long migraine. That was a lot of fun. Plus, it's been raining. I mean, it's really rained a whole, whole lot. Torrential. Monsoon-ish. I think we've gotten close to 20 inches in the past two weeks.


If it hasn't been raining, it's been about to rain.

Hence, due to the rainy-ness and the gloominess and the migraine-ness...it's been rather boring around here. The kids are finished with school - The Boy is officially a senior (!!) and The Princess is officially a sophomore. How is it even possible that I am old enough to have kids this age?!

Because of the rainy/gloomy/migraine-ness, we've been lying low. We've slept late and had pajama days and read a lot of books. The Princess ran on the treadmill (and I took photos because (a) I was bored and (b) she looked really silly gesturing with her hands and singing along, loudly, to One Direction.)

The Boy opted for a run in the rain..

The kids tried to take advantage of a break in the rain and went swimming, but after about 20 minutes it started raining again.

The Boy's girlfriend came over and they hopped in the pool while it was raining (but no lightning or thunder). 

(I love my iphone, and the camera is great - but not so wonderful at night-time, 

rainy, gloomy, dark photos!)

All in all, it's been quiet and gloomy and boring - but restful. Which is nice, in it's own way.

But frankly, we were getting tired of rain. It's summer vacation - we want sun and fun!

And guess what, y'all?

This morning we woke up and we saw the sun for the first time in what seems like a gazillion years!

THE SUN!!!

The Boy wasted no time in moseying down to the dock.

And The Princess scurried out to the pool, with Lucy following right behind her.

The weathermen are forecasting more rain for this afternoon...and for the rest of the week.

But for now...the sun is shining.

And we're going to enjoy it while it lasts!!

Paranoia and the princess with too much time on her hands

I have this funny feeling that someone has been playing around with my cell phone...

The Princess says I'm just being paranoid.

I don't know, though...I'm pretty sure that someone has been messing around with my phone.

You know how it is...

Sometimes you just KNOW.

The Princess just says, "Pish."

Of course she also mentioned that she'd "take my cell phone off my hands if I don't want it" so I'm not sure that I trust her opinion.

I even think that someone was playing around with my phone while I was driving the carpool kids home from school!

I don't know - maybe she's right.

Maybe I am just being paranoid.

What do YOU think?

Although this is the same girl who sent this email with this video to me. Because she was "bored" (she was supposed to be writing 

a paper for English).

I'm beginning to think that The Princess has a little too much time on her hands. And also that she should switch from dance to drama!

Congratulations Class of 2012

Today is graduation day in our county. (As an aside, I'd just like to mention how utterly freaked out I am at the thought that The Boy will be graduating from high school in one year!!) 

Congratulation to all of our friends in the Class of 2012!

Stuart

Kaitlyn

Tyler

Franklin

Tori

Renee

Maddie

Gessica

Tom 

Molly

Craig

Kelsey

Nick

William

(I really hope I haven't forgotten anyone!)

Y'all are awesome!