Home Again, Home Again Jiggity Jog

Well, we are finally home. Bags have been unpacked, the car has been cleaned out, the mail has been gone through....we are so glad to be home, but had such a wonderful time on vacation!!

To recap, I'm going to make a list of my Top 20 things to take/do on vacation...I guarantee doing/bringing these things will lead to a fun filled vacation full of memories!!

1. The first thing you absolutely must bring on vacation is a stomach bug!!
Oh the joy, when 15 minutes into our drive Ethan threw up. Luckily, I could tell he wasn't feeling well before we got in the car and suggested he bring a bowl and thankfully he has good aim. We did manage to quickly pull over in the parking lot of a chiropractors office, clean him up, rinse out the bowl and get it back to him before he vomited again. Oh the joys of being a parent. At that point I thought for sure we were going to have to just turn around and go home, but when we mentioned it he cried. So being the good parents we are (I actually felt rather guilty) we decided to continue on the road but not before stopping at the grocery store...which leads me to...

2. If you even think you might have a puker on your hands, invest in these for your vacation:

[photo from Glad.com]

I personally do not trust my children's aim to always be as good as Ethan's. I purchased the HUGE 8 cup size. What I liked most about these was the handy dandy lid...had he puked again, we could have just thrown a lid on that sucker and been on our way, not to mention, they came in a three pack which meant all my sympathy pukers got a bowl as well!

3. Number 3 on my list of fabulous things to bring on a vacation is a baby with EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA...we were about here:

[photo from Monticello.com]

When we smelled something, we hoped was the fresh smell of a nearby farm...but no...it was the fresh smell of Joel's derri air (how do you spell that?). This was our car as we pulled into a cute little church parking lot:

I thought for sure we were goners....

So we get Joel out, get him all changed, the boys run off some steam and then potty behind the van, and then my dear husband has a great idea...."Heather, pee in one of those big bowls you just bought...then we won't have to stop again for hours!"...can I just tell you...I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually entertained the thought...I crawled in the back and was so close to giving it a try when two cute little old ladies came out of the church and were staring us down...I just couldn't do it after that.....I really think having all boys is starting to get to me!

4. Well we finally made it to Louisville after 11.5 grueling hours, we were exhausted. It took all day Saturday for us to recuperate, not to mention that now Ethan had a 101 degree fever! On Sunday everyone seemed to be feeling better and we ventured out to do #4 on my list:
If you live in the Louisville area I highly recommend Incredible Dave's. We had a blast. My Dad even convinced Sam and I to try this with him:

[picture from newheights.biz]

It was exhilarating! I finally even worked up enough gusto to try a back flip complete with perfectly pointed toes....my children were very impressed! Later on in our vacation Greg and I went on a date and ventured back over to Incredible Dave's. Greg was my hero, winning over 2000 tickets on "Pop a Shot"! I also discovered that I am pretty good at this game:

I guess 12 years of viola is finally paying off!


5. Number 5 on my list of memorable things to do on vacation is the Kentucky State Fair. The Fair wasn't as fun as any of us previously remembered....but we did enjoy some good old fashioned fair food, complete with Country Ham sandwiches, Cotton candy, corn dogs, tater chips, shake up lemonade (which totally disgusted me as I could literally feel the sugar going down my throat, but the boys LOVED it!) etc. We did enjoy the exhibits, the boys enjoyed "Safety Town" put on by the State Police. I remember the commercials for "Safety Town" from when I was a little girl!

After all the exhibits and food we decided to head to the fairway...GiGi bought enough tickets for the boys to ride several rides. Ethan was still not feeling totally "right" but thought he could handle one of these rides:

[photo from Ontariocountyfair.org]

The first time around he did pretty good and decided he wanted to ride again...the second time around he didn't look so good. I quickly got him off the ride and looked for something, anything the child could puke in...lucky for us there was a large potted plant right beside the ride operator...not so lucky for him....Ethan lost all of his fair food AND it was 90 degrees out. I did my best to water everything down, but I eventually just had to walk away....YIKES!!

Well...it's taken me over an hour to compile this list...you'll just have to wait until tomorrow for the rest!!! Stay tuned!!