The Fourth of July and a Bike Ride

We had a pretty low-key Independence Day this year. Jack is still a little young for fireworks and big activities and while it would have been nice to go to Huntsville to see the fireworks at the Space and Rocket Center, it is kind of hard to turn down watching the neighbors shoot of fireworks from the comfort of your bonus room.

Also with all of the rain we have had, we weren't dieing to go out. Jack had a ton of fun stomping in puddles in our driveway.

To make the day special, we grilled steaks and corn on the cob and I made green bean tempura to go with it.

After dinner, we ran into town to get blizzards at Dairy Queen and pick up a RedBox.

Once we were back home, we let Jack stay up until it got dark. He was really mesmerized by our neighbors firework displays. We had full view of at least 3 different shows that were happening across the street and on the other side of the field that is across from us.

When things really started lighting up the sky, he was content to sit in my lap. He was trembling a bit from the loud explosions, but couldn't take his eyes off of the show.

When we move, I am going to miss our neighbors big displays on holidays (though not their random late night fun with fireworks at odd times).

Friday morning, the rain let up and we decided that it was a good time to take a family bike ride.

Jack and Daniel have been going on weekly bike rides on Tuesday nights when I work out, but it was nice to go as a family. The temps were perfect and we didn't get rained on.

We went to Goose Pond Colony and got in about 5 miles of riding. We took a break at the halfway point to walk out on the pier. Jack really wanted to climb in the water, but we weren't prepared to do that.

When we got back on our bikes, Jack found a shell from a cicada on the side of a tree. We let him hold it and when we jokingly asked if he was going to eat it, he started to put it in his mouth!

We made a brief detour on an unmarked trail (also known as a "Daniel" trail). Unfortunately it was too wet and muddy. Daniel made it up a steep embankment (with Jack), but I lost my balance and fell into some thorns.

We have enjoyed spending time together as a family and keeping life low key. We needed to do that since life is about to get crazy again.

Against the Wind

Several weeks ago, Daniel's sisters made plans to come visit us on the second weekend in October and they offered to babysit Jack so that we could go on a date. We don't have many opportunities for free babysitting -- or dates -- so we were certainly interested in taking them up on their offer.

When discussing our date options, I told Daniel that I would love to go canoeing. It has been over a year since we were on the water -- I was 7 months pregnant on our last trip and I have been anxious to get back on the water. Mountain biking was also high on my list but it requires more of a drive than paddling.

Friday night, before Daniel's sisters arrived, we loaded the canoe on the Subaru. Saturday morning we enjoyed breakfast with Jack and his aunts before heading out the door. I'm sure I left them an overly extensive list, but that is what moms do -- right?

We figured that we had a 3-hour window to get out on the water and back home. We drove out to The Docks at Goose Pond Colony to put in -- about 20 minutes from our house. We decided that our goal would be to cross the main channel of the Tennessee River.

To start, the wind was against us. We were averaging 3mph and figured the return trip would be faster since we would have a tailwind.

Lake Guntersville and this area of the Tennessee River have this lovely thing called milfoil. It is basically the kudzu of the water. When canoeing {or boating} you want to avoid this weed since it is difficult to paddle through and motors can get tangled up in it. The waterways have paths through the milfoil that have been treated, which means that you have to take specific routes to cross the lake/river. It also means that you end up in narrower channels with bigger boats. Thankfully most of the boats that passed us were nice enough to slow down when passing us, though we did get to ride a few waves.

Once we made it to the other side of the river, we took a water break before turning around.

On the return trip, the wind died down and then turned into a cross wind. While better than a headwind, it wasn't as good as having a tailwind. We maxed out at 5mph and finished our trip with 4 miles under our belts.

On the way back, we decided to cut through a section of milfoil instead of going around. In the middle of this weed, the wind died down and thousands of tiny little bugs took over our airspace. We could barely breathe as they swarmed our boat. We paddled as quickly as possible to escape the barely visible bugs. We're still not sure what they were. We hope that we don't get caught in them again. Once we were on the open water again, and the wind picked back up, they mostly disappeared.

It was great to get out and do one of our hobbies together again. The weather was perfect -- sunshine with a cool fall breeze. In case you're wondering... the only time we talked about Jack was when we discussed how soon we thought we could bring him out on the water with us.

 

rahh...rahhr...rahh...boom...boom...boom...da..da...da..da..

If Jack could say "Happy Birthday Daddy!" it would sound something like that.  He is stringing sounds together more and more in an effort to communicate. It is really sweet.

Daniel's birthday was low-key this year. Adding a child to the mix and just being plain busy isn't conducive to our usual quick getaway to celebrate routine.

Tuesday night, Daniel's dad dropped in and took us to The Docks to celebrate. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Unfortunately they didn't bother to turn any lights on on the deck {normally there are more candles and tiki torches that are lit}. Eating in almost complete darkness with a baby was a bit of a challenge.

For his actual birthday, I asked Daniel what he would like for dinner. He requested salmon, rice and caramel pie. I honored his request with BBQ-Spiced Salmon with Pineapple Salsa, Rice and a Spinach Salad with Caramel Pie for dessert.

Caramel Pie is a favorite in Daniel's family. It is super easy to make and tastes superb.

Caramel Pie
Ingredients

2 (14 oz) cans Eagle-brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust
Cool Whip Topping
Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions

Boil the cans of condensed milk for 4 hours. The water needs to be a rolling boil the entire time and it needs to cover the cans completely – you will have to add water to the pan as it boils. Make sure you removed the label first.

Once the cans have finished "cooking" removed them from the water and carefully open them – be careful because hot caramel may shoot out the top and you don't want to get burned.

Pour the caramel into the pie crust and let cool in the fridge for several hours.

Once cooled, add cool whip and chocolate chips and serve. 

Delish.

Birth Story Part I: Honey, My Water Just Broke

Thursday, November 10, 2011 started like any normal day. I got up, had breakfast and went to my hour-long cardio kickboxing class. At this point, one day shy of my due date, I don't think the other women were too shocked to see me walk in the door.

Kickboxing was great and I didn't feel any different when I left the rec center. Besides I had been carrying around a beach towel {in my tote bag} all week just in case my water did break. In all honesty I wasn't expecting anything to happen.

After kickboxing I went home and enjoyed a cup of coffee on the back porch with Daniel {he was home for a 4-day weekend}. We talked about how this could be one of our last mornings on the porch together and that we should enjoy this time. We had no clue that this was in fact our last day as a family of two.

After a late lunch we decided that it was too nice of a day to stay home. Initially we considered driving to Huntsville to go hiking at Monte Sano State Park, but in the end decided a leisurely walk {locally} at Goose Pond Colony made more sense. So we loaded Sophie into the Subaru and made our way to town. 

It was the perfect fall day for a walk. We managed to get in about 2.5 miles next to the lake and Sophie was thrilled to be walking somewhere new – lots of new smells to investigate. A couple of times during our walk I felt like I had a stitch in my side, but nothing major. The paved path we were on was next to the main road, so I knew Daniel could go pick up the car and come get me if I actually went into labor.

After our walk we went home and dropped Sophie off and then returned to Scottsboro to see the movie Courageous. While the acting in the movie is so so, the message is an excellent one. It was a bit surreal to be sitting in a movie theater watching a movie about the importance of parenting {particularly the role of fathers}, knowing that we would become parents sometime in the next week or so.

On our drive home we joked about the full moon and how we might go into labor. I had several Braxton Hicks-like contractions during the drive, but didn't think too much of it at the time.

When we were finally home Daniel went outside to start up the grill and I put potatoes in the microwave to bake and started prepping our steaks. All of a sudden I felt a little pop and some water. I opened the door to the garage door and told Daniel that I thought my water had just broken. He asked if I was sure. About that time I felt a gush and said, "My water definitely just broke."

I ran to the bathroom while Daniel called my sister {a labor and delivery nurse}...

Stay tuned for Part II.

Is Daniel a Hippy?

Tuesday night Daniel and I met several of his co-workers at Buenavista, a local Mexican restaurant in Scottsboro, AL. A few other significant others were along, so it was a good chance for a lot of us to meet for the first time. Dinner was great and I feel like I have made some new friends. It helps to know that there are people we can hang out with if we end up moving to Alabama.

Anyways, yesterday, Daniel's co-worker told him that after we all left the restaurant, his wife asked if Daniel was a hippy – her reasoning was that we drive a Subaru! If you know Daniel, this is a very funny question because he is southern boy who is more redneck than anything else. Daniel and I had a good chuckle over that :)

I did a lot of driving around yesterday to try to get a feel for the area. Scottsboro is rural but more livable than I originally thought {especially if we have friends from Daniel's work that will be living here as well}. There is a Walmart, a Home Depot, a good Mexican restaurant and most of the usual fast food joints as well as a handful of local places.

The neighborhoods we visited were varying. Some were very nice. Others were full of singlewides and run-down homes. We found one house on the lake that was in our price range but it is a 45 minute drive south of Bellefonte and we decided if we are going to live that far away, we might as well live in Chattanooga.

It is somewhat comforting to know that there are other couples that are feeling the same stress of trying to decide where to live and to talk about the pros and cons of the process with people that understand what we are going through.

After driving around last night, we stopped to eat dinner at The Docks at Goose Pond Colony. The view of the lake at sunset was amazing. The service of the restaurant was so so, but it was nice to enjoy the views.

Update: It looks like they will be officially restationing everyone to Bellefonte on October 1 {right now they are stationed out of Chattanooga}. With the restationing will come new moving packages but we can't start any house purchases {or anything of that nature} BEFORE Oct 1.