Olympics and my weekend

One of my favorite times of year is just a few days away and I'm ready. I know of have bored you, I mean written about it before, but it bares repeating (shut up, yes it does) For those of you who are unfamiliar with my music taste, it is rather broad, but Christian is my new found favorite. The event that is a few days away is Sonshine Festival in Wilmar, MN. It involves a bunch of bands on several stages spread out over 3 days. This will be my fourth year in a row and even though this year seems to have fewer bands than in the past, it should still be great. There are usually 2 more stages than there are this year, so I'm not sure why the down grade. Could be economics since the stages that are missing were mainly where small bands played and the cost to get there might not be justified. Michelle is going with us, this is her first time, so I'm excited for her to get a taste of the experience. I get to hear John Reuben again, and that always makes my weekend. I hope he doesn't remember me from last year and think that I'm stalking him. If I didn't mention it last year, I caught him on the way to the stage for a picture and then got him to autograph a poster later in the night. When he saw me at the autograph session, he said, "You again." I hope I didn't scare him.

I spent today's lunch hour downtown at a send off for 2 Olympians from Des Moines that are on their way to train and then onto China. We have Shaun Johnson, a gymnast, and LoLo Jones, who runs the 100 meter hurdles. Watch for them in Beijing and cheer them on. They are tops in their events and they are great people, from the interviews I've heard from them. There was a large crowd there today and I hope they felt the love that this area, and the whole state of Iowa, has for them. I don't care if either of them wins a medal, they represent Iowa well and that isn't always a given with athletes today.

A little late, but

In the past, the Fourth of July has been another day off of work, a BBQ and fireworks, but this year, things hit me a little differently. I think it's because I happen to be on the road a lot lately, seeing parts of America that I either haven't seen before or haven't seen in a long time. Maybe I'm beginning to reflect more as I get older, or maybe I was bored in the car, regardless of the reason, the outcome is the same. I feel incredibly blessed to be in the family I'm in, the community I live in and the country that holds everything together. I mentioned that while we were driving, I was thinking about the people in the towns we drove through, but I was also looking at how beautiful the US is. The mountains in TN, NC and KY are absolutely gorgeous. I spent a week in Jonesville, VA back in the summer of 2004 (I think that was when I went) doing a mission trip. I remember sitting on the front porch of the family we were working with and looking out over a little valley. There were cows grazing a little down the hill and you could see for several miles down to a little town with a white steeple church. It looked like a picture you would see hanging in a gallery, or at least one that I would like to stand and stare at for a long time. The lady of the house came out to sit with us and we commented on how beautiful her view was. She looked down the same valley we found so beautiful, thought for a moment and said, "I guess it is pretty, I never really thought about it." Ever since then, I make it a point to see the beauty in things around me. Not that she did anything wrong or was blind to it, she just was used to it and took it for granted. The same curvy roads that had Makiah ready to puke in the back of the van, flashed me back to my childhood days spent in Lafayette, TN. I loved it there and some of my fondest childhood memories are from the time I spent there with my dad and extended family. My point being, Makiah doesn't think that area is all that nice, since his recollection is of being queasy, whereas I get a tear in my eye just thinking about it. I realized that there is very little left of the Lafayette area to go back to. My brother doesn't live there, my dad and grand parents are all waiting my arrival in heaven (hopefully putting in a good word for me) and my aunts have moved further south. I still have uncles there and my niece and her husband and kids live there, but seeing as how ALL of my TN family lived there at one time, the draw to this town is much smaller than it was in the past. I know things change, people move and die, but Lafayette was as close to "home" as I ever had, even though I never actually lived there. We moved a few times as kids, nothing compared to a military family, but enough that I never felt home in those places we lived. Iowa is my home and I've expressed my love for the state in the past, but I don't have roots here, so it still seems like the place I live and not the home I guess I long for. Wow, ramble, ramble, ramble. My original point was, this Fourth of July, I was really thinking about the good things about the US. I know there are a lot of things we have done wrong, as a country, but there are so many things we do right. Whenever there is a disaster in the world, we are the first to step up and offer help. I can't say we have the best record in stepping in during times of injustice, but we can't do it all. In my travels abroad, I've seen how the everyday person isn't always the US's biggest fan, but the businesses sure do love us.(might have to do with our consumer mentality, you be the judge) I don't think we have many past military people in our family, but I have a current one. Chad Marshall, God bless you and thanks for your service. I know we don't communicate much, but I wanted to let you know on (or at least around) this time of year, that I appreciate your service and pray for your safety everyday. I hope you know that your entire family is proud of you and hope you are enjoying your time overseas. I've been wanting to say that for a long time and I'm not sure why I haven't. Damn allergies are flaring up again:)

Nice motto

Here is a receipt from a grocery store in NC, that is apparently proud of their meat.

This goes well with the Try My Nuts store, check it out.

http://www.trymynuts.com/index.cfm

Home sweet home

If you travel at all, you know it is always great to come home. As I walked into the house last night, I remembered how lucky we are to live in the house we do, in the city we do and the great state of Iowa. Don't get me wrong, I loved where we were and the areas we drove through, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. As we were driving through the mountains in western NC and eastern TN, I saw a lot of little communities that made me wonder what the lives of the people who lived there were like. I don't know why, but I always wonder what they do for a living, what do they do for fun and what they think about the area they live in. People always fascinate me, whether I'm reading a biography, true crime or a book on a particular event in history. I want to know what people were thinking or going through at that that time in their life. As for the trip, it was fantastic! Last time I posted, I said we were going to climb a lighthouse, which some of us did. Seems, you must be 42 inches tall to climb, and Max is a bit shy of that. Since I had done it before, I sent Marcy and the other 2 boys up and I hung out with Max in the gift shop and information area. Here is a shot of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.And the fam in front.We took the ferry to Okacroke Island, which you drive your car onto, and the boys thought that was cool. We fed the seagulls off the back of the boat, which the boys thought that was REALLY cool. These birds fly 2 inches from my head, so I kept me head down so I didn't see how close I was to getting shit on.

The boys got a bit tuckered out.

The boys loved the beach. I mentioned that Mason was riding the boogie board, but only tried to ride it again once over the last 3 days we were there. I think the waves pounded him a few too many times. I mentioned the sand fleas, here are a few shots if you've never seen them.

I also forgot that I hadn't included pictures of Cumberland Falls, so here you go.

And a shot of my rock climbers.And a picture of Mason and his scraped up knees after he fell, doing the rock climbing.
More later.

So we have now been out here for several days and are having a great time. I spent a hour or so this morning riding the boogie board, which brought back a lot of memories. My brother Brian and I did this all day when we were kids out here, but this is the first time I have done it since then. Mason now seems to be slightly frightened of it, but I'm hoping I can get him back into it again. The pool at the house has been a great second swim for the kids. My sister threw a bunch of little foam balls in the pool today, which sent my brothers and I into a bean ball competition. The rest of the family joined in and the danger level at the pool increased by 100%. Makiah started to get out of the pool, stand on the side right next to me, and pelt me in the back. I was hit numerous times in the head, back and chest, with these little balls. I was worried that I would take one in the eye and have to come up with a really good shark story, instead of a little foam ball truth. The house has worked out perfectly, plenty of room to sleep and to hang out. I haven't used the pool table yet, but have enjoyed the roof top deck. There is a good view of the ocean and the surrounding neighborhood. We are hoping to do a little shopping and maybe a game of miniature golf, which will make Mason happy. I realized I didn't bring my cable to transfer pictures, so I'll have to post a bunch when I get back.

Still alive

We have made it to NC and spent last night and most of today on the beach. Our hotel room is right on the beach, we open our door and we are standing in the sand. The one thing I had forgotten, or blocked from my memory, is the amount of sand that you end up carrying in your ass crack, among other places. It's stuck all over your legs and the shower they give you outside the building couldn't knock a leaf off your shoulder let alone knock the layer of sand I just hauled up from the water. There are wildfires in western Carolina which means the smoke is blowing east to the beach area. When I went out this morning, I could really smell the smoke. The biggest problem with the fires is, they have displace millions, perhaps billions, of these little black flies. They don't bite, but they buzz you, which is annoying. It wouldn't be so bad if they were just outside, but they are in our room as well, which is kind of gross. We are all sucking it up and putting up with them for one more night. I don't think they are having the same problem at the house we are staying at, so hopefully we will be done with the bugs tomorrow. The boys are doing great, only a little fighting. Mason spent this morning riding a boogie board and loved it. If you don't know what a boogie board is, its a half surf board that you lay on and ride waves with. Mason isn't going very far out, but was riding some pretty good waves. He got dumped once, while he was down trying to stand up, he got hit again causing him to tumble and go under, but he staggered to his feet only to put one foot on the board which slid out and he fell again and had another wave crash on his head. I figured he would be done, but he shook it off and started laughing. He went right back out. Makiah is getting in the water a little more, but there is no chance in hell he is getting on the boogie board any time soon. He is finally getting into the water more than ankle deep, so we'll see if we can get him on the board before the week is over. Max stays pretty much one foot from as high as a wave washes. If the water washes up near him, he takes off running. I've walked him in a few times, but he wants out after just a few waves. The ocean can be a little intimidating to a guy who can get washed away by the wake of a duck. These waves could send him into a terrible tumble. I had told the boys about these little "bugs" that my brother and I use to catch when we were kids. The first thing they wanted to do, was catch these things, I'm told by my sister that they are called sand fleas. When the wave washes out, you watch for them to swim out. You can either grab one or you can see where they dig into the sand and dig them up. We were swimming for about and hour before I saw my first one. I think Marcy caught the first one, she isn't afraid of things like that once I told her they don't bite. Over the next hour or so, Makiah caught several and I caught some. I'll try to get a picture of one and post it. Right now we are resting, Max and Marcy are asleep and the the other boys and I are watching some bad Nick show and swatting bugs. We are hoping to go climb a lighthouse in the morning and maybe take the ferry to Ocracoke Island. We get into the house at 4pm and will spend time doing laundry and swimming in the pool. I hope to blog more and I will try to get pictures on soon.

Day 1 and 2

So far, the trip has been great. The kids aren't complaining, too much, and the aquarium we went to today was pretty cool. It was in Newport KY, which is right across the river from Cincinnati. The whole waterfront area was really neat and the aquarium was surprisingly stocked with cool stuff, including several big sharks we got to watch them feed. It was just like you see on Discovery channel, grabbing the fish and swinging their heads from side to side. Only difference was, the fish were stuck on the ends of poles instead of alive, not exactly wild kingdom in the old days, but pretty cool. We were right in the front, stood there for 20 minutes to be sure we got a good view, but it was worth it.

I saw this bus on the way down. If you see that white patch in front of "Bus," it said "Short." The picture didn't take, but you get the idea. It was full of kids that looked like they understood the "short" thing, but weren't actually in need of the small bus.

I'm also surprised at the number of Hooters down here, the restaurant, not the other things. There were 2 in Cincinnati and 2 more from there to Corbin, KY, where we are now. One of them was on a barge, that looked pretty cool. Marcy thinks I have an unusual fascination with them, and she could be referring to either thing at this point. I guess I just didn't realize there were as many as there are. I figured there was one in each big city and that would be it. Not the case. It appears you need 150 residents to get one. Hope to post again soon.