O hai, Ohio!

Oh, how I am SO glad to see you...


The trip up... ha.

Near Death!!

YIKES.

Okay, let me back up... we had a great drive to Ohio yesterday. The kids *didn’t* squabble in the back, they played nicely with their lap boxes and few new toys. I tell you, those were a freakin stroke of genius on my part! I will TOTALLY toot my own horn on that one.

Anyway, I even convinced Dory to take a nap by telling her it would make the time pass quicker and the two of them took a nice nap while it rained, no - torrentially downpoured for a few hours.

It was a good thing they both slept. A really good thing.

I couldn't see more than about, oh, 30’ in front of the car. Complete whiteout haze and rain. So, when the white truck in front of me that I could barely see stated fishtailing and hydroplaning... well, I paid attention. Of course it didn’t take more than a split second to see why... a tidal wave of mud and dirt was flinging itself across the road in front of me coming from the left. It was if a giant machine was digging and flinging it as hard and fast as it could - but I couldn’t see it. Between the whiteout and the mud wall flying at me I am amazed that we came out the other side to see a tractor trailer coming to a halt in the center median, folded in two, in my side mirror.

It jackknifed right in front of me. Had I been 50’ further up the road... we would have been toast.



But, we weren’t. Whew.

I got off at the very next exit, in Corbin KY, in an attempt to calm my nerves. It was nearly 15 more miles until I was able to do that. My teeth were chattering as if it were 32F outside.



I called John and told him I loved him and called my Mom to tell her THANK YOU for the safe travels prayers.

We didn’t have any other issues the whole drive. All except for those few moments of terror were long car ride unheard of bliss.

Now, was it worth it? I’m not sure I wouldn’t have preferred screaming the whole way. Really not sure....

That said, we had a fun/cute little lunch stop. :)

Sorry... Savannah continued. Finally.

So, the drive down was nice, that I recall... but Netflix sure came in handy that afternoon! John went in to work for a few hours and left us to unpack and settle in at the hotel - which let me just say is NOT EASY with these two. I finally got them to settle down and watch some Dora and other cartoons on the Mac because while we had a nice large flat screen TV in the room it didn't get a single little kid friendly thing on it. Let's just say I was thankful for bedtime. All week.
On Tuesday we went ahead and headed out of Statesboro, where we were 'stationed' (GSU), and went into Savannah -- to go shopping for WARM CLOTHES. The weatherman had somehow managed to lie to me when I was packing. We had shorts and were expecting the 70's and instead got the 40/50's. BURR! Luckily we found several things and we had brought jackets in case so after buying them each a pair of jeans and socks we were a bit better off. We first hit the health food store just south of Forsyth and got yogurt and carrots. I know, weird lunch, but it worked and was yummy. (And I found a new yogurt I am head over heels about!) I had thought we would head over to the Jepson Center at the Telfair Museum... but it was closed on Tuesdays. GRRR. So, we went for coffee and cake (gluten free cake!) at the Gallery Espresso. We tended to set up shop there everyday at some point. From there we wandered over to Shaver's Bookstore and took up residence in the sweet little indy bookstore. Took home a few bedtime stories while there. I also called my old store and had them order a anniversary present for John. Don't tell him about it though. ;) After that Dory was determined to ride in a horse drawn carriage... but I didn't exactly want to spring for that, so then she decided on a trolley... but I didn't want to spring for that either so we hopped on the free city trolley shuttle. I think it was a wee bit of a mistake this trip. The kids loved it at first, but I heard an earful about a dealer at one corner... thank goodness it wasn't so obvious that I was getting questions from my kids. If I were more naive I might have even missed the conversation myself. Well, by the end of the circuit, the kids were falling apart with hungry and tired. We headed 'home' to the hotel. After, um, more cake.
Wednesday we did finally make it over to the Jepson Center and as I was rounding them up to leave the first part of the kid's area, Dory misunderstood me and wandered all the way to the front door of the gallery by herself. 2 entire floors away. I. was. livid. Wow, I was so mad. Not to mention a wee bit scared since she had, upon getting there, been reprimanded by a docent for touching a statue... that was at the very entrance to the kid's area... who puts a 'do not touch' statue at the entrance of a touch everything area? DUMB.
...to be continued, but the aptop battery is dying.

Savannah!

It was.... a trip in almost every sense of the word. More on it tomorrow.

John sent gifts...

John went out of town on what will be a zillion trips this year and since this one was a few days longer than normal he sent extra special cards in lieu of the normal postcard. Jack LOVED his. Dory, well... she had just waken up because after taking a ton of pics with Jack he decided it was time for her to see hers and show her his... so he went to the gate at the stairs and yelled at the top of his lungs for her until she appeared.



Overall, they were a HUGE success!

Folly Beach

Tricia and I headed out of town this weekend, just a one night trip, to start planning the next reunion. It was a very productive trip, but I sure wish we could have done more. Sundays are a bad day to talk to any property management companies, and we didn't really have much time on Saturday. I got there before noon, but considering I had never even seen the islands in question (we also looked at Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms) we had to get the lay of the land first and then the brochures and then formulate our questions... We narrowed it down to Folly, and then today realized that the one place we did not have a brochure for was, of course, the one we needed the most. So, hopefully we will get it in the mail this week. We took a ton of pictures, but I'm betting most of them will not even come out. But those will have to wait until the camera battery charges before I can see them. It died the moment I tried to point it at the ocean. I never even got to dip my toes in the water we stayed so busy. I did however make 20 minutes for a local yarn store. I came away with a yarn that I had been hunting for quite some time, so I am pretty excited about that!



Jack went with us, and did pretty well with it all, but this morning decided to try gouging out his eye, bit his tongue and made his ear bleed all in about 30 minutes time in a practically padded room. So... we decided to pack it up. Turns out he was tired. He was asleep in about 10 minutes after getting back in the car. Poor kiddo, he was a real trooper, we dragged him all over. I will say that om Saturday he got a real kick out of riding in the stroller, must have been a long time since he has ridden in it.



The Puckett Family Reunion website is up and running, where Tricia and I will be posting important links and updates as well as pictures. Go see our weekend's worth of tempting shots!


http://www.jonquilmom.com/Charleston/Welcome.html

Happy Family

Did I share this picture when I posted about Biltmore? I think I neglected to get it downloaded (or use the camera to take a picture of the picture....) We love it. It is our first family picture since Jack has been born. We are certainly due to go have one really taken.

And tomorrow is for our Princess Dorothy

We are taking her to see a Castle. She knows we have a grand adventure planned, but not where we are going. She has seen pictures of Biltmore Estate the past few days laying around. She even pointed out that the castle has a crown on. Seriously, it does! She mentioned while looking at the pictures she found that one day she would like to go there.
Well, Friday her dream comes true of going to see it. We are so excited for her. We plan on telling her as soon as we get the car loaded for the day. Taking as she sees fit, we will follow her lead for the day. If she wants to run around the gardens, we will. If she wants to stay in the house, we will... If she wants to just sit and stare at it... um, ok, we'll have to get her moving then.

Happy Birthday Princess Dorothy. Your very own castle for a day.

The Zoo

We went to visit Clay and Amy this weekend down in Columbia, we had a wonderful time! They took us to the Riverbanks Zoo for the afternoon. A great time was had by all. It turns out my son wants to be carried by everyone but me... well, not really, but Clay and Amy both spent lots of time cuddling him. :)


Carousel fun.


Jack and Amy look at chickens. Some had very fluffy feet!


Yes, we were that close... he was HUGE.


Dory finally sees her bears!


The men folk. Aint they good lookin'?


Don't let her fool you, she wasn't asleep.


Neither was he, but he was tired, and hungry.


Taken right after being caught 'asleep'.


Tearing up the kitchen.


Thank you Mr. Clay. :)