christmas eve

Well, techincally it's Christmas. But since I refuse to start the next day before I go to bed, it is still Christmas Eve.
My house is quiet. and dark, except the the tree and the mantle. I have Christmas Carols playing on Pandora. The snow is silently and magically falling. In the stillness there is peace.
I would be lying if I said this was the best Christmas ever. It isn't even close. Not by a long shot.  I think we (those at my house) are feeling the oppression of disease. Everette's mom is one and half weeks into her first chemo. She is feeling pretty ok now, but her white counts are low and I think we are all waiting, our breath caught in our chest.
A lovely women in our congregation, and I do mean lovely, quietly left her body yesterday. She passed away, in her home, next to her beloved husband. Just like that. Silently, without warning, and with no parting words. But she leaves a grieving husband, and a son, and grandchildren.

Today, somewhere across the country, someone I do not know, and does not know me, lost their sweet baby boy. His tiny body only days old could not fight any longer, and he too left a grieving family.

And now Christmas is here. And it seems unwelcome, an inconvenient nuisance.
And yet it is not. Because it is the beginning of hope.
I think it is great that Jesus came as a baby and this is the season we celebrate his birth.  but kind of.. who cares?
"A people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned." Isaiah 9:2

A light. A great light. A tiny flicker of light surrounded by deep darkness. A beacon of hope, and salvation shattering the darkness.  A source of comfort and peace. A lamp, and a torch.
I have been thinking a lot about Jesus being the light of the world. I think because, we are all familiar with darkness. It surrounds us.  And we all know what power the light holds.

John 1:4-5 "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
Amen


John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
The Word of God became flesh.  I think an important thing to know, that before the birth of Christ, there had been 400 years of silence from God. There were no prophets. No one was speaking prophetic words. For 400 long years the Israelites as a people heard nothing from the Lord Almighty.
And then... the word... became flesh. And made his dwelling among the people.

praise God.
for the Light of the World, and the Living Word, in the form of a baby.
ok. my bed is calling me.
Mighty Christmas!

I really am a grown up

One of the ways I mark just exactly how old I feel, since we all know age has nothing to do with adulthood, is by the items on my Christmas/Birthday List.
I used to define "gift" as something you really wanted, but it was totally impractical or completely frivolous. For example: any manner of shoes, hair accessories, makeup, clothing (non-essential), entertainment and jewelry.
Slowly, over a number of years, much like the English language, my definition has evolved.
Into: usable items. Items that benefit other members of my family.
Like a ceramic coated large cast iron dutch oven. Or a food processor. Or 1000 Thread Count bed sheets (best christmas gift ever!).

This year, I mark another notch on my growth chart.
Because this is the number one item on my Christmas list this year.

a mop.

A shark SteamPocket Mop to be exact. But still, a glorified mop.

I  am caught in a conflict of emotions.

My heart literally accelerates, when I think about this gift, but then my cheeks burn with shame that I could actually be excited about something as domestic and unexciting as a mop.

 

Every time I look at my grody floors, I quiver with anticipation. 

I don't know if you have seen the inside of my house, but I have a lot of floor to mop. And I hate mopping. Because... it either requires lugging a bucket, making frequent trips to the sink, dirty water, or 700 swiffer pads and still streaky floors.

But this mop. It is a wonder. It plugs in (no batteries-a big plus). And with two or three cups of water, and one or two WASHABLE pads, I can clean my whole floor.

No special floor cleaner, no buckets of dirty water sloshing all over. Just water.

I am officially 87 years old folks. 

And I really hope I get it this year!

Mocha Truffles (A.k.a. mocha balls)

I get several requests a year for my recipe for Mocha balls. It is a recipe from my grandmother. It isn't a secret and it isn't, I am pretty, sure even hers.
So I figured I would write it all here and from now on just refer people to this site. And so I can remember from one year to the next. If you aren't interested in ever making truffles, then you can just skip this post.
It all started one year when I was too poor/bad at saving money to buy Christmas gifts. Then it continued the next year when I had potential in-laws to impress. Now I am buying presents and making mocha balls. What is up with that? So I have been making them for almost 10 years and I, after several colossal failures, have figured out a pretty reliable system.

Before I go any further, the photo above is not of my actual mocha balls, because, I am way too lazy to photograph the operation. But I promise they will look just like this.

Here is the actual recipe:

1 pkg cream cheese (softened)

24 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted in a double boiler)

3 T instant coffee

2t hot water (am I the only one who prefers big "T" and little "t" when notating tablespoon and teaspoon,                              to me it is much more clear)

2 lb Dark chocolate candy coating

white chocolate

Dissolve the coffee in the water. In a mixer combine cream cheese and melted chocolate. Add coffee. Mix until smooth and combined.

Refrigerate the dough. Once it is solid roll into balls and place in freezer.

Melt dark chocolate, dip balls into chocolate, cool on wax paper. Refrigerate. Eat.

Here are my notes:

I use Starbucks Via (Italian roast) 3-4 sleeves per batch. It is expensive, but SOOOO much better.
Frequently, I melt one 12 oz pkg of semi-sweet chocolate with one 12oz pkg of Ande's mint baking chips.
Try it. You won't regret it. This makes them Peppermint Mocha Truffles

Some procedure hints:

I HATE to get my hands all dirty so I pour the dough into a large rectangular tupperware container and freeze it.
Then I get a melon baller and some hot water and scoop the dough out into little balls.
It is important to get a melon baller like this one. (USE THE SMALL END and you can get more bang for your buck)

Not like this one:

I can't really explain it, but the latter just doesn't work.  The baller needs to be able to rotate completely around to cut out a perfect circle.

Here is the method:
Dip (in warm water)
scoop (really it is more like "Cut")
tap (on the side of storage container, and perfectly round chocolate ball drops into container--ok sometimes it isn't exactly perfectly round, but I have found, that no one complains and they all get eaten)
Dip*Scoop*Tap
and repeat.
Once I have scooped the entire surface area, I stick the container in the microwave for a few seconds at a time to soften it. Once soften, I re-smooth the dough and refreeze and repeat the whole process, a few hours/days later.
When they have all been scooped it is time to start dipping.
First..clear some space in your fridge for a baking sheet to rest. (It can tediously balanced on top of the milk)
Melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave, and thin it with vegetable oil, until it drizzles pretty easily.
Line two baking sheets with wax paper (or aluminum foil, if you suddenly realize you are out of wax paper)
Get yourself a pickle grabber (and Christmas music-this is a critical part of the procedure)
 (or pickle pincher)

grab a few (not all) of the balls from the freezer
use the grabber to dip the balls into the chocolate and drop onto the wax paper. Once you have completed a row, use a fork to drizzle the white chocolate over the top of the balls. (I think it is helpful to do this row-by-row rather than tray-by-tray, because the white chocolate sticks better to the dark chocolate if you get it on there before the dark chocolate hardens).

Pop one tray into the fridge while you dip the other. Once they harden you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge, You can put them in the freezer but they will start to sweat. So I stick with the fridge, or the garage if it's cold outside.
And that is pretty much it.

If you follow my steps and use the small scoop you can get about 6 dozen balls from one batch.
ok one more tiny hint.. spend some time looking for bags to put them in (this is the hardest part for me) because one you start dividing them amongst your friends, you will see that one dozen doesn't look like very much and a half a dozen looks pretty measly, but any more than that and you will be making these on Labor Day. the trick is to find little bags so the bags look full, and it doesn't look so skimpy.

A Vocabulary Lesson

Note: This is a post I started a few weeks ago, and couldn't add pictures. So I abandoned ship.

 
Sorry, I've been gone so long ( I know, I know, what else is new). But this time I really have a good excuse. My left wrist is all out-of-whack and it hurts. Especially to do activities like type. My chiropractor has been working on it and it has been getting better. So I will suffer through for you. Jonathan has been pretty chatty these days and I would say he is about 90% intelligible to me 85% intelligible to Everette and 70-75% intelligible to the rest of the general population. He can master most words if you break them up, and repeat them for him, but he is slow to make these corrections into his everyday vocabulary. So we still have some pretty adorable words.

kabwoon

katatoes

kapleece

alligator

December

I figured it was December and I should probably say something here or hang the whole thing up.
Which I don't want to do, but since I am a mother and this blog is like my second child I have mother guilt due to blog neglect.
Actually, I started a post several weeks ago but stupid blogger wouldn't let me add pictures. So I got cheesed and left in protest.
But as it turns out... someone actually reads this thing, so I shall forge ahead.
November flew by at warp speed. There is much I could say, but I will just give you the highlights.

1. During our trip to NYC we learned that a biopsy Everette's mom had before we left had returned cancerous.
2. We returned home to find out she had breast cancer and the surgeon was recommending a mastectomy.
3. A few days later her surgery was scheduled. and Everette's brother (the one we just visited in NYC) flew back here for a whopping 9 days! (a new record)
4. The surgery revealed that the cancer was no longer confined to the breast.. just barely. And she would require Chemo.
5. In the midst of all this we had some dear friends stay with us. Which was lovely.
6. Spent several days, almost literally passing each other on our way in and out the door.
7. We drove to Alabama for Thanksgiving, with a three-year-old potty-in-training.
8. We got home from Alabama and had a colossal fight.
9. Spent several days barely speaking to each other.
10.Tried to "get in the Christmas Spirit"
11. As a GIANT act of love, Everette bundled up and drove across the county to the tree farm, trudged to the very back of the lot with Jonathan on his shoulders carrying a hacksaw to pick out the very best White Pine Tree. In the beginning of last Sunday's blizzard.
12. Tuesday Everette's mom had her first Chemo treatment.

That brings us to today.


So upon further review this list seems like a total downer. More like "lowlights".

Here are some good things that happened:
Jonathan and I made Christmas cookies!
Jonathan and I have been working on super secret Christmas projects.
I have made12 dozen mocha balls. (sadly those have all been eaten)
Jonathan still after all these weeks, absolutely LOVES to see Christmas lights as we drive.
And... we got to watch Auburn come from behind to thoroughly stomp Alabama the day after Thanksgiving. War Eagle! (this qualifies as one of those things I NEVER thought I would be excited about-never. not in a million years).
Oh... and just one more thing: caramel cake. I am thankful for caramel cake.
Amen.

Peas in a Pod

This is Everette

This is Everette's younger (not youngest) brother Brad.

From a few years ago

He lives and works in New York. You may remember me mentioning him before.

I think it is pretty safe to say that as far as Mills' boys go, they are the most different. They look the most different, and their lives are the most different. 

But after our trip, it is clear that these boys seem different, but they are cut from the same Jell-O mold.

Let me tell you how we discovered this...
It was us, the women folk. We found it out.

It went like this:
 "Brad only blah, blah, blahs."
"OH MY GOSH, so does Everette!"
"No way!"
"way!" (valley girl voices increasing exponentially)

Here are a few similarities we discovered:

1. For starters, they are both in love with women named "Meg(h)an"
      major points right there fellas!

2. They both have had unhealthy attachments to their ratty old high school football shorts

3.They prefer the same sleepwear
   (we're just going to leave it at that, okay?)

4.They both bite their nails.
               some more than others.

5. They are both incredibly ornery.
                I cannot emphasize this one enough.

I asked them to pose in front of this police boat, so I could take a picture for their mother and this... is how they both posed for me, independently, with no co-conspiracy.

6. When you ask either of them a question, you rarely get a straight answer.
                Which can be exasperating.


7.They are both "doer"s, and can rarely sit still
               even when they sit still... they bounce. You know the "leg bounce"

8. Unless there is a football game on.
                 in which case they would catheterize themselves if possible.

9. Every game is "the most important game of the season"

10. They hate pepper on their eggs.

11. They make fun of "others" who like to add salt to their food.
                 Especially if *gasp* they do it before tasting


And finally...
12.They both believe all manner of medical problems can be solved with cuticle trimmers (a.k.a. nippers).
               skin tags, unruly hairs, ingrown toenails, split ends, warts, asthma, arthritis, appendicitis, etc.

Two peas in a pod

I could not pass this up... for the look on Everette's usually stolid face.

Oh and while they may have different "favorite" Jell-O salads, I think we can safely say it is weird that they even both have a favorite Jell-O salad!

A Tangent

I cannot take credit for this, but I do think this is my favorite sentence. I plan to memorize it and perfect it's delivery so that I can throw it out randomly.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo


Just let it sink in. Read it again. Can you figure it out.

Try it this way.
Buffalo buffalo, Buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

I find a few commas make it much easier to read. You can read more here.
There has got to be a punctuation lesson here somewhere!

NYC Part 4

Sunday Morning we dragged (drug?) our tired battered bodies out of bed and headed to Central Park.
To say our bodies were tired and battered, might be an exaggeration, but I am telling you that bed was amazing. Getting up in the morning was kind of like getting out of the pool after floating weightlessly all afternoon.
In other words, a total drag.
Anyway... we ate brunch at the Boathouse Restaurant in Central Park.

Only pictures from the park.

We walked through Central Park, then headed back to the hotel to get our bags.  I asked Brad to take me up to the Third Floor to see the Ball Room. And it was AMAZING!! They were setting up for a wedding.

The ballroom! Just in case you were wondering, those are orchids cascading over the top of those center pieces with crystal chandeliers underneath.

 

Then we waited in the Towers Lobby for our towncar.

The fireplace in the lobby, more orchids.

We had an amazing time, until I got to La Guardia, then I never wanted to be home much in my life.

Goodbye New York.

NYC Part 3

I realize that these post are largely descriptive, and maybe not that interesting, but I really want to write it all down so that in a few years I can remember it more accurately. And since I need an audience for everything I do, you all both will just have to suffer through.
Saturday we woke up and managed to drag our battered bodies out of bed.
We(Everette and I) dressed ourselves and headed down to a restaurant in the hotel that served a breakfast buffet. A buffet, Everette's brother got us complimentary tickets for (because he is awesome), or we would have "suffered" through the continental breakfast upstairs.

I managed to choke down an egg omelet and some bacon and more. I think I am going to have to do a whole post or serious of posts on New York food, because it was amazing. So stay tuned. You know I always follow through on my blog promises.
After breakfast we hopped in a cab and headed to the USS Intrepid museum. Something Everette drummed up. It was actually really interesting. If you ever do it, spring for the audio tour, you really will learn a whole lot more, and you don't have to exert so much energy reading... trust me, in New York, you need to do three things: 1.conserve energy 2. Sit whenever possible and 3. PEE whenever possible.
One super neat thing, there were a few men who actually served on the Intrepid who volunteer at the museum (which is actually the old ship). It was neat to hear them talk about the ship, as they knew it in a very different way. (Hey mom, this is one of those moments when I wished you were with me, so that you could ask a bazillion questions, and embarrass me to death, but secretly I'd  be happy, because I was learning so much and really wanted to know the answers to all those annoying questions you were asking.)

 Reason number one I would never work on a submarine

 Reason number two

 This, from the Growler submarine, is the most badass freestanding mixer ever (until we saw the one in the galley of the ship).

 This is the view from the stern of the carrier (facing starboard)

 This is the view of the bow of the ship (are you impressed with my boat terminology yet?)

 (Our intelligent, charming, knowledgeable tour guides) Apparently helicopter pilots too!

We each took a turn in the G-4 simulator. Which was totally awesome. Once I convinced Everette it would be more fun to spin the crap out of it than it would be to try to "play the game" and actually shoot the enemy.

This is NOT the G-4 simulator. This is the tiny replica rescue boat. On a giant waterbed, so you could really get the feel for what it would be like. At one point all four of us were in it and I really did fear for my life.

We then grabbed a cab back to Brad and Meghan's apartment to watch the Tiger Bowl. We had earlier discussed heading to the bar that plays all things Auburn to watch the game, but I think we were all happy to veg on the couch and watch the game. I am pretty sure everyone took a power nap.

Sorry Meghan, Everette took this, and you just look so darn cute!


We dashed back to the hotel to change clothes and headed to a restaurant called Quality Meats for a divine dinner. I mean.. divine. But again, more on that later.

 I will vouch for Everette here, he is happy, just full!

 So something weird and freaky is happening with my makeup and the camera flash... but what would be a rather adorable picture, is bizarro, as I look like death has just washed over me.

We stopped in at the Apple Store, just to look around.
(I didn't take any pictures here, because I didn't have an iphone, or an itouch, or an icamera or an i-mark-of-the-beast and I was afraid, someone would throw me out..and we had some serious Youtube videos to watch)
Everette and I strolled happily back to the hotel. In a happy, dreamy, food induced haze.

We then walked in through the Main Lobby, which, quite frankly, I am not sure how anyone can come to work every day and not catch their breath every time they step through those doors.

More, more, more, more to come!

A Helpr I a bee: A break from NYC

I have the next part of the NYC trip all written, but you can blame my slow computer for the lack of pictures.. so in the mean time you can see this super cute video of Jonathan.
OK the video quality itself is pretty poor because I took it with my phone. but the sound is what is so dang cute.
A quick viewing note.
1. Jonathan is picking up his toys... cheerfully.
2. Don't forget to turn up the volume!


25525998937 ORIG from Everette Mills on Vimeo.

NYC Day 2

I am currently sitting on a mountain of pillows on a four poster bed, in a white fuzzy bathrobe, and I smell like lemons.
My feet however, ache, and I think I might have literally walked my hips out of socket.
Today Everette's brother Brad took the day off and showed us around the city.
First of all, we need to discuss the room we are staying in...
Brad is the manager of a relatively well-known high end hotel in New York City. It may or may not be on Park Avenue and 50th.  Specifically, he manages the section of the hotel where guests stay for extended periods of time, or even live.
The room is gigantic, and amazing. And there are piles of pillows... soft, sinky pillows.
I just soaked my tired legs in a HOT HOT water, in a deep tub, only after we ate red velvet cake from Room service.
Below is a video tour of our room. And you can see Everette in his jammies. It is four or five minutes long so you might want to go to the bathroom first.

Hotel Room Tour from Everette Mills on Vimeo.

Back to today and my tired feet....
We woke up this morning got dressed, and Brad met us at our hotel at 9 AM. We headed first to ground zero. Sadly, (well I guess not) they have started to rebuild and there wasn't much to see. We did walk into St. Paul's church, a church right across the street from Ground Zero, that in the days following September 11, became a place of rest and refuge for the volunteers.  You could see the scuff marks left on the pews from the Firemen's boots. It was quite remarkable. I didn't take any pictures, because, honestly, it just didn't seem appropriate.
One neat thing, was a priest vestment was donated, and during the following months firemen, and police men attached patches from their stations onto the vestment. In the months and years following visitors to ground zero brought their own similar patches and pinned them on. It was completely covered.

Next we headed to wall street so Everette could get his picture taken with the bull. The front was occupied so we headed to the rear.

I predicted before we arrived, that this picture would be the only one in which you will be able to see Everette's real genuine smile.  You can judge for yourself.

We decided we ought to get our picture in the front, since we were there.

From there we went to Battery Park to get our tickets to the Liberty/Ellis Island Ferry.
The wait was about an hour, but it gave Everette a chance to have a very cold, very salty soft pretzel from a street vendor. I made a much wiser choice (in my opinion) and opted for sugared almonds. They were tasty.

(A crappy picture of how LONG the line was for the ferry)
 
After disrobing to walk through the metal detectors we boarded the Ferry.

We opted to bipass the statue and head to Ellis Island.

If you read earlier posts I predicted Everette would spend a great deal of time reading everything there was to read in the entire museum. I was not wrong.
I pooped out with a few exhibits left, so Brad and I headed down to the cafe for a cup of coffee while Everette finished up.
We then trucked over to the Brooklyn Bridge.

I figured after we hit the halfway point I would just keep on going, just to say I walked to Brooklyn, but when we reached the halfway point.
 
I decided it wasn't worth it, and if walked across, I would have to walk back.
We met Meghan just back over the bridge and after stopping at the most disgusting Starbucks in the world, to pee, we headed to Little Italy, by way of Chinatown.
We accidentally made a wrong turn, which turned out to be a FANTASTIC detour. We headed down a street with rows and rows of tiny Chinese food markets. The kind that have buckets of live frogs and barrels of fish stacked up on ice. THere were roasted ducks with the head and beak. There were baskets of dried shrimp. It was awesome.
We finished with a delicious dinner. And walked through Times Square.


(This is a store dedicated entirely to pop tarts.. you could order them and eat them right there)
 
(There was a ferris wheel inside Toys R Us, and one of the cars was the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe)
 
And back to the hotel through Rockefellar Center.

Sadly, that isn't even everything we did today, but my mountain of pillows is call my name, and we have a full day tomorrow.

Getting there is half the battle

Currently, I am sitting in the new Indianapolis airport, waiting to board our nonstop flight to La Guardia. I have already consumed a hot cup of coffee, and Everette has already sent 36 emails.
If there were ever any doubts that Everette loved me, I am sure of it now. He left his work computer at home. And as we got out of the car he left his work phone in the van.
Our flight is delayed until 5:03... here's hoping it wont' be any longer. Our flight is super crowded, so that should be fun.
Regardless, It is going to be awesome...
I think I mentioned earlier that we decided not to check our bags... it's only 3 days, how hard could it be.
Difficult, as it turns out.
Considering, Everette's shoes take up 75 % of the suitcase space.  But we did it. And here is evidence to prove.

 Traveling with Everette is... an... adventure.
On one hand he does it all the time, and knows EVERYTHING, you need to know. He also has a pretty good system for maneuvering his way through airports swiftly.
On the other hand he does it all the time and he doesn't particularly enjoy it.
For me, flying is still fun. I don't do it all the time, so I still enjoy people watching, and exploring airports.  Especially once I am through security.
Everette, however, from the moment he steps off the shuttle, he is in some sort of derby race with invisible horses, and sprints out of the gate in a dead run.
He will not stop until he gets to his gate.
We get off the shuttle and Everette cranks up his already brisk walking pace to Olympic speed walking.  He bolts to the security line. Once he reaches the line he maniacally maneuvers his luggage through the winding lane ropes used to herd people like cattle through the detectors. He almost took one out.
Once he reaches the x-ray  machine he slips off his shoes rips out his computer and liquids shoves his bags (and mine-whether I was ready or not) through the machine.

Everette is a great man, but I would not want to be in battle with him. He does not subscribe to the "never leave a man behind" motto.  He operates under, you snooze you loose.
Everette scoops up all of our crap and tosses it onto the table, where he proceeds put his shoes back in and repack the bags. I however, still trying to figure out where I am, am left bewildered. I begin to collect myself and begin the task of redressing myself, as I practically had to completely disrobe to make it through security. I had to remove my shoes, my sweater, my insulin pump, and my bracelets. (yes,I could have left the bracelets at home, but the day I stop accessorizing is the day the terrorists win!). I barely had my sweater on, and I looked up and Everette had taken our bags and left. So I with one shoe half on and my sweater tucked in my pants grabbed my purse and followed after.
Begging him to slow down. He did not. He runs on the moving sidewalks. Once we made it through security, in my mind, I thought.. ok, breathe. look around.  find coffee, and food. and restrooms.
Everette was undeterred...so I put my foot down and told him I was going to get coffee and I would just meet him at our gate. He asked me for a mocha and kept on walking.
More later.

less than 24 hours until NYC

I first want to point out that I tried to use the less than sign, but unfortunately Blogspot thinks I am trying to write code. So I actually had to type the words "less than"  which kind of lost it's zing.
Anyway, in a few hours I, and certain other members of my family will be heading East (and a little North) to the Big Apple.
We will be leaving behind a dog and a large burly man, lest anyone be reading this thinking the might like to break into our house. No seriously, there will be someone there.

Anyway, I have these grand visions of blogging during our trip, posting pictures and writing clever stories, but in reality, I probably won't do anything, until I get back.
But a girl can dream can't she?
Anyway, I am excited. I am packed and (mostly) ready to go.
I am most excited about flying with Everette (he does not reciprocate). I LOVE traveling with Everette. We have the best conversations.

Everette's brother and his totally awesome girlfriend have planned the whole weekend. The one thing Everette wanted to do was go to Ellis Island. I don't know how much time the scheduled but I am sure it is not enough. Because the one thing I know for sure about Everette is, if there is some sort of historical or informative fact written on a plaque anywhere in a five mile radius of is eyes, he will read it. All of it, until there is nothing left to read.

So Peace, Love, and Lady Liberty.

Catch up

So about a month ago I mentioned that we took Jonathan to the Whistle Stop. We had a great time! Here are the pictures...

 Jonathan is looking up at the four trains that traveled around the restaurant.

 Everette and Jonathan eating breakfast

Right before we left (after I put away the camera) they opened the caboose and we got to go inside and sit in the top observation deck. It was really kind of fun!

 It really wasn't dangerous!

t

 But Daddy helped anyway!

 Afterward we got our first official Barbershop haircut. It was a very big event.  I have pictures of that, but they are on my cell phone currently.  And it's dead.

Hey... did I mention Everette is taking me to New York City next week? More Details to come.