Roadtrip Chapter 3- To Louisville and on to Nap Town.

We had fully intended on stopping in Cave City, KY on our way to Louisville. They have a Dinosaur World there that we had stopped at when we had driven home after my commissioning two years ago. The kids had loved it then and this time they could actually go through under their own power! It was alot of fun. I am going to have to find the old pictures and show how much the kids have grown since then. We got there right after a rain storm had come through so there were exactly 4 cars in the parking lot and I am pretty sure 2 belonged to the guys running the gift shop. The kids scored some Dino Christmas ornaments emblazoned with Dino World Cave City, KY. It was nice to break up our trip a little as well.

When we got to Louisville it was already way past all the Nielsen's bed time but we were all starving. So, after we all got our stuff upstairs I ran (ok drove) across the street to pick up McDonalds. One of the best McDonalds I have ever experienced - they gave the kids fountain drinks like I had ordered but put apple juice in the happy meal box as well, and they put in fries and apple dippers that really made them both pretty happy. Its always fun to get free stuff!

Next morning the plan was to wait for Jake's younger brother Adam and his son Wylie to come down to Louisville and go to the Zoo with us there. They got there around 9ish and we were all ready to rock. We spent  a few hours at the Louisville Zoo and I think that Jake would agree - Of the free zoos that we toured this was by far the best! They had really cool exhibits and a huge selling point for me was that there were indoor observatories for just about everything you could want to see. The highlight of the day was early on while visiting the Orangutan Exhibit. The large male was up on the fence far away from the window but there were several smaller females eating and hanging out close to the windows. When Thor walked over to the corner to get a better look at the "dominant male" as he called him (Dominate male orangutans have large face "plates" to indicate their position in the community) the big guy came right down and sat by the glass and allowed Thor to get a really fantastic pictures of them together. Then when Thor moved the orangutan got up and moved back to his hiding spot on the fence. Thor is a HUGE fan of Orangutans  and has been for a long time - he has a stuffy orangutan named "Ran" who has been a constant companion for many months now. The funniest thing that he says is when talking about the level of someones intelligence - if someone is really smart is he or she is "smart as an orangutan"- its a compliment, really it is! While at this zoo Thor fell in love with a stuffed Golden Lion Tamarin. He ended up coming home with us- is name is "Tam".

By the end of the day mommy was pretty zoo-ed out and Baleigh was having a hard time with the heat. It wasn't as bad as Nashville but every time we got the opportunity to hit the misting areas we did so.

We had intended to go to the Louisville Slugger factory while in town and get a picture with the worlds largest baseball bat. However, by the time we had gotten some lunch Wylie needed a nap and I was pretty sure our kids (or at least Baleigh) could use one too. Jake and Thor loaded up in Adam's swagger wagon and Baleigh and I turned on Cinderella and were on our way to Indianapolis. Its been a while since I took a roadtrip without Jake. Baleigh fell asleep before we exited the Louisville city limits and I was left in a very quiet car. Typically when the kids fall asleep - so do I. So it was hard to keep alert while on the road. I figured I would call some friends and catch up since I rarely get the opportunity to call anyone anymore while I have quiet time. Pretty much no one was available and I realized that I have very few "friends" numbers in my phone these days. Mostly its SGT so and so or LT what's her name. Only a handful make the "friends" category and they were all on vacation as well. It was a pretty sad realization.

Upon arriving in Indy we unpacked what we NEEDED out of the car and then the kids played the rest of the afternoon away in the yard with all the neighborhood kids. We had a picnic of Jimmy John's (oh how i miss that place) in the front yard and then called it a night. Or some of us did. Our former neighbors the Carlson's were preparing to leave for Fort Campbell in the morning and I hadn't seen them in 2 years! So, I drove over to our old neighborhood and sat on the front steps with Angelique and we talked for hours. It was just like old times - except I wasn't holding a baby monitor. She is one of those people that when we met it was immediate friendship. WE spent alot of time just hanging out back when we lived there and it is what kept me sane in those very difficult 6 months before I joined the Army.

In the morning we headed out to the Indianapolis Zoo. Adam had a family membership that allowed him to get the kids in free. I didn't pay anything  because I am Active Duty and that just left one admission to pay. The Indy Zoo was full of cool stuff. We got to see an elephant get a bath and then were able to touch him on the way out of the bathing are. The kids were able to pet Dog Sharks and that was a serious high point for Thor. Baleigh wasn't quite brave enough to actually touch a shark but she did put her hand in the water near one. We took in the dolphin show that was really cool and then we watched the walrus get some exercise. The most entertaining part for my was watching the kids race cheetahs. In case you didn't know they are the fastest land animal. Being home of the Indy 500 some of the race car drivers funded the enclosure and the cost of bringing three beautiful Cheetahs to Indianapolis. Right outside their enclosure is a track that allows you to see how far you could run before a Cheetah would pass you. The kids each got about a foot. The really fascinating part was when Thor went up to the track and was preparing to run. Two cheetahs came up to the window and trotted the length of the track with him! Then they turned and went back to the shade. I don't know if its coincidence that the animals were just curious in Thor or if there is something about him that draws them to him- either way it made for some interesting experiences.

Again  it was toddler nap time - I wanted to wear our kids out so that they napped on the way to Chicago later that day so we grabbed swim gear and went to the splash park that Thor loved as a little kid. Jake went out and grabbed some more Jimmy John's for us and we had a picnic in the park. One of my besties from college Rachel R. came with her friend to visit us there. Rachel is an paramedic in Indy and were were fortunate to be in town on one of her random days off. They had fun teaching the kids about geo-caches and Baleigh even got to find one in a tree!

The original intent was to go to the Children's Museum in town as well. However, it would have been pushing it to try and get  that much activity into one day. We headed back to Adam and Sarah's house and packed up the remaining things we had their and were on the road to Chicago by 3PM.

Roadtrip Chapter 2- Nashville to Louisville

WE got to Nashville in the early evening on my birthday and decided to just call it a night. We went to the hotel ordered some pizza from a local place and all got ready to head down to the hotel pool. It was a beautiful night - it had just rained so the air was cool (in comparison to the 90+ heat we had been dealing with) and the kids were SO excited to go swimming.Thor is like a little river otter - even though he can't swim yet he just jumps right in. I helped him navigate the pool for a while and then asked Baleigh if she wanted to leave her perch on the pool steps to go swimming with me. She said "no". I took her in anyway. I have never seen her so terrified in my life. She shrieked and wrapped herself around my like I was trying to drown her. I only took her for one lap around the pool but she was pretty mad at me after that. We're going to start looking into swimming lessons for them to get her over this fear of water. Swimming lessons are the one thing that my parents made sure all of us kids had and I think that it is an invaluable skill to possess.

Monday morning the kids and I got up early and enjoyed a simple hotel breakfast before packing the car and waking Jake up. By this point the cool of the night before had worn off and  it was 92 deg. and about 90 % humidity. That didn't stop this family from heading to the Nashville Zoo! We got in with our Association of Zoos and Aquariums pass from the Waco Zoo so it didn't even cost us anything. If you get the chance to check this zoo out it is really nice - and if you ever find yourself living there - get a membership! The one attraction that blew me away wasn't even animal related- it was the 65,000 sq foot "jungle gym". It is a maze of slides, and rope nets, and towers! The kids loved it and the misting areas that are all around it to assist in cooling off. Both the kids were very excited to see a Blue Hyacinth Mcaw - because it was just like the one they saw in "Rio". Thor was also brave enough to feed the Lorakeets when went into their enclosure. They give you a little nectar in a cup and the birds come to you and eat out of your hand. Pretty cool!  When we left the zoo we were STARVING so we headed down town to get food.

The Pancake Pantry was featured on Man Vs Food (Host : Adam Richmond) a few weeks back and I took some notes. We didn't go first thing in the morning because they are ALWAYS really busy. Getting there around 1:30 PM we were seated immediately and had our food in under 15 minutes. I ordered the Village Smithy and it was phenomenal. It is a cornmeal pancake that is incredibly light and fluffy while being loaded with green chiles, bacon, cheese and topped with picante and sour cream. They encourage you to drizzle a little maple syrup on it and I have to say it does bring it to a whole new level of deliciousness! Thor wasn't feeling the pancakes so he got two sides of bacon and in his words "devoured it". I have never been to a place that bakes their bacon instead of frying it. It is a correct level of crispy with no burnt bits and is always flat and perfect looking.  Baleigh got eggs and silver dollar pancakes that she laid into and she said that the blueberry syrup was very yummy as well. Jake got the Cinnamon Raisin Pancakes and they come with a complementary  caramel syrup that rocked my world. We were all STUFFED when we left there and even with the tip the whole meal was under $35! The kids got to keep the cups that their milk was served in so they even came away with a little souvenir cup that reads "At the Pancake Pantry Kids are Little Kings and Queens".

Now that blood sugar has returned to an acceptable level we went a few streets over to  see the Parthenon. That's right- Nashville has a life sized replica of the Parthenon in the middle of one of their public parks! Inside of it is a 45 ft statue of Athena. We didn't actually get to see Athena because the museum is closed on Monday and it was Monday. Bummer! It was fun to walk around it and really think about the remarkable feat it was to construct something of that magnitude with no modern machinery. Even though we missed out on the full experience it was so worth it!

We had talked about going to the Country Music Hall of Fame and The Grand Ol' Opry but in the end we decided we had done enough for the day. Getting back on the  road we headed towards Kentucky!

Roadtrip Chapter 1- Memphis/Mason

Bright and early on a Saturday June 25th, 2011 the Nielsen family embarked on their first but definitely not last family vacation. The car was packed, tummies were happy and we were on our way to MEMPHIS! Along the way we stopped at our favorite BBQ place in Texas (Bodacious BBQ in Sulpher Springs, TX). It was just as delicious as we remembered!

We made awesome time and got to Memphis in the early evening. We decided to go into the city and get a bite to eat and check out Beale ST before the crazies got out. We ate at the Blues City Cafe on Beale ST and although the food is pretty great the service was - well there really wasn't any. Lets just leave it at that. I got the fried catfish and shared it with Baleigh- we both really loved it. We give this the Nielsen rating of 3 thumbs up for taste, 4 thumbs down for service, and the  price was under $10 per plate.

We ventured out onto Beale ST to find it very different from when we had visited in November (we were the only people on the street that night). Even at 7 PM it was hopping with life. We battled through the crowds and walked the length of the the street before deciding to call it a night.

We have never planned out a vacation like we did this one before so we had booked all of our hotels online and here I will make a plug for Travelocity.com. I read reviews and put in the specs of the room that we wanted and we did not pay over $50 for a hotel room (with the exception of the room we rented down town Chicago). They were all clean, quiet, with comfy beds in what appeared to be safe neighborhoods.

We got up early on the 26th (Happy Birthday to me!) and headed to the Blue Plate (a breakfast place that was recommended to us by a local last year when we were there) for breakfast. This place was amazing. I had and omlette with some country hash browns that rocked my world! The portions were enormous and could easily be shared with someone else. We played musical plates at the table so everyone got a chance to taste a few things. Baleigh's blueberry waffle with wild blueberry compote and home made whipped cream was my second favorite. Forgetting about the food for a second- the ambiance was incredible as well. The whole place is painted in a bright sunshiny yellow and then decorated in paintings from local artists. All the paintings are for sale if one really strikes your fancy. Overall the Nielsen Rating for service gets 4 thumbs up, the food gets 4 thumbs up, and the price per meal was under $8 per person. (If you are looking for a peanut butter and banana sandwich they serve it here)

From the Blue Plate we headed to GRACELAND! Years ago when Jake and I were both in College we used to talk about just keeping on I-57 S and going all the way to Graceland. Over a decade later we finally made it. I will make a note here that it is not really  a place to take little kids. Your are given a headset and a handheld "walkman" like device that guides you through the tour. Thor was really bummed that he didn't get a headset so I gave him mine and he "guided" Baleigh and I through the house. I was able to read about everything as we went through the Jungle Room with the built in waterfall and see the beautiful front room all in white with exquisite stained glass peacocks (my favorite room). Jake took a bit of a slower pace white the kids and I moved ahead.

At the memorial gardens Elvis is buried next to his parents and grandmother. Fresh flowers are sent to Graceland daily and they are displayed until they wilt. They come from all over the world even still to this day. Something that I didn't know about him was how protective he was of his family. The upstairs of his home was their hideaway. No one was or is allowed on the second story of Graceland. It has never been photographed and according to his daughter's wishes it will never be open to the public. He was also a man who gave back to his community - if he saw someone who was struggling it was not uncommon for him to just toss him the keys to the car he was driving and give it to them- or to donate large amounts of money to the local charities. Those are things that no one really talks about when they speak of "the King".

We headed out of Memphis around 1PM with Mason, TN as our next destination. Mason, TN aside from being the birthplace of Issac Hayes is also the home of Gus's World Famous Spicy Fried Chicken (according to Clair Robinson on Food Network - and their sign out front). Here we experienced our second taste of what Jake and I consider no service but apparently what is considered standard for the south. : ) We watched as every table in the place was served (some who had come in after us) before our order was even taken. When the waitress finally made her way to our table she said (not asked) "you're having the family bucket" - to which Jake responded "no" and proceeded to tell her what we WOULD be having. The food eventually came (the restaurant was actually empty by this point) and was pretty tasty - however we were left wondering where the spice was. It was well seasoned and juicy but barley had a hint of spice. This place got a Nielsen Rating of  2 thumbs up for taste, 1 thumb down for service, the price for a family meal was about $20.

So ends Chapter One of our Roadtrip Vacation- Next Stop Nashville!

Where has June gone?

Its less than a week until my birthday and I feel like I have no idea where June got to! Last week was an absolute whirlwind of activities. I was prepping for my big event for the year - Organizational Day! and the arrival of one of my best friends - Katie!

I have been planning the Org Day for about 8 weeks now. It is an annual picnic for my entire battalion. Last year it was about 800 people. This year it was more like 2,000+ people. I was in charge of organizing EVERYTHING. That included 4 different inter-mural activities, procuring sporting equipment, trophies, planning family activities for kids from baby to high school, finding a location, getting all the permits necessary to  host such a large event, and then there was the matter of food. I had 2,000 hamburgers, 18,000 hot dogs (buns to accompany both) and all the fixin's, salads, watermelon, chips, baked beans and a spectacular cake to end the day.

Two days  before the event my bread vendor called me to tell me that the individual tasked with picking up the bread had taken it upon himself the week prior to cancel half of my bread order so I was short about 1400 burger buns. I then had to scramble to find a place to purchase that quantity and within my budget. Lets just say some kid was doing some serious pushups to pay for the fact that he "thought" he knew what he was doing. [We ended up getting them due to my awesome shmoozing skills]

19 hours before the event the vendor for my salads [wal mart] called to tell me that they did not have the salads that i had ordered several weeks prior. When I questioned them as to why this had happened they tried to blame it on me! I not so calmly asked to talk to a manager and was put on hold- and then disconnected. When I called back I was told no manager was available but they would take my name and get back to me. I was TICKED! Three hours later Herb called me to see what my issue was. When I explained it he was so apologetic and although they could not get me the pasta salad and cole slaw that we had originally ordered he could get me a couple hundred pounds of mustard potato salad to fill the whole. AT NO COST to my Unit! He personally took care of my order and was a super awesome guy. I sent him a note of thanks for all his help. What an awesome guy!

There were multiple other issues the day prior to the event the last one being resolved about 10 hours prior to "game time".

The even went off beautifully. Although there were many hickups behind the scenes there was nothing that help up the show. I got major kudos from my BN Commander which is a huge deal. I am hoping for an award out of this one. : )

We picked up one of my best friends from college (Katie) on Friday afternoon at the Austin Airport and took her out to the Original Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX. Unfortunately for her she visited during the first heat record breaking week we have had in central Texas in a while. It was never under 100 and reached 106 one day. So, we shopped, went to  the movies and out to eat. It was relaxing and a very laid back visit that I really enjoyed. There are some people that are just meant to be your friend and she is one of them. We can go a year without getting together with one another and when we finally do meet up its like no time has past and we are still best friends. We went out and saw Bridesmaids one night just she and I and it was HILARIOUS! It was good to get out with someone for a change. The kids love their Auntie Katie and I think the most memorable part of her being here for Thor was the games on her phone. She has a game called Angry Birds but Thor kept calling it "mad birds" - I thought that was so cute.

Katie headed home yesterday but we will see her in just about a week. We have made plans to take a central US driving tour. On Saturday we will leave on our trip. We will drive the first day from Texas to Memphis, TN. The plan is to check out Graceland since we didn't see it in November when we visited and hit up the legendary Blue Plate for breakfast. Sunday afternoon we'll head towards Nashville, making a stop in Mason, TN at Gus's Chicken for some spicy fried chicken (we saw this place on Best Thing I Ever Ate).

Nashville is the end point for our Sunday and where I get to spend my birthday this year! In Nashville we intend on visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Parthenon (sounds really cool) and catch breakfast at the Pancake Pantry (featured on Man Vs. Food Nation).

Monday afternoon/evening we'll continue on to Louisville, KY where we will spend the night. If we have time we might hit up the Dinosaur World in Cave City, KY. We stopped there two years ago right after I had got commissioned and it was great! In Louisville the plan is to hit up the Zoo since it is included in our membership to the Waco Zoo and we will get in for FREE! Then we'll swing over to the Slugger factory and take a tour of the factory.

That is going to be a big day but we will get back in the car and finish the day out in Indianapolis. We have made plans to get together with our old neighbors (who are actually moving to Fort Campbell that week) and then hit up the Children's Museum and maybe a water park while we are there.

Wednesday evening we will be heading up to Chicago for a few days. Although both Jake and I have spent a lot of time in the City we have not done some of the more touristy things there. This time we are pulling out all the stops. Baleigh and I are going to go to the American Girl Place and get her baby's hair done and maybe pick out a new outfit or two. Thor wants to go to the Museum of Science and Industry and check out the human heart that is big enough for a four year old to go through. WE are going to check out the Sears Tower since it is free to military and then go to the Water Tower Place for some lunch. We're going to get  a hotel down town so that we are right at the heart of the activity.

Friday we will be heading down to see Jake's family for a couple of days. Katie has extended the invitation to us for 4th of July to go out to a friend's farm and have a bon fire and set off fire works. I think that that sounds like alot of fun.

Tuesday we will start out for home and I will sign back in from vacation on 7 July. Lets just say I CAN"T WAIT!!!!! I just loved these pictures of Jake and the kids so i wanted to share.

First Plane Trip- Holly and Justin's Wedding.

About 5 AM on 1JUN11 we woke the kids up to take their very first plane trip. They were so excited to be going to see Grandma Jill and Grandpa Bob on "the farm". When we got to the airport there was a ridiculously long line in the security area for some reason. After we had been in line for about 15 minutes one of the TSA guys came up and started chatting up Jake and the kids. He saw my ACU colored back pack and asked if we were active duty. I said that yes I was and he instructed us to bypass the line that we were in and go directly to the Priority line where there was no one waiting. He then told us that most airlines recognize active duty military as Priority clients and that we shouldn't have to wait in line again.

The kids enjoyed the whole flying experience. Baleigh and Jake both took naps on the way to Chicago but Thor was awake drawing in his new note book the whole way. The kids have never used markers before so I got some short kid sized (washable) ones for the trip, along with some cool notebooks, and stickers. I also brought the Ipod and Thor quickly discovered a game called parachutes that neither Jake nor I had ever seen on it. When the flight attendant came by to see what we wanted to drink Baleigh asked for some pretzels. Although they don't typically serve snacks to non first class passengers she slipped a packet of trail mix to me for each of the kids. They were so thrilled.

When we got to Chicago we rented the car and headed to Jake's mom's place to pick her up for a Portillo's lunch. It was a little backtracking but so worth it! I was so proud that Baliegh at a whole Chicago style hotdog with out picking anything off. The only downside to going to the Portillo's downtown was that due to traffic and road construction we ended up not getting to my parent's place until about 6PM.

On Thursday I spent the day assisting my mom and sisters in decorating the reception hall for the wedding. We thought it was only going to be a couple of hours and it ended up taking all day. : ) It was fun working with my family on something like this. I wasn't able to make it to the last family wedding and it had been almost a year since I had been home so it was nice to spend some serious quality time with everyone.

When we got back home Jake and I packed the kids up and headed down to the Shannon area to visit some friends from Junior College. "Chuck" and Deanna have two girls Samantha (7) and Katlyn (5). Last  year when we were home we had had dinner with them Katlyn developed a slight crush on Thor. It was still here this year. She let him drive her mini "gator" around the yard and was excited to take him on his first tractor ride. We rode around the farm in a wagon and the kids LOVED it! For as hard as I have tried to get away from farm life my kids sure embrace it when they get there.

                                                          Thor and I at Culver's

                                                         Hannah at the Wedding Rehearsal

                                     Niece Emma (2yrs) wearing  a dress that Baleigh used to love

                              Niece Ivy (almost 1yr) - She was born when we were home last summer

                                                         My big brother Chris and Niece Ivy

                                        Sister-In-Law Tracie, Nephew Cole, Brother Chad, and Thor

The night of the rehearsal dinner I had planned a little Bachelorette party for Holly. From the picture above you can see our evening's entertainment ended up being pretty low budget (for those of you who don't recognize him - that's my dad!) He was just being goofy and it was HILARIOUS!!!

We played a few games that embarrassed my sister and I am pretty sure she LOVED every minute of it. It was just supposed to be the Bride's Maid's and sister in law's but my mom ended up coming along with one of my aunt's and another one of my cousin's. Thankfully I had a few extra gift bags!

                                         

                                       The morning of the wedding- before we got our hair done!

Only the 5 of us will know exactly what happened right before I took this picture- Those are genuine smiles!

                                                           Brother Caleb and Sister Hannah

                                             Niece Kylie and Baleigh in their wedding dresses

                                             Nephews Gage and Cole

                                 Mother and Father of the Bride - my mom had an awesome dress.

                                                        Emma and Baleigh sharing a laugh

                                                              Chilling on the porch swing

                                      Watering plants with Grandpa Bob before we left for the airport.

                                                            Dino in the O'hare Airport

May In Review

May has come and gone in a whirlwind fashion. Early on we celebrated Jake's Birthday and Mother's Day all in one weekend. Jake and the kids looked at my fondness for Dr Who and got me a novelty pen that is also the Dr's sonic screwdriver. I love it! The kids and I got Jake a new set of weights for his big day. Not the most glamorous gift but we just couldn't find anything really great. We also got him a ticket to see Thor (the movie) on opening weekend.

The next 14 days were spent out in the field in a Texas monsoon. It always amazes me how living in miserable conditions brings people together. There were a few people whom I work with that are generally pretty difficult to handle and we all banded together and (as the Army puts it) "embraced the suck".

on the 19th I had my 3rd and hopefully final oral surgery. It was not nearly as painful as the last one and the recover is going about twice as fast as I expected. I get my stitches out on Tuesday and will be back to normal workouts in no time. On top of the fact that I no longer have exposed nerves and constant pain in my mouth!

This past week flew by due to the amazingly large work load that I have been under. I love weeks like this- even if they are incredibly frustrating at times. I got to teach a three hour class on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence to my soldiers. It feels good to be able to give advice I have from life experience to young married guys (and girls).

Memorial Day is tomorrow and here in the Nielsen house we will be remembering those who have gone before us and given the ultimate sacrifice. SPC Michael Smith was Jake's closest friend and he gave his life for his country over 6 years ago. He will never be forgotten.