Coke and Gorillas

Greg and I had quite the Atlanta adventure this weekend! (Thank goodness for the Internet so we could watch part of General Conference at our hotel, and then we can catch up on what we missed now that we are home.) The fun began on Friday when we stopped at Fort Donelson National Battlefield just west of Clarksville, Tennessee. It's actually kind of in the middle of nowhere, but the drive to get there was beautiful. Fort Donelson was the site of the first major victory for the Union Army during the Civil War. It was also where General Ulysses S. Grant earned his nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. The site of Fort Donelson is located right on the banks of the Cumberland River in a very pretty setting--it probably wouldn't have been as pretty with the Union ironclads sending "iron valentines" (the attack was on February 14) to the Confederates, but the setting is really pretty today. After our stop at Fort Donelson, we headed on to Atlanta. We stopped at our hotel and then went and met up with our friends David and Teal at a fun restaurant for a little pre-wedding celebration. Our friends Rose and Chris from St. Louis were there too, so it was really great to catch up with all of them. On Saturday morning Greg and I ventured out into downtown Atlanta and ended up at my new favorite tourist destination: the World of Coca-Cola. It was an awesome place!! They had a lot of stuff about the history of Coke, which was originally intended to be a medicinal drink, and they had a lot of fun memorabilia on display. But the BEST part of the tour is the tasting room where you get to sample 60 different Coke products from all over the world. It doesn't get any better than all you can drink Coke! The worst product was called Beverly, from Italy. It tasted like ear wax. But all of the other drinks were really tasty. My favorites were this watermelon soda from China and Apple-Kiwi Fanta from Thailand (Lindy, I thought of you!). But, out of all of the drinks from all over the world, I think that my very favorite is still Vanilla Coke from the U.S.A. They also had a really great gift shop there where we purchased some new accessories for our retro-themed kitchen. After Coke World, we went back to the hotel and listened to General Conference while getting ready for the big wedding. Our friends David and Teal used to live in Springfield (David worked at the Lincoln Home), and the four of us had a lot of fun adventures together. Greg and I were really sad when they moved to Atlanta for Teal's job with the CDC, but we were happy to get to see them this weekend. The wedding was held at Zoo Atlanta. I have never been to a wedding at a zoo before, and it was quite exciting. They had a really nice wedding ceremony in a beautiful setting amongst the trees. The only problem was that the trees were overlooking the Gorilla Habitat, and right when David and Teal were reciting their vows to each other, the gorillas started getting mad about something! It made everyone laugh. One of the gorillas was even pounding his chest. Maybe he was jealous of David.

Part of the wedding events included a "private gorilla feeding." So after the wedding ceremony, we all went into this building right inside the Gorilla Habitat. They threw bamboo stalks to the gorillas, and it was really fun to watch their mannerisms as they chowed down on dinner. Our favorite part was seeing Baby Henry, pictured here with his mom. He was just born earlier this year, and he was adorable!! A couple of the "teenage" gorillas were quite the show-offs and put on a show for all of us. We had a lot of fun watching them, and I think we were all glad that we didn't have to feed the gorillas ourselves, nor were any of us fed to them :-)

After the gorilla feeding, we had a really nice dinner and some tasty wedding cake. Here we are with David and Teal who both looked really nice for their special day! It was a very nice evening, and Greg and I enjoyed being a part of the festivities. We did get a little lost on our way out of the zoo that night. We were afraid we would end up with the lions, and we did wake up and anger some flamingos, but we ended up making it out all right :-) On Sunday morning we headed back home. We had a fun stop in Carbondale to visit that Agates, and then it was on to Springfield where we discovered that the Spikes had escaped from the enclosure we had rigged up for them in the kitchen, so the house was kind of a mess. Both of the dogs looked very guilty. It reminded us of the YouTube sensation, "Guilty Dog"--this video is so funny! We decided that it was Little Spike's idea to break out, and Big Spike was the muscle who actually broke out. But the house is clean now, so all is well.

Kickapoo and Jubilee

I have had some fun adventures this week! My favorite part about volunteering with Linda is that we get to travel around to state historic sites to help with artifact inventories. (The last time I volunteered with Linda in 2008, right before she was laid off, we traveled to the sites to help them close their doors--so it is much happier now, for the most part.) A few weeks ago on St. Patrick's Day we went up to Galesburg to the Carl Sandburg birthplace and had a good time there. Unfortunately they aren't open very often because their site manager also manages another site about 30 miles away, but at least they aren't totally closed like they used to be. On Tuesday and then again today, Linda and I went up to Jubilee College State Historic Site in Brimfield, Illinois (about 20 miles west of Peoria). Unfortunately they are currently closed due to lack of staff (they only have one employee), but at least they keep him there to maintain the place in hopes that it will open to the public again soon. It is a really cool site! Jubilee College was founded in 1839 by an Episcopal bishop named Philander Chase (cool name). The main building there served as a church, dormitory, and school. Incidentally, Philander Chase raised his nephew Salmon Chase, a future member of Lincoln's cabinet (it seems that everything in Illinois has a Lincoln connection). We had a few adventures while doing inventory. On Tuesday I discovered a dead bat! Then today we were going through all of the books in the library, and Linda found a really old book that was attached to this hidden box. We were hoping that we would open it and find some sort of treasure, but sadly it was empty. The best part of our trips to Jubilee College was having lunch at the Jubilee Cafe in the nearby town of Kickapoo (another cool name). Today I had some tasty homemade apple pie there. I love Kickapoo. Next week Linda and I will have more adventures when we head to Metamora Courthouse. And, Greg and I will have some adventures this weekend when we head to Atlanta for our friends David and Teal's wedding! They are getting married on Saturday at the Atlanta Zoo. Their wedding program includes a "Private Gorilla Feeding," so I'm sure I'll have some good stories to tell.

Fantastic Four!

On Saturday, Miss Eliza turned the big #4!!! Greg and I were lucky enough to get to join the birthday bonanza in St. Louis. I still remember the day Eliza was born--she was so tiny and so sweet, and she had cute spikey hair. She's not so tiny anymore, but she keeps getting sweeter! We met up with the Agates at the Build a Bear Workshop at the St. Louis Science Center. Eliza was SO EXCITED to build her pink teddy bear! She got to fill the bear with stuffing, choose a heart to go inside it, and even give it a bath after it was born.

Leo wasn't sure what he thought of all the commotion . . . but then he decided it was pretty fun.

After Eliza's teddy bear was "born," she got to accessorize, which she loved. As you can see, accessorizing is serious business. When all was said and done, her pink bear was all decked out in ballerina gear, complete with pink flip flops. She even decided to name her bear Tiffy! :-) Greg bought an Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals teddy bear for me, and Eliza was quite worried that we hadn't gotten any underwear for our bear (her teddy got Hello Kitty underwear!). She said, "So, do you have some diapers for him at home so he won't go potty in his new pants?" She is so funny!

Even Leo got to make a bear! His was an astronaut bear named Hubble. Here are the cute/happy kiddos with the bears. After the birthday bear extravaganza, it was time for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Eliza was SO EXCITED about her cheesecake birthday cake--it was hard to focus on lunch. When dessert time finally arrived, she got her very own piece of carrot cake cheesecake, complete with a candle and chocolate writing around the plate that said "Happy 4th Birthday!" It was like a dream-come-true. After eating her cake she said, "I loved enjoying that whipped cream on top!" It was fun to see her so completely happy and excited about everything. I am lucky to have such fun nieces and nephews, and I am happy that we live so close to the Agates. Being able to meet up with them every now and then helps me not feel so far away from everyone.

While we were eating lunch, it started to SNOW (I thought it was supposed to be spring?), and it kept snowing and snowing. The snow piled up quickly, so we and the Agates both got on the road so we could make it home before it got too deep. The funny thing was, once we got out of St. Louis the weather kind of cleared up, and by the time we reached Springfield, the sun was shining! Greg and I had to stop at Wal Mart for something, and when we got out of the car we noticed a couple staring at our car. They said, "Where did you guys come from?" Greg and I were both confused at first--we thought that was a funny question to ask someone you didn't know. But then we both got a look at the front of our car and it made sense. The entire front of our car was PLASTERED with snow and ice. You couldn't see the license plate, lights, or anything! The couple was glad to hear that the snow and ice were well south of us. So it was a good ending to a great day. We had so much fun celebrating Eliza's birthday!!!

They're Coming . . .

When Greg and I went to the St. Louis Science Center on Saturday for Eliza's big birthday bonanza, we saw a real storm chaser truck parked in front of the Science Center! I love watching the storm chasers chase tornadoes on the Weather Channel--I guess because I'm so scared of tornadoes. So I had to have my picture with the satellite truck. I guess this means that tornado season is coming!

Heartbreaker

Well, it sure was a great season for the BYU basketball team, but it had a sad ending tonight against Florida. It has been so exciting to watch Jimmer Fredette win over the whole country with his crazy 3-pointers and scoring frenzies. Greg thought my head was going to explode tonight while we were watching the game--it was SO close and even went to overtime, just like it did when they played Florida last year in the tournament! At one point Jimmer's chin hit the floor and he started to bleed, so they put a bandage on it. Then after the next time out, there was another bandage, and then another, and another. It was awesome how they just kept piling on the bandages, and Jimmer just kept on playing. The whole team did really well tonight, but Florida was just too much for them. Our hopes were high when overtime began, but as the game slipped away, I was pretty heartbroken. But, it was fun while it lasted. And I had just gotten Greg to agree to drive to Houston for the championship game if BYU made it there! :-( I would say "there's always next year," but I don't think BYU will ever have another Jimmer.

At least we had a fun basketball party last weekend when BYU beet Gonzaga while Greg's grandma was here for a visit. His parents brought her over from Iowa for a weekend getaway. We had fun doing such things as visiting the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum . . . and watching basketball :-) Well I'm going to go mope around for a while, but my sadness will be short-lived, as we are headed to St. Louis on Saturday for Eliza's birthday extravaganza which will be SO FUN!!!