New Rules for Solitaire!

You think you know how to play solitaire? Try playing with Matthew. He's really helpful, and has all sorts of helpful tips that will make your game interesting. For example, he will point out which cards are "wrong". Face cards are wrong, Jokers are wrong. He will remove all the black cards from your deck because he only likes the red cards (but, only the red number cards because the face cards, even the RED face cards, are just "wrong"). And by remove I mean he will pick them up from in front of you and won't give them back. Cathy took her game to a new level of difficulty with Matthew helping her out.

Lesson # 428: Never play Solitaire with a 4-year old. Just give them some scissors to run with, ply them with candy, or give them their own deck (if you are lucky enough to have a spare). You could try playing in the bathroom, but even that probably wouldn't work. Lesson #47 taught us that. To refresh your memory...

Lesson #47: "If you are in the bathroom, you must be doing something completely interesting and exciting that demands observation and attention by anyone in the house under the age of 10. This includes your children, your children's friends, your pets, random neighbor pets, and anyone else who might be passing on the street." Lesson #47 also applies to when you are in the shower.

5-hour rule?

Some people believe in the 5 second rule. Some people think there's a 5 minute rule. But, in Matthew's world, he has a trick that makes food good no matter how long it has been on the floor.

Lesson # 427: If you blow on it, it doesn't matter how long a piece of food has been on the floor because that will make it okay to eat. It will no longer be dirty if you blow on it. So don't throw it away, blow on it.

(The following lesson was demonstrated to us when, while eating Fruit Loops one morning for quite a long time, Matthew noticed that there was some that had fallen to the floor. Cathy picked it up and put it on the counter. I picked it up to throw it away. Matthew looked at me and sternly said, "No, it's not dirty. Blow on it." And he was quite serious. And, after blowing on it, he took it out of my hand and ate it!)

Our 2008 Summer Trip (a.k.a "Who goes on a 1-month road trip? That's nuts!")

So, we started our trip by going to Iowa to visit with Grandma Irma, go to Aunt Jenny's wedding, and visit with all our cousins, aunts, uncles, and anyone else we could assault. That was followed by our arrival in Wisconsin to visit with Grandpa Terry & Grandma Jo, and Grandma Mary and Uncle Kevin, and Uncle Brian & Aunt Tarra, and every other cousin and extended relative who couldn't hide from us. Next, we headed east to Ocean City, New Jersey to spend a week with "Cousin" Cathy and Great Uncle Tom. It was, "Awesome, even if we did get sand in our butts!" according to the kids. We took the Cape May ferry and drove to Washington DC to meet Micah, the new son of Julia's godparents Niki and Dan (according to Julia, "Now I have a god-brother! That's so cool!") Matthew spent the night terrorizing Dan and Niki's neighbors by riding Talya's bike in his underwear. Dan got him back (see picture). The next day, we drove to Monticello and then took a scenic drive on the famed "Blue Ridge Parkway" (motto - "We can triple your travel time!"). It was actually very nice. We arrived home the next day, exactly 1 month and 1 day after leaving.

Remind me next year to take a shorter trip. Although, if we're moving, that alone will be our summer trip!

Back in Georgia

We're back home. Actually, we got back Sunday. But, I was pretty tired. I think that's the longest trip we've taken - over 1 month. The kids were ecstatic to be back in their beds. Bucky has been such a good dog the last few days - I think he actually missed us for those two weeks we were away from him.

I'll upload the pictures from the trip in the next few days. We went from Iowa to Wisconsin to New Jersey to Washington DC to Monticello and the Blue Ridge Parkway and then finally home to Georgia. Did you know the speed limit is only 45 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (we drove about 115 miles on it) and that it's so windy you mostly go about 30 if you are lucky and don't have a bunch of people in front of you stopping in the middle of the road to stare in awe when they could more easily pull into the scenice bypass to stare in awe??? That actually only happened about 4 times, but (seriously) stopping in the middle of the road??? Who does that when there isn't a deer or moose threatening suicide when there are clearly marked pullouts 20 feet ahead that actually have a better view? Incidentally, it's probably a fantastic route for motorcylists to take (there were at least 10 times as many cycles on that road as there were cars). Our camera battery died at Monticello so I think I might only have one picture from that and none of the Blue Ridge Parkway. But, it's pretty (and effectively triples your travel time).

The real "news" of the week is that we may be moving again next summer. Yes, we actually have time to plan it (or, more specifically, a deadline to finish our house projects). Todd was selected for a job running a NOSC (Navy Operational Support Center, or something like that) up in Rochester, New York. So, if anyone has any knowlege of Rochester or has lived there, we'd love to hear from you because (like everywhere else we've ever lived) we know nothing about it.

Have a great week :)