SPRING BREAK - ROAD TRIP!!!

WARNING - THIS POST IS GOING TO BE LONG AND FILLED WITH A LOT OF PICTURES!

(It's only taken me three days to make this post...ugh!)  

Wow!  What a trip, literally!   We covered a lot of territory and saw parts of the country that we had never seen before, it was great!  I kept track of our trip and we drove a total of 2300 miles and spent 43 hours in the car.  That sounds like A LOT but it didn't seem like that at all.  We only drove a few hours each day and stopped a lot so it wasn't bad and I am surprised that we actually went that far.  We rented a car so at least we didn't put all those miles and wear and tear on our car.  Here we go...

DAY #1 -  We wanted to get up and going really early but we had to put Reece in the Pet Hotel and they didn't open until 7:00 a.m. so we were there right at opening and actually got on the road about 7:30 a.m.  This would be our longest haul which was about 8 hours.  

      

   Our first stop was Nashville and we went directly to Opryland!  Of course it was closed that day but we were still able to walk around outside and get pictures. 

Next we went to the Opryland Hotel.  It is so awesome, you could spend your whole vacation in there and never have to leave! 

That's our rental car in front

We ate dinner at "Caney Fork River Grille". 
It had a great atmosphere and the best ribs I've ever had!

DAY #2 - We got up WAY early and headed out for Georgia! The kids could not wait to get to their cousin's house to play!  The cousins didn't know we were coming and they were still at school so while we waited for them to get home we went with Lisa to lunch and then to go shopping for decorations so I could help her decorate her newly remodeled upstairs.  We came home and got busy hanging and embellishing things.  It was so much fun and it turned out so cute, I love it!  When the kids got home from school they were so surprised! Katie started to cry she was so happy, it was so sweet!  We had a BBQ that night and a sleep over.  Lisa let her kids stay home from school the next day so they could stay up late and have fun together while we were there. 

 OUR GEORGIA FAMILY - THE CARLOCK'S

Jack loves his Kaylon, he was his little shadow and didn't leave his side the whole time.  

 

DAY #3 - We are off to Savannah, GA, the drive was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!  Everything has bloomed or has blossoms and the colors were so bright and vibrant!  It was so good to see color again!  Wisteria grows wild there so it grows all throughout the trees, it was in bloom and it looked so pretty.  

When we got to Savannah, we went straight to The Pirate House and then to 

River Street to go shopping in all the fun little shops down there.  

                                                                                                                                   

 These are secret tunnels under the restaurant that lead to the river where pirates would kidnap people and steal things and make their way back to their ship without getting caught.

  RIVER STREET

We had dinner at Fiddlers Crab House

            
         

We thought this looked like the 
"Narnia" lamp with the real flame.

            

 One of Paula Deen's restaurants, 
"Lady and Sons".

COLONIAL PARK CEMETERY at dusk...SCARY!!!

 

A relative?

 

 

 

This is the grave of someone that signed 
The Declaration of Independence 

 

 

 

Danielle trying to push the lid off.  

 

 

 

 

 

Chillin' in the hotel before bedtime.  

Big day at the beach tomorrow!!

 

DAY #4 - HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SO. CAROLINA

So. Carolina is BEAUTIFUL!!!  

Even the freeways are pretty!

This sun dial really told the correct time!

Kaylon had a hard time staying in the hammock!

 

 

BEACH BOUND BABY, OH, YEAH!!!!

                                      

 

This is how Rodger does vacation....

  
 

We saw all kinds of creatures that 

had washed up on the beach.

 

 
 
 

After spending the whole day at the beach we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and went to the "Sea Trawler" for dinner, it was delicious!!!  

I had Wahoo fish and it was the best seafood dinner I've ever had! 

DAY #5 - Back to Savannah, GA

I love the spanish moss that grows in the trees!

Forest Gump was filmed here 

when he's sitting on the bench and says, 

"Life is like a box of chocolates...".

   

  

After spending most of the morning in Savannah, it was time to head back to The Carlock's!
We had one more sleep over before the journey back home.  


We left all the kids at home to tend each other while the adults 
went out for sushi.  I have never had the desire to eat sushi but I decided it would be a good time to go for it, so I did.  We went to Tim and Lisa's favorite sushi spot, She's Bistro, and I have to admit, it was pretty good.  I don't know that I'll be ordering sushi very often, its definitely an aquired taste but at least I can say I tried it and lived to tell about it!  
I had the PTC Roll (Peach Tree City), that's where we were.  

DAY #6 - The long road home!
We were anxious to get back to Nashville because we wanted to spend a lot more time there so we got off to a pretty early start.  The kids were sad to say goodbye to their cousins but I think they were ready to get home too.  


Back to Tennessee!!

We went straight to Nashville and hit Lower Broadway which is the heart of Nashville!  The only day it rained on our whole trip and it was a DOWNPOUR!!!  We withstood the rain and were able to walk around and see quite a bit.   

 
 LP Field where the Tennessee Titans play.  

 
 The Ryman Auditorium

 

 Danielle LOVES Elvis!!

 

Rodger's friend recommended we eat at "Noshville" so we tried it.  It was good, it's a New York style deli and they mainly had soup and sandwiches.  They serve a bowl of pickles at every table.  They were good but way too salty!

 
 

One of the highlights of our trip was driving around in Brentwood, which is where all the big country music stars live.  Holy cow, we could have drove around there all day but it was so rainy that it kind of made it miserable but it was BEAUTIFUL there!  We are already planning on going back just to drive around.  We couldn't believe some of the houses we saw, it was incredible!  

Here's just a sample...

 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 

You can't go to Nashville and not see The Bluebird Cafe.  
Every successful country music star has sang there.  
When we were trying to find it we keep thinking 
we had the wrong address, 
because of where it is located you would 
never know this little place existed.  
In fact, if you blinked you'd miss it!  
It's in between all these big businesses 
and stores and totally out of place.


After spending most of the day in Nashville it was time to make one more leg of the trip.  
Our last night was spent in Louisville, Kentucky.  We went from 90* at the beach to freezing and a major snow storm.  We wanted to turn around and go back!  


 DAY #7 -The last morning we went into Louisville to check out what that city had to offer.  
We definitely had to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum.

 

 

 

 

 And finally, the last major stop...Churchill Downs!

 

 

Driving over the bridge from Kentucky to Indiana

 

Only one more state to go!

The kids were great sports and never 

did complain about the long drive.  

By the end of the trip they were done and ready to be home!

(They are going to kill me for posting these!!!)

 

HOME SWEET HOME!!!

 What a great trip, we loved it!!  We were able to see so many neat things and see so many new places.  
We couldn't have asked for better weather (until the last day). It felt so good to get away from the cold and go to mid 80's where everything was green and beautiful!  
We can't wait to go again!  

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

The leprechauns definitely hit our house this year with green toilet water, green milk with lucky charms and an all green dinner!

DIVA DANIELLE

Danielle is always keeping us on our toes and entertaining us with her antics, I just thought I would share a few of them...

Here's a few of her being "normal".

*BETSY ROSS *

Danielle's class had a wax museum and she was Betsy Ross.  If you pressed her thumb she would give you three facts about her character. 

Danielle's favorite song is "I Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith so here she is "whipping her hair"!

Danielle & Hailey sporting their 3D glasses after seeing the 

Justin Beiber movie, "Never Say Never"!

Entertaining herself by taking self portraits...

BLIZZARD OF 2011

Whew, that was rough but we made it!!!  We received at least 18 inches of snow but it's really hard to tell cause it's so drifted and windy.  We didn't get as much as downtown Chicago because they got the lake effect snow as well.  The snowfall to me wasn't so bad but it was the wind that was the worst!  It was sooooo windy and just blew the snow around until you couldn't see anything!   The most interesting part to me was experiencing "thunder snow", in fact, I can't say that I even knew it existed.  They've been talking about it on the news and saying that it is very rare and hardly ever happens but it sure did last night!  It was pretty cool!  It was snowing so hard and then the sky would light up with lightning and thunder.  Our power was out for about 3 hours.  I had been worried about it going out only because of not having any heat. We had plenty of food, lights and batteries but it's hard to keep warm when the temperatures are so cold.  We were fine and just bundled up so it wasn't too bad.  We were just crawling into bed when the power came back on so it worked out fine.  This morning it was still snowing but not as bad and it's starting to clear up but it is still very windy!  The main concern now is the cold air that is settling in, it's supposed to get 25-40 degrees below zero and now along with blizzard alerts they are having wind chill alerts!  I wouldn't be surprised if school is canceled again tomorrow.  Unfortunately, Rodger is out of town so myself and the kids have to try and dig out by ourselves.  It's very deep and heavy and it might be awhile before we are dug out.

Proud Parents!

I hate to brag but....I am so proud of my kids and how well they are doing here.  I was so worried when they started a new school and didn't know anyone and being the only LDS kids in the school really had me scared to death!  Fortunately, they are doing great and have adjusted so well and carried on without skipping a beat!  


Kaylon just received another straight "A" report card and got on the High Honor Roll.  He was also just awarded with the 
"Tiger Pride Award" at Thompson Jr. High which is the highest honor you can receive at the school!  His Science teacher nominated him and she had a lot of nice things to say about him.  They held a breakfast for the parents and had an awards ceremony to honor the kids that earned it.  

                        

He is also doing well in his church and Scout responsibilities.   He was just put in as the Deacon's Quorum President and is a Trainer in his Scout troop.  He just got back from the Klondike and had a great time!  He is currently working on his Eagle Project and expecting to receive it early this summer.  We have been getting him all registered for high school and I am still in denial that he is really going there next year.  I keep telling him that I was much older than he was when I went to high school and started the ninth grade!  (at least I thought I was ; )  He will be taking Honors Biology and Honors Geometry.  YIKES!  It's a good thing he got his Dad's smart brains cause he definitely didn't get them from me!  I'm still trying to figure out how      2 + 2 = 4!  Just kiddin' I'm not that dumb, but almost!   

Danielle also got straight "A's" this term and she too is doing great in school!  She has made lots of new friends and enjoys helping her teacher.  She has several handicapped kids in her class and she especially loves helping them and has grown to love them so much. She gets to go everyday and help out in the younger handicapped kids classroom and she has really developed a love and special relationship with the kids she takes care of.  They love her and get so excited when she comes in.  She has a really big heart and loves taking care of people.  She is growing like a weed and becoming quite the young lady.  Unfortunately, with that, comes mood swings, attitudes and lots of drama!  Heaven help me get through the teenage years!!!  She goes to Jr. High next year and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that either!

Sorry for gloating but I am just proud of what they have accomplished since we've been here and I like you all to know what's going on with us and our life in Illinois!  

CHRISTMAS IN OSWEGO - 2010

I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone.   I always get sad when Christmas is over and all the hustle and bustle is done.  It's such a magical and special time of year and there's so much excitement and build up that when it's all said and done it's such a let down.  The decorations come down, the holiday music goes away, the kids go back to school and now what, just more snow and cold and looking forward to spring and summer!


We had a different Christmas than we've had before but it was kind of special this year.  This is the first time EVER that we haven't celebrated with other family members.  The past two years we celebrated in Georgia with Rodger's sister and her family.  Every other year, my whole life, we've always gone to the annual Lewis Family Christmas Eve Party!  For all of the Lewis family it was a different Christmas since Grandma Beulah wasn't there to keep the party going.  Every year we would have the same ol' party thinking it would be our last but this year, after 50 years, the end of an era came.  We kept that tradition going as long as grandma was alive, she wouldn't have it any other way. Without Grandma Beulah here each individual family had their own party with their own families.  I don't know how many would admit it but I think everyone couldn't help but have a heavy heart that night thinking and wishing we could be together, as a family with our grandma, just one more time.  I think everyone was kind of lost not knowing what to do after doing the same thing our whole lives.  It's time for new traditions and time to create new memories but change is hard.  I know there won't be a year that goes by that we won't remember the old parties and reflect back on the only way we knew Christmas Eve.  Even though every year we would complain about going to the same ol' party I know we will all miss it!  

On a happier note... so my little family was all alone this year which ended up being kind of fun!  We were invited to go to a friends house, from the ward, and celebrate with their family but we were actually looking forward to doing our own thing and plan and carry out what we wanted to do.  The kids were all excited and that's all that matters.  

It couldn't have been a more perfect Christmas Eve day!!!  We woke up to it snowing and it didn't let up all day!  It totally set the mood for the day's activities.  With the Christmas lights on, the music playing, the girls in our aprons and the oven cranked up we spent the whole day baking and singing and enjoyed being together.  The kids had so much fun!  We baked sugar cookies and they decorated those and then we dipped pretzels and made chocolate dipped cake balls.  While the kids were busy decorating I was busy making chip dips and other goodies for our dinner that night. 

          

        

 

We played games and watched the nativity.  Right after that some people from our ward came caroling and brought us some treats.  It meant so much to us to know that someone was thinking of us on such a special night.   

The Allgaiers

We then opened some presents, the usual new pajamas (the kids have that figured out!  I think next year I'll surprise them and do something different!)  We then exchanged each others gifts so on Christmas day we could just open up the gifts from Santa and from our parents. 

Rodger had to go to work late that night so after he left we played some more games, fed the reindeer outside, got the milk and cookies out and FINALLY got the kids to sleep at 1:30 a.m.!  Needless to say it was a very late night, or morning depending on how you want to look at it.  

  

Feeding the reindeer!

 

Sleeping on the floor waiting for Santa! 

Santa definitely made a stop at our house!

Unfortunately, wouldn't you know that Christmas happened to fall on the same weekend that Rodger's night shift works an extra 4 hours.  UGH!  At the least the kids were understanding and didn't mind waiting but he didn't get home until 10:45 a.m.!   They woke up at 6:30 a.m. and didn't want to go back to sleep.  I tried but they didn't even want to go peek until it was time to go down.  I ended up waking up at 7:30 and thought I would go back to sleep until at least 10:00, being as I was up all night but, it was CHRISTMAS, I couldn't sleep in!  I was excited too so, the kids just stayed in their room and watched videos and I ended up getting showered and ready for the day since I had plenty of time to spare.  I did finally end up convincing them it was ok to go down and see if Santa really came and then they were really excited!  Finally Rodger got home and it was time to go see what Santa brought!!!

 

Everyone loved what they got and was thrilled with everything so that was good!  We had our usual Christmas morning rolls for breakfast then Rodger went to bed and the kids played with all their new things.  I fixed a turkey and stuffing and when Rodger woke up that evening we had a nice dinner and relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the day.  It was kind of nice  being on our own but obviously it would have been great to spend it with the rest of our family too.  

I didn't end up getting cards out this year

but I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas 

and may you all be blessed with a Happy New Year!