KY River and High Bridge

This SHOULD be an entry about our visit to my great uncle Allan, his wife Rose and my Nana and our FANTASTIC day together. However, I forgot to put the memory card in my camera, so I could only take about 10 pictures. Uncle Allan and Rose took us on a PADDLE BOAT RIDE down the KY river, so I hogged up all of the pictures on this amazing trip. Here is the view from the very front of the top deck of the Dixie Belle down the river.


Here is Jeff, enjoying the view.


Does this look a stressed man? Moving here has completely changed Jeff. He is so much more relaxed, so much happier.
Here is Alicat enjoying the view. She LOVED the ride, the captain was amazing, she ate up all of the information he gave out along the river.
Notice the look on Julianna's face. She spent the ENTIRE ride in the pilot house with the captain asking him questions. When I asked her to come over so I could take a picture of her, she refused. When I told her that when I posted them on the blog everyone would think she was left at home, she grudgingly posed for me.

I am such a dork. Jeff snapped this picture just as I was laughing at something the captain said. (See him in the pilot house over my shoulder??)

The rock walls on the sides of the river are called the Kentucky Pallisades. The rocks are amazing. I wished I had my film camera and extra zoom lenses, but this was pretty good. If you look at the rocks, you can make out neat faces in the rock. NH's old man on the mountain has nothing on these!
This is the High Bridge. There is a ton of history about it, most of which I can't remember, but it was so cool. A train went over it when we were going under it.

Another view of the High Bridge, this time from underneath. Look at that amazing blue sky. That metal on the left of the picture is actually the smoke stack (decorative) on the boat not part of the bridge.
Here are some great exposed roots. Although the river is at it's normal summer level, over the winter it gets quite a bit higher and washes away the dirt. I love exposed roots. Something about the way they reach for the water.

While on the river we saw this neat looking thing way up on the cliff. It kind of looked like a bridge that ended at the cliff. Uncle Allan told us that it was the High Bridge park, it was a lookout place. When we left Uncle Allan and Rose's house after a wonderful cookout, we decided to head that way. I am so fortunate that Jeff has the same sense of adventure as me. He had no problem heading down a road we didn't know towards a place we weren't sure of. It paid off. Here is Ali and Julianna on the lookout at High Bridge Park, that it THE train bridge we went under. If you look you can probably tell that the bottom of the walkway is an openish metal grate. We all went out, but Jeff beat a hasty retreat after looking around for a minute, and I was off of there as soon as I got some pictures. It is a little scary seeing all of that way down UNDER you.

Here is the big payoff though. The view down the Kentucky River. Amazing.

At High Bridge, there is this fantastic pavillian. There is an amazing view from it, it is open on the sides, a nice hardwood floor. Jeff and I agreed that if we get married some day in the future, we are getting married here.

We love Kentucky!!!

Strep??!!?

Yesterday morning Ali woke up feeling sick and not wanting to go to school. She has pulled this many a time, so I was not fooled. She said her throat hurt and her tummy hurt and did not want to get out of bed. I made her get up and get ready. After she got up, she was feeling better and in a better mood, so off to school she went. About two hours later I was at Big Lots (Yeah!! A Big Lots in Lexington) when Jeff called me. The school had called, Ali has strep. I didn't believe him at first, but like he said "I wouldn't kid about this." I had to go pick her up. How cool is it that her nurse's office at school does rapid strep tests??? Since we just moved here I didn't have a Dr. for her of course, so yesterday was a flurry of phone calls which included finding out that my insurence through work has been canceled (those bastards, I thought I had through the end of the month), and then 4000 calls straightening out Tricare. This morning Julianna woke up with a sore throat, so Jeff had a flurry of calls to make for her too. I got the Tricare thing settled this morning, got Ali set up with a Pediatrician here and a sick appointment. I took Julianna to a walk-in clinic in Krogers. Krogers! The grocery store here has a walk-in clinic. How cool is that??? I LOVE Lexington!!!! Julianna's strep came back negative, but her throat was red and swollen, so she was put on antibiotics, then I took Ali to her Dr. appt where she was put on antibiotics. Both of the girls got enough doses to go to school tomorrow. But seriously, we have been here for 8 days and strep throat already!!!!

Kentucky Horse park

We went to the Kentucky Horse Park today. What a fun place!! We happened to be there during a pony show, so we were able to watch the show. I had no idea ponies were so big, I need to find out the difference between horses and ponies. Here is Ali near a cool statue.


Here are the girls in front of the gate. They were a little bit crabby at the time, so they aren't all cozy here.
Here are the girls on the rocking horses in the museum.
Here is Jeff patting one of the foals. Ali is next to him, Julianna is on the other side.
Here they are again, this time looking at the horses.

We heart Kentucky

Yes, we love Kentucky. The weather is fantastic, the people are friendly, what a place! We had no problems heading up last weekend. Here is a picture of Jeff and I at a scenic overview in MD. We had a lot of fun going through the mountians.


Here is the sign for our apartment complex. I took it last night when I was doing laundry.


The girls love the pool. As you can see it is pretty large. Julianna loves to dive, normally Ali throws whatever we have that will sink, then Julianna dives to find it.Here are the girls on their first day of school, Wednesday. I love school uniforms! It makes life so much easier! They LOVE their school. They come home each day full of stories about what they learned and what they did. They have made friends, love their teachers, and even know the school cheer already. After 3 days, they both have decided they like Ashland more than their previous schools.Jeff and I had a great few days. After the girls went to school we got breakfast at Sonic (Jeff's new favorite fast food place, the manager knows his voice on the drive-thru, even offered him a job) then come back home to eat and read the paper. We tended to go back to sleep for a while, then finished unpacking and setting up the apartment. Monday Jeff goes back to work and I am going to start the job hunt in earnest.

packing

Packing, packing, packing! We spent the weekend packing for the move. We got a P.O.D., and was it worth it!! They dropped it off in my driveway Saturday, we packed it with everything we are bringing, and they are coming today topick it up. They will deliver it next Tuesday to our apartment, we unpack it, and the come take it. No towing, no worries. I am so happy. It fit everything we are moving. Now I have to throw away everything I had left and get ready to go. Saturday we head out, Monday we sign our lease and move in.

We also took the girls back-to-school shopping. Since we won't know what school they are going to be in, we only got them a back to school outfit, their backpacks, lunch bags and thermos' (Ali loves to have soup for lunch). The girls are excited now, they want to go NOW, not wait. There is just a week left, I am trying to focus them on what we are doing in the car and what we need to bring (like movies, DVD players, I-pods, coloring books, etc).

No posts lately

I know I haven't posted in a long time, but that is because we have been busy busy busy! Why?? Because we are moving! We are moving to LEXINGTON, KY!!!! The four of us (me, Ali, Jeff and Julianna) are moving next week. The girls are starting school on August 13th, so we have been in a mega rush. I am so excited about this. I will update more when I have a minute!! Here is Ali vaccuming her hair.

Beach day!

Sunday was beautiful out, so after church we headed to the beach. We went to Deveraux Beach in Marblehead. It is one of my favorite beaches. The water was too cold for me to swim, but the girls seemed to like it!


And of course, Jeff studied. Here he is, notice the index cards in his lap. Although I understand why he is studying and think he is awesome for the dedication he has to this test and getting his license, it's the beach! Put on your bathing suit and have some fun!! He was the only person on the beach in pants.
One last picture of the girls. How sweet are they? Of course this is between fighting and whining, but still.

May is over!

Here are some pictures from our busy month:

Oma's visit. Here is Oma and Ali in front of the diner that Ali usually goes to with Will. We went there for breakfast and of course e-mailed he picture to Will.

Ali on the ferry into Boston.
Ali and Oma at Salem Beer Works. We ate dinner there. This picture is also for Will. He loves the Beer Works (but not as much as me, Beer Works is my favorite!)
Ali at her Memorial Day show. She is next to her friend Gus, her friend Anthony's twin brother Austin is above her.
Ali and the shaker she made in daisys for the Memorial Day parade. All of the other ones had smiles, hearts, and rainbows. Hers has a big camoflage helmet for Will, a smaller camo one for her Uncle John, a green one for Papa and the American Flag. What a great kid!

Jeff's graduation

Jeff graduated from North Shore Community College on Thursday. He graduated with honors from the Physical Therapy Assistant program. He earned his Associates Degree. It was amazing being there, I was proud, but nothing compared to how his family felt. I have known him for such a short time. Here are some pictures.

Jeff about to get his degree:
Jeff and Julianna:
Jeff and his family:
Jeff and me:
You may have noticed we all had similar shirts. I found a website that made physical therapy shirts, Julianna's says "My Daddy is a Physical Therapist", his Mom's says "My son is a Physical Therapist", Jackie's says "I love my physical therapist" and mine says "My heart belongs to a Physical Therapist". I also got him a "Physical Therapist" shirt. We had signs, we held up
J-E-F-F when he walked in, then when he saw us (and turned bright red and shook his head) we flipped them over and it said W-E-(heart)-U. He was blown away. He was completely surprised, he said we made his graduation awesome. He also said that we made his graduation so special that he didn't even miss his dad, that he didn't get sad. I think that was the most important, and we weren't even aiming for that!

May is here!

May is here, a fantastic month but always a busy busy one. From now until the end of May is going to be like a race tothe finish line. Last Saturday was Julie's birthday! Yeah Julie, the big 31! On Sunday it is Mother's Day and my birthday. Yeah me, the big 33. I already got my birthday / mother's day present from Julie in the mail. She said I could open it early or I could wait until Sunday. The box is from Sephora, and as tempted as I am to open it, I am going to try to save it. I like to have something to open on my birthday, and I love to look at it and imagine what amazing things Julie has picked out for me that are inside. I have no plans this weekend besides church. Jeff has said that he will come to church, and of course we will have Julianna. We are having a cookie walk after church to raise money for the church scholarship. Following that big day, May 15 is My BFF Cheryl's birthday, Jeff has court for child support from Julianna's mother and it is the Art Show at Bates, and Alison has a picture in it!!! Nana's spring concert with the choral soceity is the 18th. The 22nd is my busy busy busy day. Alison's Oma is flying in at 5:05 to visit for the weekend, Alison is in a Fashion Show at her school for her afterschool program at 6, and Jeff is graduating college at 6. How on earth we are going to work it all out I have no idea. The morning of the 23rd is Alison's Memorial Day show at school at 9am.

Circus!

The Shriner Circus was last week, and we went Saturday night! My Papa was a Shriner, so we have pretty much gone to this circus every year since I was little (when I am in this area!). We had such a fun time! In the "big cats" act there was a Liger! So cool! I think we all agreed that the motorcycles in the big metal sphere was the best act! They had a six-year-old on a small bike go in it and drive around and around (with an adult in there spotting him) which Ali and Julianna thought was awesome! I was super impressed when the two performers took off their helmets and one of them was a woman! Here is a picture of Ali and Julianna with the tigers, $10.00 for a poloroid of them! Ack! I snapped this with my camera phone.

happy

I really like this guy!! His name is Jeff and he is awesome. Since we are both busy single parents, we decided to get our kids together earlier than we would normally. On Saturday we took the girls to Boston. We had a FANTASTIC time. The girls were like two peas in a pod. Everyone thought they were sisters, and neither of them were quick to tell them otherwise. Here are the girls, my Ali and his Julianna with a clown and their wonderful balloon creations at Fanual Hall.

I really like Julianna. She is a sweet kid. She is not close with her mom and looking for a new mom. She has started calling me mom which I am not really supporting. I am not putting the kibosh on it, but I don't want her to get too attached too quick. Although I am CRAZY about her dad, I still don't want anything to go too fast. Ali really likes Jeff. She thinks he is silly and funny. She knows she can joke around with him and she likes that. He likes her, she gives him the puppy dog eyes and he melts. He is such a dad, can't say no to the puppydog face. My dad was always the same way with Julie!

Here is a picture of Jeff and I from the other night. We couldn't really get a good picture, we kept laughing. I really like him!

Someone New

I have met someone. (Yeah me!!) His name is Jeff, he lives a few cities over from me. He is a single dad, his daughter is 8. We went to the movies Friday night, saw The Ruins. It was pretty good, I am sure the book is better though. We also went out Sunday night, went to Salem Beer Works. We had a great time talking and laughing. Jeff is a physical therapist, he is actually doing his clinical work, he will be graduating in less than a month. Being a single dad, he shares the same concerns I have (don't want to let out children get close to someone who won't be in the lives, etc) and problems (He was running late Sunday because his daughter was giving him a hard time, I was running late because Ali didn't want to go to bed). We are both looking for someone to spend some time with, go out with, possibly leading to more. I really like this guy. More to come I hope!

My little Girl Scout

Girl Scouting was a big part of my life growing up. I was a Girl Scout for 12 years, I went to Girl Scout camp every summer and I earned my Gold Award when I was a senior in High School. Now Alison is old enough to be a Girl Scout, she joined a Daisy troop in the fall, and I am so excited. She had her investiture a few weeks ago and her first event Saturday night. The event was fun, especially seeing some of my leaders. I have to say, after experiencing this event as a scout, a leader and now a parent, being a parent is the most boring. Here are some pictures of my little Girl Scout:

This is her whole troop at the investiture:


This is Emma, Caroline, Ali, Madison and Logan at the event singing their song:


And Caroline, Ali, Madison and Logan closer. Ali and Caroline are best friends, have been since the first day of kindergarten. They are inseperable, they also look quite a bit alike and act alike. Two peas in a pod! Logan is a close second, she is in a different K class, but goes to the afterschool program with them.

so much to update!

So much to update on, so little time! the big fun news is that I finally figured out how to get pictures and movies off of my phone and music on. So for today, here are some great pictures off of my phone.....

Ali's picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hanging up in her school on the wall:

I swear I have never let her watch South Park!!

Next is some pictures from almost a year ago. This is from the building we used to work in. It was an old dilapitated building, and these flowers were growing in the steps. I loved them, felt it was such a great metaphor!

Here is a picture of my lovely new haircut. As you can tell, I was goofing off in my car taking this picture. I do love the haircut.
And lastly, here is my sweet girl. Love her bangs?? She wanted them, and I of course let her. I think they look fantastic. Her hair is no longer in her eyes and face. She looks so darn cute. She is hugging her bear that Cheryl got her when she was about 6 months old. Like her coat? She is such a military girl!

Poor baby

My poor baby has strep throat. She has been feeling sick off and on for the last week, but I thought it was just allergies or he being over-tired. Last night she was miserable, headache, sore throat, belly-ache. She then slept horribly all night (So I got about 2 hours of sleep). She stayed with Nana today, then I took her to the Dr. Poor baby. Now she is on anti-biotics, so she will feel better quickly. Lucky for me I was put on antibiotics last week for my abcessed tooth (root canal next week, yikes!) so IF I had strep, it has already been treated.

And in other news..

And in other words, I finally finished Ali's scarf. I bought this great yarn at an Alpaca party. A friend from church's sister has an alpaca farm in Maine. She came down to show her "wares" and I bought this pretty painted yarn with the intent of making something for Alison. I found this neat pattern on my knitting calander. You cast on, then knit into each stitch, knit it until you have half of the length you want (or for me when I was almost out of yarn) as below:

Then you drop every other stitch and RIP OUT HALF OF THE SCARF! See the ripping in process below:

Then you end up with this gorgous lacy scarf. I made pom-poms for the end of it. Here is the finished project modeled by my favorite model:

Last Monday it rained like crazy all day. In the afternoon the rain stopped and it was nice out (near 60) so we went to the beach to see what the storm washed up. I love this beach. It is where I go to get centered. I always feel at peace there. It is easy to see why:

Here is Ali trying to pick up a ginormous friendship rock.
And Ali trying to tempt the waves to catch her, good thing she had her rain boots on. Like her rock pail? It is her pumpkin from halloween. She cracks me up.

Yesterday we took the train into Boston and went to:

My mom got Alison tickets for all of us (Ali, Katie, mom and I). We were 8 rows off of the ice. It was so cool! It reminded me how much I miss the theater. I spent most of the show figuring out all fo the technical aspects, the costuming, who had wigs, why the props were like they were. Man do I miss it. Time to change occupations?? Teach at a theater maybe and work backstage??