26 posts tagged “danielle”

I was just pleasantly surprised to see that my daughter, Danielle, joined Vox this weekend and she's already posting!  She says that she's doing this to keep up with me while I'm away in the hospital.  We don't really get a chance to talk too much when I'm in here so she reads my blog to find out the scoop.  I didn't really know she was doing this.  I think I may have scared her about this situation.

Anyway, please drop by and tell her hello!  She's a BLAST and SO funny.  She'll be a good addition to your neighborhood:-)  Oh, and THANKS in advance!

 

So FINALLY I get to sit back and chill with my girls:-)  Danielle, Julia and I are lounging back on our new and VERY comfortable couch watching "Pretty in Pink".  I think I had this conversation last week with Nicole, about how it still amazes me that my kids love this movie now that it's "old" as much as I did back when it was new.  In fact, the movie is so timeless that I STILL love it.

 

Danielle is so impressed with Molly Ringwald's character because she can make her own clothes to look like the rich people's clothes.  It's kind of weird because my kids don't understand why she's so embarrassed about where she lives.  They don't understand why she feels bad about being poor.  They've been raised to be proud and hold their heads up high even when we're not wealthy.  I had to explain to them that the '80's were all about being materialistic.

Savannah is back in her room watching a movie with her "boyfriend", Josh.  Now, before you raise your eyebrows, she has no door on her room because we can't trust her with ANY single little thing so they have absolutely NO privacy.  Besides that, Josh (Harry Potter #2) is COMPLETELY young for his age.  He's still into Poke Mon (so is Savannah - truth be told).  Josh is a very good friend of ours son.  I've babysat him since he was about 8.  He's 16 now.  He's been diagnosed mildly autistic.  I've already told my friend that if he and Savannah grow up and get married, I will NOT be babysitting their children.  Bi-Polar meets semi autistic.  The gene pool is a little scary!  lol

Anyway, Josh, along with Danielle's new bf Zach, came over and hung out ALL day.  We had an awesome time though.  We broke out the Easter egg die and proceeded to die 4 dozen eggs!  2 dozen are going to the church to help with their HUGE egg hunt this Saturday.

 

 

So here's Zach with our only St. Patrick's Day contribution for the day - the GREEN egg!

 

You know, I know it's weird but these kids (even the 16 year old boys) REALLY liked dying Easter eggs!  Zach comes from a good family and has a lot of little brothers and sisters.  They still die Easter eggs.  He says that their family always has one "trick" egg that's not boiled.  You can imagine the mess when someone in their family tries to peel it:-)  Sounds like MY kind of fun!  lol  Oh, and I'm trying really hard not to like Zach like I did bf #1 (Daniel) just so I don't get MY heart broken when he and Danielle break up BUT I really DO like this kid!  It might have something to do with how good of a "suck up" he is.  He hugs me good bye like I'm his family AND he holds the door open for Danielle.  He has the BEST manners out of any 16 y/o boy that I've seen.  It's ALWAYS good to suck up to the mother!  lol

 

Julia had to babysit the 2 "happy couples" when I had to leave the room and do something else.  I'm still fairly certain I don't want Danielle to be left alone with a boy.  Savannah DEFINITELY can't be trusted with boys but Josh wouldn't know what to do with a girl so we were PRETTY safe.  lol  It was actually Savannah that I didn't trust.  So this is Julia, aka "The Snitch" with her most perfect pink egg!

 

Josh (Harry Potter #2) had SUCH a good time coloring eggs.  His family doesn't EVER do it.  In fact, he has only colored eggs once in his life, which is SO hard for me to believe.  My family has always been so rich in tradition even if we were ALSO rich in dysfunction!  I have a very good mother who made sure that our traditions weren't lost.  I was glad to see that other kids appreciated it too:-)  Josh was mostly fascinated with making his eggs as UGLY as possible.  Creativity is truly NOT his thing!  It's so funny to see Josh and Savannah together.  So far, she's been through 4 boyfriends back to back.  We've always told her that they'd make a good couple one day because they share some of the same strange interests.  They both also have incredibly high IQ's with not a lot of common sense.  Oh well, you can't have it all!  lol

Today was a happy family day.  I'm very thankful for days like these.  I'm also thankful that I get to spend these good times with my kids.  I'm glad that they actually don't mind sharing some of their time with me:-)

The year was 1992.  It was a hopeless one for me.  I had already lived the life of a hundred bad souls.  I had a beautiful little 8 year old daughter and a wonderful, caring soul mate and lover.  It didn't much matter to me though.  I was a 98 pound anorexic who had one foot in the grave.  I had a lot to live for, in hindsight, but it wasn't enough to push me into the land of the living.  I wanted to die.  There were several reasons that I felt this way, even if it was only a subconscious feeling.  I won't go into that now because that's not the purpose of this post. 

I had been told years before this that I would never have another baby besides the one that I already had.  I was trying to make myself feel blessed because I knew I was lucky to have such a perfect child.  I'd always wanted a big family though.  I wanted Amber to have brothers or sisters and maybe even both.  Amber was so lonely and nothing I could do seemed to make much of a difference.  Maybe I just didn't fill that void in her life.  I'd gotten pregnant a few times after she was born but I wasn't able to carry those babies past a few months.  It didn't completely devestate me until I had a miscarriage when she was 7.  Then the reality of her being an only child set in.  I was in an awesome relationship with the most wonderful man and he didn't have children.  He said it didn't matter to him, that Amber was enough.  He enjoyed being a father to her and she was his own, as far as he was concerned.  We loved him so much for this.  His family also made Amber their own but I knew that secretly they'd all be so happy with a baby of their own.

It was the summer of 1992.  We were in Maine visiting my future husbands family.  I was too sick to enjoy Maine much.  I'd already missed my period for the fourth month.  That wasn't too unusual for me though.  Again, I was anorexic and not in good health.  I don't know what made me finally take that pregnancy test.  Maybe a little voice.  The excitement that Mike and I felt when we got the news that it was positive created a high that I haven't felt since!  I went to the doctor shortly after that and it was confirmed that I was nearly 4 months pregnant!  My baby would be born 9 years after Amber but at least I was getting another chance to be a mommy.  Maybe this time, because I was older (27), I could do it right and enjoy every second.

I never had a doubt that my baby would actually be born.  Everyone else did though.  There were problems.  I started bleeding during my fourth month and that's always a sign of miscarriage.  I don't know why I didn't feel worried.  I just didn't.  My mom didn't want me to get too excited.  She didn't want me to be let down if I lost the baby.  She'd cringe every time I brought a new baby item home or prematurely bought matenity clothes.  She wasn't comfortable until my Grandma, who was dying of cancer at the time, shared her premonition that Jesus told her to tell me that my baby was going to be ok.  Grandma hadn't even been told that I was pregnant at that time.  I wasn't married and she was a very strict Catholic.  We just didn't think she needed the news that I'd screwed up once again.  Besides that, I wasn't healthy and we didn't want to worry her.  I'll never forget the day she called me and Mike into her bedroom.  She placed her hand on my belly and told me that Jesus told her that I wass pregnant and he wanted her to tell me that I was going to be just fine and so was the baby.  I burst into tears.  She grabbed Mike's hand and told him that she KNEW he'd be a wonderful father.  She'd seen him with Amber and she thanked him for his big heart.  It was going to make dying easier with her knowing that I would be taken care of.

The months went by and I still had several pregnancy related problems, like toxemia and placenta previa.  Both of which could have killed me or my baby.  The first ultrasound that I had though, showed an itty bitty baby bouncing off the wals of my uteris.  Literally bouncing from one wall to the other.  I just didn't feel like something that vibrant could die!  The second ultrasound I had showed a baby bouncing and sucking her thumb.  I couldn't believe this was really going to happen.  I was scared but maybe too stupid to be THAT scared.  The doctors kept trying to prepare me for the possibility that I could lose this baby.  Toward the end of my pregnancy I had a dream.  My grandmother had already died at this point.  In my dream, she was rocking a baby in a very old rocking chair on a cloud.  The baby was swaddled so much that I couldn't really see it.  When I approached Grandma and asked her what she was doing, she told me that she was taking care of my baby.  She uncovered the baby's head to reveal the most beautiful dark curly hair.  I couldn't see anything else but the hair.  I tried to grab the baby from my grandma but she said that there would be plenty of time for me to hold the baby.  I'd have her for the rest of my life but these last few months God wanted Grandma to take care of the baby and love her for me until it was time that she entered the world.

On March 4 1993, I was admitted into the hospital for emergency induction.  I had my beautiful baby girl at 12:52 a.m. on March 5, 1993.  YES, she had the most beautiful dark curly hair, just like Grandma had shown me in my dream!  She came out screaming and flipping herself out of the doctor's hands, almost onto the cold hard floor.  The nurse caught her right before she hit!  When they weighed her, she flipped herself off the scale like a little fish.  I could hear one of the nurses saying to another nurse "Catch her...  We've got a WILD one here!".  I thought to myself, "Oh my GOD!  What have I gotten myself INTO?!". 

At the exact second of her birth, our little radio was playing "The Rain" by The Cult.  I heard The Cult sing "I've been waiting, for HER, for so long.  Open up the sky and let the rain - fall down". 

 

 

 

"For this child we prayed and the Lord has given us our petition which we asked of him.  So we have dedicated her to the Lord; as long as she shall live, she is dedicated to the Lord" 1 Samuel 1:27-28

Happy 15th Birthday Danielle Elizabeth!  You have been one of the BIGGEST blessings that God has blessed me with.  I can only pray to be as good of a mother to you as you've been a daughter to me!

 

 

Not much of a Super Bowl or football fan here.  However, I was a good wife and didn't object to the Super Bowl being watched today.  How could I say no?  lol

So Ben rooted for the Giants.  I don't know anyone one else who did.  I rooted for the Patriots because my friend Kristine told me to.  Danielle rooted for the Patriots because there was a cute guy on their team (she thinks).  Savannah rooted for the Giants because Ben did.  Rather annoying FAKE screaming and WOO HOOING came out of her mouth during the last few seconds of the game (which is all she watched).  Complete over reaction.  When I asked her if she even knew anything about football, she proceeded to repeat inaccurate accounts of what she knew, which was funny.  I find that geniouses don't like to be "called" on their inaccuracy.  Did I mention that Ben was screaming too when the Giants won.  I tolerated that a little more because he really is a football fan.  Oh and Danielle screamed loudly from the shower because she was immitating Savannah (which was funny).

This is what we did to occupy ourselves today.  The girls (Danielle and Julia) played beauty stylists with each other.  Pretty creative I think:-)

 

Julia presented her perfectly "coiffed" Hillbilly Danielle.  She even went through the trouble of making her very own hillbilly ribbon.  The amount of "teasing" that must have gone into this hairdo makes me shudder with pride!  What a future stylist Julia is.

 

Not to be outdone by her sister...  Danielle shows great promise with her understated "Gator Julia".  What do you think?  It's hard to pick a winner huh?

Goofy but happy sisters!

So how did we end our perfect Super Bowl night, you ask?  Well,  lets just say it has to do with Danielle hiding soggy bread (that she got out of the kitchen sink before she did the dishes).  Where did Danielle hide the soggy bread, you ask?  Where else!  Inside Julia's shoe.  It only took a few hours to find the mooshy bread and Danielle did have to clean Julia's shoe.  Julia is NOT a happy camper and is racking her little brain trying to figure out a good way to get her big sister back.  She'd appreciate any ideas. 

Now, as a mother, I can't really participate in the revenge of Julia but you're all welcome to forward any and all suggestions:-)

Hope your Super Bowl was just as fun!

This is the most GUT WRENCHING thing I've been through as a parent.  Equal only to my oldest daughter leaving the nest and making a go of life on her own.  My beautiful daughter Danielle got the news today that Daniel, her boyfriend of 8 months, broke up with her.  She thought they were soul mates.  They laughed at the same things, had SO much fun together (when they were allowed to be together - they're both only 14) and had all of the same friends.  It doesn't help that he lives in the neighborhood.  They both innocently made plans for thier futures.  When they'd drive by a house that they both liked, they'd make plans to buy it one day when they got married.  They were going to name thier children "Chewbaka" (did I spell that right?) and "Planktin" as a testament to thier warped senses of humor!  lol  They even dressed the same.

I have to admit that we (both kids parents) encoraged this a little because we both thought we saw a "kindred spirit" in both of them.  Of course, we all worried that they were too young for such things but in reality, all they were allowed to be yet was buddies. 

Danielle has been grounded for much of the year.  Grounded as in she can't hang out with friends during the school week because her grades have fallen.  I'm trying to get her to focus on her school work instead of her music and her boyfriend.  Apparently, Daniel didn't like that he couldn't hang out with her during the week.  He said that we wanted a girlfriend who could DO stuff.  He "jokingly" broke up with her today at school (or so she thought).  She just laughed it off as niether one of them are ever serious about anything.  After Danielle and I returned from the doctor (another horrible experience for her), Savannah gloated that she heard Daniel on the bus saying that he was single.  Savannah LOVED this because she knew we all liked him and we never liked her boyfriends.  That's my take on it.  Of course when Danielle called Daniel, he wouldn't answer the phone.  She was absolutely hysterical so I drove her over to his house so that they could talk.  He didn't answer the door but was home.  It was time to face the facts.  I pretty much knew it was true by then and tried to start preparing Danielle for it.  By the time we got back to the house, Daniel was on the phone to confirm the much feared news.  As it turns out, HE was sobbing and hysterical too.  They got off the phone and Danielle ended up in my arms crying harder than I've ever seen one of my children cry.  All I could do was hold her and rub her back.  I tried so hard not to cry, myself but she was KILLING me!

 

Which brings me to the end of my story.  Daniel ended up calling and asking Danielle to come over.  I buckled under the pressure and brought her to his house.  I stayed though and talked to his mother who was almost in tears, as well.  She'd never seen Daniel cry so hard since he was a baby.  She told me that he, in fact was grounded too because his grades were also suffering so she's not sure why he expects her to be able to hang out?  It doesn't really matter, I guess.  Thier school work has to be the priority right now.

BUT in the meantime, have I mentioned that this is KILLING me?  I'd rather have my heart broken a million times than to see what I just saw my daughter to go through.  For those of you who're thinking (like I would be) "What's the big friggen deal" - If you have kids, you'll understand just as soon as thier heart is broken for the first time.  It's just hard to see your child go through pain of any kind, I guess:)

So, this is for you my beautiful little one.  It hurts.  I know.  I wish I could take it all away!

 

Sorry all of my most excellent vox friends and neighbors - for dropping out of existance and not letting anybody know what was up!  I love the PM's from a lot of you asking if I'm back in the hospital and just expressing concern, in general!  THANK YOU but really I'm better than I've been in a long time:)  I feel as well or better than can be expected!  I'm about to tell you what I've been doing and I fully expected you all to laugh at me.  It's ok though.  I'm used to a lot of grief!  lol  The truth is that I've been putting up all my Christmas decorations since the weekend.  My kids were all home and they won't be again until 2 weeks before Christmas so they wouldn't be able to help with the tree.  I know, I know...  I could have waited until 2 weeks before Christmas to put out the big spread but that would equal sacrelige to me!  Generally I put out out Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving but we're going to be in Texas this year so it wont be possible.

Christmas is my FAVORITE time of the year!  I'm such a sap, really.  I fall for all of the glitter and tinsle - just like Whoville (did I spell that right?) in Dr. Suess' "The Grinch That Stole Christmas" (the movie version)!  I love being in a crowded mall (as long as I'm not in a hurry) and watching all the people rushing by with all thier pretty bags.  I love watching "It's a Wonderful Life" 50 times during December and "A Christmas Carol" 30 or more times.  We've already watched "Polar Express" and "Meet Me In St. Louis" with Judy Garland this weekend.  Needless to say, my house is decorated from end to end!  All of the regular decorations (even the pictures on the walls) get packed away to make room for all the Christmas stuff!  I hate the mess and disorganization it causes for a little while but the end product is so worth it!

I've always been this way about Christmas.  I remember this time of year to be the best when I was growing up.  As many of you know, my childhood was riddled with abuse and there was really no good time of the year EXCEPT for Christmas.  My mom went through such great pains to make it special for us.  We'd get home from school on a nonspecified day to find our house of horror transformed into a winter wonderland.  She had a special place for our Bible opened to the story of the birth of Jesus and somewhere near would be the nativity scene.  Everywhere else had the usual garland and tinsle and God only knows how many other decorations in every single room of the house.  We always had a real tree that Dad would cut down from somewhere in the woods, usually cedar, so the smell would fill the house.  Once the Christmas decorations were up, the smell of mom's homemade cookies filled the house every day.  We didn't have a lot of money (mom tells me this but dad's story is different) so mom gave about a million different assortments of cookies to neighbors and teachers and some family members.  Looking back on it, I'd be willing to bet that store bought gifts wouldn't have been as anticipated as her cookies.  She's STILL famous for them!  Anyway, both of my parents passed on their love of Christmas to all of us.  I think I got bit by the Christmas bug a little harder than my youngest brother but J, up until he died, couldn't WAIT for Christmas time.  I guess we looked at it as a time where our family was normal...  The one timne of year where we could FEEL love and peacefulness.  It was all fairy tale but it worked for us and is still working. 

 

  SO...  This is how my extravaganza started...  I came home from getting some more lights for the tree and found my girls pretending to do some carolling!  lol  NO, Julia can NOT play the guitar and Danielle was SO off key but they thought I'd like to come home to find them peacefully singing "Oh Holy Night".  It was funny but maybe you'd just have to be there to appreciate it! lol

 

My mom started a tradition with all of her kids and grandkids, years ago.  She bought us Hallmark ornaments.  My series is Barbie (because I truly still love barbies).  Every year, when it's time to put up the tree, it's like opening up some of our presents early in the year.  We all love to open up the Hallmark boxes to look at the detail on each ornament...  some we'd even forgotten about.  Usually the kids like to put their stupid ornaments beside my most precious barbies!  Like one year, I got a bride and hung her in a special place on the tree.  I came home from work one day to find her married to one of Amber's pro-basketball player ornaments (which should have never gone on the tree because they were ugly in the first place)!  These past few years, they've gotten a big kick out of marrying my barbie off the some Harry Potter character of Savannah's (again because they all know I really despise Harry Potter).  SO here is me hanging my bride barbie.  I haven't checked to see yet who they have her married to THIS year!

 

 Danielle is hanging her Wizzard of Oz ornaments and Amber is just posing because I asked her to look like she's doing something for the picture! 

 

And this is the partially finished tree!  I still have to rearrange the tinsle because the girls just started throwing it at each other and on the tree.  I finally got the entire house done.  It took a solid 3 days with all of us working on it but now I can just sit back and enjoy!  The only thing left to do is have Ben put the lights on the outside of the house (sometime after Thanksgiving).  I hope ALL of you have as much fun with your Christmas as we do!

Doesn't she look mean?  The theme for Halloween this year with Julia and Danielle is Gothic.  They actually HATE gothic's so they've decided to mimic them (I think it helped their decision because Savannah sympathises with gothic's and would be one if we'd let her).  Danielle did Julia's make-up for this picture and I'll be doing her make-up tonight.  Danielle is going as a Gothic Faery.  I'll get more pictures tonight. 

Danielle is going to have several friends over and they're going to run the neighborhood.  This is the first time she's not going to be with us so I'm not sure what kind of fun WE'RE going to have.  Usually Mom and Amber come over and someone stays behind to hand out the candy while the rest of us go to all the subdivisions that we can get to in one night!  I've already let Danielle know that if the cops are called, she's gets to STAY in juvy jail! hehe

 

 

The kids carved their pumpkins last night.  Ben helped Julia with the fine details but for the most part, they all did their own pumpkins.  Has anyone else noticed how much pumpkins are this year?????   Geeze, 3 medium sized pumpkins cost $35!  Maybe it's just here in Missouri.  I've heard that most of our pumpkin crops were destroyed with the spring frost that we had this year.  I think a lot of our pumpkins had to be shipped in from Michegan.  These pumpkins came from a local grower right here in Missouri though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retreiving the pumpkin seeds for roasting later:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danielle's Creation!  I wish you could see them lit up.  They really look SCARY!  lol   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Julia's pumpkin.  This one really turned out cool!  I didn't put a picture of Savannah's because it didn't show up in the picture.  I really need a new camera or I need to figure out how to use this one! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween to all of you!  Hope you get a million pieces of chocolate!  I'm planning on raiding my kids candy bags at around midnight tonight.  Someone has to make sure all the chocolate's not poisoned, right?

My mom loves nature.  She always has.  She likes to be alone in nature...  It gives her peace and allows her to clear her mind.  Sunday, she called and wanted to know if I wanted to take a drive to Elephant Rocks so we can look at the colors change in the mountains.  Of course, I'd just come from a day at Elephant Rocks on Saturday so we decided to take a trip to Hawn State Park.  She wanted to go hiking in the mountains!  Ugghhh!  Ok, so I'll admit, I'm not exactly athletic so I really thought that our rock climbing experience the day before should have given me all the strenuous exercise that I should need for about a year! *lol*   I couldn't let this 60 something year old lady out do me or make fun of me, right?  So I packed up the kids and husband and we (minus Amber) took mom for a Sunday walk through the woods (it would be more accurate to say that SHE took US!)!  I didn't remember Hawn State Park because I haven't been there since I was 9 1/2 months pregnant with Amber when mom was trying to help along the labor process because it appeared that I would never give birth to that baby!  Yes, 9 1/2 months pregnant, I hiked up mountains with my mother!  pretty good, eh?  I'm sure there was more than a little complaining done on MY part, but the important thing is I went! *LOL*   I'm so glad we went yesterday because it was even more beautiful (imo) than Elephant Rocks!  PLUS, we hiked for about 4 miles.  It wasn't the 6 miles that we'd hoped for but 4 is nothing to sneeze at ESPECIALLY with 3 complaining kids (mostly Danielle)!

 

This is mom, walking off trail to show us how adventerous she is.  AND not at all afraid of heights (like me)!  We all enjoyed her being with us because we really don't know much about nature (just that we like being out in it) so she gave us a science lesson.  She quizzed everyone on our way back to the car about things we saw.  We had to name something that we saw on the trail beginning with each letter in the alphabet.  The kids acted like they didn't like being quizzed but I know they did.  It's amazing how observant they really can be (mostly Julia and Savannah). 

 

This is funny:)  Danielle complained from the time we left the car to the time we got back into the car.  The thing she just could NOT understand is WHY none of us would carry her water bottles.  Didn't we understand that she was going to have enough trouble just walking UP the stupid mountain?  *LOL*  This was another lesson in "problem solving" for young Danielle.  She figured out what to do with her "stupid" water bottles! hehe

This was one of my MANY "resting" spots.  lol

This was some of the "less" treacherous terrain!  I thought this wass an interesting picture.

Savannah and Dixie on a cliff.  We brought this silly dog but didn't realise that she wouldn't touch her little paws on anything wet!  So when we crossed the creek (by jumping over wet rocks) Ben had to carry her!  They've spoiled this dog.  If it were up to me, Dixie would learn to LOVE water!  I guess that's not what Beagles were bred for though, huh?

 

This is Pickle Creek:)  Charming name, eh? lol  I'm told that in the spring time, there's so much water that there's a small water fall.  There hasn't been much rain this season so the water was WAY down.  It's still so pretty though:)

 

 

Can you see the monsterous crawdad?  Half the size of a small lobster!  (ok  so not really but CLOSE!)

 

There really wasn't much fall color yet but this was pretty.  I guess the leaves aren't going to change this year for very long before dropping:(  I think it's just been too dry and then it just started getting cold.  There's that global warming again!

My oldest daughter, Amber, is more like me than she cares to admit.  She's been in a "lull" with her life (read:  bored) while waiting to start school full time in December.  I don't think there's enough outside stimuli to keep her entertained and when she gets bored, she becomes a dare devil!  Which, I'm not ok with btw...  This is the child who, while on vacation in the Smoky Mountains this year, tried to make the black bear pose for pictures (oh... about... arms length away from her!!!!!)!  She's also the kid who likes to jump off 30 foot high (or taller) cliffs into a quarry filled with spring water (thankfully no rocks below that water).  I could go on and on with her death defying stunts but I'll save that for another day:)  Anyway, she's been calling lately wondering what I have planned to entertain her!  I'm getting too old to watch her try and kill herself so I haven't had much planned. *lol*  Saturday though, I came up with the idea to go and climb granite rock mountains at Elephant Rocks State Park in Bellgrade Missouri.  This park was named after a series of boulders that look like circus elephants.  It's been a family favorite since I was a little girl.  My parents used to take us to climb the rock mountains in hopes that we would expend some of our energy.  After climbing the rocks, we'd all settle down at a picnic sight, nestled between the boulders, to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken (my favorite part).  Sadly, this Saturday, I forgot to stop and pick up the chicken!  Boo Mom!!!  We still had a great time climbing the rocks and rediscovering some hidden spots that I haven't seen since I was a child.

 

These are some of the boulders that we see as we come into the park.  The state has developed trails that are easy to walk on but we chose to climb up the rocks and not follow the trails (trails are for whimps, right? lol).  The trails are actually perfect for handicap people.  There are information plaques in braille for the visually impaired also.  I don't see this very often.

 

This is Amber in a semi-relaxed state BEFORE she started jumping across boulders!

 

And here's me doing the most daring thing I care to do (holding up a boulder).

 

THIS took some doing!  Julia isn't very daring AT ALL!  She's my "all about personal safety kid".  I thought this would be a good picture so Julia had to jump across some pretty large rocks to get here.  These rocks look like a lions paw (if you could see the whole thing).  I didn't know this (because geology has never really been my thing) - Granite was formed from molten lava which means that Missouri, at one time, had to have been  home to volcanos!  Who knew?

 

Now, this was my favorite part of the hike.  I had never seen this in all the times I've been here.  We went off trail to find a granite building called "The Engine House Ruins".  It's a hollowed out building that has train tracks running through it.  The've been mining grainte here since 1869 and this is where the train engines used to be repaired.  I've read where the USA gets a lot of their granite for buildings here (in Bellgrade) and Missouri made our own historic EADS BRIDGE (across the Mississippi River into Illinois)!  I'm learning all kinds of things!  We hung out at the engine house for a while and walked the train tracks for as long as the tracks ran.  My favorite part of being here was watching Danielle, Julia and Savannah run around like little kids trying to throw moss on each other.  Apparently, Danielle started "it" by putting a handful of dirty moss down the back of Julia's pants!  I completely stayed out of THAT one (although Julia DID try to get me involved).  Julia begged Ben to hold Danielle still so she could return the favor.  This was a lesson in "you have to fight your own battles"!

 

So, this is me, on my perch (empty window in the engine house), watching as the kids learn to "fight thier own battles".  Too fun:)

 

Danielle, laying on a very HIGH rock that she knew Julia wouldn't have the guts to climb in order to throw moss down Danielle's pants!  SUCH a punk!  *lmao*

 

Here's the lake that was made from dinamiting at the quarry.  I remember this lake as being HUGE.  It's not and I was a little disappointed but it was still beautiful.  When I was little, my aunt Melinda told me that dead people were in that lake AND ALL kinds of poisoness snakes (She's only a few years older than me and she knew I was afraid of my own shadow!).  There's a story with the locals that cars were driven off into this lake with the bodies of teenaged kids or other victims.  Mom just told me that this is REALLY supposed to be true.  Supposedly, not too long ago, they drained the lake looking for the body of a kidnapped girl from the area.  They pulled out a lot of old cars but never found the little girl.  SERIOUS goosebumps!

 

 I LOVE this shot of the quarry lake.