The drive home - July 26

So, as Holly said, we slept over at Laurie's (thanks again Laur) in Northern VA so that we could get an early start on Sunday for the long drive home.

We (the adults) were up at 5:00 A.M. and loaded the kids and dog into the car around 5:30 - hitting the road at 5:45. We made Holly's important deadline.

The drive was relatively uneventful. All humans and canines fell asleep about half an hour into the drive - save for me, the driver. We made our usual stop in NJ (right about half way) to fill up the tank and empty the bladders, so all was well and we were on pace for a nice 7 hour drive.

Enter Connecticut. And cue Eric...

Eric: "Daddy - I really have to pee."
Daddy: "Eric - you just peed in NJ...174 miles ago. you can hold it."
Brandon: "Yeah, I kind of have to go to the bathroom too."
Daddy: *grrrr*
Bailey and Ellie (together): "Daddy - we have to go too!"
Daddy: "There is a rest stop in 16 miles...hang on"
Eric: (nearly standing in his seat now) "Ohhhhhhhh...Da-a-a-a-a-a-ddy! C'mon -- I really, really, really have to go!!"

*errrrrrrrrrr* (screeching tires sound)

Daddy: "Okay we'll get off right here at this gas station."

Eric jumps out of the car and right there in the parking lot starts peeing into the grass...hands on hips. No shame.
Meanwhile, I take the other three inside (like humans) to use the toilet. Of course there is only 1 bathroom, and 1 toilet...and there are 2 people in line ahead of us.
Ellie first says, "DADDY, I HAVE TO GO NUMBER 2!"
"Okay sweetheart...shhhhhhhhh. We have to wait a few minutes."
I take Ellie in; like a good girl she is done in about 90 seconds.
Next is Brandon.
"Daddy - I'll be a few minutes...I have to sit down."
*roll eyes* The line behind us now is 4 deep.
Brandon was pretty quick.
Then comes Bailey, "Daddy, my stomach hurts."
"Of course it does! Why don't you grab a newspaper on your way in!"

Anyhow - the long and the short of it (mostly long) is that all three of the non-grass urinators felt the need to leave stool samples about 2 hours away from home...causing us to be delayed nearly half an hour.

We finally rolled into Nashua around 1:45 PM on Sunday which gave us plenty of time to introduce our new dog to Toby the very cool cat. Toby wasn't too pleased at first with the new roommate but after a couple of days, they are hanging around together and tolerating one another. No major incidents to report.

What a vacation, what a drive, and what a fun time.

Holly promises to post a few more photos tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for following us on this silly blog. Hope you enjoyed reading the Jamieson adventures.

Cowboy Baby!

Okay. I can't even begin to explain what a great concert Kid Rock was. I mean, REALLY?

Oh, Lynard Skynard was first, and they were great, but Kid Rock was AWESOME! I can't get over what a great show it was. I think even Brad, who isn't that big of a fan enjoyed it! We got dressed around 5, to leave by 6-ish. Here is a photo of that.

Now, I am not a fan of posting pictures of myself anywhere. I weigh a lot. But it is a great story. I went out and got some cutesy new shoes for the concert. I wanted to look nice. It was my first Kid Rock concert, and certainly not my last, but I wasn't sure what to wear. Let's just say we were WAY overdressed. Wearing clothes we were way overdressed! The majority of the people (that were clothed) wore shorts, short skirts, and tank or bathing suit tops! I guess they gave the 106 degree weather some thought, unlike me. All sweating aside, we had a fantastic night. It will be a great memory for me, since I basically planned my WHOLE road trip/vacation around Brad taking me to see Kid Rock in Raleigh, NC.

A huge thank you to Gramma, Poppa John, Auntie Gayle, Auntie Nae Nae, Auntie LoLo for taking care of the kids so that Brad could take me to see the concert! I got an awesome t-shirt, that I can't wear in front of the kids because it has a "swear" on it, as my kids would say. I had so much fun, and when we got home, since the girls were still up, we sat around and chatted about it. We didn't crawl into bed until past 1, and I knew I was going to feel it the next morning.

Funny, I do remember thinking to myself that we probably shouldn't leave on Saturday, because I thought I might be "TIRED" from the concert, but since we brought up the cute little MUTT from Texas, and had her in a kennel, we HAD to leave on Saturday. The kennel didn't have a Sunday pick-up option that worked for us. So, we packed up, said our goodbyes and thank-yous and left for the kennel.

Georgia was groomed while in the kennel, and when they brought her out, she was SO pretty and soft and fuzzy and brushed. Gone were the burrs and matts and DIRT that was all over her before. She looked so PRETTY. I will get a pic of her up here soon. She jumped into my arms once again, and wagged and wagged for the kids. All of the kennel personel were moved and said what a sweet dog she had been. They agreed with their Texas sidekicks that NH definitely has better weather for her type of fur. So, we got on the road soon after that.

Does anyone remember my FIRST post? When do I like to/need to leave? That is correct - SIX a.m. Any time that I have left after 6, I always hit traffic, and this is exactly what happened to us. We picked up Georgia around noon, and started out. At this point, we had about 13 hours of driving to do, putting us arriving home at 1 in the a.m. Not happy, but we chugged along. Not too long over the Virginia border, we hit traffic. We were NOT happy. We hit it again and again. When we finally got near the DC area, where Laurie lives, we had a decision to make. Do we get off and go to Laurie's house (after we call and ask if we can and if a dog can stay in her garage) or do we just keep going.

We decided to stay, get some sleep, and HEAD OUT AT 5:30 A.M. It was a good decision. We got to see Lanae and Laurie and the kids one more time, and we stayed up and talked about the vacations and dog and all of that good stuff. We also had not been looking forward to trying to introduce Toby, our cat, to Georgia, the dog, at 2 o'clock in the morning! It also gave us a chance to eat chicken at this Peruvian place that Laurie introduced us to years ago. The sauce that they give you is so spicy and probably so fattening, but SO GOOD! You also get rice and beans and it is just delicious!

Bedtime was later than we should have, but it was good to see sissies and kids and talk. The dog did great, and Laurie was nice enough to let her stay inside. She pointed out that the dog had just been treated for fleas and ticks, and then groomed, so we weren't really worried about her getting the place dirty. We took her up to the craft room, where we were sleeping, and she settled in on the floor. Laurie has a neighbor that started talking on his cell phone, in Spanish, around 2:32 a.m. The dog got up, looked out the window, and started to growl this really low mean growl! I was really impressed! She sounds big and mean! I love it.

More on the drive home later, hopefully by Brad, since he writes better than I do.

Hanging out with Mom

We've spent the last couple of days in Wake Forest, NC. It's been awesome.

Highlights:

• Visiting the "marble museum" in Raleigh. It was chock full of interactive things for the kids to play with. We had to drag them out of there.


• The food! Mom, Auntie Gayle, Lanae, Laurie, Poppa John - everyone is such a great cook. We've had yummy steaks on the BBQ, shrimp skewers, salad...all that good home-cooking that you can't find on the road.


• Of course -- the pool and waterslide. The kids have been swimming themselves crazy. They will be heading back to NH much tanner and blonder than they left.


• 9 cousins. Save for a few arguments Bailey, Brandon, Eric and Ellie have been getting along great with their cousins Nicole, Lindsay, Cole, Luke and Mallory.

Heading to Kid Rock tonight in about an hour. Looking forward to that. Making a quick stop at a tattoo parlor on the way.

P.S. - kidding about the tattoo parlor.

Pics of waterslide:

GA to NC - July 21

Got an early start out of Duluth, GA and drove to Charlotte, NC to visit with Holly's family. Holly blogged about her visit there last time and she was on the money. As usual, they were all very sweet and welcoming and I got a tour of the new house.
We got to spend about 3 hours with Holly's sister Susanne and her new finance Ed. And we also got to spend time with her 2 daughters, the beautiful Kaylee and Rio, and her strapping son Tory (Toto). We are also very happy to Grandma Paulette (Holly's stepmom) stop and spend time with us.
We had a delicious pasta lunch with garlic bread and hit the road again for Wake Forest, NC.
By the way - Susanne has two huge dogs with loud intimidating barks so our new dog was content to stay in the car (doors open and in the shade) during our visit.

Made it to Wake Forest around 6:00 PM on Tuesday July 21...dropped off the mutt at a kennel and got to Grandma's in time for dinner. Ahhhh, it was nice to be "home" with all the family. In addition to Mom and John we also had Lanae along with Cole, Luke and Mallory and my Auntie Gayle is out from California too.

We stayed up late vi sting and rolled into bed circa 1:00 A.M.

Texas to Georgia

We left Beaumont, TX in the morning and arrived in Duluth, GA (outside of Atlanta) in the evening. Go ahead - google map that -- yep that's 733 miles. Loooong day of driving, yes - with the new dog. She was great.

Some highlights:

• Driving through the bayous of Louisiana. At one point we were on a bridge only about 20 feet above the swampy marshes for about 25 miles. The kids were looking for aligators, but alas found none


• Mississippi. They simply beat to a different drum there. We stopped for lunch at a Hardees and we had a few strange looks at the New Hampshire license plate.


• Montgomery, AL. For some re-donk-ulous reason, the GPS thought it would be cool to get off in downtown Montgomery at rush hour instead of take the simple highway junction to I-85. However, we did drive past Rosa L. Parks Blvd. where history was made some 50 yeras ago.


• Atlanta at night. Beautiful city. The kids really liked the lights of Hot-lan-ta.

We finally got to the hotel around 9:30 and ate our wonderfully nutritious McDonald's for dinner. Awful sick of the fast food now.

One more exciting highlight - as a result of my trip to the planet Mercury (the beach at South Padre Island) my back now has raised and exploding blisters on it and sweet Jesus - does it itch! So I went out at 12:30 AM to the only store that was open - WalMart - to get some advil and some anti-itch lotion. Have you been to a WalMart at 12:30 aM lately? I noticed that there aren't many nuns that shop at that time of day.

Apparently there were several teenagers to twenty-somethings in gang attire that were also in pain at that time. The pain reliver section of WalMart was extremely popular. They seemed healthy from the outside, but who am I to judge. Anyhow, made it back to the hotel in one piece and slept comfortably.

More tomorrow...

"Georgia" on my mind

Anyone else like the name "Georgia" for new dog?
The kids are really stuck on Angel, which was fun to call her when we weren't the dog owners, but I think Georgia fits her.
Comments please! :)

Houston - We have a problem!

(written by Brad)

Well, we got up fairly early on Padre Island. We had to leave early so that we could head back up to NC.
The drive back was pretty uneventful...drove by some of the same small Texas towns and cool ranches.

Well - this drive was made a little longer by a stop in Austin to pick up our new friend. Yes, we went back to the Austin animal shelter, filled out some paperwork, and added a new passenger to the minivan.

The dog doesn't know that I exist at this point but I have to say, as an outsider looking in, it was a touching reunion. The shelter worker brought "Angel" out (we aren't keeping that name - stay tuned) and as soon as she saw Holly and the kids her tail almost wagged off her body. She made the happy whimpering sounds that dogs make and she licked Holly's face so much that you'd think she had peanut butter on it.

Even the workers at the shelter seemed genuinely moved by the reunion. Since she appears to be part husky, everyone agrees that New Hampshire is the perfect climate for her.

Say it together - "it was meant to be".

So then we drove to the Houston area to see Holly's friend from her days at Chili's, Rick. He and his lovely family live in a Houston suburb, Cypress. We pull up to their house, the kids open the side door and (start "Benny Hill" music here) the dog takes off and pees on every front lawn in the neighborhood. Actually the house on the corner got an extra treat - rhymes with "log grit".

Ahhhh, what a great idea.

Everybody, including Rick's two daughters whom we never met, are chasing this dog trying to help us out. Everybody except Eric, that is. Eric had already walked into the house on his own, because Eric is nosey and likes to see the inside of other people's homes.

Well after the dog relieved herself several times, she jumped back into the van on her own and wouldn't get out. Rick and his wife Tracy were so kind, they locked their two dogs in their bedroom so that our mangy mutt could hang out. "Hi, we're the Imposers...I mean Jamiesons - where's dinner?"

We had a fantastic time with them. The kids went swimming in their beautiful pool. They played classic video games on Rick's handmade 80's style stand-up arcade game (that didn't require quarters), we ate nachos and chili dogs - Texas style, and Bailey and Rick entertained us with guitar playing.

Of course - we left later than the Brad Jamieson tight schedule indicated we should, but it was worth it. We ended up getting to our hotel room at 12:30 in the A.M.

(As Brad said, the drive and all was uneventful, until said 12:30 a.m. arrival when I discovered that BRAD had left my toiletry bag, with brush, lotion, deodorant in the hotel lobby on SOUTH PADRE ISLAND!) It's been fun for two days with no brush, lotion or anything essential, including my meds!) Oh, and it is costing me $70 to have it sent to Raleigh. Thank you Rene and Heidi! They didn't check out until Monday, so they were able to retrieve my bag (that looks like a trash bag according to Brad) and mailed it from somewhere in Texas.

Lazy dog on Rick's floor.

Rick, Tracy, Chole, and Carrisa - oh yeah, and Ellie...she's part of our family

Rick and Bailey playing Kid Rock's "All Summer Long".

South Padre Island

So today was about cheerleading and the beach.

Erica (Holly's neice) is in a cheerleading competion here and we got to watch the first part of the competition. Erica was very spunky and the kids enjoyed the show.

After the competition we headed out to the beach (Brad's favortie place) and the kids got to try out their new boogie boards.

This beach was perfect for them...the waves weren't too big, but just big enough to give them a nice push so they could feel what it's like to ride an awesome wave.

Being an extremely fair-skinned person from the North, it would probably make sense for me to apply sunblock 70 or higher right? How about sunblock 0? Yes - Brad, the moron (that's me) was out splashing around with the kids completely exposed to the sun's 120 degree rays. The folks at the South Padre Island burn center were extremely nice -- okay just kidding; it's not that bad but I've got a good stinger on my back. It was further aggrevated by Ellie's sharp toenails scratching my back at night too. Yooouch!

After the beach - we were treated to authentic,

fantastic, and deeeeeeeee-licious Mexican Food

made by real Mexicans at a litle TexMex joint named Jesse's. Ohhh boy it was good. New Hampshire can take a few lessons from these folks. I mean - just fantastic.

We leave Sunday to start our long drive back to North Carolina. We'll have two stops along the way -- one in Beaummonth, TX and the other in Duluth, GA (just outside of Atlanta).

We will blog again when we get access....

Austin - Brad arrives

It's Brad here. I arrived in comfort via JetBlue (love them) Friday at 11:30 AM local time. The whole gang was at the airport to pick me up. By whole gang, I mean Rene, Heidi and their darlings along with The Jamieson Crew.

Man it was really nice to see Holly and the kids again. I hugged and kissed them all before the Austin Airport PD could yell at me. They appeared to be happy to see me too. I turned around several times in the car and Bailey just kept smiling at me.

We left straight for South Padre Island from the airport (5 hour drive). If you look at a map, you will find South Padre Island just a wedge shot away from Mexico.

Along the way we stopped in small town for gas and lunch at the local Dairy Queen. Standard practice down here is to serve gravy with fries...oh boy is that good. The kids (of course) all got a treat with their lunch - ice cream. However, once outside the establishment, the ice cream simply turned into cream in this 105 degree weather.

We rolled into South Padre right around 6:00 PM, checked into the hotel and the kids were in the pool before i could say "Okay everyone - get your swimsuits...on."

The remainder of the night was spent visiting and catching up with Rene and Heidi and their kinder.

Hamilton Pool (Thursday)

Eric on the trail that goes around the pool

See the rocks that the kids swam to? It was deep, but not too deep. It was rocky on the bottom.

Eric and Chance floating around.

Danielle (Heidi's little Mini-me)

Bailey and Erica

This is the view when you look up.

Today started out much like the rest of the vacation days - too early! Although I didn't get up and out of bed until 9, the kids were up early.

They were all very cute though, and played with cousins quietly. Chance and Eric played video or computer games. Brandon, Bailey and Erica played Mario Kart, and Danielle and Ellie did girlie things.

I can't get over how good all of the kids get along. There hasn't been a fight among them at all.

And Nat Nat, she is such a big girl and so helpful. Erica and Danielle too.

We decided to go to a place called Hamilton Pool Reserve or Reserve Pool. I don't know, but it was SO cool. You go into a "park" parking lot, and then you hike down 1/4 of a mile to this pool. I think it is natural and not man-made. I will post pics as soon as I can. It was so neat. There is a trail all the way around, and there is a little beach. You can swim across from the beach to these rocks, and that is what the kids did. They swam and climbed on rocks and swam and climbed some more. We stayed there for a few hours and had some lunch. It was really hot and the pool/pond was very refreshing. You could look up and it looked like you were in sort of a crater or something. There were trees and shrubs all around, and there were drips coming from above us, from things that looked like stallagmites or stallagtites. I can't remember which ones hang from above. (TITES like tights?) Anywho, because Texas is in a drought, there were only drips coming down, but usually they are small waterfalls.

We had to leave around 3-ish, to get Natalie back for softball practice, and Uncle Rene was coming back from being out of town on work. He had to go to Houston.

After returning to Heidi's house, some of her neighbors came around. They were all really nice and we sat around chatting about everything from politics to the weather. They were a lot of fun to be around. The kids really wanted to go swimming, so we went out back to the pool.

Uncle Rene made a fire in the fire pit and then we had smores. It was a great day.

Tomorrow we pick up Daddy from the airport, and we get to go to South Padre Island. Erica is in a cheerleading competition. We will watch them practice tomorrow, since we have to head out early on Sunday. The plan is to get to Houston Sunday night.

Have I mentioned that we are going to adopt the dog that we found? :)

Brad thought it over for a while. The kids and I have been bugging him for months now for a dog. I still miss my Dusty even though she has been gone for a few years now. And then he rented them movies like Hotel for Dogs and Beverly Hills Chiuaua, and that just made them want one more.

This dog is going to cost a hell of a lot less than adopting our cat from the HUMANE SOCIETY. Toby was over a hundred dollars, and it was a little bit of a pain in the ass! We are so excited. The brief time that we had her in the car with us, we all fell in love with her. She seems to be very gentle and sweet. She might have been exhausted from being on the lam, but she let four adoring kids pet her all they wanted.

We think we are doing a good thing anyway. Wish us luck!

We went and filled out an adoption application, and then we got to visit her for a little bit.

At first she was lying on the ground and just looked at us. Then she started to sniff the air, and she got up and then she started to whimper a little bit. By the time we had to leave, she was standing on her hind legs and licking my hand.

She is having surgery (if she needs to be spayed) on Saturday, and she will get shots and a flea and tick treatment. I can't wait to pet her when she is clean.

One more day to Daddy. I might cry. I miss him so much it hurts. :*(

Beautiful Austin

(NOTE) See photo of dog. She is NOT big.

Today was a fabulous day!
We got up early, but not too early. We had some coffee, and were preparing for a day in Austin.
We decided to go to the Ironworks BBQ that is downtown, and then to the Texas History museum.
Danielle, Chance, Eric, and Ellie all went to a nice Vacation Bible School around the corner from Heidi first thing. They had a great time. It was Wet and Wild Day. Not sure what Jesus did that was wet and wild, but okay! :)
They came back around noon. Eric was really hungry.
We left at a decent time, right around lunch time, and arrived at Ironworks for some BBQ.
We had BBQ chicken, ribs, sausage, and brisket. Everyone enjoyed the lunch, and Eric had french fries. The fries were really good as well, and they seemed homemade.
The place was older looking and cool inside, like an old warehouse or something. The food smelled great, and I thought all of it was tasty, except for the potato salad and cole slaw - Um, I have had better.
We took a photo, but I am going to wait until I have a better internet connection to try to upload pix! Plus I am tired.
The history museum was great. There was only one really NOT GOOD thing that happened. While parking, I had too many things in my hands, like my wallet and cell phone, and I scraped the side of the van on a parking garage column. It happened quickly, and Bailey jumped out and yelled, "UM - YEAH - IT'S BAD!"
Thank you, Mr. Drama. It is scraped, but the door opens, the van runs, and all is well. At least that is what I hope Daddy is going to say.
We stayed at the museum for a bit. We learned a lot about the history of Texas. Did you know that the grapefruit is sweetest in Texas because of the heat. The heat warms it and it makes it have more sugar. Did you know that the panhandle grows WHEAT? Can you guess what else is grown there? Cotton. My favorite part was about the American Indians (my people) and learning about the oil. It was sort of like the California Gold Rush when oil was discovered. It made people rush there and try for a better life by trying to find oil! It was a great learning day, and I am so glad we went there. Everyone started to get a little antsy, so we headed for the museum store. I let everyone get a little something, and then we decided to try to get back on the road so we could miss traffic. We didn't miss it, but it wasn't THAT bad.
We made a stop at Walmart so that Erica could get something for her costume for her cheerleading competition this weekend. I picked up some gatorade and water for the beach and some hair things for Ellie.
We came back and the greatest neices and sons in the world cleaned out my car. We wanted to make sure that "Angel" didn't leave us any "friends" that bite or suck blood out of us. :)
It didn't seem like it, but we wanted to make sure. They did a fabulous job on the car, and I owe them big time.
After that it was time to swim.
Have I mentioned how well all of the kids (the cousins) are getting along? It's as if they have never been apart. It's been a little over a year since they have seen each other, as that is when their Grampa Janny died, but before that, it had been a while too. They just pick up right where they left off. It is awesome and makes me proud of every single one of the.
Tomorrow is going to be most likely a "stay-at-home" day.

What a Day!

Really?
I can't even begin to tell you how long this day felt. I SWORE I was going to sleep in, and I meant it. As luck would have it, Brandon woke me up at 7:30 a.m. and I couldn't get back to sleep. Oh, but he did!
I re-packed clothes, did some UL work, and made a cup of coffee. Have I mentioned that my coffee intake has been LOW this trip? Well, it has been and it has been tough.
We went over to IHOP as we were leaving, after checking out. I figured, eat, get to Austin by 4. Fate had a different plan? Luck? I don't know what it was, but we saw this little stray dog that we had seen the night before.
The kids were really upset that it was still wandering around the parking lot of the hotel and IHOP, and the manager said that they had called the vet on the dog's tag, but no one had come looking for the dog just yet. I told the kids that they could go and say goodbye to it, and they did. Well this little dog was just so sweet and gentle, and she came up and put her head on my knee. So, I told the kids to go and get the manager and I asked her where this vet was and that I would drop her off there.
She told me, and either she was lying, she was drunk, or she had NO idea what in the hell she was talking about because no vet's office ever appeared on the damn right-hand-side of the highway. So, I am starting to panic, and I call Heidi, where I am headed and tell her that I now have a stray dog in my car. She starts looking for a shelter that I can drop the dog off at.
She finds one in Longview, and I head there.
I walk in, after having talked to the people already, as did Heidi, and they were totally acting unwilling to take in the dog. First they made sure to tell me it was going to cost me $36 whole dollars. I told them that was fine, and asked what might happen to her. I said then that I didn't want her to be put down and they said, "WE DON'T BOARD ANIMALS" like this was my dog that I was trying to dump off and return for later. I explained that I had picked her up on the side of the road, and didn't know what to do with her as I was on vacation, and on my way to Austin, and on my way to the beach after that. They then said that she might last a week. I felt so awful that I stormed out and got in the car crying and called Heidi.
She said to go ahead and bring the dog to Austin, and she got on the phone to find out about shelters or animal hospitals that might be able to help out.
Now, I have to point out that this has taken about 45 minutes, all in all, to find the evil HUMANE society, to go in and talk and then to leave again. I am feeling pressured and stressed and LATE and I am on vacation!
The dog was so sweet, gentle, friendly, and let FOUR kids pet it all over the place. We all fell in love with her. I said, "Oh, you are just an angel straight from heaven" and Brandon said, "I am going to name her 'Angel' because you said that.
So, I am driving along, trying to figure out how to explain what has just happened to Brad. He wouldn't want a doggy to be on the side of the road or in a parking lot off of a big highway either, but he also has made it clear he isn't in the market for a dog right now, so I was feeling a little rebelious and a little frustrated. Why couldn't an adorable little dog show up in NH that I could adopt?
Anyway, we took her to a little vet near Heidi's house after we arrived. (Oh, and after Heidi and I had a beer) Due to some miscommunication, we were not able to get her in to see anyone at the office, nor were we allowed to board her for the night.
A very nice vet's assistant came out and took a look and took her in the back for a minute.
She came back out and said that she had taken two big ticks out of her ears. I started to cry all over again. This poor dog must have been on the lam for a while.
After talking it over with the people at the office and with Heidi, I decided we had to go and drop her off at another shelter near downtown Austin. I just couldn't ask Heidi to stick a flea and tick-ridden dog in her garage for the night while I figure out what I need to do. Heidi has two dogs, and they DON'T have fleas or ticks. It was the right thing to do, but it didn't make me happy at all.
Now the kids know that she will be cleaned up and made to feel better, but they still want to know if we can get her if no one adopts her or claims her.
I told her that I am game, but it really is up to Daddy. I have the heart, he has the logic.
The dog was just so perfect for our family, so gentle and sweet, but why couldn't this happen closer to home?
I don't see how she could NOT get adopted.
We came back to Heidi's and the kids had eaten.
Natalie had made onion rings, and sloppy JOES! She is such a big girl now. She is gorgeous and all growd up!
Erica came home from cheer practice and was all smiles. She immediately found Brandon and they took off to play.
Danielle has been taking good care of Ellie for me. She helped her with her pjs and tried to brush her hair.
Chance has shown us his great swimming ability, and has been very smiley!

I have to close. I want to try to post pics but I am not sure I can tonight. I am BEAT!

Texas finally

Well, we spent the day on the road yesterday (Monday) and it was quite an adventure. It was storming when we left Birmingham.
Lori was nice and said we could stay as long as we needed to stay if we wanted to wait it out, but I really wanted to get on the road. We left around 8:30 a.m.
It was a long drive and there were times when I couldn't even see out the front window due to the rain, but we managed.
As we all know, I am not a fan of thunder and lightening, but it really wasn't as bad as it could have been.
We got into Mississippi in about an hour and a half, and we went over the great and mighty MISSISSIPPI RIVER. I sang "Old Man River" in my head and told the kids the story of how Mommy and Daddy went over it when we were moving to the east coast from California.
Louisiana was next, and pretty uneventful, except for the rain. We could definitely feel the temperature change when we got out for gas. It is a little steamier here than Alabama, but as stated before, after leaving NH and 63 degrees, I welcome a little sweat.
We got to Texas around 3-ish, and I like two things very much about it so far.
A. Everyone here drives a big fat truck, made by AMERICANS! :)
2. I think I drive fast, but I always make sure that there is someone going a little faster than me, but people in Texas drive even faster in their big trucks! I was reminded of NJ, where I was driving 85 and people were all over my ass!
The kids went swimming almost immediately after arriving, but not before I MADE them clean out the car. They totally trashed it, but it is now cleaned out. They cried and fought, because they were so hot, and sweat was dripping down them, but TOO BAD! Don't trash my car then! :)
Time to try to get on the road to Austin.
I can't wait to get to stop and NOT have to get back in the car for a few days. :) I am beat!

Missing Daddy very much now.

Alabama 2

Sunday morning we got up and had some breakfast, and then we packed up some lunch and headed out to a really nice pool that Lori and Todd belong to.
Todd wasn't feeling well, so he didn't accompany us. (Or he didn't want to be around 6 screaming kids and MORE) :)
We got there right around the time that the pool opened so we had our selection of space to choose from and set up our chairs. We did, and although I know I am going to end up looking like a leather handbag, I just can't stay out of the sun. I especially can't, since I left NH on July 5th, and it was 63 degrees and raining! SO, we sat in the sun for a few minutes, and although I don't like to hang out in a bathing suit in public, it was TOO HOT to NOT get into the pool.
The kids soon found the diving board, and went crazy on that.
We had only been there a little while, and they called a courtesy break. I guess they do that every hour so that the lifeguards can get a drink and stay focused. We got out and had some sandwiches, and then we got back in the pool after that.
Not too long after that, the whistle blows again, and we had to get out because of THUNDER!
Lori was saying in Alabama, there can frequently be a storm, but that they usually pass through pretty quickly, so we decided to wait it out. We waited about 30 minutes and then it started to rain a little bit. Sometimes the lifeguards will allow you to swim in the rain, but not unless there is NO THUNDER! So, we moved over and sat under a cabana type thing with a roof and picnic tables in it. Ethan was sitting in an innertube on top of the picnic table, and soon tumbled off. He was fine, thanks to the innertube, with only a scratch on his back and a torn thumbnail. We actually sat it out for close to two hours, but we were really glad we did. The day turned back into a really clear, hot, nice day for swimming, and because everyone left due to the rain, we had the pool to ourselves for a while! There were a few times when the lifeguards had to get everyone out because a thunder roll would be heard, but it didn't last too long.
A little later, Lori and I were getting thirsty for something other than SODA, so we packed up everyone. We headed back, but stopped on a bluff overlooking Lovers Leap and a huge cliff and we could see a golf course and some new homes. It was really pretty.
We got home and had some pizza and salad and a few cocktails. We said the kids could watch a movie, but not a long one.
We watched most of Transformers, knowing we had to get into bed early so that I could get out on the road and Lori and Todd could go to work. We just skipped over a lot of it to get it over faster. (Like the part where Sam's mom asks if he is masturbating) (No need to have to start answering questions already!) Caraway kids needed to get into bed for camp in the morning and Jamiesons needed to sleep so we could drive.
I am really glad that we got to go to Alabama, and even more glad that we got to visit with Lori and Taaaad and the kids. It was a lot of fun. We are going to see if we can't get the Caraways up our way some time.
I just added the photos and I am sorry to say that I still haven't figured out how to put them in a nicer order.
I added some from Lori's porch too so you can see the cute tables.
Four more days until I get to see my sweetie and I collapse in exhaustion!
I can't wait, and the kids can't either.
It is late, so I had better get some shuteye!
All for now, but I had a great idea for Brad, since he is a better writer than I am, maybe he would like to take over blogging duty after he joins us. That way we have it as a memory.
Think it over.

Alabama 1

I am sorry that we got behind again, but there was not a lot of time in Alabama to blog!
We got to Alabama a little later than I had planned. We left Charlotte kind of late, but when we got there, Lori had a nice COLD BEER for me, so all was good.
We arrived at 4:30 or so on Saturday.
We re-introduced Ryan and Bailey, who are 6 days apart, and have only met once.
Ethan and Eric are also the same age, sort of. Eric is going to be 7 in August, but Ethan turned 7 in April.
Aunt Lori taught the kids all sorts of tailgating games (sans alcohol) and they played while we chatted and caught up.
It has been 8 years since we had seen each other.
We sat on her cute porch that Todd did a LOT of work on. It is nice and screened, and has fans above. It has three tables out there, like a little pub!
I loved Lori and Todd's house, and really appreciated all of the work they have put into it. Todd has done a lot of great stuff to it!
They live up on a mountain, so it was long and windy and fun to drive up.
Lori and I pulled a "Laurie and Holly" and stayed up until 1:37 CST having a few beers and talking. It was great to get to know her better.
It was also nice to hear that Brad wasn't awful to her like he was to his Laurie. :)

Leaving Charlotte

Wow! Where does the time go?
We arrived in Charlotte NC a little bit later than I had planned on Thursday.
We spent Wednesday with Poppa John and Grandma O in Raleigh.
Had a great time with them, even though on this leg of the trip, it was only a one-nighter.
The kids had fun at the pool, swimming. There are new rules for the water slide now.
One is that they open at 12 instead of before, they opened it and turned it on as soon as someone showed up to swim.
Another new rule is that kids can't go down with floaties (arm ones, or wings?) on. They can go down with a vest on, though. Apparently they can be pulled under with the arm floaties, but can't be pulled under with the vest? I don't know.
Anyway, part of the reason we were late to Charlotte was so that the kids could do a couple of times down the slide at noon.
We got into Charlotte on Thursday, around 5. I hit a lot of traffic, and I was not happy about it, but it was a really pretty drive.
I am happy to say that the kids, due to Bailey's vomit incident in NJ, haven't been playing Gameboy in the car. They actually have been looking at the scenery and been playing with each other. It 's been nice.
Don't get crazy now though. They have had their moments.
The last few hours of a leg of the trip seems to be when they start to get louder, punchier, or wahtever, but really, overall, it could ALWAYS be worse!
The weather here in NC so far has been extremely pleasant. Very LOW humidity, and actually cool and slightly cloudy.
It rained a bit on our way in, but I am used to the rain (thank you NH) so it didn't phase me a bit.
My sister, Suzanney, has a house in Charlotte. It is GORGEOUS, as is SHE!
Her and my Momlette and Ed have hosted us for two nights now! I am sure they are ready for some quiet. It was great to see my family. I still have a big hole in my heart, as I miss my daddy so much, but we talked about and laughed and cried about him quite a bit over the last two days. He is sorely missed by all of us.
One thing I am not happy about is the fact that I forgot to bring my camera to Suzanne's house, so I have no pictures to post right now. Uncle Brad thinks we will be able to swing back through Charlotte though on the way home, so I am going to take tons of pix then!

The kids swam in the hotel pool today and had a great time, I think.
We went to Zanney's around 5, and had a great meal and a great time.
Met a ton of people, and am teaching the boys about being southern gentlemen!
Tomorrow we head to Birmingham, AL.
Bailey is SO excited because his state report was on Alabama, so he can't wait to be in the state he did a report on.
Our next stop takes us to Lori T's house. She is actually Lori C and Todd, and we can't wait to see her and Todd and the kids. Ryan and Bailey are 6 days apart in age, and Ethan and Eric are just a couple of months, I think.
Can't wait to be HOT AND SWEATY!

Miss you so much it hurts a little! Boys keep wanting to "blog" you, but we have been getting in too late for that.
Love you dearly.

Raleigh NC

After leaving my sissy's house messier than I wanted to, but I did try to clean up, we finally got on the road to Raleigh.

So, did I mention that Brad went out and bought a GPS for me?  It is a G-word (?) I can't think of it now, but I call it Guermo, or Godiva, or Guacamole, or Garcon.  Anywho, he got me started off on the WICKED wrong foot, and he had me going the opposite of how Laurie told me to LEAVE, so in between all of that, stopping to get gas, and trying to SET Gandolph up, we left WAY later than I meant to.  I take SOME responsibility, because I like the WRITTEN word, and I made Laurie write me out some directions, knowing I had Gillian. 

We got to NC, passed the big giant cigarette plant (Phillip Morris) in about 4 hours. 

The kids could not WAIT to get to Gramma's house with the talking (repeating) parrot (stuffed) and the POOL with the water slide.

We arrived around 4:30.  By the way, Gregorio yelled at me saying ARRIVING AT DESTINATION/ARRIVING AT DESTINATION when I accidentally passed my mother-in-law's house, but I slammed on my brakes and arrived as planned.  

Poppa John was kind enough and had the aforethought to POUR ME SOME WINE, about three minutes after arrival.

It was good because the kids had started in on me, and had started to get antsy, feisty and ANNOYING towards the end there!

So, he, the GPS, yelled at me, and we pulled into the driveway.

The kids all ran in and hugged grandparents as far as I know.  

I can't do the pool with the waterslide justice, so I won't even try.  I will post pix of it tomorrow, but let's just say it isn't JUST a slide.  It is big and swirley and high and FUN!

Well, we apparently showed  up today when it had JUST been turned OFF for the night.

The kids had NO problem jumping in the pool and getting wet, but no one came out to turn on the water for the slide.

Being a rule FOLLOWER, I got up to see what was up and think I found out that the pool is open from 9 until 9, but the waterslide is NOT.  It is open when the lifeguards are out there, which is apparently from today's schedule 12-6.  

Cool.  But REALLY?

That was ALL they really wanted out of today.  Sorry Gramma, but we are coming back at the end of all of this road-tripping.  So, we went down and they swam, and then they started to go up the slide (as if it was on) to look and pretend to go down.  

BEING A RULE FOLLOWER I immediately jumped up to find out if this was NOT okay.  There was NOTHING posted about "when the water is off" on the slide that they had to AVOID said slide, so I told them they could go up and look.  They did and a couple of times they came down, with no water but from their bathing suit drippings, and then others followed suit.

I had my four in my sights, and have I mentioned being certified in CPR and First Aid.

A nice, non-nosy, non-meddling, non-paranoid IDIOT then comes up and says, "Excuse me Ma'am, but if anything happens to these kids, they will SHUT THIS POOL DOWN!"  

Really?  Are you ON THE BOARD?  DO YOU KNOW THIS FOR A FACT?  

Or are you REALLY just a bitch with nothing else to do but LOOK for stuff that won't likely happen?

Because others have followed two of my kids' lead, I say, "Um, they aren't ALL mine."  

So she goes running off to her pool buddies and Psst pssst pssstt psssts  about me and MY offense, and since I was talking to my husband on the phone, and since I haven't seen him in four days now, I didn't get off the phone, I hear her stupid ass husband say, "Oh, she can't even get off her phone."  No.  I can't.  Not when I have MY kids in sight and am supervising, and present, NO, I can't.  

After the BI**H left, a very nice lady, who seemed to be in MY boat (4 or more kids) befriended me, so I knew it wasn't just ME, but come ON!~

By the way, I will REFUSE to help above BOVIN with CPR or first aid, if she needs it.  (The mean one, obviously).  

We came back after promising that before we leave for Charlotte tomorrow, we will come for the SLIDE!  But not if it doesn't open until noon because I am hoping to be on the road around noon for a 3-o'clock check-in in Charlotte.  

Okay.  Must night night for now.  

Love and miss Daddy very much

P.S.  Helped Mom  hang some Uppercase Living expressions!  They look AWESOME! - Lance - I want some commission from that installation!

Raleigh Today

Sorry. I stayed up a little late watching Michael Jackson's memorial.
I was watching SIX kids during the day, so I didn't get to sit and watch it.
Very sad day.
We went shopping at Target yesterday for snacks to take to North Carolina, and we got some underwear and socks, since everyone seemed to forget to bring underthings! Well, not everyone. Ellie didn't forget. And I didn't forget. Okay, just boys people.
When we got back, some neighbor kids up the street were filling up water balloons, and at first, they were nice and invited the kids up to help them get each other.
It soon turned into a water balloon fight between them and us, but whatev!
They were a lot bigger, but everyone managed to get soaked.
It was hot yesterday, so they had fun.
Later, the kids caught Fireflies to put into jars. Once you get over ten of the little critters it is hard to keep them in the jar because they crawl out when you open it, but the kids had fun.
Then, it was shower time and FIREWORKS!
Laurie's new/old neighbors came over and watched the show as well. She has the nicest friends and neighbors.
As for the firewors, Okay, we aren't in NH anymore, but I got some really good deals on some age-appropriate ones, and the kids had fun. They were buy ONE get TWO free! They didn't have a lot left, but I got what was necessary! I will try to post some pics!
Leaving for Raleigh in about an hour.
Nicole and Lindsay left for their dad's house pretty early today. They are leaving for vacation with him. You could tell they wanted to stay and play more with cousins, and they didn't really want to go, but I hope they have a good time with him.
P.S. Laurie said she is going to bed right when she gets home from work today.

Last night's post

Sorry. After another fun, yet late evening with Auntie Lolo, I forgot to post.

I COULD have gotten up at 1:32 a.m. when her spanish speaking neighbor decided t0 get up and talk on his cell phone for 2 hours EXTREMELY LOUDLY, but I kept HOPING I would fall back asleep. I did around 4 a.m, but THAT IS OKAY. I am on vacation after all.

Dinner was grilled chicken (have I mentioned what a fabulous cook Laurie is?) salad, with fresh lettuce from her garden (have I mentioned her small but HIGH YIELDING garden?)

You may notice something about me, so why don't I just blurt it out - I LOVE FOOD!

Brad's family (including Brad) are ALL awesome cooks. It is such a treat to get to eat anything that any one of them prepares!

The day started off close to 9 a.m. when cousins came back from their dad's house.

I don't remember seeing ANY frowns. They LOVE when they can all get together and had so much fun playing and reading and coloring, and hide-and-seeking.

It is weird and not as fun with Laurie working, and not staying home and playing with ME, but I am so happy that she found a good job that she seems to like, and she likes her co-workers too, so YAY her.

But - what to do with SIX kids!

They finally stopped playing long enough to eat breakfast, and then they watched a movie.

After that, it was wading pool and slip-and-slide for most of the afternoon.

Have I mentioned how NICE the weather has been?

NH has had CRAP weather for about two weeks, so I am just so happy to see that orange/yellow orb in the sky. I don't care about sweat or anything!

Before dinner, we also had a nice door frame-hanging contest. No, they didn't hang a door frame, they HANG FROM/IN the door frame. See photo!

We might visit a sprinkler park today and need to go to Target for toothbrushes and socks. (That is what I get for letting them pack a few of their own things) Eric is the ONLY one that remembered his toothbrush. Of course he is. Why wouldn't he be?

Tomorrow we leave for Raleigh, for ONE day at Gramma's house, and then it is on to Charlotte for Gramma Paulette's and Auntie Suzanney. Saturday is Birmingham, Alabama, and we get to see another Aunt LORI!

We will keep you posted.

All for now, and I am going to try to post a photo right now.

I just did, and if anyone knows how to make it so that I can put the photos where I want them, let me know.

Wish me luck with that! :)

Monday July 6th

Today, we will hang out and play in the sprinkler and slip-n-slide, and maybe go to a park.
Tomorrow, maybe the Smithsonian???
We will see.

Ouch.

Woke up at 4 a.m. on the couch.
Crawled to bed.
Hmmmm.
Why does Laurie have to go to work when I am HERE? :)

Your Sister Rocks

WE all knew that!

Whew!

Okay, thank you. 7 hours and 32 minutes is NOT my record. I hold the record at 6 hours 48 minutes and 57 seconds.
Next MY previous record was 7 hours 11 minutes.

Now that I am here, sip, all is well.

A. Sissy had a glass of wine (COLD) waiting for me as I drove up.
She rocks and she rolls!
2. The seafood kebobs that she made me, ummmmm, did NOT suck, nor were they grey. She still amazes me with what she can do with food. I aspire to be anything like her.

So, we started out the morning with a dead battery. Okay, it made funny noises, but it started, and, um, I was a little bit nervous. Brad gave me a crasher course with our jump-o-start-o-rama and I said WTF????? Why not. Let's do it. Really? If it dies, I get to go back to bed!
As my sweetie knows, I like to leave at 6 a.m. at the latest.
He said , "Oh, come on - BABY - 7:30 should be FINE!"
Let's just say - NO! I told you so.
I hit more traffic than I usually do. The fuzz was out in EVERY state I went through, but I maintained my law-abiding speed, and managed to make it in 7 hours 32 minutes.
The other problem seemed to be the air conditioning. Anyone who knows Brad, knows his fondness of the AC. Well, I called him and told him it was HOT!
He was very concerned, because we are headed SOUTH, and I kept telling him how WARM the air was, but I think I have figured out that it was COLD when I left NH, so it was warm because of that! When we left NH it was 58, and I had the AIR on 72, and it felt WARM! S0 I got scared. But it seems fine NOW!

So, I love my Brad for trying to help, but I do have a FEW suggestions for next time.

1. Ellie and Eric sitting together? RIGHT BEHIND ME? Not so much.
a. They can't reach my wine or beer, NOR CAN THEY REACH ANYTHING RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM - especially if they are asleep.
2. THEY F_ING FIGHT! Did you not know this?

*Bailey - Probably shouldn't sit in the BACK! If he does, maybe not with a GAMEBOY!
I pride myself on getting to the Tappen ZEE Bridge in less than 3 hours.
It does NOT help when he is vomiting.
Of course, I didn't stop.
Not until New Jersey. Sorry Bay, but I have a record to break! JK
Oh, and by the way, when Bailey was vomitous, Brandon was plugging his ears and coughing and not breathing, but he held fast! He held in his insides. He was sitting next to Bailey. Thanks Daddy.
Eric, thank you for being the only one that brought a toothbrush!

Auntie's pizza on the grill, "is the best ever" according to nephews polled unsolicited at the time.

Okay, the highlight of the evening, while Laurie and I were eating OUR fabulous dinner, the kids started catching FIREFLIES! Of course, Auntie had jars, and they caught SEVERAL!
They wanted to keep them as night-lights. That's okay, right?
I am hoping we can get pictures of this tomorrow, as we did let them go!

Love you too!

Hi Daddy,
It's me, Ellie. Mommy and I are packing MY stuff today. I have so many clothes, thanks to Mommy's good friends, we figured we could get my packing out of the way. That way Mommy won't have so much to do this weekend.
Just wanted to say hi and I love you. Can you type some of your stories on the "puter" so Mommy can read them to us when we are on vacation? That would be GREAT! :)
Love you,
Ellie

The Real Father's Day Post

Hi Daddy - Hope you had a great day! Love you - Mommy

Happy Fathers Day! We'll miss you until you join us in Texas. - Bailey

Dear Daddy, I'll miss you when we're on vacation. I hope you have a good time at home-eric
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DADDY I WILL MISS YOU ON VACATION HAVE A GOOD TIME ATHOME LOVE BRANDON
Hi Daddy, it's me, Ellie. Mommy says for you to take advantage of this time and get stuff fixed, finished and cleaned up while we are gone.
I will miss you until you come to Texas with us. Love you from Ellie

Happy Father's Day

Hi Daddy,
We made this because you are going to miss our first two weeks of vacation. We thought it would be fun if we can post pictures and tell you what we do throughout the day until you join us in Texas.
We love you and hope you enjoy reading our blogs!

Love,
Bailey, Brandon, Eric, Ellie & Mommy