Marrying Down

To give a bit of context to the following story, you should know that one day Will asked Jerry "What is a job that makes a lot of money?"  Jerry told him stock brokers make a lot of money on Wall Street buying and selling stocks. 

So the other day Will asked me how much money van drivers make (like the guys who drive the vans that take kids to day care after school).  I told him I didn't really know for sure but probably not a whole lot.  He was quiet for a bit then said, "Well I want to be a van driver one day so I guess I'll just get my wife to do that buy/sell thing so she can make money for stuff like paying the water bill since I won't make a lot of money."

That night at dinner I told Jerry what Will's career plans were.  Jerry told Will that driving a van probably would be fun, and that sometimes wives do choose to work too, but that it's usually a man's job to provide for their family.  (I got a really good laugh a few days later, however, when I saw the headline on the news from the LA Times:  Record number of educated women are "marrying down"  I guess maybe there's hope for Will's career plans after all!)

Obviously though, Jerry's comment made Will think because the next day he came up with a new idea.  He asked how much those vans cost to buy.  I told him (again) I didn't really know for sure but I didn't think they cost very much more than a car or truck.  (Having a kid is a great way to bring to light all the things you didn't even know you didn't know!)  So then he said since they weren't too expensive he decided he would get a job doing that "buy/sell thing" so he could make lots of money then he would buy a van and drive it when he wasn't working, like on the weekends.  He said he would use it "to drive old people around - like if they needed to go to the store or to church or anything." 

Happy Valentine's Day

The huge pile of snow we got hung around all weekend.  I was hopeful that we could avoid shoveling, but we ended up having to clear two tire tracks to get the Explorer back up the hill after we drove it down on Friday night. 

Since it warmed up over the weekend, Jerry and Will got to make an igloo - or at least they started one.  Will was disappointed that it didn't have a top. 

Will helped Jerry a little, but mostly he had fun walking on and stomping through
the top icy layer of snow while Jerry worked.  : )

Will's Valentine's day party at school was postponed until Monday because of the snow.  But that  turned out to be best for me since I had quite a bit of preparation to do.  In addition to the craft and game we also decorated cookies.  Having first hand experience with the mess associated with kids and sprinkles, I tried to plan accordingly.  Thanks to paper plates to place the cookies on and toppings measured out in paper cups it went really well.  Only a few kids upended their cups of sprinkles directly in their mouths!  : )  And I think mine was one of them!

Having the party Monday also allowed Jerry to be there since he had the day off.  : )

 

Will really surprised me with remembering the Valentine I made for him last year (a heart cutout with a secret message in white crayon that he painted over with water colors).  We hadn't talked about it since I gave it to him last year!

So this was the Valentine he made for me this year.
Then he made one for Jerry too.  : )

 

A Snow Cave!

We ended up with a total of 20 inches of snow over the last 24 hours!  It's great - I've never seen so much snow!  We woke up to 14 inches this morning and got 6 more after lunch today.  This is the snow day I've been waiting for!  : ) 

Will shoveled the porch last night...

But it was a bit much for him this morning!

So we opted for snow tubing!

 

Will got a couple of "free rides" up the hill courtesy of Daddy's tow rope!

This morning, 14 inches...

This afternoon, 20 inches (and deeper in some spots!)

Will had fun shoveling out snow caves.  : )

 

Will loved his snow cave - he has been wanting to make one each time it
snowed for the past couple years!  : )

 

The cat and dogs were much less thrilled with the snow than I was!

Notice the wood line you can clearly see in this picture.
Then look back at the one of Will shoveling!
It was REALLY snowing!

You can see the same effect in this picture and the next one.

The snow stopped and we had a gorgeous sunset!

With the moon visible in the blue background on the other side of the sky.
It was just a beautiful day from beginning to end!

An Extended Vacation

We returned home from Florida Monday, January 20, and school was supposed to resume Tuesday.  However, because of snow and cold weather school was out most of that week.  I think he finally went back two hours late on Friday!  We all wished we had just stayed in Florida!

 

Will built an "Olaf" snowman for me since I loved him so
much on Frozen!  : )

 

And together we scraped up most of the snow in the yard and built a big snowman.

 

We never got very much snow, only a few inches total, and mostly it was too
bitter cold to go out for long, but we did bundle up and enjoy a little
snow tubing in the front yard.  : )

 

Then we warmed up with hot chocolate and goofy faces for the camera  : )

 

Will's Travel Journal

While we were in Florida I had Will draw a picture of his favorite thing or what he remembered from the day and write a sentence about it.  Despite lots of protesting while creating them, he has been proud to share his drawings.  : )

 

 

Disney World!

Jerry has been needing a vacation recently, so we planned a trip to Orlando Florida over Will's long weekend in January.  It was a little last-minute (as are many things we do!), so we planned to drive down rather than fly.  We have driven down twice before and each time I say I will never do that again!  Recognizing my reluctance to drive, Jerry did plan a nice overnight stop for us in Savannah, Georgia.  : )

Grandad really loves Disney so we invited him to join us.  After giving it some thought and prayer(since he was still trying to recover his strength from his last bought of pneumonia) he decided to go along.  Sadly, the morning we were leaving he discovered his furnace had gone out.  As cold as it has been, he couldn't leave the house with no heat, so he acknowledged it as a sign that he really wasn't supposed to go.  We really missed having him with us, but even while we were there I thought several times that it really would have been to cold for him to be outside - especially the day we went to Epcot.

During our stop in Savannah we enjoyed dinner at the Lady & Sons restaurant and then spent some time walking through Forsyth Park the next morning before finishing our drive to Orlando.

 

 

Will actually did better on the drive than I thought he would despite the fact that he didn't sleep at all on the way down or back!  Our first day we went to Magic Kingdom.  By the end of the day, Will said his favorite ride was Space Mountain, even though after he got off he was scared to death and admitted to closing his eyes! 

 



 

 

 

The next day we went to Epcot.  It was FREEZING that day because of the wind, particularly in the morning.  That was when I felt most like it was a blessing that Grandad wasn't there trying to fight the cold.  Will was impressed by the ball and was excited about the ride that takes you inside it.  Looking back through the pictures at the look on Will's face, I think he was nervous that the ride would be like Space Mountain!  Of course, his favorite thing at Epcot was the Test Track ride, which we all really enjoyed, despite the incredibly long line we waited through (even WITH a Speed Pass).

 

 

Looking a little nervous!!

 

So cute with his cheeks full of cherries!



 

Will enjoyed a few of the "extra" rides in the parks:  the tram and monorail from the
parking lots, free rides on Daddy's shoulders, and a lift on the "Mama-rail"
when he was worn out by the end of the day. 
Actually, he used the gift card we had given him for Christmas to buy a
toy tram and a set of Disney buses as his souvenir!

After two full days at Disney parks, Will was getting a little worn down and we didn't feel like he could enjoy another park enough to justify the ticket price.  Instead on the third day we opted for something a little more low key.  I looked online hoping to find a nearby park or hiking trail so we could pack a picnic lunch and enjoy some of Florida's natural beauty that is so different from what we see everyday.  I ended up finding Blue Springs State Park just north of Orlando.  It's a natural spring that produces over a million gallons of crystal clear 72 degree water every day.  The warm water makes the area a perfect winter refuge for the West Indian Manatee.  We got great up-close views of them through the clear water - and there must have been over 40 in just one spot!  They really were amazing to see!  The spring is a protected area, but where it flows into the St. John's river, you can rent a canoe and paddle through the river near the spring.  The river water is black so you can't see the manatees as well there but we could see them as they swam close to the surface and right under our canoe.  : )

 

 

 

Too bad I blocked Will with my thumb as a result of trying to turn around and take pictures
while I was scared to death of flipping that canoe in that black water!!

 

 

The house we rented had a heated pool and hot tub, but it was too chilly for the pool to ever heat up enough to really enjoy.  We were able to get the hot tub nice and warm though, so Will enjoyed swimming in that.

Will also enjoyed quite a few rounds of "polar bear plunge" into the pool
then back to the hot tub to warm up!  : )