I Can See For Miles and Miles

Whew! 2162 miles, 98 gallons of gas, and too many bathroom and food stops to list. But, you know what? It was worth every minute.

We headed out a week ago last Saturday on our pilgrimage east. The first trek was a scheduled 493 mile jaunt to Hernando, MS. Nothing like driving in 4 states in one day. We left our house about 10:30 in the morning, set the cruise on 75 and pointed the family truckster towards The Mighty Mississippi. It did not take too long for the boys to start in on each other, but Daddy had planed ahead and purchased the boys two mind numbing/intoxicating video games each, so we quickly broke them out. Ahhh....peace and quite for the next couple of hours...yes. Normally that would be great, except that was only the first two hours of a scheduled 8+. Ouch.

The miles flowed by like water, and before you knew, we were there........yeah right......before you knew it, we heard our first "I need to go potty". Grrrr......"Ok buddy, I'll find a place to stop". That sequence was performed 4 more times during the opening leg, and after passing from Texas to Arkansas, to Tennessee, we finally rolled into Mississippi around 7:30pm Saturday night. What a beating. We got everybody fed, including Mystic, and we were all in bed by 9:30. (Note to any of you travelers: If you are going to bring a dog on your trip, do not plan on staying at the Hilton or Embassy Suites or Hampton INN or Motel 6 for that matter. Oh, no, no, no, you just keep going down the line until you get to the Days Inns and Super 8's of the world. Some were bit scary, but beggars with big dogs can't be choosers.)

We woke up early Sunday morning as stiff as the mattresses we slept on. Lori and I perked up a bit after our morning coffee, and we headed out the door to start our day. Senatobia was our first stop of the morning. Senatobia is the resting place of my late father, and it still looks the same as it did when I used to travel there with my family when I was no older than our boys. As I passed by Coleman's BBQ on Main Street I got a bit sad thinking about the last time I ate there with my dad. I was 15 at the time, and we were headed to our current destination, Bethesda Cemetery, to pay our respects to his mother and father. Thinking about that made the lump, that was already in my throat, grow two sizes bigger.

Bethesda Cemetery is small and peaceful, and Dad is buried with his mother and father, his younger brother, and his older sister. There are huge beautiful oak trees standing watch, and just as we got out of the car, you could hear the church bells ringing in the distance. "Hi Dad" was all I could muster before my emotions got the best of me. Thank God I have such a wonderful wife and family to lean on during such times. We had been fighting rain all morning, but just as we arrived the clouds parted for a bit, and beautiful rays of sunshine lit our path. "Thanks Dad" I thought.

Lori and the boys went to work cleaning the markers and pulling a few weeds. I collected my thoughts and composed myself, then took a few pictures. We brought new flowers for each marker, and by the time Lori and the boys were finished, everything was beautiful. As we were gathering our things to leave, I noticed something strange in the dirt on the east side of Dad's grave. "What is that?" I wondered, but as I looked at it more closely, I realized that it was deer tracks. Deer tracks right there beside his resting place! "Wow, Dad is surely smiling now", I told Lori. He would have loved that. He really would have. Rest in peace Dad. I still miss you.


We got back in the CX-9 about 9:00am, and set out on our second leg of the journey. This one was only going to be 432 miles. A walk in the park compared to the day before. Ok, 60 miles less does not seem very noteworthy, but trust me, when the boys are in the car with you for 8 hours, knocking one whole hour off the trip is a Godsend.

The drive from west Tennessee to east Tennessee is long and beautiful. Once you get past Nashville the mountains start and the views are spectacular. After making too many stops along the route ("I need to go potty" is now permanently etched in my brain), we finally arrived at Nana and Pawpaw's farm about 6:00pm on Sunday night. Steve and Dianne were there to greet us, along with their 9 dogs. Yes 9!

Mystic was a bit apprehensive at first, but after a lengthy "smell the butt" meet and greet, she was fully accepted, and ready to run with the pack. Fortunately for rest of us, our greeting of Steve and Dianne was much different, and we made due with lots of hugs and kisses. After unpacking and having a wonderful steak dinner that Steve grilled for us, everybody was pretty tired, and we made an early night of it. Before dinner though, I had an opportunity to snap a picture of the mountains at sunset. What a glorious greeting for some weary travelers. Mmmmmmm......smell that mountain air.....


The next morning came bright and early. (as it always does when Christopher's around) As we were preparing for the day, Christopher found himself a Lady bug friend to play with.


Today was Monday March 14th, which also happeened to be Lori and my 13th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe that we have been married that long already. The years have flown by, and I could not have a better wife. She is the love of my life, and each day I am reminded how truly lucky I am. The flowers that I ordered for the occasion arrived late in the afternoon, and they were as beautiful as their recipient.


As far as the day went, well it was a bit overcast and wet, so we spent most of the day inside visiting and playing various games. We had a great dinner, and after many fierce games of UNO, we all went to bed early.

Tuesday was another rainy day, but we made the most of it. Aidan started the day off by assembling 1 of 2 extremely cool Lego sets that Nana and Pawpaw had surprised him with.


(He is amazingly adept a assembling these. Maybe a future engineer?) Christopher passed the time by playing with the super cool playdoh sets that Nana and Pawpaw got for him, and then moseyed over to the piano to tickle the ivories a bit.


We all got dressed early, and headed out to Outdoor World. Wow, if you haven't been to one of these - go! So much stuff, so little time. Here are Aidan, Nana and Pawpaw posing in front of the HUGE fish tank.


Christopher started getting a bit restless, so on the shoulders he went.


Aidan and Christopher found the ATV section, and they were ready. "Let's ride".


We enjoyed lunch at Cracker Barrel, and headed over to Knifeworks. Knifeworks is located just outside Pigeon Forge, and just as you might have imagined, it is a knife store. A HUGE KNIFE STORE. 3 stories tall, and as big as a grocery store. Every blade that is known to man is located in this store. It's unbelievable how many knives are in the place. They also have a home furnishings section on the bottom floor, so Lori and Dianne had a wonderland of their own. Steve and I were kids in a candy store, and really enjoyed looking at thousands and thousands of knives. After everybody got tired, we finally headed home mid afternoon. Other than me and Steve conversing in the front seats, the rest of the car was like a tomb. Yep, 4 sleeping campers in the back two rows of the CX-9. Good thing it's a big comfy vehicle.

After we arrived home, fed the chickens, cows, horses, dogs and ourselves, we all gathered around the TV and watched some of March Madness. We always each fill out brackets and try to pick the winners. It's amazing how truly awful I am at this. I always seem to end up on bottom. Oh well, at least there is no money riding on my picks. After the games, and of course our nightly games of cut throat UNO, we all made our way to our bedrooms and drifted off to sleep.

Wednesday the weather was getting better, and the cows were ready,


the horses were ready,


and the polar bears were ready,


to watch us go fishing. We started off pretty well, with a couple of fish caught in the first 15 minutes we arrived. Here is Aidan on his side of the pond,


and momma on her side while the cows watched intently.


Aidan caught himself a crappie, and after much coaxing (threatening) he finally held the fish for a picture.


Wow, can you tell by the picture that he was not too sure about the whole "hold your own fish" thing?

While we were fishing, Pawpaw was busy putting hay out for the cows. The cows suddenly lost interest in watching Lori fish, and made a bee line over to their new best friend.


Christopher joined in the fishing escapades, and Aidan was bit angry that Christopher's fake fish on the end of his line was almost as big as the crappie he caught earlier.


As we were leaving, I stopped to take a picture of a recent addition to the herd. It was sure nice of her to pose so well.


Thursday started early, and the weather forecast called for a beautiful warm day. Mystic and her new friend Pebbles waited patiently for their play day to begin.

We all gathered at the breakfast table, and Aidan entertained us with his rendition of "Oh Mammy how I love you".


After our breakfast, it was time for the all the animal's breakfast. Christopher fed and petted the chickens.


Fed and petted the horses.


While Christopher was channeling his inner Jack Hanna, Aidan was channeling his inner Terminator.


"I'LL BE BAUCK"

Just as we got back to the house, I snapped this picture in the driveway.


We then headed for some playtime in one of their pastures.


While one boy ran with this dog,


the other took a more laid back approach and enjoyed the warm sun, cool mountain air, and contemplated life in general.


After tiring ourselves out, especially the dogs, we heading back to the house and Steve cooked us another great steak dinner. Mmmmmmmm..........steak.......

Friday came too fast, and before you knew it, it was time to go. We wanted to get an early start, so we snapped a few pictures,






said our tearful goodbyes, and headed back on the road. Only 983 miles to go until home. Uggghhhh.......................

The trip home (broken up into two days) seemed to go faster than the trip to the farm. Don't get me wrong, it was still a long, long, long ways, but the kids did better, and their were far fewer stops. We ended up getting home at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon, and everyone including Mystic was already missing the farm. We can't wait for our next trip to the beautiful Smokey Mountains.

William

Smokey Mountains or Bust

Well, one more day until we embark on a wondrous (and seriously stressful) road trip. Yep, it's spring break, and we have decided to drive to Nana and PawPaw's house instead of flying. I know, I know, we have lost our collective minds. 17+ hours each way in the car with both our monkeys is recipe for a strait jacket. I'm sure that by the time we get there, we will need every bit of that de-stressful country atmosphere as we can absorb.

We haven't completely lost our minds you see....only partially. We are breaking up the drive there and the drive home into two days. So, now we are only talking about 7 1/2 - 8 hours in the car with the two monkeys and the dog each segment. Gee...when you put it that way.....well, it still sounds like a beating.

Don't worry, we'll have the CX-9 stuffed to the gills with movies, Playstation, Nintendo, yummy snacks, and good music. Hopefully it will be enough to keep Aidan and Christopher distracted. I'm setting the over/under on "When are we going to get there" at 15. I'll probably take the over (Ugh) on that bet.

Wish us luck, and I should be back with some wonderful pictures week after next. Until that time, here are a couple of recent pictures of the kids that I took with my mobile phone. They are really growing up.



Hug them when their young, they grow up fast.

William

Redemption

The first thing that I want to do is apologize to all of the people that have come to our blog in the last few months and found it stagnant. I am sorry. Regular updates will begin this week, followed by a short hiatus next week for "Spring Break", and will then come back with a vengeance afterward. I have found my "mojo" again, and I am looking forward to keeping all of you updated on the ins and outs of the Thornton family.

I have genuinely missed typing the blog. I always feel like I have plenty to say, and if you have met me, you know that to be the case. I am not quite sure why I lost my writing "mojo" there for a while, but that dark shadow has lifted, and a plethora of sunshine has now taken it's place. So I will start getting some picture updates ready, and hopefully have them posted before we leave for our "Spring Break" trip on Saturday.

Thanks for sticking it out with me. It will be worth it.

William

45rpm vinyl birthday

Okay okay, "I am late I am late for a very important date!" The holidays have been speeding by on a roller coaster and both William and I have been deficient on blogging. I wanted to start the rectification process today by backing up a few days to December 21st. This is the day that we celebrated William's 45th birthday.

William you are wonderful to all of us. You are always so generous with your love, time. and yourself to keep all of us going. You are as cool as a vinyl 45 record and I hope that you enjoyed your 45th birthday. (I had to tie in the title somehow!)

Thanks for all that you do for us! We love you very much! Happy Birthday!


PS- Christmas blog/ Cricket's birthday blog/ New year's blog all coming soon!

Cricket's birthday is today! Happy Birthday Cricket!!

Gobble Gobble

I hope all of you have as much to be thankful for as I do. Each and everyday is a gift, and I am thankful for all of the truly wonderful people in my life.

Now........go get that extra piece of pie......it's OK......it's a holiday. Eat, drink, and be merry.

William

"Give me Candy"

Well, our dentist's favorite holiday came and went last night, and our two monsters milked it for all it was worth. Christopher and Aidan are to Halloween as Butch and Sundance were to banks. "If it's there for the taking, why not take it all" is there motto. Let me tell you, they are boys of conviction and live by their creed.

I knew that we were in trouble as soon as I asked Christopher if he knew what to say when he went to the door. "Give me candy" was his answer, and he was not going to take no for an answer. After explaining the whole "trick or treat" thing, and the "thank you" that followed, I hoped (and prayed) we were ready.

Dressed in their disguises, the two bandits pilfered the neighborhood with reckless abandonment (and politeness). At the end of the night , they could only smile (and stuff their faces with candy) as the carnage lay before them. Ahhhhhh.......the sweet taste of victory!





William

Like The Wind

Today my wonderful wife started the Chicago Marathon at 8:22am. Run like the wind honey and make those dreams come true.

You are an inspiration to us all.

William

Endless Smiles

Well, the time has finally come for a proper update. These last few one paragraphs blogs just won't do. Nope, this one will be chock full of my endless verbiage. So, if you can stomach it, read on.

A couple of birthdays have come and gone, and nary a picture on the blog to show for it. Blasphemy it is, a down right scandal. I wish I could claim some glorious or sanctimonious reason for such a blatant disregard for blogging punctuality, but I can't. I am ashamed. I hope a can begin the healing process and make amends by going back in time about one month, and showing you what was missed.

Our youngest primate turned 3 on August 22nd. It's really hard to believe that a boy could become this mean fantastic in only 3 years time. Even though he works every last nerve in our bodies on a daily basis, we wouldn't trade him for anything. Having him around keeps us permanently flustered perpetually young.

Christopher decided this year, that he wanted pink cupcakes for his birthday. Pink happens to currently be his favorite color (and coincidentally the bane of dad's existence). Since pink is his favorite color, Betty Crocker (AKA Lori) decided to delve into her bag of tricks, and create her version of funcakes. I would say the result was outstanding.


Christopher of course loved them, and was ready to blow out the candles and devour some piggies!


I hope I get my wish!



Christopher got everything he wanted and then some. Spoiled rotten that boy is. His main present was his very first bike, and he took to it like a duck to water. On with the robot helmet, over with the leg, and zoom.......keep up if you can.......


Aidan even got into the birthday action by bouncing on Christopher's new pink (uhhhhhhhh.....just shoot me now) bounce pony.


Here are Lori and Cricket looking beautiful, sweet, and innocent.


Please do not let this look fool you. Once they are on the silly string battle field, these two crack shots are as lethal as they come.


What exactly are they both looking at you ask? Well,


take a guess. Yep, deceptive guerrilla warfare at it's finest. Oh, there will be payback....don't you worry about that. Payback.....with a capital P! One can only wonder where such training was learned and subsequently honed to perfection. Hmmmmmm.....any ideas Nana?

The passing of Christopher's birthday could only mean one thing around here........three more weeks until we all partake in Aidan's mirthful birthday festivities. It, like everything else these day, arrived in a flash.

Aidan turned 8 years old on September 13th. 8 years........wow.......it feels like 20! How can he only be 8 years old? Surely that must be wrong. How is it even possible to be that hard headed with only 8 years to perfect his craft? A master I tell you. A virtuoso.

Aidan has been reading the Guardians of Ga'Hoole book series. The books are great, and he is learning quite a bit about owls. Keeping with that theme, Mrs Crocker(Lori) decided to once again display her creative baking skills, and produced these gems.


Aidan of course loved them, and made an insightful wish as he blew out the candles.


(Thank God he didn't choose pink)

We had a small family get together for his birthday, and he had a great time sharing his birthday with his cousins.


Nana and PawPaw sent a great cookie bouquet for the occasion,


and I be you can guess who was first in line.


Aidan got lots of great gifts, and he was really excited about his RAZOR RIP RIDER. Here he is explaining the finer nuances of spin control to his cousin Wyatt.


Aidan is very lucky that his 3 wheeling machine has a weight limit, or he might not ever pry it away from daddy. Lori loves playing on it, and it looks like fun. I have yet to find an adult one, but when I do, look out.

Three weeks, 2 birthdays, endless smiles. Life is good.

William

Inspired

I am hoping to find time over the next few days to post a massive update to the blog. Sorry for the delays. We have had a couple of birthdays and various other picture taking opportunities, and the results are waiting to be posted. I will not fail.

William

The Big Snowman!

Happy 8th birthday Monkeyboy Aidan! I can't believe it has already been 8 years! You are such a special and wonderful boy and we are so proud to have you as our son. The last 8 years have been spectacular and we have loved every minute that you have been in our lives. Welcome to the big snowman (8) Aidan!

Pictures and full blog to come as we are overdue to blog on Christopher's birthday.

Lori

Lollygagging

Nope, I don't really have a good excuse for being late with the blog. I wish I could blame writers block, or some other viable excuse, but that would be a lie. No, It's simply a case of me being too lazy to sit at the computer and type up a blog. Well, as of this morning that has change. I am here, and my finger are pulsing with energy, just waiting to be unleashed on the keyboard.

A few weeks ago, the family unit got the opportunity to take one more summer vacation before the new school year started. Once again, our wonderful friends Kenny and Hailey invited us down to their Galveston beach house for a long weekend. We of course accepted immediately.

As I have said in the past, I like to drive at night. The kids sleep (Lori too...most of the time), and there is a whole lot less traffic. No bathroom breaks, no food breaks, just straight driving. It's exactly 331 miles from our driveway to Ken and Hailey's beach house. Setting the cruise on 71ish mph, gets us there in 4 1/2 hours. We left on Wednesday night at 10pm, and arrived (very sleepily) at 2:30. After unpacking and de-stressing, we went to bed around 3:15am. Some people think it's crazy to drive so late, but doing this actually gives us a whole extra day to enjoy the beach. Who can turn down an extra day at the beach?

We actually got to sleep in a little on Thursday morning. I believe the kids made it to 7:00am instead of their usual 6:00am. Hey, it's a start at least...baby steps...baby steps. Before you know it, we will be living like kings and queens and sleeping until.......wait for it..........8:00am on the weekends. Oh to dream......

After getting up and playing around the house for a while (Lori of course went running on the beach), we loaded up and headed out to our sandy and salty paradise. We all love the beach, even Mystic. I do not think I ever see Mystic happier than I do when I tell her it's OK to go swimming. She is truly a water dog. I guess you could say we are an entire "water family". We all light up like a Christmas tree when we dip our toes in the big blue.

After spending a few hours at the beach (and forgetting to take any pictures), we went back to the beach house and waited eagerly for our hosts to arrive. Unfortunately for Ken, he ended up having to work late, so after calling me to inform me that they would not be arriving until almost 11:00pm, I fired up the grill, and cooked some chicken fajitas, and carne asada. Yummy.

We were all pretty tired after dinner, and went out on the deck to relax. As the sun started to set, a magnificent sky emerged, and the beauty was something to behold. Here is a picture of Aidan and Christopher with as gorgeous a backdrop as you will ever see.


Here is one more with all three of my angels.


The boys were really tired, and they went into their bedroom so Aidan could read him a book. Christopher was all smiles.


He really loves his big brother.


Christopher got into his bed shortly after, and they both were asleep in minutes. Lori and I waited down stairs for our host to arrive while enjoying some cold margaritas, and good music. Kenny, Hailey, Carley and Aubrey arrived about 10:30pm, and after helping them unload their things, we all were dog tired, and went to bed.

Friday started out with a good breakfast of bacon, pancakes and eggs. We played around the house in the early part of the day, and then we headed to the beach. The waves we quite small this trip so we did not get to use our boogie boards very much. We still frolicked in the water and played in the sand. Here is Christopher burying his mom.


While the great cover-up was going on behind us, Ken and I were enjoying the serenity, and contemplating life in general.


We left the beach around 5:00pm, and headed back to the beach house to start preparing dinner. I had picked up some tenderloin steaks before we left home, and tonight they were scheduled to be sacrificed. We fired up the grill, shucked some corn, and opened a couple of JW Dundees Honey Brown Ales. Life is good. After feasting, we got to kids to bed, and stayed up for the next few hours visiting. It always seems that conversation is effortless with great friends. We are very lucky.

Saturday morning came early. Aubrey was bright eyed and all smiles.


As you can see, her smile was contagious.


Once again, we played around the house most of the morning, and then our good friend Kirk came by. It was great to see him, and after he got there, we headed once again to our aquatic retreat. Once there, Kirk decided to join Ken and me in contemplating life's mysteries.


Mystic was frolicking as usual, and Aidan was nice enough to help her with her thirst.


We headed back to the beach house after a few hours, and started prepping the evening's meal. While we were getting the grill ready, Aubrey and Hailey enjoyed some mother daughter time.

Since it was our last night, Shrimp was on the menu. Mmmmmmmm Shrimp.............. We cooked about 8 pounds worth, and ate until we couldn't move. It was grand.

After a pretty late night, Sunday morning came entirely too early. The kids were their usual crazy selves, except for Aubrey, who was perfectly content in her daddy's lap.


Christopher meanwhile was ready to fight crime as BOPPIEBOY!


After breakfast, we all went downstairs and boy and girls big and small enjoyed playing on the Vortex Super Slide.


While Ken and I played Kirk and his brother Keith in horseshoes, Lori recaptured a bit of her youth. Of course, I had to get it all on film.



Unfortunately, it was our last day in paradise, and after spending the entire day playing and joking with our friends, we packed up the CX-9, and left for our home about 9:30pm. It was a long and difficult drive home. I guess I was a bit more tired than usual, and I relied on Lori to help me stay alert for the last hour. We got home at 3:00am on Monday, and slept like babies until 7:00am. Grrrrrrrrr.................

It was good to be home, and the 8 months until our next adventure to Galveston seems like an eternity from now. Hopefully, we can convince Kenny and Hailey to load up and come see us some time in the near future. 8 months away it too long away for good friends.

William

Feliz Cumpleanos Christopher

It's hard to believe that our youngest monkey is turning three today. Time has once again been set to fast forward on life's remote.

Although he is too young to read this, I would like to thank him for the joy he has brought into our lives. Sure, there are lots and lots of times where our patience is at it's wit's end, but those times keep us young and fresh.

Thanks for keeping us on our toes and adding love to our hearts buddy.

Happy Birthday!

William

PS. I've got a bunch of pictures from the trip to Galveston we took two weeks ago to post. It's been pretty hectic around here lately...sorry for the delay. I should have them up in the next couple of days.