eternally chaotic

It is rare to get snow in Georgia, or well normally it is, but the past few years we have received at least a little, normally after the turn of the new year when winter is in full swing.  This year however we were surprised that the weathermen were actually right for once when it started snowing on Christmas Day.  It didn’t take long before the temperatures plummeted and massive snow flakes started to stick and accumulate.  It was a wet snow to start with, wet enough that Dad and I were able to chase off Autumn, pummeling her with snowball after snowball when she had to leave Christmas night – I guess next time she will stick around

The day after however much of the wetness had dried up and all that was left was a nice power – little icy for skiing but nice nonetheless.  The CoTC could take it no longer though and wrapped themselves in layer upon layer to head out into the arctic cold.  Great times ensued !!!

It was great to have snow and even better to have it on Christmas Day.

Today Isaac participated in his first Cub  Scout outing, Rocket Mania.  He is just getting into the groove of being a scout and the outing could not have come at a better time to show him some of the fun stuff they get to do while learning.  Part of the day was dedicated to learning about various physical and mental exercises that had to later be demonstrated before one of the instructors.  He learned all about kickball, including some variant rules the scouts follow, a little geography including the important elements of a map, in particular the legend, as well as how to find a point on a globe using latitude and longitude.  He also had to learn about and demonstrate five manners that were important in everyday life – things such as not interrupting, and saying please and thank you – it was interesting to watch him walk around with instructor (Southern Mrs. Manners) and introduce her to random people with polite sincerity.

After all the learning bits were done and lunch was in our bellies it was time to get out the rockets.  These were the hard core, no nonsense  liquid propellant type – water rockets.  There were rockets of all shapes and sizes, some with nose cones, other without, a few with fins and others with wings – some with nothing at all.  The rocket was put onto the launchpad, filled about half way with water and then pressurized to around sixty psi before the safety was removed and the trigger was pulled.  Isaac was one of the few that had a weird fitting bottle (thanks dr. pepper) and it did not fully clip into the launch pad so guessing when it would release was somewhat tricky since the release was not fastened into place – once the pressure was just right it would literally take off whereas the other rockets would sit there until you pulled the trigger.  His rocket flew pretty well, no nose cone or fins, but it went high and far – I wouldn’t have wanted to be a passenger in it though.

Great day!!!  He is looking forward to whatever comes next.

Sea World here we come!!!  The kids were very excited to be headed out to their adventure “under the sea”.  The drive was about one hour and they kept themselves busy doing what all twenty-first century kids do in the car – watch movies and play games.

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After a day in the car the kiddos were revved up to get out and burn some energy.  I think they would have been happy doing anything but we decided that a good dip in the ocean would do them all some good.  It takes a while to get us all lathered up in sunblock and out to the sand but we eventually made it right around the time the sun was a massive ball of fire directly overhead.

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We had a great time this past weekend spending some time cooling off at the Duluth Town Center Fountain.  The Sun was blisteringly hot and the air might as well have been dripping water, but the water coming from the fountain was refreshing and cool.  We grabbed some Chick-Fil-A along the way, ate on the curb, and headed in.  Once they all got used to the water they had a great time.  Isaac didn’t need any warming up and was racing in circles as fast as he could swallow his chicken and fries.  Piper was on his tail but needed her hand held for the first few minutes – that was until she got wet and started play.  Violet needed a bit more prodding and she wasn’t having anything to do with me taking her through.  Carol grabbed them all took them on a few laps to get them all good and soaked – that’s all it took to get Violet all revved up as well.

I am never sure whether to feel happy or sad whenever I get to visit the Ranch.  On one hand I am happy that these animals get to live, basically get a second chance, and at the same time provide some up close encounters for the kids, sort of entertainment.  On the other it makes me feel that this is just another form of making money that, while providing entertainment, lacks what it is perceived to offer.  Many of the animals are caged indefinitely without even the chance of freedom.  I can only hope that our kids take the time to appreciate Nature for what it is and the impact that We can have on it in both large and small scale.

Now enough of me on a soap box.  All the kiddos were going to be away for some or all of Spring Break this year so we thought it would be fun to do something out of the ordinary with them before seeing them off.  We didn’t tell them what we were doing until we got there and even then I don’t think they really understood what we were going to do until we started seeing and feeding the animals.  We packed a backpack full of old food stuff and picked up some corn and apples at the concession as well.

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The day has passed now and since been replaced by a dizzying array of southern winter weather.  We have had ice, warm rain, lightening, 75° weekends, slush, wind, downpours and pretty much tiny slices of everything else since that snow.  It was a fun day for us though.  It started late in the evening, past the point where we needed to be out, and continued throughout the night.  I don’t know what the official “inches” were but I would guess that it was four to six, maybe even a touch more.  Once we were bundled up and the kids were anxious to head out into the blizzard and play.  There were certainly snowmen out there that needed building and snow balls that needed targets and they were bound to oblige.

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Happy birthday to you,
happy birthday to you,
happy birthday dear Isaac,
happy birthday to you!

It might a few months late getting online but that makes it no less of an event.  In November, for the first and last time, Isaac turned seven.  We planned a dinner out with family and friends as well as a party at the house so we could celebrate properly with cake and presents.  We gave Isaac the choice of where he wanted to have his birthday dinner and thankfully he chose the Olive Garden – a fantastic and much yummier choice over the more usual kiddie venues such as Chucky Cheese or Monkey Joes.  We will still eventually go to one of the others but instead of being the focus of a birthday party, we can just go and have a great time playing games or jumping around.

Dinner was fantastic.  With such a large group I didn’t know what to expect but the OG had everything organized.  They even put us in a sectioned off part of the restaurant near another large family party so we could be as loud as we wanted.  After dinner we all headed back to the house to serenade the birthday boy and eat cake.

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A special treat this weekend.  Stone Mountain Park was hosting the 10th annual Indian Festival and Pow-Wow.  An interesting assortment of Indian cultures and traditions.  Right inside the gate we walked into a show getting ready to start called “East vs. West”.  Two Indians, one from the eastern tribes and one from the western Sioux tribes, compared and contrasted the lifestyles and traditions of their ancestors.  Seems the eastern Indians were more civilized, happy to barter and trade to make life easier, while the western ones, the Sioux in particular, raided and pillaged to get what they wanted, or to advance their lifestyle.  I am sure this is a gross over exaggeration about the differences but it was neat to hear what they had to say and see the difference in the everyday tools used by each.

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