Family Funk – Page 30 – Flamingo House Happenings

TW’s Apple Festival Birthday

4 Comments / Daily Dose, Family Funk, Holidays, Travel Log / denise

Years ago, when I lived in the Upstate and TW lived in Florida, she brought the little kids up for her birthday. I searched the internet for some place fun and interesting to go and celebrate her birthday and I found the Hendersonville Apple Festival. So we jumped in the car and we drove up. It was fun but more importantly it started a birthday tradition – that’s what happens around here… you do something once and suddenly some people consider it a new tradition. So, every year I’ve struggled to come up with “apple festival” ideas for TW’s birthday.

It hasn’t been easy. Florida doesn’t really have a helluva lot of apple festivals! One year the kids painted still life apple paintings and we had our own apple festival with bobbing for apples in a bucket and stuff like that. Another year I took her to St Pete, to a quilt shop, and we looked for “apple” fabric (as well as other fabric.)

This year, I again turned to the internet and found Apple River Canyon State Park, Illinois and discovered they were in fact having an old fashioned family festival. I sent the driving directions to my iPhone and sent secondary driving instructions to my phone for another possibility just in case that festival was a dud…

We started the morning with breakfast at Hamilton’s which is right across the street from us, and a restaurant we had not visited. We all enjoyed it, RJ in particular. While paying the bill, I got a work related emergency phone call and had to run back home to resolve a problem – then we started our drive (about an hour later than I’d originally planned.)

We drove. And drove. And drove. And never thought we’d find it – but then, we did. Except there was no festival! It was just a park with very few people in it. WTF??? How frustrating to drive that far and then … nothing.

So we drove out of the park and proceeded to get lost. Driving around the “mounds” while amusing was really not anyone’s idea of a fun birthday and we were all pretty grouchy about being locked up in the car with no payoff when suddenly we stumbled into Elizabeth Illinois. Since we have an Elizabeth, that perked us all up. We perked up even more when we discovered Apple Valley Fort… which was apparently where the festival had been held.

Who knew there was an Apple River State Park and an Apple River Fort? We didn’t but we know it now, damn it.

We arrived at the fort about 15 minutes after the festival ended but the reenactors were nice and showed us around, one of them shot his gun for us (hah.) and we watched the special little Apple Valley Fort movie. And then it was back in the car for us.

Not quite the apple festival birthday I’d envisioned but whatever, we went with it and it was amusing. We also stopped at Beefaroo on the way home, for dinner. Interesting. Worst food ordering experience we’ve ever had, but interesting and everyone was happy enough with their food.

The next day, I decided we’d take a chance on the other apple birthday festival I’d considered before settling for Apple River…. we headed to Long Grove for their Irish fest.

Long Grove is a little like Helen, Georgia (not the Bavarian part but the theme touristy town idea) so I thought everyone would be both amused and entertained, even if they weren’t really interested in the Irish fest part of it. (though we did enjoy the Irish dancers.)

Long Grove has a shop called The Apple Haus and we all had apple donuty type things, apple cider, apple smoothies and we bought a couple of cookbooks (ask TW to blog about those, on Retro Food – they’re very amusing and very retro…)

They have a yarn store that we all enjoyed and an interesting craft store. There was a gift shop where we found a ton of great gift ideas for just about everyone and another gift shop that had some gourds that Liz and I really liked. I think Liz would like to try her hand at some gourd design.

Even with the confusion between Apple River Canyon and Apple River Fort, it was a pretty successful apple festival birthday weekend.

And TW, this year… you are 39:

TW’s Apple Festival Birthday Read More »

The House on the Rock

9 Comments / Family Funk, Friends & Family, Holidays, Kid Talk, Travel Log / denise

Since we didn’t have an opportunity to take the kids away for a summer vacation prior to the move north, we thought we’d use Liz’s 10th birthday as an excuse for a mini vacation. The problem we had was – where should we go that wouldn’t cost a fortune, we are after all still recovering from the move.

We considered one of those nifty chain hotels that has the indoor water park. We considered one of those funky towns around here that are trying to turn themselves into tourist destinations by having tons of mini golf and mini water parks. We thought about a lot of things but when TW said “How about House on the Rock?” and I said “Huh? A house? On a rock? Fine, whatever you want” I thought maybe we should just stay home. What kid wants to go to a house on a rock for her 10th birthday and what teenagers would want to accompany her on such a trip. Hah. I changed my mind as TW started explaining it and the minute I loaded the House on the Rock webpage I knew it was perfect. I booked the hotel immediately. Creepy, interesting, relatively close (though I did have second thoughts when I saw it would take 3 1/2 hours to get there) and inexpensive (less than $300 for a 2 room hotel room that sleeps up to 8 and full tour packages for 5.)

On the Saturday morning of Liz’s birthday weekend, we loaded everyone into the car and started to drive toward breakfast. None of the kids have even mentioned breakfast and none had mentioned a stop at Starbucks either. So, as we were approaching the last turn toward our breakfast destination… “Anyone want breakfast?” All three replied that they did. TW asked Liz what she would like to have for a birthday breakfast and she said “Pancakes or waffles” Huh. Weird. So I asked “If you could have ANY breakfast in the WORLD for your birthday, what would it be?”

KRISPY KREME

Hah, that’s more like it. I told her to look to the left and there it was… Krispy Kreme, her favorite. I think we could have eaten our doughnuts and turned around and gone home and she’d have been happy. But we didn’t. We carried on down the freeway until we reached the first rest area in Wisconsin. We used the facilities and then wandered around their travel brochure area where Prince J and I discovered the PERFECT tourist attraction for us… The Mustard Museum where the King of Condiments lives. Hahaha. Since I know the Prince would rather stay home for his birthday than drive 3 1/2 hours, even for condiments, I decided we should take a bit of a detour and head to the Mustard Museum before House on the Rock. TW indicated it was pretty much on the way so we were set.

Almost to Madison, we started thinking about lunch and TW said “Ella’s!” This is the restaurant TW talks about all of the time. It’s the restaurant she wants to recreate someday, but do better. So, we took another detour and headed into Madison for lunch.

Ella’s was totally packed but it was exactly what TW always said it was. Full of toy gadgets and fun things and we all enjoyed the food (and some of us enjoyed the desserts) and the girls enjoyed the carousel.

Then, it was condiment time! A mustard vending machine! All the mustard tasting a boy could ever want! Crazy mustard puns. And lots and lots of old fashioned mustard jars. They even gave us a little mustard song booklet when we left.

Onto House of the Rock hotel, boy what a long drive. The last “six miles” were hell. Pure hell. The kids were ready to get out which means they were touching each other and yelling and screeching and just being generally idiotic and ridiculous. Once we released them from captivity and went in, they were fine. Thank goodness.

The hotel room, much to my surprise, was very large and very clean. 3 queen beds and a pull out couch. Microwave, fridge, very large bathroom. Only two problems – only 5 channels on the TV and no wi-fi in the room. The kids pool with the submarine – HUGE hit.

Finding dinner wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be – we ended up at Culvers and I got Culverized with a butter burger (never heard of it and don’t even want to think about how to “journal it”.) Fried cheese curds! Custard for the kids. Everyone was happy.

Next day – House on the Rock. I’m not even going to attempt to describe it. It’s not possible. It’s like Ripley’s Believe it or Not but better. The infinity room – the dude must have had some great drugs to come up with that. I didn’t really stop to think about what I was walking on (air) until TW mentioned the swaying and then RJ started to bounce and then… OMG amazing and frightening all at the same time. The Prince didn’t even get halfway and started backing up, which is good since I’ve seen him barf in tourist attractions before – it ain’t pretty.

We toured the whole place, we ate more fried cheese curd, we had to tear RJ away from the carousel. We had a super super time – obviously since as we were leaving the Prince said “We did a LOT of walking for fun and exercise and it REALLY was FUN.”

On the way home, we took another detour to Peck’s Farm Market, which we had passed on the way to House on the Rock. It’s a farmer’s stand with a petting zoo. Llamas! Goats! Pigs! and Carriage rides!

It was a fun weekend and a good birthday for the little one. (more photos here)

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The Word of the Day: Dam

4 Comments / Family Funk, Kid Talk / denise

We grabbed subs and ice cream at Tony’s Subs in Deerpark and then drove over to Wheeling to visit the Dam #1 Woods.

If you have children of a certain age, then you know this led to many many uses of the word “dam” and much giggling. We brought home a dam beetle and it pooped, dam it and there was a lot of dam trash and we could go on and on (and we did) but now I’m done with dam. Unfortunately, others around here are still going strong, dam it.

We entered Dam #1 Woods west and I think maybe we should have entered at at the east. We’ll try that the next time we need some dam fun.

The Word of the Day: Dam Read More »

My parents, they did it again

3 Comments / Family Funk, Friends & Family / denise

A long, long time ago I blogged about my parents and the weird cosmic tie they seem to have, even though they’ve been divorced for a lifetime. Since then, I haven’t had much more to report on the cosmic weirdness level. They have continued to call me almost always on the same day but otherwise, no new weirdness. Until today.

First, my mother sent me videos via email. I don’t believe she has ever sent me video before. In fact I am sure she hasn’t. Then, about an hour later, I walked out the mailbox and guess what was waiting… yep, video from my dad. He has also never sent me video, well wait. He did send me DVDs of old videos from my childhood but that’s different.

Weird. Very weird.

My parents, they did it again Read More »

Starting the new “normal”

8 Comments / Daily Dose, Day to Day, Family Funk, Kid Talk / denise

The little kids have finally arrived in Illinois. Finally. They arrived at our house yesterday afternoon and after showing their father and step-mother their new bedrooms, they dived into unpacking. OK I dived into unpacking and TW tried to dive into unpacking but we ran into some issues. The Prince was only interested in unpacking his TV and game cube. Once he got those unpacked he was too tired to unpack anything else.

Liz was very interested in unpacking but she was easily distracted when she discovered Michelle had allowed her American Girl doll to move to Illinois. From then on, Liz stood next to me with the Molly and ran commentary on whatever I unpacked. (Or Molly ran commentary on everything I unpacked.)

RJ showed no interest in unpacking. TW made the mistake of handing her the scooter and from then on, the child came in only to get some water and talk about whatever she’d been thinking while she scootered. She did head upstairs with me shortly before dinner to get her bed into place and she was interested in getting her bird lights hung up but we had some technical difficulties with that and got called down to dinner before we were successful.

They begged to watch Gilmore Girls, so after more technical problems related to TW having control of the remote control, we watched a few episodes. Liz has suggested we need to watch three a day to make up for the entire month of July. geez kid, I don’t think so.

It’s good to have them “home”. Really good but if you’re still reading, here’s where I tell you that it’s also really hard to have them here. It makes me miss the big kids even more than I already was.

The new normal isn’t going to include running into Chris in CVS or seeing him run into the LYS on Sunday just to say hello or having him stop by a couple of days before pay day to “borrow” some money or to have him drop off his laundry swearing that he’ll be back to move it to the dryer.

The new normal doesn’t include Michelle stomping around overhead, telling us all about what the dumb people at work did or the cool people at work did. It doesn’t include her talking endlessly about her wardrobe or her life plans or not talking endlessly about those things.

The new normal will be fine but right now, it’s not normal and I don’t love it.

Starting the new “normal” Read More »

A quick Michelle update

3 Comments / Family Funk, Kid Talk / denise

As I check to make sure her tuition is paid and everything is set for her to go back to classes, I thought some of you who are still lurking from the Storm School/Fast Times blog(s) might be interesting in an update. And of course, my mother is lurking (if her Kindle is letting her get here.)

I mentioned tuition, yes she did manage to get registered as a “real” college student and not a dual enrolled college student. It was touch and go for awhile but she made it. She didn’t manage to get the classes she wanted for this quarter, instead she got the classes she had planned to take next quarter.

* Human Sexuality
* Comparative Politics
* American National Govt

She’s had some rough moments, adjusting to living alone and I think she’s probably spent more time sleeping at other people’s houses or having them sleep at hers than she has actually living in her apartment “alone” with her cat. Michelle is an interesting person – she really likes people but she reaches the point where she really must get away and hide in some dark cave and regroup completely and nobody must ever bother her while she’s hiding in that dark cave. I guess that’s what she’s using her apartment for – that dark cave where she can go and regroup and just get away from all of the stupid people. 😉

Michelle is tired of her job, which is really nothing new since she quite a good long while ago and went back because they “needed her”.

Michelle is heading to Charleston this weekend with her sister and “the boy” (who will be in Florida visiting friends) and is planning on seeing her father. Willingly. That’s a first, ok not a first, but a first in a long long while. She’ll fly back to Florida next week, probably to a very empty bank account… she will be able to pay her bills on the 15th, right? 😉

A quick Michelle update Read More »

Off the Beaten (Subway) Track

2 Comments / 2008, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction, Travel Log, Women / denise

I have been looking forward to BlogHer Contributing Editor Suzanne Reisman’s book, Off the Beaten (Subway) Track, for ages. It sat in my wishlist folder for a long time. It sat in my shopping cart for an even longer time. I finally took it out of my shopping cart and decided I’d just buy a copy while at BlogHer ’08 and have Suzanne sign it since she’d be there too.

TW bought it, while I was in a session, and it was already signed. But, I wanted a PERSONAL note and Suzanne graciously complied and I love it.

I started reading it on the trip home from the conference and didn’t stop laughing until I finished it last night. I should point out that I find it a lot more amusing than TW does because I have spent a lot more time reading Suzanne’s writing, listening to her talk, interacting with her via email and on the phone. The book sounds like Suzanne so it’s more personal for me than it will be for someone who just picks it up from the shelf (or orders it online) without knowing Suzanne. Even someone with only a passing relationship with her may not find it as amusing as I do. Or maybe I find it amusing because Suzanne and I share the same type of sense of humor?

The penis jokes in the book – awesome.

Her review of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors had me laughing so incredibly hard, I could barely breathe (and this is probably related as much to my children’s worship of Alex Grey as it is to Suzanne’s irreverent writing – my kids, they are insane about A.G. and his sacred mirror-ness.)

Also, Suzanne is not aware of this, but TW was supposed to take me to the NYC Police Museum many years ago and didn’t come through – so any book with a review of that museum within the first 50 pages has me sold.

I want to book a trip to NYC right this second and visit every spot highlighted by Suzanne – that’s my kind of sightseeing! Now if I could just convince her to write the same type of book for Chicago…

Off the Beaten (Subway) Track Read More »

Some thoughts on life up here…

8 Comments / Daily Dose, Family Funk / denise

While you wait for me to get my act together and blog the actual “move”, here are some things that we’ve done or thought about since we have been here.

1) We went to Corner Bakery, which was nice since I have enjoyed it several times when it was in Colony North (Atlanta) and was disappointed in its absence the last couple of times I was there. It’s pretty close to our house and in the same shopping center with my beloved Wachovia.

2) We found a Sweet Tomatoes also very close to our house and who knew they had Sunday brunch? RJ in particular is fond of Sweet Tomatoes and we thought the closest one to us was in Schaumburg. RJ will be pleased.

3) Baja Fresh was a nice Mexican chain. No idea where that is, maybe Deerpark? We were roaming the countryside when we found it. But, it’s a chain so I’m sure we’ll find others.

4) Sweet Dreams just down the road from us had great organic sandwiches and desserts. The potato salad was good too. And so was the coffee. Nice little cafe.

5) In the Corner Bakery, a child was incredibly excited because there was air conditioning. That was crazy. What kid gets excited about an air conditioned restaurant? That does not bode well…

6) Except, it’s July 11 and we turned off the A/C last night because we were freezing our asses off. It’s been off all day long and we are still freezing our asses off. This does not bode well…

7) The dog does not like to go outside in back, where the swingset is. He doesn’t love to go out front either except he can chase rabbits. And since when do rabbits roam housing areas in the middle of the darn day? This is not the countryside – wtf?

8) The raccoons on the other hand stick to roaming our fence at 5am. That seems smarter to me.

9) The Great Lakes Naval Base is closer than I originally thought and I was freaking thrilled to get my ID card in less than 5 minutes (and my car sticker, too.) Those folks are much quicker and nicer than the people at the Charleston Air Force Base pass & id. I was even more thrilled to fill up my gas tank for 30 cents less a gallon. I do believe I’ll be visiting the Naval Base every couple of weeks for groceries and gas. It’s totally worth it to drive 18 miles to save that much money. Also, the base is pretty. I didn’t expect that. (Someone remind me to call my father and talk to him about it – since my mother has some pregnancy amnesia and doesn’t remember anything about living there – or giving birth to my baby brother there.)

10) The Target around the corner is possibly the worst Target I’ve ever seen – sort of dirty and dingy and understocked. Weird, it felt like a Kmart.

11) If Waukegan Rd goes everywhere I’ve needed to go, why does mapquest keep sending me down Willow/Sunset Ridge/Skokie/Eden’s Expressway? Why can’t I drive down Waukegan and be there? What are they hiding on that end of Waukegan? Stay tuned, I’ll let you know because I’m driving down there… soon.

12) It’s harder than hell to find some place that boards birds! Who knew. Thank goodness Jane at what used to be Tanglewood Kennel and is now something else that I can’t remember is going to bird sit for us. I haven’t actually met Jane yet but I think I love her. What a nice woman. Seriously.

13) The Toyota dealer on Skokie (blvd? rd? something or other – off of Sunset Ridge) is the oddest Toyota dealer I’ve ever been to – and the nice sales guy said it takes them 8 months to get a Prius – so if y’all want one, you should order now (and pray.)

And… I think that’s all I’ve got for you, for now. This weekend – Friends of the Library book sale and a quick visit to the Farmer’s Market, maybe?

Some thoughts on life up here… Read More »

Moving… sucks

6 Comments / Daily Dose, Family Funk, Friends & Family, Travel Log / denise

Real quick post – we’re halfway there or almost halfway there. We did the first 900 miles today, after a very rough pack out Thursday and a very rough clean up on Friday (yes there were injuries.) We’ll do the other 950 miles tomorrow and unload the truck on Monday.

We’re all fine, but tired and sad and pretty grouchy but we haven’t killed either animal or each other and haven’t even been tempted to do so. I call that a win.

Details will come – eventually. We leave for the bay area on the 13th so don’t give up on me if I don’t blog it all quickly. BlogHerCon will obviously take priority.

Anyone out there live in Manchester Tennessee? When did y’all get civilized? There’s even a Starbucks. Who knew?

Oh… quick update on my mileage – first tank, only 47.2 (mostly stop/start traffic with only the last 20 miles done at a level speed.) Second tank, 52.7 – all freeway but following a uHaul that didn’t maintain its speed very well (aversion to lane changing and a hell of a lot of traffic.) Third tank, 55.1 (mountains but not as much traffic so more steady speed highway driving.) I’ll call my dad early next week and get his mileage update. heh.

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House full of big kids

5 Comments / Daily Dose, Family Funk, Friends & Family, Kid Talk / denise

Today we had a lot of big kids here. It’s been awhile since that happened.

Chris was here and then Charles and Sarah showed up. And, Sarah brought the baby (who we haven’t seen in a year and she is walking and talking and a-freaking-dorable.) Michelle arrived, too. Liz was also here.

The house was loud and busy. There was a lot of laughing and a little bit of crying (when Michelle had to say goodbye to Liz and then when I had to watch her cry afterwards.)

They all left, to go to work or school or somewhere and that quiet was disquieting.

Charles is back here, working on the upstairs bedrooms. Chris will be back here in a bit to help him.

I’m going to miss these big kids a lot – and not just because they do things like buff the floor and carry heavy boxes so I don’t F*** up my arm some more. I’m going to miss them because they’re funny and they’re fun.

House full of big kids Read More »