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| From 091121 To the Zoo |
We headed off to visit the zoo, we’ve been bad about not taken advantage of our membership. The weather was chilly, but sunny and a lot more comfortable than the last time we visited and it was 90 degrees out. Enjoyed the chimps, aviary, seals, and polar bear, and even made it back in time to do some yard work.
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| From 091120 Jerrad’s Concert |
We traveled over to Northwest Middle School for Jerrad’s big night playing the trombone. Both the orchestra and the band played, and it was really hard to believe that most of those kids just started playing an instrument in August.
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| From 091031 Happy Halloween |
The rain held off long enough to get some Trick or Treating in, it just kind of “misted” for a while. The Tallone headed out with his friends, but promised to check every now and again. After a brief pause and a “I have the squarest parents in the world” look, we agreed to let him go with agreements that he wouldn’t leave the neighborhood. The Smallone headed out with Mom, so we still have one that isn’t to cool to hang with his folks.
All in all, not a bad year for the candy haul. Both of the boys “re-costumed”. Josh with an old skeleton costume Mom made a few years back, and Jerrad is still fascinated with scream mask with the fake blood pump.
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| From 091029 Carving Pumpkins |
A great afternoon for pumpkin carving… We are pretty sure we ended up with the entire neighborhood over at one point. Loads of fun and some pretty spooky creations to boot.
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| From 091011 A Drive Through The Great Smoky Mountian National Park |
We took the scenic route back from Gatlinburg, TN. First stopping in Pigeon Forge, so that Jerrad could finish using his go-cart passes, and Josh could finish his quest for tickets at the arcade.
The traffic was pretty heavy until we got inside the park… from there nothing but gorgeous views. We stopped along side the road to do a bit of creek stomping and again at the top, (the highest point in Tennessee and North Carolina).
After, we headed off to Hendersonville for some apple picking. Turns out you pick the apples out of big bins and they are more expensive then what you find in the store. Mom was none to happy, but we managed to get a big bag of apples and the a couple of carmel apples for the ride back.
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| From 090808 Cayuga Nature Center |
We stopped by Cayuga Nature Center on the way back from Taughannock Falls. The tree house was really cool, and the peacocks at the mini-zoo was pretty eager to show off his feathers. He made up for the fox, who had a tough time keeping his eyes open. We also enjoyed the butterfly house and the “living” sculptures.
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| From 090303 Snow Event |
Well, it has taken a year and 1/2 of living in NC to finally get a real snow storm. We have heard stories of how much snow they used to get but have yet to actually see it. We have had 2 snow days so far this year for a mere dusting but today we woke up to 4 inches! A major event in the South! Mommy is cursing herself for selling their snow tubes at the garage sale. We tried getting the boat tube out to use on the road but it is better suited for water. We need a 4 wheeler to pull the kids around with it! Oh well, it was worth a try…the neighborhood kids had enough sleds to borrow and tallmonster had fun trying to sled. Might try and build a snowman later after the sun has had time to melt the snow a little. Not sure how long the kids will be out of school, round here they don’t plow and rely on the sun to do the work, but with a cold night predicted we might have tomorrow off too! Before we know it we’ll be going to school until JULY!! Oh well, will enjoy it while it lasts, supposed to be 65 this weekend! Come on Spring…
This weekend we finally had some nicer weather with temps in the upper 60’s. Saturday was spent working in the front garden getting all the dead day lilies and leaves picked up. Somehow it was missed in the fall cleanup. Tallmonster was happy to help since he got to drive the tractor and wagon to the backyard mulch pile. I haven’t seen Tallmonster so eager to help with yard work! We decided to treat the jmonsters to dinner out since they both did well on their report cards. We went to Sagebrush Steak House since our first choice was packed. They both liked the restaurant since they had peanuts in a bucket but they too were busy and ended up waiting over an hour for our food. Mommy and Daddy left grumbling that it wasn’t worth the long wait but the jmonsters seemed happy so it was a nice time.
Sunday was even nicer with warmer temperatures and plenty of sunshine. Mommy and Daddy were determined to get some more work done on the Adirondack Chair project that has been put on winter hiatus. We decided to put together what Daddy had cut out and were able to get the 4 frames done. Still lots to do but at least we have something tangible to look at. Who knows, maybe we will get them done by late Spring! All and all a great weekend but of course it was too short…
The Tallone had to make a catapult for a science project due on Monday. He had been mentioning it for a couple of weeks now, but Daddy didn’t quite get the gist that it was an official school project, nor that a deadline was looming.
A quick Google search and we had locate a pretty easy design and thanks to StormtheCastle.com we had the prototype done withing a couple of hours. The plans for the Table-Top Troll Catapult were just what we needed and we were catapulting tin foil balls all over the yard.
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| From 2009 Misc |
We decide to mount up and head over to Bur Mil Park and do some walking on the Greenway. Daddy was getting into a funk and was ready to string the jmonsters up by their heals, (not that they didn’t deserve it or be better served with some “Little Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe" Treatment).
We packed up the bikes in the back of the van and ended up a little lost. We had been there once before, but stopped a little short and had to repack up the bikes and head down to the Nature Barn where the entrance to the Greenway is.
We hiked for a couple of miles down to the bridge and back, and the jmonsters rode their bikes along parts of the Owl’s Roost Trail. On the way back we saw a Great Blue Heron perched in the fishing pond. All the walking did the trick and tired Daddy out enough where he didn’t have the energy to take his frustrations out on a misbehaving child, (not that any live in the household).
We ended the hike with a quick tour through the Wildlife Center at the park. It was pretty neat, and they had all kinds of critters. The biggest hits where the huge ‘ol iguana, rat snakes that come in a variety of different colors, guinea pigs, and a big fat lop-eared rabbit that you could pet.
We headed back to the house for dinner, and watched Mr. Deed’s after doing up the dishes.
