I must be sick!! I woke up at 8 this morning and it's now 10:15. Here's a list of things I've already done today:
1. Took a bath and read a chapter in my new book, Twlight ( so far, so good!)
2. Washed and dried 2 loads of clothes
3. Did art projects with the kids
4. Made supper for tonight (Homemade Vegetable Soup from scratch)
5. Mixed together a cake mix and put it in the oven
6. Left a sweet message on my friend's blog
7. checked my e-mail
8. Took out the trash
9. Cleaned the kitchen
10. Loaded the dishwasher and started it
11. Oh, I had to unload the dishwasher first!!!
Whew, I'm tired just thinking about what all I have done! I'm a bit surprised since I usually like to waste my time doing absolutely nothing. We're about to start school for the day as well. I don't know what's gotten into me. Maybe I'm just excited to be going home to see my peeps. It's not until next weekend, but it's getting me through right now! Who knows, I may even start packing!!! Gotta go for now, the oven timer just went off...gotta cake to decorate!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Halloween 2008
I know, I'm behind! I've already changed my background to Thanksgiving and I haven't even blogged about Halloween! Oh well!!
Our Halloween this year was so much fun. The kids had fun picking out their costumes and getting all dressed up. Garrett was a soldier this year, Grace was Sharpay from High School Musical, and Anna Claire was Supergirl. We were invited to a neighborhood block party with some friends from Trey's work. This was great being how we were new to the area and didn't know where to go. Thanks Jenn and Dave!!! Here's a few pics from the party and trick-or-treating.
Sharpay and Supergirl
Soldier(before face was painted)
At the party
The Parade
Trick-or-Treat
Random Pics
Okay, I've put off enough housework/homeschool to do 2 blogs in 1 day. So, with that being said, I gotta go! Hope you enjoy our stories as much as we like to share them. Until next time....
The Rookard Bunch
Our Halloween this year was so much fun. The kids had fun picking out their costumes and getting all dressed up. Garrett was a soldier this year, Grace was Sharpay from High School Musical, and Anna Claire was Supergirl. We were invited to a neighborhood block party with some friends from Trey's work. This was great being how we were new to the area and didn't know where to go. Thanks Jenn and Dave!!! Here's a few pics from the party and trick-or-treating.
Sharpay and Supergirl
Soldier(before face was painted)
At the party
The Parade
Trick-or-Treat
Random Pics
Okay, I've put off enough housework/homeschool to do 2 blogs in 1 day. So, with that being said, I gotta go! Hope you enjoy our stories as much as we like to share them. Until next time....
The Rookard Bunch
Chimney Rock, North Carolina
On Saturday, we decided to go on another adventure. This time we were gonna make the drive up to Chimney Rock State Park in Chimney Rock, North Carolina. So, we set off with our backpack with trail food and bottles of water to have a fun filled day as a family. Mapquest actually gave great directions this time!
When we got there, there were people everywhere! We were a bit overwhelmed with the beauty of these mountains at first. All the fall colors we so bright and covered the whole mountainside. Seeing God's creations is so amazing and I love having the opportunity to tell the kids all about it. Here's a picture looking down on the town of Chimney Rock from where we parked our car.
Chimney Rock and Lake Lure
Lake Lure is the water that you see in the picture. While there at Chimney Rock, we overheard some people talking and they said that's where Dirty Dancing was filmed. That's like one of my all time favorite movies! Here's a picture looking up at Chimney Rock...and yes, it gets it's name because it looks like a chimney.
Chimney Rock
So, it was time for us to go to the top of the Rock...that's what I'll call it from now on. We had 2 options. Take the elevator to the top or climb some 400 steps. Thank goodness we chose the elevator! We waited in line for a few minutes for an available ride up. When we got to the top of the Rock, this is what we saw!
Top of the Rock!
Next on the map was to go see the Opera Box. It's a part of the mountain that is cut out (naturally) that looks as if you are sitting in an Opera Box. But, there was no elevator to take us up to this, so we climbed about 100 or so steps! I didn't actually get a picture of the Opera Box itself, just pictures of the kids inside the box. I also got some pictures of the Rock from this view as well.
The kids relaxing inside the box
Chimney Rock from the Opera Box
The American Flag on top of Chimney Rock
Next on the trip was to climb more stairs to the Devil's Head. This part of the mountain was really freaky! I was surprised at how it really does look like the profile of the devil's face.
The Devil's Head
So, here we are, on top of this mountain and now it's time to go back down. We thought it would be easier to go down the steps instead of waiting on the elevator. WRONG!!! I was a nervous wreck! The steps were so steep and I was freaking out that one of the kids would surely fall off the side of the mountain. Trey was in front and the kids were in the middle and I was at the back. In this position, I got to see all their little stumbles! It got to a point to where my knees were so shaky, I thought I was going to fall. Trey and the kids thought this was so funny! I don't like heights at all and combined with being on steep, narrow steps on the side of the mountain didn't help much either! Here's some pics of the views on the way down!
After we climbed down like 500 stairs, we were at the start of the Hickory Nut Waterfall Trail that was about a mile long. That was a short trail from what we've done in the past. So, we decided it would be fun to see the waterfall. It would've been a fairly easy trail if my knees weren't knocking and I wasn't outta breath from the stairs! It was tougher than I thought it would've been, but it was still pretty fun. I always think hiking is so much fun until I'm in the moment! As I'm walking along in pain, I'm thinking to myself what have I done?! But anyway, the Hickory Nut Falls were pretty and we actually got to climb around under them and touch the water. So, it was worth my pain and suffering!
That was our trip for the day. We were all worn out and couldn't wait to get back to the car. We had a nice, relaxing ride back home where we settled down and watched the Tigers play. It was such a wonderful day with the family being able to enjoy God's creation. Until next time...
The Rookard Bunch
PS- You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.
When we got there, there were people everywhere! We were a bit overwhelmed with the beauty of these mountains at first. All the fall colors we so bright and covered the whole mountainside. Seeing God's creations is so amazing and I love having the opportunity to tell the kids all about it. Here's a picture looking down on the town of Chimney Rock from where we parked our car.
Chimney Rock and Lake Lure
Lake Lure is the water that you see in the picture. While there at Chimney Rock, we overheard some people talking and they said that's where Dirty Dancing was filmed. That's like one of my all time favorite movies! Here's a picture looking up at Chimney Rock...and yes, it gets it's name because it looks like a chimney.
Chimney Rock
So, it was time for us to go to the top of the Rock...that's what I'll call it from now on. We had 2 options. Take the elevator to the top or climb some 400 steps. Thank goodness we chose the elevator! We waited in line for a few minutes for an available ride up. When we got to the top of the Rock, this is what we saw!
Top of the Rock!
Next on the map was to go see the Opera Box. It's a part of the mountain that is cut out (naturally) that looks as if you are sitting in an Opera Box. But, there was no elevator to take us up to this, so we climbed about 100 or so steps! I didn't actually get a picture of the Opera Box itself, just pictures of the kids inside the box. I also got some pictures of the Rock from this view as well.
The kids relaxing inside the box
Chimney Rock from the Opera Box
The American Flag on top of Chimney Rock
Next on the trip was to climb more stairs to the Devil's Head. This part of the mountain was really freaky! I was surprised at how it really does look like the profile of the devil's face.
The Devil's Head
So, here we are, on top of this mountain and now it's time to go back down. We thought it would be easier to go down the steps instead of waiting on the elevator. WRONG!!! I was a nervous wreck! The steps were so steep and I was freaking out that one of the kids would surely fall off the side of the mountain. Trey was in front and the kids were in the middle and I was at the back. In this position, I got to see all their little stumbles! It got to a point to where my knees were so shaky, I thought I was going to fall. Trey and the kids thought this was so funny! I don't like heights at all and combined with being on steep, narrow steps on the side of the mountain didn't help much either! Here's some pics of the views on the way down!
After we climbed down like 500 stairs, we were at the start of the Hickory Nut Waterfall Trail that was about a mile long. That was a short trail from what we've done in the past. So, we decided it would be fun to see the waterfall. It would've been a fairly easy trail if my knees weren't knocking and I wasn't outta breath from the stairs! It was tougher than I thought it would've been, but it was still pretty fun. I always think hiking is so much fun until I'm in the moment! As I'm walking along in pain, I'm thinking to myself what have I done?! But anyway, the Hickory Nut Falls were pretty and we actually got to climb around under them and touch the water. So, it was worth my pain and suffering!
That was our trip for the day. We were all worn out and couldn't wait to get back to the car. We had a nice, relaxing ride back home where we settled down and watched the Tigers play. It was such a wonderful day with the family being able to enjoy God's creation. Until next time...
The Rookard Bunch
PS- You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Fun in the Mountains
On Sunday, Trey decided not to go into work and to spend the day with us, his lovely family! Around lunchtime, we were bored and wanted to do something together since it was so pretty outside, so we decided to drive up to the mountains and do some sightseeing. We printed off the directions from Map Quest(couldn't live without them) and headed out of G'ville. We were heading to Ceasar's Head State Park to find some waterfalls and to go exploring in the mountains. From the look of the map from Map Quest, we didn't have far to go. Wrong!!! I'm not sure when the last time they updated...they sent us on a wild goose chase! Anyway, after going up the mountain on a one-way gravel road with no guardrails (Thanks Map Quest), we finally made it. It was crowded!!! Everyone must have had the same idea as us. We went into the little Park Ranger store thingy to grab some maps and get information about the trails. We also asked the Rangers some quick questions about the waterfalls and if the trails were long, hard, etc. She told me the trail we would enjoy the most was the Raven Cliff Falls Trail. Sounded good to me, so I guess I missed the part about it being a moderate/difficult hike. The only part I heard was that it was 2.4 miles ONE WAY!!! Trey, being all bad and stuff, said, "Oh, that's nothing! We can do that no problem at all!" I guess I was blinded by the thought of my husband being Macho, and agreed. (Although, I don't really remember agreeing to the 5 mile hike!!) First, though, we wanted to see the lookout point from Ceasar's Head to Table Rock Mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous. It is known that the Cherokee Indians named Table Rock because they believed the spirits to their tribe meet there for dinner. Plus, it really looked like a table. So, after lots of pictures, we were heading on our hike.
Table Rock Lookout from Ceasar's Head State Park
Family Photo Op!
Our hike began really good and I was thinking that it was really neat how we were spending time together as a family. We came upon all kinds of beautiful trees and leaves and the kids were in awe of all the fall colors. At one point on the trail, we came to an area where a tree had fallen over the pathway. So, the kids decided to play around on it for a minute, which was a good thing, because I rested! I snapped a few pics of them "monkeying around!"
I hate to admit that even I tried hanging onto the branch like a monkey. Although, I didn't hang very well. I think there may even be a picture somewhere, but I have no idea where it would be! (Hint:RECYCLE BIN!!) Anyways, after I almost broke my hip, we went back to the trail. The rest of the hike UP the mountain was pretty uneventful. After about an hour and a half, we made it to the waterfall! It was a beautiful lookout area, but I was somewhat disappointed...it was further away than I had imagined. After hiking that long, I wanted to be able to touch the darn thing if I wanted to! But, anyhow, it was AMAZING!
Raven Cliff Falls
Look at all the colors!
So, we rested for a few minutes before we started the hike back to the car. The trip back was a lot easier since we were going down hill most of the time. I think the idea of this even put a little pep in my step! All afternoon, all of us had been stumbling and tripping on roots and sticks on the trail. Every time one of the kids would fall, Trey would say, "You better get up, you don't want to be bear food!" This got them up in a hurry and with usually no tears. Garrett made the comment that him and Trey were the only ones who hadn't fallen. (Yes, he counted me falling off the log although I don't really consider that falling.) No sooner than he said it, he fell flat on his butt! Trey said, "HA HA, you're bear food!" Trey was trailing behind all of us, so I didn't really get a chance to see what happened next. All I heard was "HUMPUFF" Yep, Carol, he fell and actually made noise this time!!! I turned around just in time to see him rolling down the trail! I tried to help him up, but he didn't want any of it...maybe because I was laughing a little bit! I have that habit of laughing when he gets hurt...not really sure why! I was so scared that he had broken something and I had no way to get him off the mountain. We had just started our trip down, so we had a ways to go. Also, he was the only one with a cell phone and it broke when he fell down. Not that it would've helped anyway, we had no signal in the middle of the woods in the mountains. So, after we figured out he was OK, Garrett said, "HA HA Dad, you're gonna be Bear food!" It was priceless!!! I think he gets his humor from me! Anyway, Trey twisted his ankle, but started walking on it, so it ended up being OK. We finally made it back to the car in one piece and with all the kids, so it's safe to say it was a mission accomplished! We all had lots of fun and I really can't wait to go hiking sometime soon...but, maybe, just maybe, on a shorter, easier trail! Until next time....
The Rookard Bunch :0)
My girls hiking
Garrett posing AKA RESTING!
Table Rock Lookout from Ceasar's Head State Park
Family Photo Op!
Our hike began really good and I was thinking that it was really neat how we were spending time together as a family. We came upon all kinds of beautiful trees and leaves and the kids were in awe of all the fall colors. At one point on the trail, we came to an area where a tree had fallen over the pathway. So, the kids decided to play around on it for a minute, which was a good thing, because I rested! I snapped a few pics of them "monkeying around!"
I hate to admit that even I tried hanging onto the branch like a monkey. Although, I didn't hang very well. I think there may even be a picture somewhere, but I have no idea where it would be! (Hint:RECYCLE BIN!!) Anyways, after I almost broke my hip, we went back to the trail. The rest of the hike UP the mountain was pretty uneventful. After about an hour and a half, we made it to the waterfall! It was a beautiful lookout area, but I was somewhat disappointed...it was further away than I had imagined. After hiking that long, I wanted to be able to touch the darn thing if I wanted to! But, anyhow, it was AMAZING!
Raven Cliff Falls
Look at all the colors!
So, we rested for a few minutes before we started the hike back to the car. The trip back was a lot easier since we were going down hill most of the time. I think the idea of this even put a little pep in my step! All afternoon, all of us had been stumbling and tripping on roots and sticks on the trail. Every time one of the kids would fall, Trey would say, "You better get up, you don't want to be bear food!" This got them up in a hurry and with usually no tears. Garrett made the comment that him and Trey were the only ones who hadn't fallen. (Yes, he counted me falling off the log although I don't really consider that falling.) No sooner than he said it, he fell flat on his butt! Trey said, "HA HA, you're bear food!" Trey was trailing behind all of us, so I didn't really get a chance to see what happened next. All I heard was "HUMPUFF" Yep, Carol, he fell and actually made noise this time!!! I turned around just in time to see him rolling down the trail! I tried to help him up, but he didn't want any of it...maybe because I was laughing a little bit! I have that habit of laughing when he gets hurt...not really sure why! I was so scared that he had broken something and I had no way to get him off the mountain. We had just started our trip down, so we had a ways to go. Also, he was the only one with a cell phone and it broke when he fell down. Not that it would've helped anyway, we had no signal in the middle of the woods in the mountains. So, after we figured out he was OK, Garrett said, "HA HA Dad, you're gonna be Bear food!" It was priceless!!! I think he gets his humor from me! Anyway, Trey twisted his ankle, but started walking on it, so it ended up being OK. We finally made it back to the car in one piece and with all the kids, so it's safe to say it was a mission accomplished! We all had lots of fun and I really can't wait to go hiking sometime soon...but, maybe, just maybe, on a shorter, easier trail! Until next time....
The Rookard Bunch :0)
My girls hiking
Garrett posing AKA RESTING!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Figuring this out...slowly!
As you can see, I've been playing with my blog a little bit. Still not sure how to do some of the neat things, but I'm still trying.
We've had a crazy day today driving all over town to find Halloween costumes. I know, I waited a little late to get started, but that's just me! Anyway, after going to 4 stores I finally got all 3 of the kids their costume of choice. What happened to the days when you decided what they would be? I think it was a lot easier then! May I also add how ridiculously expensive costumes are...OMG! I'm not gonna put in this blog how much money 3 costumes cost...I'm sick! Anywho, we have a United States Army Soldier, Sharpay from High School Musical, and Super Girl. I think we'll have lots of fun Trick-or-Treating this year...if only we knew where to go! Check back later for the details, because with the Rookard Bunch, there's bound to be a story!
We've had a crazy day today driving all over town to find Halloween costumes. I know, I waited a little late to get started, but that's just me! Anyway, after going to 4 stores I finally got all 3 of the kids their costume of choice. What happened to the days when you decided what they would be? I think it was a lot easier then! May I also add how ridiculously expensive costumes are...OMG! I'm not gonna put in this blog how much money 3 costumes cost...I'm sick! Anywho, we have a United States Army Soldier, Sharpay from High School Musical, and Super Girl. I think we'll have lots of fun Trick-or-Treating this year...if only we knew where to go! Check back later for the details, because with the Rookard Bunch, there's bound to be a story!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A year in review...
The past year has been somewhat of an adventure. We started off in Louisiana, our home state, and have traveled through 18 states. It all seems like a blur when we sit down and really think about it. Trey worked in Kansas for 10 months and it was there that we saw our 1st real snow. We had a blast playing in it and all the locals probaly thought we were nuts because being from La. we had never seen snow and here we were standing it a foot of white powder! Kansas was fun, but it would only be the start in our journey. Trey then transferred to Alabama for a few months. I was still living in La with the kids in school. But, when he got the call to go to Maryland, we all got really excited because we all love history and Cumberland was smack in the middle of some of the most historical places in our country. When school was out, we moved up to Maryland to be with him. This is when the fun and adventures really started. We were so close to everything, so I started planning as many side trips I thought we could handle.
Our 1st major trip was to New York City. Trey and I had been a few years ago without the kids, but we really wanted to take them. After a lot of convincing (yeah right!), Trey's mom came up to help with the kids. So, we set off to The Big Apple! The kids were in shock because they have never seen so many people, huge buildings, and bright lights in such a small area. We were pounding the pavement from daylight to dark, so that we could see the city that never sleeps. I couldn't believe that the kids never complained and made every step we made. As you can imagine, Toys R Us in Times Square was the highlight of the trip for the kids. We also went to the Empire State Building, where Trey almost got us kicked out simply because Anna Claire was on his shoulders. It's not like we would throw her over the edge, right? The Statue of Liberty was an exciting visit for all of us until we decided to climb the stairs to the pedestal. All 169 of them!!! Trey again gets us in trouble for carrying Anna Claire up the steps! He's such a good daddy!!! The view from the top was spectacular. It was made even better because we knew our walk out was all down hill. After our trip to the Statue, we loaded on top of a double decker bus. The kids felt like we were in a parade...Anna Claire waved to everyone on the streets during the whole tour. She's a very persistant lil booger and finally got a wave back after waving for about an hour. She even spotted the Naked Cowboy and asked why a naked man was playing the guitar in the street. We searched for him the rest of our trip, but Anna Claire was the only one lucky enough to see him. On to the next thing...The Bodies Exhibit. Trey just knew that this would freak the kids out seeing body parts everywhere, but it didn't. We got the biggest kick outta Grace...she learned real quick that most of the bodies were boys, if you catch my drift! She went from room to room saying, "Yep, that one's a boy!" At the end of the tour, you had a chance to write something about your visit. Her entry read: "You need more girls. Too many boys!" Gotta love kids! Garrett figured out the subway system long before I did. He'd tell me how many more stops we had until we got off and everything. We all had subway buddies and I fought tooth and nail for him everytime because I knew I was in good hands! After 4 days in the Big Apple, we were pooped!!! So, we packed up all our I Love NY t-shirts and foam Statue of Liberty hats and headed back to Cumberland. This trip was only the tip of the ice berg for us...so, check back for more to come of our wonderful summer adventures!!
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