Orange Festival

I was reminded that my goal was to seek out the interesting things to do here, and to make sure we experienced New Orleans before we moved away.  With that in mind, I told Dan I wanted to go to the Orange Festival. Normally I would balk at the idea of driving an hour away for an unknown "festival" but there was going to be a 5 k, and I figured if we did that then we'd have accomplished something.  Dan said he'd do the run, so I was relegated to photographer and babysitter status.

It really was an hour drive.  There were signs by the base saying that the Orange Festival was at Fort Jackson, but we'd never been there, and honestly, I have never turned right at the gate- not ever, in the 16 months we have lived here.  Who even knew there was an hour worth of drive south of New Orleans?!!  So it was a little worrisome, to be driving forever (56 miles!) with no sign we were going the right way.  Fortunately, when you can see the levee on either side of you, you know you won't miss it.

So yes, we made it and Dan was able to register for the race.  It seems that this has been such the annual event that folks just know what's happening.  We didn't.   I wish we'd known there was a 1/2 mile run for the kids.  I think they all would have liked to do that.  The children did have a lovely time climbing on everything they could.  (And yes, at 8:30am, it was warm enough for shorts.)

This was the 5 k line up.  Maybe 50 people were in it. It was a run straight out and back on the levee on gravel.  I thought that was a pretty good set up. No timing chips, but there weren't enough people to need them, and they did a good job with the timing.

Did I mention that the kids had a blast climbing all over everything?! 

Dan's glorious sprint to the finish.  He was beat out by 3 high school boys track stars, but not by much. So he was 4th overall, and 1st in his age category.  And he got Jambalaya after the race.  He didn't want it, but I made him get a bowl so I could eat it- yum!

Rylee wanted a picture of her balancing a water bottle on her head.  Funny-bunny! 

No medals for the grown ups, but all the placers got a bag-o-oranges!  Woohoo! 

Callie was quite excited about the oranges.  They are "Satsumas" which I'd never heard of but apparently that's what the festival was about!

Then there were kid races!  Delaney did the "Orange Run" which was a shuttle run type race-   you run out, grab an orange, put it in your bag, and run back for the next orange.   

She got a medal and got to keep her bag of oranges! 

While waiting for events, the girls scavenged by the river and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. 

 Joshua did the Orange Run as well and now we had MORE oranges!

 Callie rocked the sack race, coming in second, beat only by a giant 12 year old gal. Delaney also hopped and had fun.

Delaney really had a great time with the races.  It was so cute to see her try new things and find out that it was fun. 

They let Rylee enter the Egg and Spoon Race, which I thought would go badly for her. 

But Rylee was great and came in second place.... well, I confessed she'd been holding onto her egg with her other hand and she was quietly disqualified, which merely meant she got a medal and not a trophy.   

Marian refused to do any of the games, but she managed to keep herself quite entertained running around.  

After the games, there were lots of booths and vendors to wander through.  It was like a mini-fair with no animals and no judging.  Well, there might have been, but we didn't see it.  We paid large sums to eat funnel cake and shrimp on a stick and then let the kids do a few rides. The rides were cheaper than I expected.

To sum up, it was a fun morning.  The race was great, the kid games were fun, the carnival rides were not too pricey.  Would I drive an hour again just for the Festival?  No.  With the race, Yes.  We're actually planning on doing it again next year, and entering the kids in the 1/2 mile race!

Levi's First Thanksgiving

This year we wanted to do something different.  Well, that, and uncle Alan invited us over for Turkey and a family fun filled trip to see the new Twilight movie.  Who can resist that?!  We packed up the car and loaded kids and dog and were off on a grand adventure!

It was a 12-13 hour drive, so we stopped at a hotel.  La Quinta, I do love you!  I love that they accept dogs and are cheap.  Levi enjoyed his first hotel stay. The kids always love a hotel.

Levi was awesome for the lengthy drive, as were the children.  We encountered standstill traffic while we were conveniently right next to a school.  So we pulled over, unloaded and ran everyone around for a bit.  The traffic cleared up and we were back on our way.  The kids enjoyed the break. 

Levi was so happy to make a new friend.  Alan's dog, Bismark was very good natured and let Levi slobber all over her. She also indulged in mock fighting and they seemed to have a very good time together.

Aunt Brandy is a rock star.  She knew just how to keep little girls entertained for endless hours.  She opened up her craft stuff and let the girls do whatever they wanted!  Oh my.  The kids loved it and had a ball.  Delaney made a ...um... hair bow.  She still makes me put it in her hair!

Joshua was thrilled to get to play Alan's games. 

 Rylee made friends with Bismark, who is  very tolerant and sweet dog!  Rylee told me, "I riding her like a howse!"  And when Bizzy got up to move, she hollered, "Yee Haw!" as she fell off.

We took time to stroll the Savannah River Walk.  It was nice, but chillier than we expected. 

A lovely street vendor offered this flower made of palm leaf, and Rylee was enamored. 

 We stopped by the Candy Shop and the kids were drooling over all these caramel apples.  Yummy!

Joshua was ready for some candy! 

Dan and Levi had to wait outside while we perused the candy.  Levi enjoyed the walk and was pretty good. 

Here's Rylee, enjoying her treat- a chocolate covered marshmallow snowman. 

Yeah, I caved.  I let Joshua get a giant apple.  He took 3 bites and complained that it was sour. 

Kids are so fun! I love that they can do stuff I only want to do but do not have the nerve! 

Back at the house, Rylee put her older cousins to work entertaining her.  Josh was offended that his sisters never play with him like that.  I'm pretty sure he's happier NOT having Rylee use his abs for a trampoline. Matthew bore it with remarkably good humor. 

Dinner was beyond delicious. 

My kids seemed to prefer the ham over the turkey, the heathens!  Levi was just happy that lots of people smuggled him treats when I wasn't looking. 

 We got to go for a post-turkey walk in "The Haunted Woods".  Levi enjoyed all the new, exciting smells.

 Cousin Jacob was a good sport and pulled the girls in the wagon all around the yard for much longer than I would have!

And Aunt Jenny read to the kids and made them a happy group.  Yeah, family is awesome! 

Marian entertained herself by taking all the letters from a game and making all the Africa related words she could come up with.  And I think she managed to use every single tile!  She wanted a picture of her efforts before cleaning up.  

So that was our Thanksgiving.  We drove home in 2 days again, which worked out well, as we got home mid afternoon and had time to settle back in.  The kids had fun, the dog had fun (and was so sad to leave his new friend behind), it was a great Thanksgiving!

I don't want to be the mom anymore.

I was at the school picking up the kids.  Delaney wanted me to carry her backpack.  I told her I would love to if she could ask me nicely. She did not want to.

She spent the next 20 minutes and 1/4 mile home screaming and carrying on in full tantrum.  But by golly, she would not ask nicely.  She screamed at me to hold her backpack.  She screamed that it was too heavy.  She screamed "HERE!" and shoved the backpack at me.  But she would not ask nicely.

She screamed incoherently.  She threw the backpack on the ground.  She kicked the backpack.  She screamed at me.  But she would not say please.

All
The
Way
Home.

And here's a spoiler:
It hasn't gotten any better.

Aaack!!!

Help!

I was planning to post pictures today, but I got this message instead:

"Whoops! You're out of space. You are currently using 100% of your 1 GB quota for photos. Upgrade storage

Photos are stored in your Picasa Web Albums account and are included in your 1 GB free quota for photos. Additional storage you purchase is shared between several Google products and is in addition to your free quota. Learn more"

 

What is that?!  I tried changing the pictures of the kids on my sidebar a few months ago and I got the same message.  Does this mean I now have to PAY to add any more pictures to my blog?  Do I have to delete previous posts to make room for new ones?  Has this happened to anyone else before? Is it time to do a new blog now?!  Help!  Help!

Happy Birthday Marines!

Last night was the Marine Corps Ball.  Dan still considers going to the Ball something that is a "novelty" and he doesn't understand why I would want to go every year.  That's because it isn't a novelty!  It is an annual event!  This year I found a fabulous dress that I loved.  I liked it a lot more till I saw so many other dresses at the Ball and then I kind of felt like I was old.  I was hoping for elegant, but I was a little concerned that it was more of an older lady dress.  Sadly, I am not as young as I like to think I am, so perhaps it is just appropriate.

Hanging out before the ceremonies started. 

Dan and his buddies.  It was lovely to hear all the guys he works with say flattering things about Dan.  They seem to really like him. 

My little slice of birthday cake.  It was yummy, too! 

Full view of the dress.  And I had on high heels that really made my feet hurt, but they looked marvelous.  Next year I'll look for something more comfortable, because no one got to see the super-cute straps on these.