on the go....

This fine morning, I am heading out the door to the dentist, the two little girls need cleanings. I hope they don't have any cavities. I think we are bringing little Anne with us too, then Miss Lydia is coming over in the afternoon. Little girls! They keep me hopping, but children bring life into our lives, don't they?

We are such spoiled people, we Americans. Or maybe it's just my family. Not too long ago, frozen waffles were all the rage here, they clamored for them, I bought them by the 60 count box, and they relished them. A few of the girls would eat them on the way out the door to the bus in the morning, and if we ran out, my goodness, we had better get more! Then...they got tired of waffles. I would buy them, and they would sit in the freezer. Yesterday, I bought bagels, small cute ones, and they are happy, because we haven't had them in a while. Jonathan just requested I buy oatmeal, he says it sounds really good. Same thing, they haven't had an oatmeal streak in a while.

Yesterday I was talking to my sister on the phone, and she had to go to the grocery store in the small city for a prescription. (She has major issues with kidney stones, and has a bum kidney, so has to have surgery on Friday to get stones removed, again.)Anyway, I asked if I may join her, so in the afternoon as the older girls were getting home, I went off with just my sister. I bought eggs and cheese and milk and chicken and kitty food and litter. We just went to the one store, then home, so it was nice.

Home...I made a pot of chicken soup...I cut up the chicken breast, rolled it quick in flour with rosemary, salt, and pepper, browned it in olive oil, and added it to a few quarts of chicken stock...then added some sliced carrots, and cubed potatoes, and simmered it for an hour, and voila, dinner! Evelyn made some garlic bread to go with it, and the kids loved it. It WAS really good, and there's lots left for lunch.

I also put a pork roast in the crock pot with some lemon and lime juice and Jamaican jerk spices. It's nice knowing what's for dinner.

The countdown is beginning for our Florida trip. It's going to be really special this year, because Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja are going...(unfortunately Kathryn has to work, and can't make)...and Jonathan, Charlotte Claire, and Camille...we can only fit seven in the van anyway. But the fact that the three high school girls are going with the three homeschooled kids, it's going to be really fun. I hope and pray that the weather will be good as we leave New York and drive through the state of Pennsylvania. Have you ever driven through Pennsylvania? There's one sign that makes me laugh every time, it says: Endless Mountain Region. ha. That's about it. Trees and hills. Add in some snow, and no thank you. It's beautiful, it really is, but it gets old fast.

So I hope the weather is good. Evelyn is an excellent driver, and isn't afraid of traffic. She and I will be the only drivers, and it's 16 hours to Amelia Island in good traffic, without stops. I think it's necessary to always have a passenger who is awake and can talk to the driver, so I will have a turn in the back seat when she is driving, so I can take a nap, which is a huge joke. I mean, if Jon is up there being co-pilot navigator, I'll be back there NOT SLEEPING, getting more tired. I don't know why, I just can't sleep in the car. Unless I'm the one driving through Georgia in the dark, then I'm tired.

We will spend the day, then the night, at Amelia Island, which is right on the Atlantic, then head to Grandma's house, four to five hours away. I'm like, ahh, warmth, I can hang out at the pool in her little park every day for a few hours, there's a hot tub too...and just hang out with her in the mornings and evenings, sounds lovely. The girls are a bit more restless and adventurous, and want to hit a beach while we're there, they've googled the heck out of "beaches near Zephyrhills". We are also planning to go to a theme park for a day, I am partial to Magic Kingdom, we went once and it was a blast. But they want to go to Universal Studios. I think it might be more crowded there, but whatever.

The best part of the trip is just chilling with Grandma. It really is. Being on vacation...ahhh. Paul has a busy travel schedule, and will be in Boston for the two weeks preceding our trip, so that'll be hard. I wish he could just fly to Florida for a few days to be with us, but his work schedule is super busy.

Anyway...time to go to the dentist.