From the travel journey - Day 6

Madison's entry:

We have now arrived at our base in Evansville and the trip has certainly been an interesting experiences so far; with our time at the farm and with Aunt Lorene.  We stayed with Aunt Lorene on Saturday and Sunday.  (She claims she never got to finish this entry....but based on her other entries I'm not so sure...)

Cara's entry:

Elshoff Forest Retreat

 

The house in Evansville is awesome.  It is over 4,000 square feet and three floors.  The basement has a complete kitchen, bedroom, living room, full bath, study, and an entertainment room complete with pool table.  There is also a back deck leading out to the lake.

Major Pool Game

 

 View from the downstairs porch

The main floor is where we hang out and the third floor is where we sleep and bathe.  The main floor has a complete kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, bathroom, and a laundry room that is as big as most of the rooms in my house in Florida.

 View looking into laundry room

View as you turn the corner by the broom

The third floor has four bedrooms, but only two of them are equipped with beds.  We tried out the beds just as Goldilocks did when she rented the three bears house.  We found that the guest room with its matching purple and green Laura Ashley prints on the bed, side table, curtains, etc. was as hard as the fake beds one finds in the department stores.  The master bedroom, decorated in a deep blue, was a sleep number bed with his and her controls.  On top of the sleep number was a mattress topper and on top of that was a foam topper.  Kelly and Darcy decided to remove the two toppers and put that on top of the mattress in the guest bed.  They took that bedroom for the night and Madison and I took the master bedroom.

 Guest bedroom

Master bedroom
 

Every room in the house has some type of storage area.  I have never seen a house with more storage space.  Some of the rooms have built in storage units.  Every room has a closet of some sort, many of them with multiple closets.  In each room is also an intercom, with the main intercom unit in the family area/kitchen on the main floor.  The intercoms are even on the porches outside and probably the garage, although I haven't checked that yet.

 Study storage

 Two closets in hallway in basement

Linen closet in upstairs hallway

There are also windows and or doors in every room and some closets making it not the safest place, although as Madison pointed out we have an easy escape as long as the intruder enters a different room then the one we are in.  It reminds me a lot of the the house we rented in Michigan a few years back, but for some reason I'm not concerned like I was there. The analysis I came up with for this was perhaps one of the following three reasons:

• Kelly's disposition is one of calm, authority, and security certainty, whereas Susan was as much of a nervous nelly as I was.

• I have more faith in Kelly's ability to fight off intruders and save my kids and me then I did in Susan's.

• This house is in a city that I know like the back of my hand which gives me more confidence.

I did not sleep as well that night as I had the other nights of this vacation, but that was due to the bed and not worry. I was exhausted after our overeating at G.D. Ritzy's, driving, and grocery shopping and so I allowed Darcy and Kelly to adjust the sleep number on my side of the bed. I woke up around three AM to find the number had deflated from the twenties to zero and I could feel the bed springs in my back. I fumbled for the control and pumped up the bed to the thirties. By five AM I gave up as the bed kept deflating. I wandered downstairs with my pillow and a sheet and slept quite well on one of the two plaid couches in the family room.

About an hour later Kelly, who had slept just as miserably on her bed, wandered downstairs to sleep on the couch. Finding me on it she crept back up to the bed I had vacated and slept quite well, although Madison was a tad disturbed to wake up in the master bed to find I had gone blonde in the night.

Darcy's entry:

The next day we left Aunt Lorene's and drove to Evansville.  We ate "linner" (a meal between lunch and dinner) at G.D. Ritzy's!  It was SO DELIGHTFUL!  Then we went to Kelly's dad's forest house and unpacked.  the house was two stories and a basement.  There were doors and storage rooms everywhere.  We had a lot of fun playing pool there that night and trying to make the intercoms work.  Eventually we got them to work.  The rest of the time we played with the intercoms and pretended we were staff at the EFR.

 One of the many systems in each room

 The main intercom unit

Farm cooking 101... for us city girls

My dear Aunt Lorene is 97 years young, and despite being on oxygen and having to use a walker to get around, she is still determined to make her pies and dumplings and to fry her chicken for her family's reunion every year.  Last year she was recovering from a fall and was living in a rehabilitation center so she was unable to make her food and she whined about that the entire reunion.  That was when I decided to get her recipe just in case.

This year she was home and quite able bodied (her words) to bake her pies, cut her noodles, and fry her chicken.  As I stated in a previous blog, I sent in Madison for the pies and the noodles.  She was Aunt Lorene's helper and she came away from the experience with wider eyes then she had going into the kitchen.

Me:  "What did you learn from your experience in the kitchen with Aunt Lorene?"

Madison:  "That eating expired food obviously builds up a great immune system --so much so that you can live to be almost a hundred years old."

Me:  "Okay, but what did you learn about pie making?"

Madison:  "Nothing really.  We were only making the filling because she made the crusts earlier in the day.  (Those she burnt because her Shaklee lady showed up and distracted her from remembering the pies were in the oven).  I was more concerned with keeping Aunt Lorene on her feet and wondering if we would survive if we ate the finished product."

Me:  "What exactly do you mean about all this expired stuff?"

Madison:  "She put in some expired flavored pie filling from like the 1990's.  The can was rusted and she couldn't get the lid open.  I helped get it open and when we dumped the stuff into the pot it came out really lumpy.  It looked like spoiled milk."

Me:  "Was that a concern to the cook?"

Madison:  "No.  She was boiling all the ingredients in a pot on the stove and it was burning so that when she stirred the mixture the black, charred stuff from the pot would come to the top and she was more worried about those black things and how it would make her pie look.  She kept snatching them up with a spoon and chucking them into the trash can."

Me:  "But I saw the finished product and it looked really good."

Madison:  "That's because she plopped a bunch of meringue and handfuls of coconut flakes on top of it."

Me:  "Something tells me there is a story in the making of the meringue."

Madison:  "Well, I told her I would crack the eggs for her, but when I did the first egg I broke the yolk and she seemed annoyed by this.  She took over cracking the eggs and I got the feeling she would have just liked to have been in the kitchen by herself cooking.  But then she broke the yolk and the white stuff got mixed in and I felt better."

Me:  "How did she handle her cracked yolk?"

Madison:  "She sighed, but then we got a paper plate and worked together.  I cracked the egg and she would dig with her hands (the ones she used to pull apart the chicken with) to get out the whites while I used a spoon to get the yolks."

Me:  "Wait a minute!  What?  Chicken parts?  I thought you were making pies."

Madison:  "Yes, we were, but she was also deboning chicken and pulling out unidentifiable organs and putting chicken pieces into a crockpot to cook overnight for her dumplings.  Oh, and when she got out the sugar canister a whole trail of ants followed the canister.  So Aunt Lorene whacked the ants with her hands and wiped them on to the floor."

Me:  "Yes, I saw some ants around the finished product while the pies were cooling on the counter."

Madison:  "Let's just say those pies had a lot of protein in them."

Me:  "But the meringue ended up well?"

Madison:  "Well, it didn't whip up like she wanted it to and she blamed that on the pieces of yolk that had fallen in it.  She was very worried about how the pies were going to look."

Me:  "They looked very professional even with the ants circling them."

Madison:  "You didn't eat them did you?"

Me:  "No.  I'm not a pie person.  I like cake!"

***

Madison:  "So how did the making of the dumplings and the frying of the chicken go?  You did that with Aunt Lorene.  Did you learn anything?"

Me:  "Actually I did.  I've never fried chicken before which horrified Aunt Lorene.  She kept telling everyone that "a married woman like her...with two kids...has never fried chicken.  Imagine that."  But first I woke up on Sunday at 7:25 AM to the smell of the chicken in the crockpot.  Aunt Lorene was already up and dressed for church and had already put the dumplings into the crockpot."

Madison:  "No frying of chicken?"

Me:  "We did that after church.  In our church clothes."

Madison:  "And you actually fried chicken?"

Me:  "Well, not in the beginning.  She didn't want my help when she found out I had never done it before.  So I cleaned up the mess from the previous night.  I took everything off her counters too to wipe them down with soap and water to get rid of anything that might attract ants."

Madison:  "Did you see ants?"

Me:  "No, I didn't see any ants.  They must have been in the pies.  I cleaned and Aunt Lorene fried chicken and napped a little."

Madison:  "I thought you fried chicken."

Me:  "That came later after we had put all the fried chicken into the oven to keep warm before the reunion.  As she looked over my cleaning job she saw that her container of flour still had chicken in it."

Madison:  "Yep.  She just threw the chicken into the flour container instead of putting the flour into a bowl and then putting the chicken in that mixture."

Me:  "Yeah, and she said, "Oh, I forgot to fry those pieces."  She made like she was going to get up from the table where I had just warmed up her coffee so I offered to do it.  I got on her about the chicken in the flour container, but she waved that off and told me she was 97 years old and had been doing it that way all these years without a problem.  So I took out the pieces and fried up 3 wings all by myself with her giving instructions on when to turn them."

Madison:  "You were very proud of yourself."

Me:  "I was.  Then Darrell came into the kitchen and ate all three.  He said they were "alright".  Of course, then Lorene had to tell him I had never fried chicken before and so I came back with, "I bake my chicken Aunt Lorene, it's healthier."  But both of them pooh poohed that.  Then I went back to finishing up the cleaning.  I had everything washed, but there was this pan in the sink with leftover chicken parts."

Madison:  "That was from the night before.  The unidentifiable organs and such."

Me:  "Yes.  So I asked Aunt Lorene what she wanted me to do with them and she said, "Oh, go feed that to the chickens outside."

Madison:  "Feed the chicken to the chickens?"

Me:  "That's what I said.  I thought she was messing with me, but she and Darrell assured me it was for real.  So I went outside where the chickens immediately surrounded me.  I had a little talk with them about how this was their kin and how in a show of solidarity they should walk away.  I said surely they weren't really going to eat their ancestors.  Things like that.  And then I threw the plate of chicken into the grass, and I'm not kidding, before I could blink those chickens had eaten it all up."

Madison: (laughing)

Me:  "It was the weirdest thing.  I mean, I knew pigs would eat anything, but I sure didn't know about chickens.  We certainly learned a lot this weekend didn't we?"

Madison:  "I learned I shouldn't worry about expired food.  What did you learn?"

Me:  "That I don't like cooking anymore now then I did before.  Oh, and that I need some chickens."

From the travel journal - Day 5

Darcy's entry:

On Saturday night we had the wiener roast. I had a lot of fun playing with Lily, Shad, and Jamie. Lily, Maddy and I played monkey in the middle, volleyball, and badminton. We had fun roasting and eating hot dogs and marshmallows. We didn't go back to Aunt Lorene's for a long time and when we finally got there it was 11:00 PM. I took my shower, texted Gabby, and went to bed.

The next day we got up at 7:30 AM and went to church. After church we went and visited my Grandpa Russ' grave. Then we went back and wandered around outside Aunt Lorene's farm. We found two deer, some birds, and lots of chickens.

The reunion on Sunday was a lot of fun. Gabby came down for the reunion! We played with Lily and Carson. Later on I was hot and decided to walk down to the pond. Shad was in the pond and he was saying that he was gonna throw me into it. I simply walked past and he got out and came running at me full speed. Gabby and Carson cheered him on. We ran circles around the bonfire awhile and then I was caught with Shad on one side and Gabby on the other. I ran toward Gabby who caught me. I dumped cold water down her shirt and she let me go. I took off, but unfortunately, I was tired by then and Shad caught me. (Had I drank that water I would have crushed him!)

He picked me up and carried me a couple of steps then put me down because he too was tired. He then tried to drag me to the diving board, but my arm was really slippery, and I slipped right out of his hold. I ran a little, but he grabbed my other, un-slippery arm, picked me up and threw me off the diving board into the pond. The water felt really cold against my red, hot, sweaty skin. I swam over to were I could stand and sat there for about 20 minutes before getting out and walking back to the farm with Gabby.

Gabby and I played volleyball, badminton, cornhole, and monkey in the middle with Carson, Lily, and some blonde boy who's name has escaped me! Soon the reunion came to an end and Gabby, no matter how much I begged, had to leave.

Later that night Big Scott, Melissa, Jamie, Lily, Kelly, Maddy, and Jaime's mother went out for pizza. The pizza place we went to eat at was where our cousin Marc worked.

After dinner we went back to Aunt Lorene's, took our shower, and went to bed.

Cara's entry:

The reunion, as always, never lasts long enough for me. It is so great to see everyone who shows up, but it is so difficult to make my way around to spend quality time with everyone. I got a lot of grief for my forgetting of names on my homemade family tree, but fortunately those members that I left off completely weren't at the reunion so I was saved. (I have since added them, and in my defense the paper wasn't large enough in this travel book to begin with.)

Darrell, as usual, did a great job of getting the farm ready for the big day. The pond was beautiful and the kids took advantage of that. I would have liked to have gotten in, but alas, that was another thing I didn't get to do because of time.

Here are some of my memorable moments at the reunion:

• Rusty showed up! - I only put this because I'm very tired of getting asked, "Where is Rusty?" or "Is Rusty coming?"  I'm not kidding, but the first people we saw when we first arrived on Saturday were Darrell and Aunt Lorene.  I hugged Darrell first and he said, "What do you hear from Rusty?"  Just once I'd like someone to be happy that I'm there for heaven's sake!

•  Seeing everyone - especially the new additions.

 

• Big Scott's cooler in the van - The man does know how to keep everyone cool.  The contents did send Kelly into the house for a midday nap though.

• Rusty giving the blessing - Darrell told him to do this and I got a bit choked up when he gave it.  Made me think of my Dad.

• Mike's corn - Not as good as in the past because of the Indiana drought, but it still tasted better than Florida.  Plus there was plenty of butter and salt to help.

• Dave's antics with shooting - After most everyone had gone Dave and a few of us were looking out over the soybean crop and Dave started telling us all how he would shoot things.  He decided he would shoot antelope the next day and proceeded to show us how he would sight it and shoot it.  While he was babbling and demonstrating, three deer ran right across the field.

• The bonfire mishap - Unfortunately, what happens at the reunion stays at the reunion so I can't expound further, however, it all worked out in the end and no one was hurt and nothing destroyed.  Darrell is the man!

• The rose - Dave told me that there use to be a rose bush in the corner by the smoke house.  Little by little it kept dying off.  This winter he was mowing the farm and he forgot about the bush and mowed over the whole thing.  He just knew he had killed it, but right before the weekend of the reunion he came up to the farm to find a single rose growing in the same place.  He thought it was Grandma Ruby saying hello, but I think it is my Dad since it is so close to the spot where he had his heart attack.

From the travel journal - Day 4

Kelly's entry:

Today we left Indy to head toward Sullivan for the family reunion. On the way, we took the 231 State Rd. exit to visit the DePauw University campus. So much was new and yet so much was the same. My freshman dorm, Lucy Rowland, and Kathy's freshman dorm, Bishop Roberts, were still there. Looked at East College, the student union, Harrison hall, the library and other buildings. I took a picture of Dad's fraternity house - still standing - Phi Kappa Psi. Brought back some memories for me, but much of college is a blur. Fun to see!

Now we are in Terre Haute. We will stop to purchase some supplies before heading to the farm.

Cara's entry:

I enjoyed our small amount of time at Kelly's alma mater, DePauw University. I enjoy roaming campuses ever since my tour of Notre Dame last summer. I was really surprised at how big the campus was, very spread out, compared to my alma mater UE.  DePauw is a small school like UE, but it seemed so much bigger.  It was a very pretty campus, but very quiet.  Apparently not much happening here in the summer.  Kelly told us a few college stories as she pointed out buildings...most of the places seem to be areas where she vomited, which led me to wonder why she was sick all the time at school.

I hadn't known that Kelly's dad had also attended this university so that was cool news.  It looked like a place I would have enjoyed; small Indiana town, smaller university, but I don't think I would have been smart enough to have been accepted.  Of course, now I would be welcomed with open arms, but my 17 year old self?  No chance.  Although, had the athletic director seen my foot racing ability who knows what might have happened.

 From DePauw, which was only 8 miles off our beaten path, we went into Terre Haute to get supplies for the wiener roast. I contemplated touring Indiana State University since I haven't been there since dropping off my neighbor, Michelle, for her freshman year, but we were pressed for time so we bought our stuff and headed to my Aunt Lorene's house.  (Plus there was some whining from the back seat when I suggested another campus tour)

I wasn't sure that we would be having a bon fire because of Indiana's "no fire" ban, but when we arrived the fire was going strong. I mean it isn't like the fire marshal was out roaming the back country roads. My cousin said it had rained a bit earlier in the day (and we had had to use our windshield wipers two swipes on the drive down) so we had the fire.

My cousin Darrell had set up a badminton net and all the kids had to play, as did Kelly. It was great seeing everybody. There is nothing quite like family, and it was cool to see the next generation playing on the land and getting to know one another.

We stayed until 11:00 PM and then headed down to Lorene's for the night. We got to blow up the $40 mattress we had bought and hauled from Indy. Kelly took the guest room (or the "front room" as the family calls it). There was a portable toilet in the room from when Lorene was just out of the hospital so I moved it down to the foot of the bed to make room for Kelly's suitcase. We all settled in and began to start our taking of turns in the portable standing shower in Lorene's laundry room.

Aunt Lorene, meanwhile, was baking pies for the next day. She had already made her crust and was starting on the filling. Her son had told her not to cook and to go to bed, but he knew, as did the rest of us, that she would bake those pies. She is on oxygen 24/7 and walks with a wheeled walker which barely fits around her table in the kitchen, and knowing I wouldn't be much help to her, I sent in Madison as her assistance. Madison certainly got an eyeful and a lesson. They didn't finish until almost 1:00 in the morning.

Aunt Lorene now sleeps in the bedroom that leads to the bathroom. She told me it was easier to maneuver in the night. I told her I understood that as Kelly and I were up a couple of times in the night as well to use the bathroom. In all seriousness, Aunt Lorene told me not to worry about making the trip to the bathroom, but instead to use the toilet in the front room. For just a moment I wondered when she had built another bathroom, and as my brain pictured the front room, I realized she meant the portable toilet.

Lorene: "You girls can use that and we'll just empty it in the morning."

Kelly and I did not use the portable, but we got quite a few laughs over the thought of doing so. We meant to take a picture of one of us on it, but alas, we forgot.

That first night Aunt Lorene was also confused about who Kelly was I think. She referred to her when talking to the kids as "that other lady" and then called her "Kathy" when talking to me. She eventually got her name right, but I'm not sure she really understood the relationship. We called Kelly "the other lady" for a few days before it got tiring.

Kelly's entry:

After eating hot dogs, cookies, and s'mores at the reunion eve get together, Darcy and I tried to play volleyball. It was pitiful, but it was a bit of exercise. Darcy suggested we walk down a grassy path in the woods about a car-width wide. I was down this path the last time I was at the reunion some 20+ years ago. I was pretty sure it lead to another pond.

As we had in the 100 Acre, we grabbed big sticks and swirled them about and whacked at trees to knock down any spider webs that might be in our path.

We went further down the path to the pond that was only half full. We returned without a web on me, but with sweat on my brow.

More photos from the roast

This is the newest addition to our family Emma Goodman.  She was fought over quite a bit 

by Lilly (above)...

...and my daughter

A few of the relatives fished from the other side of the pond

Our bonfire that smelled so good 

Madison roasting our dinner and desert along with cousins Darrel, Scott, and Ronna

Shad throwing his son into the pond.  Always have one person who misbehaves...

Aunt Lorene held court.  Cousin "Big" Scott obviously embellishing his story

while Darcy falls for it.

Kyra who was six years old and who told me she was "good at" everything I mentioned she was doing.  She was the ambassador for the kids.  As soon as a kid arrived she would take his hand and lead him into the fun.

The pond also had a canoe for those folks who wanted to fish in the middle of the pond or just take a leisurely spin around the pond.  That is cousin Mike heading off to fish away from the swimmers.

The wiener roast was a success!  Who doesn't love Indiana in the summer?

Indiana trip - Family reunion wiener roast

We didn't always have a wiener roast as part of our family reunion. Somewhere down the line it was added to make it an interesting weekend of family fun. The roast is Madison' favorite part of the reunion so we try to make it when we can so that she can be one with the fire. I wasn't sure that we would have it this year due to the drought here in Indiana, but I was told it would happen even if we had to use a grill.

The matriarch of our family is my father's sister, Mildred Lorene.  No one calls her Mildred, but I ran across that in stuff I was looking through in her basement and liked it.  She is Aunt Lorene to me and my girls.  She has really been, along with my great Aunt Helen (now deceased), the only "grandmother" figure in my life as both of my grandmothers died when I was small.  Aunt Lorene is 97 years old, and although she has been knocked around some this past year with pneumonia, she is still going strong...with a few naps in between.

When we arrived at the farm where the reunion is held each year the bonfire was going strong down by the pond.  Apparently it had rained just enough that day to wet the grass enough for a bonfire.  There was plenty of hotdogs to go around.

The pond looked great and the kids wasted no time in getting wet.  The boys jumped off the diving board while the girls tended to stay closer to the beach area.

This is my cousin Shad, one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, but I think that's because he married the most awesome woman alive!  Not only is she gorgeous, but she is smart and very witty.  She runs a hospital (and is always trying to get me and my scrubs to come work there) and a household with three cute kids.  Oh, and she is my biggest blog fan!

My cousin Darrel works his butt off taking care of putting the farm together for the reunion (and cares for it all year long) and wiener roast. He mows and thinks of everything that is needed including the games.  He set up the badminton net, and I thought of how much my Dad would love that the next generation was all here to enjoy the family farm.

We had 45 people at the wiener roast and everyone ate tons of food and roasted marshmallows.  The weather was great with a breeze that had a few people putting on sweaters and jackets.  We closed the night around 11:00 pm. and the girls and Kelly and I went back to Aunt Lorene's ready to hit the sack.  Little did we know that wasn't going to happen...

From the travel journal - Day 2

Cara's entry:
The night passed uneventfully. Ann and I were up first and we chatted loudly in the living room which woke up everyone else. We had a lazy morning, a delicious home cooked brunch, and then Kelly, Madison, Darcy and I left to seek an adventure.

We chose to go to the 100 Acres, a sculpture nature walk that is part of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It was a three mile walk through woods with man made trails. It was 90 degrees and not much different than Florida. The first sculpture was in the area where you park. It was a basketball court with red and blue piping that depicted the trajectory bounce of basketballs. I loved it. You could touch and play on the sculptures so I said aloud that if we were in my van I would have had a basketball in the back.  No sooner did those words come out of my mouth then one of the guides opened up his car trunk, took out a basketball, and came over to the sculpture to shoot some hoops. We chatted with him and I refrained from stealing the ball from him and scoring.

We left the sculpture and entered the woods.  The hike wasn't too bad except for the sun and heat. The scenery was pretty and I took quite a few pictures. We didn't really have a map to follow as the map stations were all empty so we sort of walked in a circle and didn't see as many sculptures as I would have liked, but it was a fun adventure.

Darcy's entry:

Today is Friday the 13th. This morning was just like yesterday's. We woke up late and didn't eat breakfast until 11:30. For breakfast we had biscuits and eggs. While we were eating I noticed a very BIG trail and group of ants! Kelly came over and sprayed glass cleaner all over the ants to kill them.

While we waited for the ants to die, Mom taught us (again) the family tree. We have a big family and apparently our family lacks the name Bob. But we have a Cockeye! Very confusing. Who picked that name? Not that I'm bagging on his name, I just find it interesting that in our large family we don't have a Bob. Thankfully, we don't have a Ben either! I REALLY dislike that name! I don't know why I dislike it, but I do.

Today we decided to go see the movie Brave. The movie was good, but very depressing. After the movie we decided to go to Target. We spent a couple of hours hanging out and Kelly was VERY happy when she found her wallet. After Target we headed home for a pizza and game night.

Kelly's entry:

I was reading the above entry and wondered why Darcy does not like the name Ben. There's Ben Franklin, one of our founding fathers. There's Ben Roethlisberger, QB of her fave football team, and Ben, son of John & Sharon. Seems odd that she would not like that name. I do agree that it's odd not to have a Bob in the family. Of course, when I think about it, I don't know of a Bob in my family either.

At the 100 Acre park yesterday was a huge sculpture that had swings hanging off it. These swings had heavy duty chains on them. The seats were roughly cut chunks of wood about 3 inches thick. All of us decided to swing. Cara joked about swinging high and then jumping out. Suddenly this seemed like a good idea to me. I announced I was going to jump out of the swing. I was not going high. Darcy, of course, had her Iphone camera ready (I would find out later). I readied myself and then jumped out on the forward swing. I landed on two feet, and for a brief moment, I was solid. Then immediately I realized I was falling backward. I fell right back onto my butt and then onto my back.

The second realization was that the heavy chunky swing seat was soon to return from the backward swing. The seat was low to the ground and I was lying right in its path. I put my head back onto the ground as quickly as I could think to do it. The swing missed my head. The observers had been too stunned by my fall to think to grab the swing. Darcy had captured some horribly embarassing photos of me. One in particular made me look like a roly poly turtle stuck on his back.

The important thing is that I was not injured...another reassurance of my youth and vitality. I did get some dirt and wood chips in my underwear though.

Cara's entry:

In reading back over the above entries I feel the need to clarify a few things:

1. We do have a Bob in the family.  In putting together the family tree (on a small amount of paper) I had some brain farts on a few names. I also may have forgotten a huge chunk of the family, one of them being my cousin Bob, who actually showed up at the family reunion and made me remember I had left off a chunk of family members. I quickly fixed that. I do not know of any Bens in the family, but I am horrified that Darcy doesn't like the name since she loves, absolutely LOVES, little Benjamin Carlisle.

2. I told Kelly not to jump out of the swing....multiple times. My goal for this trip has been to not visit any hospitals. Of course, my telling Kelly NOT to do something only made her more determined TO do it.

3. I was not a bit stunned at her falling, as I told her that is what would happen if she attempted to jump. I will, however, admit to being a tad slow in remembering the swing would return in time to hit her in the head. I think it came to me as I watched it coming back down toward her head, but I might have had a fleeting thought that a good jolt to the head might help her, thus delaying my actions. Luckily, I'm traveling with someone with quick thinking.

Out of the mouths of my babes

Susan: What time did these kids go to bed last night?

Me: "Darn late let me tell you. I was doing a lot of yelling down there last night."

Susan: "Well, someone kept turning on the hall light. I woke up and looked at the clock and it was 2:00 AM."

Me: "Yes, that would have been the girls."

Darcy: "That wasn't us."

Me: "Yes, it was."

Darcy: "No it wasn't because the last time we came upstairs was 1:59 AM."

From the Indiana travel journal - Day 1

Kelly's entry:

Observation of Indiana:  Many dead animals on the road, field after field of corn, highway we're on has speed limits ranging from 35 to 60 mph.  Cara has run two yellow lights so far.  Lots of griping about the electronics situation so far.  I don't want to hear it.  These girls have the rest of their lives to have their noses buried in a video game.  I am now suddenly as old as Cara, so I have even fewer years than I thought.  So these girls need to get on  the "family togetherness" wagon with big, joyful smiles on their faces... Their precious little faces...why do they have to grow up?

Madison's entry:

Two hours in the car and so far everything has gone well.  (Mommy, I know you will mention my handwriting.  Please remember we are in the moving car and have limited space back here.)  We just finished our Target run, and yes, I do mean run  (everyone please stop freaking out every time you can't find something within the first 20 seconds at searching for it) as we had several panicky moments in which my  mom couldn't find this or that, particularly this journal.  Anyway, I think we were all glad to get out and stretch for a few moments and now we are back in with renewed enthusiasm.  This can be seen as I'm now listening to Kelly and my mom try to rap along to a song with the creative title, Good Good.  Overall, the trip has been fun despite the electronics, and I am enjoying our family fun.

Darcy's entry:


I have now officially read Maddy's journal entry and I would like to comment that we had to persuade, no force, Maddy to take part in our "family fun".  We played the alphabet game.  At first it was loads of fun, but by the letter G it started getting old.  It was a VERY long game.  Eventually the game came to an end.  I happily went back to reading my favorite magazine.  I glanced up after reading a funny story and saw Maddy playing on her Nintendo DS...and ELECTRONIC!  I mentioned she was not suppose to be using electronics.  I know how bad it sounds, but if Cara, Kelly, and I are going electronics free then so is Maddy.  So me, being the big mouth I am, told Mom and Kelly.  They, however, did not make Maddy put away the electronics.  I EVENTUALLY let it go despite my efforts.

The car ride continued on and I read my magazine.  As I was reading, Kelly asked me to fetch her phone which had fallen underneath her seat.  Of course, my first response was about her using electronics, but I agreed to help her.  I got down and reached under the chair, but it was all black and un-see-able.  I told Kelly, "Uh, I can't see anything.  I need a flashlight."  Kelly simply replied, "I have a flashlight if you need one."  Then I remembered that I had a flashlight in my purse.  "Never mind," I said, "I have one!"

My mom piped up.  "Well, Maddy don't you think that is odd?  That Kelly and Darcy BOTH have flashlights on them?"  As I look back on this event now at 8:15 pm, according to Kelly  (and Wikipedia) if it has batteries it's electronic.  So I realize they truly let their guard down.  I got away with the use of electronics!  I'm bad.

Kelly's entry:

My concern about the limiting - not ban - on the use of electronics is the amount of time it takes away from group interaction.  I am not going to say anything else on this subject as I am being misunderstood.  Use electronics, play video games, tweet, text, use GPS; do what you want as long as you don't allow yourself to disengage for too long.  I enjoy your-alls' company.  Even then, I don't really have a say in what anyone does.

We finally arrived in Indianapolis and went to Kevin's house.  Tom called on Cara's phone while we were using it for directions.  There was a moment of indecision until Maddy pulled up directions on her phone.  We went out to dinner at Cancun Mexican restaurant.  The margaritas were good and potent.  The food was pretty good too.  Mom paid for us all.  Then it was back to Kevin's for cake.

Mom got a cake decorated with the outline of the state of Indiana.  Very cool.  Now we are at Mom's.  I am full and sleepy and ready for bed.  Think I will read and go to sleep.

Cara:

I rented the car in South Bend and drove to Indianapolis with no problems.  I felt good that I never felt stress and was very relaxed.  Welcome home!  We will be staying at Ann's house the next few days.  She lives in a beautiful house that is beautifully decorated with light, happy colors and lots of nice paintings and prints.

Tonight was fun at Kevin and Larry's house and the cake was so cute.  Ann  has given up her bedroom to Kelly and Darcy.  Madison and I are in the guest room.  We told her we had a blow up mattress to use, but she insisted she would sleep on the couch.  All in all, a good start to our Indiana vacation.