Camping

So now I really am home. I was home for a day, then left for 3 1/2 days on a camping trip with friends. But now I am back for the summer.

I also got a haircut right before leaving on the camping trip. I like it. Here is a picture (with part of a cat who insisted on helping.


The camping was pretty fun. Saturday we rented canoes and rowed to the opposite side of the lake, decided to switch places, nearly left Sean - intentionally - when he went off a little ways to pee, rowed back to the middle, and got out to swim. Turned out the lake was only about 41/2 feet deep and the bottom was some nasty, mushy clay stuff. The guys of course dug into it with hands and feet and put it everywhere, while Steph and I did our best to not touch it at all. Getting back into the canoes was fun. Not because it was difficult but because the guys apparently have little common sense. Joe and Matt thought if they both climbed in at the same time it would balance it. Which I could almost agree with, however, they tried to both climb in on the same side of the canoe. The rest of us quickly grabbed the opposite side to hold it down, so the canoe didn't flip. It was pretty overcast while we were on the lake which kept us from roasting. It rained that night, but we had already gone to bed when it started so it didn't bother us.

Sunday it rained in the mid-afternoon so we mostly hung out in the tent and played card games and listened to music. The rain really cooled everything off, which was nice, but it also soaked our firewood, which was less nice. We were cooking burgers and hot dogs for dinner and we'd planned to do it over the fire. Well, we still did, but it took nearly an hour to get it going. The guys were absolutely determined to light it. They went through a lighter, a box of matches, and half a roll of toilet paper and paper towels.

Today we started packing up our stuff (after eating breakfast of course) and headed back. We got back a little earlier than I'd expected so I had about an hour and a half before I had to leave for work.

Steph took a bunch of pictures of the trip (which I'm going to steal) so I should be able to put up pictures soon enough.

Gatlinburg Pictures!

So here are the pictures from my camera.

The first is (of course) my dear Jazzmine. The second is Heath.


These are the three of us (taking turns) in the Mountain Mall.


This is Jazzie and Heath as we ride up the sky lift.


And then the sky lift from the top.


Jazzie looking at the scenery and Heath taking a picture of it.



Some scenery


Jazzie and Heath at the top. (Heath wasn't looking in the first one, ergo the second.)


Jazzie and I on the way down. And Heath taking a picture of us.


The view on the way down.


Playing in an arcade. They did one game of DDR. It was very funny. The second one is Heath shooting zombies.


Having smoothies outside the 21 hot dog flavors store. Who knew hot dogs were so flavorful?


One of many Ripley's places and a store missing part of it's title. Nique ifts anyone?


Heath wearing Forest Gump's shoes outside Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.


Old Time photo. Because we're awesome. And a photo booth strip. We weren't expecting it to start taking pictures so soon which is why we look slightly dazed in the first one/two.


Jazzie driving home.


And here are the pictures I stole from Jazzie.


The Teenie Weenie Stand. We found it by accident.


First Jazzie and Heath then me and Heath on the fake sky lift.


Another photo booth strip which turned out better. And the old time photo Jazzie chose. (We had 8 to choose from. It was a difficult choice. They were all great.)


All three of us in our Microtel (which really lives up to it's name).


Heath at the Pancake Pantry. (They have the most delicious pancakes/crepes ever!)


Jazzie in her Gatlinburg shirt.


Jazzie and Heath in their matching "Everything is going to be alright" shirts.


Heath and me by one of the many Ogles grave stones.


This one is actually from the Country Music Hall of Fame. It has guns for handles (on the outside and the inside) and silver dollars lining the dashboard and longhorns on the front of the car. It's eccentric to say the least.

Gatlinburg

The last two days have pretty much been amazing. Jazzie and I were going to drive all the way to Charlotte to visit Heath, but TJ did not want us to go so far (especially in the Volkswagon which she felt would not be up for such a trip) so we met halfway in an awesome little town called Gatlinburg. It was magical. We had so much fun. Heath, Jazz, and I have very similar senses of humor. It made it that much more fun.

Yesterday afternoon we mostly just walked around looking at all the cool stuff we'd like to do...if we had cash. (We also made many jokes/laughed a lot about not having any cash.) Most places only accepted cash which was terribly inconvenient, because there were not many ATMs. But it was probably for the best as it kept us form spending money on things we didn't really need to. We did pay to do a mirror maze which was SUPER FUN. They had these glasses that made the lights look funny and like they were all around you so we were just dancing around pretending we were at some super cool party. We did find our way through a couple of times - it wasn't all that difficult - but it was way more fun to just watch ourselves dance. We also took photos in a photo booth. The first strip is a little funny because we didn't realize it starts taking pictures as soon as the money is in, so we weren't ready, but the second strip came out very well indeed.

Today we wandered around a little more. We ate breakfast at the Pancake Pantry - which had the most delicous pancakes and crepes I've ever tasted. We went on the sky lift which was pretty cool. It was basically a ski lift minus the cold and snow. But the view was gorgeous. We also went to an Old Tyme Photo place. The photos turned out awesome. We have to be the three coolest kids ever.

I'm pretty tired and I still need to pack (flying home tomorrow) so you will have to wait until another time for pictures, but I promise to put them up soon.

Country Music Hall of Fame

Jazzie, Marie and I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was kind of cool. It probably would have been really cool if any of us had known who the people were. (Of course we knew the major ones like Elvis and Dolly Parton, but there was a whole section for Hank Williams who had half a floor dedicated to him and none of us had heard of him.)

Then this evening we went to dinner for Carmen's birthday (her birthday is Tuesday). It was a Turkish restaurant. Jazzie and I shared a gyros and roasted lamb and backlava. It was delicious!

Tomorrow we are driving to Charlotte NC to visit one of Jazzie's friend. It will be fun. We are excited!

Walk-A-Thon, Music, Star Trek

The Walk-A-Thon went well. Donna and I picked up the girls (only 5 came) and brought them to the park. After the walk, I took them to McDonalds (Donna's treat) for lunch since Donna had to set up for the workshop. Then I dropped them off at their homes and headed home myself.

Jazzie is here and giving me tons of music. She also gave me a lovely dress and two picture/comic books. One is Ghost World and one is...PENDRAGON! (The worst, yet most enthralling book ever written.)

Tonight we went to see Star Trek (my second time) with the twins and some of their friends. She slept through the first bit, but we had a nice time.

I'm so tired right now I can hardly think straight, much less type. Ergo, I am going to bed.

Star Trek

I was wrong about how long Marie (the French girl) is staying. She'll only be living with the Bichells for a few weeks (not months). Last night TJ took Marie, Louie, & I to see Star Trek. Louie loved it. Luckly, there was a wall in front of us, not another row of seats or someone would have been kicked through the whole movie. As it is, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some Louie-sized foot prints/indents on the wall where he was sitting.

Fran gets in Friday and Jazzie gets in Saturday (yay!). Louie will be thrilled to get to make so many trips to the airport. : )

TJ and I are making progress in the stacks of paperwork and we might make the deadline after all. Which would be excellent because there is a chance the grant will not be renewed or will be shortened (from 5 years to 2). Any information entered before the deadline can still be analyzed after the grant expires (if it expires) otherwise they can't use it. So there's a little more pressure now to get that finished.

Peek-A-Boo

So I haven't written in a while because there was really nothing new. I've been helping TJ catch up in the mornings and going to the tutoring in the afternoons. The kids say hi to me sometimes. It catches me by surprise. After all, they've spent weeks completely ignoring my presence.

Yesterday, a French foreign exchange student arrived. She'll be living with the Bichells for a few months. She's my age and a med student. She's going to follow Dave around work.

There is yet another animal addition to the farm - a third horse. It is also a boarder. It's owner is the daughter of one the twins old teachers. It's a beautiful filly, sort of a speckled/mottled gray. Her name is Daphne. Chance follows her everywhere (not that Daphne gives him a second thought). Poor Classy has become a third wheel and wanders around on her own.

Dave's bees are doing quite well, they seem to be settling in nicely. Yet another swarm has made it's home in a tree, but Dave decided that four hives was enough to start with, so he hasn't attempted to domesticate those ones.

Louie has discovered a great new game and someone who is willing to play it almost incessantly. The game: hide under the blanket. The person: me. When he sees me come in he immediately picks up his favorite blanket and brings it to me, chuckling with anticipation. I throw the blanket over his head and he cackles. I wiggle the blanket, suddenly uncover and recover him, and grab his finger when he pokes it through the hole in the fabric. Each of these things makes him squeal and laugh harder. It keeps him entertained for a long time (and that's not easy to do).

The twins had their semi-final lacrosse game Friday. It was a close game. The other team won by 1 point, but the twins weren't too bummed about it. Lena is going to Boston in two weekends to play on the state team. The twins are in the middle of AP tests, so they are frantically studying and stress levels are high, but only for another week.

Today, the twins made crepes for breakfast and we had a picnic on the hill. It was nice, except I was worrying about tics the whole time. (Dave and Doug are always covered in them when they come back from tramping through the tall grass. But I checked myself thoroughly when we got back and I seem to be tic-free.) After we ate, everyone else helped TJ plant her herbs while I watched Louie. We played another version of the blanket game: hide under the napkin. : )

Next Saturday is the Angelman Walk-A-Thon the twins have been planning. Donna is trying to get the girl's club to do it. We'll see how that works out. Also next Saturday, Jazzie arrives! She's visiting for a few days and then we will both be going home. It's hard to believe I'm going home in 10 days!