This blog was created to keep our friends & family up to date on what is going on with our family (& by family, you know I mean Wyatt, Baby Chase & Morgan.)
My friend Leslie introduced me to this website: http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ and it is hilarious! Everyone who blogs has to go this site, save their pics, and post them so we can all enjoy!
Jeremy and I were horse laughing at ourselves! Here are our "favorites"...
Jeremy:
circa 1956 - reminds me of Darren from Bewitched
circa 1974 - I don't even know what to say about this look!
circa 1988 - I remember this look on the high school boys
Emily:
circa 1952 - looks like I could have been a "girlfriend" on The Andy Griffith Show
circa 1960 - I have seen this exact picture of my mom
circa 1966 - I believe this is called "the bouffant"
circa 1984 - my Cyndi Lauper phase
Now be a good sport and post your own Yearbook Photos!
This is a long over due post from an outing I went on in July with Wyatt, my SIL Erica, her two boys Carter & Jack, and my mom, Didi.
I took them to the Harmony Park Safari which is a wild life refuge located on about 30 acres near New Hope. I had heard about it through a friend and had been with J and Wy on a previous occasion. Basically, you stay in your car, drive on the path they have created, and feed corn to the animals that you see. Windows are to remain up unless you are throwing out food (corn) and then they should only be lowered about 6 inches. You also sign a release at the entrance that releases the Park from any liability for damage to self or property. They remind you these are wild animals, blah, blah, blah.
The "wild" animals consist of emus, deer, goats, rams, sheep, llamas, ducks, geese, turkeys, buffalo, bison, one zebra, one evil pony, and one large camel. They also have alligators and crocodiles in a penned in area and another separate area where you can get out and feed turtles.
It is important to share my previous experience at the Animal Safari for comparison reasons. When J, W, and I went, it was obviously field trip day as there were several school buses and vans filled with little children from a daycare going through ahead of us. Now these animals have learned a thing or two by living at the Safari. Thing One: The bigger the automobile, the more food you will get. Thing Two: will be shared later.
The animals were gathered around the vans and buses and they really didn't come over to us in the beginning. The camel literally had his head inside the school bus going from window to window to eat corn out of the hands of screaming children. So much for not lowering the windows. We followed behind and watched and had the occasional emu come up for some food. You are allowed to circle the main field as many times as you want so we went around a couple of times and eventually the "cool" animals like the zebra and camel came over to check us out. Wy loved the experience as he was free to roam the vehicle and throw food to animals. Here is the best pic from that first trip.
Yes, that would be my sunroof that the camel is sticking his head through.
OK, so we had a fun experience and I wanted to immediately tell all my friends with children about it. I knew that Erica and her boys would enjoy it so we scheduled a time to go with my mom so we could all ride together in her van. I volunteered to drive Didi's van since I had already been through it once and knew the ropes.
So we get there and we are the only ones there! So that is just the coolest, right? We have the whole place to ourselves and I confidently explain to the employee at the gate that this isn't my first time at the park and I got all the rules down pat. Doors closed, windows up, drive slow, and don't sue them - got it, piece of cake.
As we drive in, the animals are alerted that someone has finally come to feed them. We get maybe 10 feet into the wooded area, which is not even the fun part, and our car is surrounded by hungry emus and deer. Windows go down, emu heads come in, and children scream and duck for cover. I panic, punch the gas, and allegedly hit an emu which my SIL finds hysterically funny. Didi throws out tons of corn to keep them busy as I keep the van at a slow going pace to get through the initial swarm.
Now, have I mentioned how excited I am for my nephews to see the "cool" animals? Because I just know they are going to think I am the coolest aunt for taking them to this park. So we finally get to the field and here they come - right on cue. The zebra, pony, and camel aren't shy and immediately try to figure out how they can get in the van with us. Now my SIL and I tend to "scream" a little when we get excited and children don't always understand the difference between a "this is so fun" scream and a "this is a scary situation" scream. One child, that will remain unnamed, decides maybe this isn't such a fun place after all since all we are doing is screaming which must mean the animals are trying to hurt us. I hear the unnamed announce "I don't like the Animal Safari" and he moves to the back of the van. So we have one unhappy camper and two others diligently rolling down the windows faster than I can control them and watch where I am going. I now allegedly run into the zebra which sends my SIL into fits of laughter and more screaming.
I quickly realize it isn't so cool after all to be the only ones there. There is such a thing as too much animal attention at the Animal Safari. All I can think about is how long it is going to take us to get through this park since we are literally unable to proceed at times since there are so many animals in the way. So I decide that the fun is over - no more windows down and no more food. That should make them go away, right? And here is where "Thing Two" comes into play. Apparently the evil pony decides he hasn't gotten his fill of the corn and he proceeds to KICK the side of my mother's van to get our attention. Window comes down, corn goes out, and more screaming occurs. My mom is unfazed by the kicking and shrugs it off. All I can think of is how fortunate it was for the pony that he didn't throw his fit the day that J was with us b/c I know J would have gotten out of the truck and killed the pony. Seriously.
Unfortunately for my mom's van, it gets a second dose of kicking from the psycho pony before we can escape. My mom, in addition to being hot for 60, is totally cool about the damage. Which is a good thing because I signed her rights away at the entrance. So, as alluded to earlier, "Thing Two" is: repeatedly kick the automobile if you are not being fed.
Now for some pictures and video clips...
My cutie pie nephews Jack & Carter
Wy still talks about the Emus
E feeding the Zebra
Meet the Evil Pony
Didi and the boys feeding the turtles
Erica and her boys
DISCLAIMER: Parts of this story may have been exaggerated to increase reader satisfaction. There were no animals harmed in the making of this story.
Well, I now know that my gallbladder is functioning at 70% which, in the world of gallbladders, is sufficient. I did manage to get in this afternoon and see my family doctor. Fortunately she worked me in even though I had not been to see her in over a year. That just goes to show that I am usually a very healthy person. Anyway, it was late in day which prevented her from getting any additional tests done. Based on what I was able to tell her about my week, she decided to treat my symptoms at this point b/c she can't pinpoint the exact problem either. She said she would have ruled out the gallbladder as well and since I had already done that, she is guessing it is "muscle/skeletal" related. Could have something to do with my 4 wheeler accident but no real way to tell. She gave me some anti-inflammatory (sp?) meds and a prescription for pain pills if I run out. If I am the same or worse by Tuesday then I am to call her office and more tests will be ordered. SO I am asking everyone to pray that the pain will go away and I will chalk this experience up to sleeping well at night knowing I have a functioning gallbladder.
ON A MUCH BRIGHTER NOTE - I totally forgot to tell everyone the really good news that we learned this week...we have a contract on our house in New Market and are scheduled to close on August 27th! YAY!!! That was all happening at the same time that all this medical stuff was going on. So needless to say we are so excited to be closing on our house. Please say a prayer that all will go well with that process as well.
Thanks for all the concern about my health. Please keep a dear friend of mine's husband in your prayers. (I am asking for lots of those today.) His name is Eddie and he has been in pain for 2 weeks now and they have not been able to determine what is wrong with him either. Take care everyone...
So much for the weekly updates! I will try to be a better blogger. Of course, having Internet access is a must in order to do so and I have been without it since last week. My sweet husband spent over an hour on the phone today with BellSouth getting it back up and running.
Jeremy and I went to New Orleans this past weekend to celebrate my birthday. We met our friends Jan and Dale down there late Friday night and spent the day hanging out together on Saturday. We made a stop off at Margaritaville for a "Perfect Margarita" and ended up staying there all afternoon watching the Cubs game. Then that night I gave my money away to Harrah's but had a good time doing so. It was a quick trip but a fun getaway with dear friends we don't get to see often enough.
The past couple of days I have noticed some pain in my right side and I thought it was just lingering pain from my lovely 4 wheeler accident that I had on the 18th. Long story short, I am scheduled to get an ultrasound done in the morning to see if it is my gallbladder. My Dr. thinks I had a gallbladder attack today and I may have to get my gallbladder removed. I will post an update as soon as I know something definitive. I actually hope it is my gallbladder b/c I have no idea what else it could be and I really don't want to go through multiple (and costly) tests.
Sorry for the quick post but I am heading off to a drug induced night of sleep.
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! The big town of Huntland has an annual 4th of July parade that goes right down Main Street which my IL's (in-laws) live on. So I took Wyatt over that morning to watch the "parade" which basically consisted of: - tractors - tractors with wagons - more tractors with wagons - an older man in overalls, driving a tractor, carrying what appeared to be a week old infant that was asleep in his arms in the blazing sun
and my personal favorite:
- child "beauty queens" riding on the back of convertibles (most of who my MIL (mother-in-law) knew)
Of course Wyatt thought it was great. He stood there in the blazing hot sun like a little trooper and watched intently as the parade passed by. He didn't even go for the candy that they were throwing at us b/c he was mesmerized by all the activity. I, of course, noted the names that were plastered on the sides of the cars that had the youngest beauty queens so that I can make sure Wyatt dates the girls from the "received families" when he gets older - you know, Gone With the Wind style. I can just hear me now: "You know, son, don't forget that Wanda Jean was a beauty queen in the Huntland 4th of July 2008 parade. I don't remember seeing Fanny Mae's fanny sitting on the back of any convertible that day."
Here are a few pics from that day...
And you thought I was exaggerating...
Little too old for Wy but I wanted you to get the whole experience
Look closely..I kid you not, there is a tiny tiara on that baby girl's head...name noted.
Notice our patriotic ensembles & Wy's red little cheeks!
This is the picture that made me decide to create this blog. It is so hard to keep up with everyone and swap stories about the day to day happenings not to mention that sometimes, words alone can't capture the true essence of a moment.
For instance, nap time for Wy is usually just another thing I check off of our daily "to do" list. But on this particular day, my dear little 2 year old said "No Mama - I not take nap". Well, Mama disagreed and spent about 20 minutes putting him back in his big boy bed, telling him it was time to take a nap, and even included a few "don't get out of bed again" threats...you get the drift. Finally, I just gave up and thought "well, he may not sleep but he is going to at least stay in his room." When I went to check on him later, I found he had indeed given up and fallen asleep...but not before doing some major "just in case you couldn't tell, I am mad you made me stay in my room" behavior.
It is kind of like a "Where's Waldo" photo...that is my little prince in the center on the floor with his little hiney up in the air, fast asleep due to exhaustion from destroying his room. Notice the shredded pieces of his wicker clothes hamper lid amongst the debris. Can we say "passive agressive?" I have to admit I was somewhat impressed with the amount of destruction he completed in the alloted time frame. And in case you are wondering: Yes - his mean Mama made him clean up the aftermath...after I took pictures and had a good laugh while he was snoozing.
