Day Ten: Our tent rocks!

Maddie was so happy to see her Nana and Papa again!

We spent one of the best night's of our vacation sleeping in the tent! It was the perfect temperature and we could look up to the skies and trees above us as the morning light came in. As soon as Maddie woke up, she said, "Turn light off! Turn light off!"

We had a delicious breakfast of sugary breakfast cereals and then met my parents and Uncle Pete at the Gainesville teaching zoo. We took a fun tour of the animals, an unfortunate number of which were of the bird variety.

These guys live to be 170 years old!

These peacocks were everywhere, even running free in the parking lot.

Then we ate out at a Southern B-B-Q joint and Nathaniel drank a bucket of sweet tea. I was reading the book "Eat This, Not That" and brought it into the restaurant with us. But there was a lot more "Not That" on the menu than there was "Eat This."

Some family came over for dinner and we all stayed up too late! I put the girls down inside and slept with them, which was so lovely and cuddly. Nathaniel said that he had the best night sleep of all of us, sprawled out alone in the tent.

Day Nine: We're Here!

Florida!

FedEx finally delivered Nathaniel's computer cable to Jenny and Sandy's house this morning at 10:28-- with a good 2 minutes to spare on their guaranteed delivery. It was hard to leave everyone and I hope we can come back soon-- I still want to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center and eat more Flying Biscuits.

It was a long day of driving but the girls took it like champs. At our first rest stop, Maddie kissed a tree. For lunch, we went to our first Chik-Fil-A and it was delicious, just like the cow said it would be. Maddie got to play in her first fast food playground and Nathaniel got the milkshake he'd been craving. Then we headed back down Rt. 75, with Click and Clack, the Car Talk guys entertaining our way to Florida.

There are a lot of places near the border of Florida that want to give you free orange juice. And there are lots of places to see girls who are ready to bare it all-- at least according to the giant billboards. (I don't seem to see many of those billboards in the North. Oh, Bible belt, why don't you do a better job keeping pants on?)

We got into Gainesville in time for pizza dinner and ate outside in Kathleen and Richard's beautiful backyard. Nathaniel wanted to sleep in the tent so he set it up and we all enjoyed a pleasant, bug-free evening outdoors.

The girls went to sleep pretty well but they are all ready finding one another too amusing and it took a lot of giggling before they fell asleep.

Day Eight: Loving life in the ATL

Jenny and Sandy have a beautiful house and adorable doggie named Maddie! Sandy's brother Jon also lives with them and I hope he doesn't mind that our Maddie rearranged his DVD collection this morning.

We're off to the Aquarium and will post pictures later!

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Here's Nathaniel recording the global coordinates for where we parked our car into Mrs. GPS so we can walk around Atlanta and still find our way back.

What? That is very specific chiropractic!

The Coco-Cola building is opposite the Aquarium and almost as expensive to tour!

I hear there's a fountain of Coke inside, but that may just be legend.

Finally it feels like we're in the South! The sun is dangerously UV-raying us and the air is humid and the sidewalk is melting our soles.

The aquarium was packed. The highlights for Maddie were: 1) The man in the orange fish costume who hugged her. 2) The whale slide where she came out of the whale's mouth. And 3) the lights on the floor that she could step on instead of looking up at the shark swimming over her head. That's why kids have free admission.

Walking through the tunnel that lets up see up into the huge tank.

Baby Beluga! This was a rescue whale from Mexico and couldn't have been more friendly and sweet. Maddie and I sang to it and she really liked seeing him.

A diver feeding a hungry octopus

We took her home to nap afterward and Sonja and I tried to make it to Martin Luther King Jr.'s Memorial Center but the traffic was against us and Mrs. GPS and I had a falling out and Sonja and I ended up at a RiteAid, buying chocolate.

When we finally got back, everyone was home from work so we went out to Piedmont Park and let Maddie play on the playground while I fed Sonja and the sun set. It was so lovely. There were tons of cute dogs and we got to see some buildings that Sandy had inspected during construction. It was just beautiful and in bloom.

Then we went to dinner at Flying Biscuit and ate some good Southern cooking. I think we're all going to come home 10 pounds heavier (well, maybe not Sonja). We should have gone to bed early but instead we stayed up to watch "3:10 to Yuma" and I painted my nails. I really botched it and ended up with more paint on my toes than my nails. And I chose a hideous color. I'm not meant to do my nails in this life.

Day Seven: Halfway through!

Cooper Riis didn't work out so we went into Ashville with Greta and Elwyn yesterday and ate a pile of Mexican food. Then we took the kids to a playground to tucker them out and admire the way the snow was falling from a blue sky. Admire with anger.

The kids deserved some fun after being so good at the restaurant. I had fun with Elwyn, too!

Always cheerful, little Sonja enjoys the playground in her snowsuit!

When we returned to the castle, Greta and John were working before we even got out of the car. We made a nest for Sonja to sleep in again and then we turned in early. I love the castle, but it really was like sleeping in a castle. Our bed was tall and thick with comforters, covered in gauzy netting and dust. There was a heavy black chandelier over our heads and old mirrors decorating the room. And cold, medievally so. We pulled Maddie into our bed both nights and used her like a hot water bag. Sonja pulled her blanket up over her head and buried herself. But it was fun to snuggle in and watch some old "Six Feet Under" on Nathaniel's iPodTouch.

We woke up early and headed out. We stopped after a couple a hours to eat at a Waffle House (making the whole trip worthwhile for Nathaniel!) and ate another pile of food. We thought we'd go to the Atlanta aquarium but when we got to Jen and Sandy's house, it turned out we were all tired and dirty so we bathed (I fell asleep in the tub) and did some laundry and watched TV: "Hip Hop Wives" and "Beyonce: Revealed." We don't have TV and are very susceptible to the flashing lights and sounds.

More later.......

Day Six: Snow?!

Getting ready for Easter with a fat, fluffy bunny!

Here's just one side of this amazing house-- and the impressive tower.

The roof is going up soon.

Looking down from up in the tower with Greta and Elwyn

We woke up to a beautiful snowfall and some surprised daffodils. Greta made us delicious pancakes for breakfast while Elwyn and Maddie played with his giant indoor tractor (castles are big!). We climbed to the top floor and then up a ladder into the tower where we could see the organic blueberry fields, the purple mountains, and their terraced gardens—amazing!

Chasing Maddie was a big part of the tractor fun.

Pancakes! And me in Nathaniel's work shirt because no one packed me a sweater for our trip to Florida. Nathaniel needed his work shirt because Greta is, quote, "A slave driver."

Greta, John, and Elwyn have an Airstream in their yard! They’re refinishing the inside to be super homey and hip. When they leave the castle, they’ll call the camper home. I’m so jealous and miss my old school, orange shag, gold puff upholstery Airstream of my youth…

Maddie got to play with the whitest, fluffiest bunny this side of Easter and Sonja sat in the garden while her Daddy raked and hoed and laid sod. We’re heading into Ashville in a little bit and hope to see Cooper Riis before this leg of the trip is over.

Playing around in the living room.

Little Polly Flinders, playing in the cinders...

Day Five: We've Got This Down

It’s freakin’ freezing cold in North Carolina! We’ve been gypped! It may even snow tonight! The good news is that we’re staying in a castle up on Blueberry Hill and it is amazing amazing amazing. We had quite a haul with the girls but they were very good, especially Sonja who is just an angel on earth. She is such a beautiful, smiley little girl and just goes with the flow. She’s sleeping on the floor in a dusty room in the castle tonight, dressed in her bunny suit because it’s so cold, and she’s just as happy and sweet as can be.

Happy bunny in her bunny suit. So cold!

Maddie is so happy to be here, too, and was a great passenger. The key is stopping every 90 minutes to 2 hours and letting her run around and play. Her dad taught her how to snap sticks over her knee and we had a picnic in the corner of a rest stop today, hiding from the wind. Let people stare.

While we were picnicking, Nathaniel and I were talking about the plan for the rest of the trip and how he felt about it. He said, “Sweetie, I’ve had a very good attitude about Florida ever since I resigned myself to going.” Hmmmm.

We’re listening to a lot of Radio Lab and This American Life on the iPod and thinking deep thoughts about the universe and who we are and what invisible forces are acting upon us to create our “identity”. I should have put some stand-up comedy on my iPod, too.

The South is a trip.

Still Day 4: Haven't left yet

Nathaniel has said "No" to Waffle House for breakfast so I think he may be coming down with the cold Maddie and I are successfully fighting off (speaking of which, why don't all tissues come with Vick's VapoRub?)  "No" to Waffle House?  And he mentioned wanting to eat a salad for breakfast-- it must be serious.

So it'll be bagels and then hitting the road.  I'm trying to let the family sleep in a little, since we surely need it.  Hopefully today will be like this.....

Maddie and Sonja holding hands in the backseat. The two of them were laughing their heads off together yesterday on the way to Chipotle for dinner.  Ah, sisters!

.....And we will all have a memorable day in the good kind of way.  Although, I just heard some thunder and that might put a damper on the scampering in the grass that makes driving bearable for little ones.  Luckily, we have a giant red tub in the back of our car to catch the water from the place where our car leaks in the rain.  Oh, yes, thank you red tub!  Oh, curse you, leaky place in the car!

Day 4: Where Will We Sleep Tonight?

The babes, all hanging out on the porch that Tom built!

Yesterday was just what the doctor ordered-- a really great doctor, like Cathy.  We got everyone some good sleep, I got to go to a World Market and buy Easter basket cuteness and Petite Palmiers, Nathaniel got to go to Best Buy and do something to Tom and Cathy's computer to make it do something about something that they wanted it to do, and the girls got to have naps.  

We went to a terrific park and Nathaniel tried his hand at the climbing wall.  He also got stuck on some spinning thing and I had to save him.  It took me a minute because I almost peed my pants laughing so hard. 

 

There were lots of spinning devices at this park-- please note my headband from the World Market-- it might not go with a ponytail, but it was only $2.00 marked down from $7.99, 

so there you go.

The beautiful Sonja, post nap and long walk with Mommy.  She loves to swing.......

But please don't take her binkie!

These two give two-year-olds a good name.  

They are sweet little friends and both so nice to Sonja.

Virginia is so civilized, with it's beautiful weather and brick buildings and fat gobs of history.  I really love it here but I know it's going to get too hot for Nathaniel very soon.

We're off to North Carolina today, but I'm not entirely sure where we're going to sleep.  We can't get ahold of our friend that Nathaniel made plans with, so maybe we'll go to Cooper Riis.  Although, Nathaniel had a dream last night that we did that and no one knew us and Maddie was running all around and we just went to the dining room and sat down and ate.  Which actually might not be that far from reality.

Day 3: Charlottesville, VA

Whew.  Yesterday was a long day.  We tried to leave New York in a timely fashion but when we were all packed up and in the car, it was discovered that one very important passenger was missing: Mr. Lion.  Luckily, some men were tearing up carpet in Anna's apartment building and we were able to get back in and search.  But, just like in "Knuffle Bunny," no Mr. Lion did we find.  So Nathaniel decided to look harder and finally Mr. Lion was located: in a cabinet under the kitchen sink.  And so we have a new rule for our road trip: No hiding Mr. Lion.

Unfortunately, Nathaniel did not have his dad here to find forgotten things for him and so our computer charger is still in New Jersey.  Making it slightly harder to blog update.  

Maddie and I are feeling a little better and the weather is fabulous!  We saw green grass and pink and purple buds on the trees!  We shed our layers and lay the baby out in the sun on a blanket.  We stopped about every hour and a half and ran around and ate fruit.  

Nathaniel flaunting the baby's lack of socks despite my socks-on-baby policy

Maddie having so much fun in the sun that I don't care that she's digging in 

poopy dirt with a stick. 

A happy Sonja.  She and Maddie played together soooo nicely at this rest stop while Mommy and Daddy frantically tried to use his iPodTouch, our laptop address book, and our cellphone to arrange delivery of the power cord to Atlanta from New Jersey.

The number one best thing ever is that orange iPod playing pillow we bought at the New Jersey mall for $6.30.  I would like to find the person who invented that thing and give them some brownies. 

 

On the other hand, whoever invented the sunset and that terrible light squinting in your eyes when your driving down the road at 6:45pm, I'd like to give them a boot in the backside.  We're going to need some sort of Darth Vadar-like black helmet for Maddie if that ever happens again (because of both the sun-keeping-out properties of the helmet as well as what kind of person Maddie becomes: "Sun in eyes!  Sun in eyes!")  

Nathaniel said at one point, "We should be glad when the girls are both crying.  It's more efficient."

When we finally made it to Cathy and Tom's house, the sky was dusky and dinner was on the table and Maddie and Dylan were fast friends.  We had a lovely evening and Cathy made sure I don't have strep throat.  She also recommended a great book to me called "Show me How" and one of the things is how to get rid of monsters.  Apparently you need monster repellent and a trap: