(click here for today's pictures)
Two-for-one blog entry today as the boys are off to Omaha for the College World Series while the girls man the fort back home (while on the go).
Little Rock:
- It seems to me that I have been waking up earlier in the summer than I did during the school year. Something is just wrong with all of that. This morning, Campbell did come in my room before I was out of bed. She sat on the edge, chatted for a while and then asked me to scoot over so she could lay down-there was a whole side of the bed open that she could have walked to, but I had to scoot over.
- We picked up Nonna and Pops and drove to Wye Mountain to pick blueberries. I left knowing two things-that berry patch is so much better than the one we have been going to and I want to buy the place. It is for sale, so maybe we could.
- The drive was shorter than I had expected and the weather was absolutely perfect. I was completely surprised at how many people were there. But there was still plenty of bushes to pick from. You wouldn't believe how easy it was to pick the blueberries-you could stand in one spot and gather dozens at a time.
- It took us less than an hour to pick 2 gallons of blueberries. The girls decided that they wanted blackberries too so I let them pick a half gallon of them. I am not a huge blackberry fan, but did much on some. Gracious though, as we were paying I did look over at Campbell and she had blueberry juice all over her mouth. I am surprised that the guy didn't charge me more!
- We headed home and I did some things around the house-the windows and dusting. The girls jumped on the trampoline and then came inside to watch a few shows. I used this opportunity to be super productive and catch up on some sleep. It was a wonderful nap, until Campbell again woke me up. I will say though that at least this time, I had told her to wake me up at a certain time.
- Soon it was time for us to run a few errands-we picked up 2 Heltz and 1 Kamp and then went to Tropical Smoothie for their flip flop day. We all had on our flip flops and got ourselves a free smoothie. I don't think that Keaton or Campbell really liked theirs-they were a bit watery and banana-y.
- From there, I left all of the girls in the car as I ran into the store. Then we dropped off Campbell and Eden at Caroline's birthday party at Embassy. They had big plans for the evening-eating out, shopping and swimming. Then we picked up Kennedy.
- Next, I took all of the big girls to Sara's house so she could take them to a Middle School pool party. Keaton, Charlotte and I came on home. They had a whole list of things to do this evening.
- I went right to work on making some big chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. I made 2 huge ones and even made the cookies to make a 3rd, but I ran out of ice cream. I had already used a gallon.
- I also worked on some teacher Christmas gifts but they aren't working out quite like I wanted. I even had time to make the girls supper during all of that.
- I will say that sometimes, Keaton can make me crazy-she won't get her way and will just collapse on the floor. However, tonight she has been as mature as possible. I had just sat their supper in front of them when the neighbor asked if they could play. I told them that they could go and I would reheat their supper later. As Keaton left the table, she said "sorry, Mom." I thought that was very kind of her-though there wasn't anything to be sorry about-after all it was just a chicken tortilla that I heated up in the microwave.
- So they played outside quite a while tonight while I worked on my projects. It was nearly 10, when Reagan and Alyssa came in. They had enjoyed their pool party and going strong still. I encouraged the little to go to bed at 10:30 but I still hear movement above me now at 11:15. It is slowing down and getting quieter-swim practice comes early in the morning.
Road to Omaha:
- All the boys slept good last night - as we always say, "There just something about good 'ole hotel sleeping. Since this hotel had hardwood floors, everyone opted for a bed even if that meant sharing. Graham drew the short straw and ended up with me. Not really a short straw though - I move the least of all of them and even ended with Graham's foot propped up on at some point in the middle of the night.
- I stirred around 7:00 and soon Anderson was waking up on his own followed by Graham. We all manged to get ready and even I took a load to the car before we finally had to wake Whitman up. But he woke up in a good mood and was dressed in no time. We headed down for breakfast where it was the standard fare of eggs, sausage and powdered donuts for Anderson, powdered donut and Blueberry yogurt for Whitman, donut for Graham and biscuits and gravy for me.
- We headed to the car where it was slightly sprinkling and overcast but by the time we made it to Silver Dollar City, there was no rain. We got a prime parking spot and headed into the park. Graham joined the line for Time Traveler and the rest of us got in line for Thunderation. We were still there 20 minutes before the park officially opened so we had a bit of a wait. But we rode twice before we met up Graham. Then it was off to Powder Keg for Anderson and Graham. They said they literally walked right on with no waiting. So when they got off, the headed straight back to ride again. (It pays to get to attractions right at opening!). Fire in the Hole was not operating for some reason so really the only other thing on the list and the thing Whitman had talked about since last night -- Grandfather's Mansion. He got the biggest kick out walking thru the quirky house. He wanted to do it again but I bribed him with ice cream and the other boys couldn't believe it -- we never buy ice cream at the park. Between last night and this morning, we were able to do all the things on our lists so we headed out of the park. Meanwhile, the rest of Branson was arriving at 11:00 and it looked like it was going to be a crowded day at the park so we would glad to escape.
- Got back to the car and got on the road -- we did make a quick stop at the McDonald's on the road out of town. We didn't go inside -- I just needed to squat on their WiFi a bit to handle a few work related tasks. But soon we were zipping the back roads of Missouri and off to our next step, Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.
- I knew I would score some brownie points by picking up some Junior Ranger books for Tara from here. And it was a new national park site for us. The things you learn - who knew the second major battle of the Civil War took place in Missouri. We watched the park film -- Tara would have been in heaven (nap heaven that is since she has a penchant for taking naps during park films.) But the boys and I ate it up -- it was almost 30 minutes long but it was well done and kept our interest for the most part :) We then headed out on the park loop via car where there were several stops. We made a couple of the stops including the farmhouse that was in the middle of the battle and ended up taking care of the wounded. Then we did a trail to see a battery and a cabin. Whitman wasn't too keen at this point for the mile up and down trail (since the sun had started coming out.). But he survived.
- We jumped back in the car and by this time it was 2:00 and we were getting hungry. I had to take a work call and by the time it was over, we were near a Kum & Go and opted to get gas and pick up lunch there. From there, it was two hours to our next stop, another national park site -- Fort Scott in Kansas.
- It was almost 4:30 when we got there and they were closing at 5:00 so no park film here. We did get more Junior Ranger books for later and stamped our books. The town in the 1950s restored the fort to its appearance in the 1840s. It was self guided thru the different buildings including the arsenal, brig, officer quarters and the horse stable.
- We then drove on into Kansas City and opted to head straight to Winstead's Steakburgers. We've been several times. While the burgers are pretty good, we always enjoy getting the huge Skyscraper Shake! The boys opted for vanilla tonight and didn't have any trouble finishing it off.
- Then it was short drive to the hotel where we got checked, showered and did a round of laundry. No one even turned the tv on but the boys managed to stay up until 11:00 playing the ipads before we called it a night.
- Tomorrow's destination ... Omaha where the game starts at 6:00 p.m. Go Hogs!
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