Good Saturday morning!
Blog Linkage - Go to www.number-2-pencil.com if you're looking for some really good recipes. I recently tried her Loaded Sheet Pan Nachos, and they were excellent! I have a couple of others on my list to try very soon.
My Favorite Things RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE
1. Last year, I ordered the Egg-mazing Egg Decorating Kit the day after Easter. I was not disappointed this Easter season. Easy and fun for RT and Judith...
And some of the parents liked it a lot, too.
I checked to make sure it was still available this year. It is VERY expensive right now. I know I paid $15 or less last year, so be careful!
2. I bought The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story to read to the kiddos this Easter. Since we didn't have a typical family Easter get-together due to the Pandemic, Roxie read it to Judith earlier this week. It is a very good book for older preschoolers and kindergarteners, I think.
I usually buy a new Easter book (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.) the week AFTER the holiday to get the half-price discount, but this was a good buy.
Nana B Stuff
Washing the Cars
Sounds super simplistic, but the three and four year-old crowd LOVE the hose pipe, and there seems to always be a car or two in the driveway. They are happy just spraying them down.
RT can spend two to three minutes on each and every tire.
No soap or sponges are used, and I don't let them spray a freshly-washed-by-Mikie car, but on any other given day it is great fun for the little ones.
RT and Judith both like to use the hose to spray the front porch and steps after we've blown bubbles and made a very sticky mess.
As far as time goes, it can easily go 15 to 25 minutes, which doesn't sound like much, but believe me...
It is!
One Big Box
It doesn't have to be a refrigerator box. The size of this box is just fine for what I needed.
It starts out as a ball pit for Eden...
A private place to play with cars for RT...
And a lovely place to paint for Judith (inside and out). The completed painting usually takes about a month of visits.
Then we start all over again.
This box will be with us for several more weeks. I will tape up the tattered corners, and use it until wear and tear make it a floppy cardboard mess...
And then we'll start building forts!
RANDOMNESS #1 - A Zip Lining Story... (or should I say THE Zip Lining Story) - Two years ago, Roxie and I went on our first ever Mother/Daughter Trip, and since we aren't going anywhere in the very near future, I thought I'd post about it one more time.
The Chick and I spend a good amount of time together, but a one-on-one weekend getaway had never really been attempted. I was a little apprehensive as to how the weekend would unfold. I didn't know if my "old woman ways" would get on her very last nerve. I hoped it wouldn't be an issue, but those of you who have been around me know my "ways" (while charming and funny to me) can cause others to openly gasp and gape.
That's right. I said it. Gasp AND gape.
I had no doubt I would love every minute of the weekend. The Chick is a lot of fun and good company 92 percent of the time.
Of the two of us, I was most definitely the "wild card."
All of the above being taken into consideration, I had to plan carefully. In order for this trip to be successful, it had to meet the following criteria...
1. It had to take place in the Fall. Hot, hot weather tends to make my "old woman ways" more pronounced. Plus, I look better in Fall clothing. It's the whole bulky sweater vs. bathing suit scenario. Bulky sweater wins every single time.
2. It had to be less than three hours away from home. Neither one of us felt like driving ALL DAY LONG! We wanted to get there!
3. Good food was also a must.
4. As was a fireplace AND a big, cozy bed.
5. And finally, we needed a fun-to-both-of-us activity.
As some of you may recall, Roxie jumped out of a perfectly good flying airplane, swam with great white sharks and seals AND bungee jumped off the highest "bungee jumping off" bridge in the world this past summer. I wasn't trying to "beat" those moments because that would have been impossible.
But I did think long and hard about this specific part of the trip, because when it was all said and done, the activity was going to be the memory we both would carry away from our trip. Not the fireplace, bed or food.
Nope.
It would be that all-important activity a 57 year-old woman and 22 year-old daredevil could agree upon. Not so tame as to bore the 22 year-old, but not so dangerous as to break any 57 year-old bones.
That's when it hit me. I had always wanted to zip line!
And when I Googled "zip lining resorts" a place called Banning Mills, Georgia popped up on my computer screen. Not only did it have world-class zip lines, but it had good food, a fireplace AND a big, cozy bed.
I checked with Roxie, made the reservations and could hardly wait until November 10 when we were scheduled to embark on this new-to-us journey.
We arrived after dark Friday night, so we weren't able to check out our surroundings very well. Our room overlooking a large creek was rustic and super clean. The main lodge was beautiful.
And our zip lining experience was set to begin at 9:30 sharp the next morning.
Roxie was excited, but I was becoming more and more anxious.
By the time Saturday morning arrived, I had left "anxiety" and had moved quickly to the "terror" portion of the trip.
By the time breakfast was over, and Roxie and I were instructed to head over to the official Zip Lining Class, "terror" became "acute deafness." While I nodded and repeated everything I was asked during the class, I knew I was retaining NOTHING.
The instructors then told us step-by-step how to put on our harness, helmet, gloves, etc. and when they came around to check, I discovered I had done everything correctly because they cleared me for take-off... so to speak.
During our hike to the 100-foot tower (which, by the way, had no working elevator), "acute deafness" turned into "dry mouth" and "numbness in the extremities."
Roxie and I climbed the tower and then crossed a very unevenly built bridge. (I don't want to exaggerate this point. The bridge was safe in that it was very sturdy AND we were hooked onto a zip line the entire time for safety sake. However, it was definitely built to move and sway. Toward the end of the bridge, it went almost straight up a tree, but it wasn't ladder-like because we couldn't bend down and climb like a ladder. We had to hold onto the wires and climb until a guide could grab us and hoist us onto the platform.)
I'll be honest with you. I don't personally know of a 57 year-old woman who wants to be hoisted by anyone EVER in front of anyone EVER!
I am no exception.
You will see a picture below of about one-fourth of the bridge.
Thankfully, the Level 1 Course had only two bridges (one short and one very long) and one tower. If we had added the Level 2 Course on top of the Level 1 Course, there would have been extra towers and a total of SIX bridges.
Just so you know, I was limp after conquering the bridge, and we still had not zip lined. Also, just so you know, The Chick was surprised at how difficult the bridge was, too, so it wasn't just little ol' me.
As I stood on the platform mentally preparing for my first of nine zip lines, one of our guides announced, "That was the hardest part of the course. Now we're going to have fun!"
Relief flooded over me.
Don't get me wrong.
There was absolutely no doubt in my mind zip lining was NOT going to end well for The Enchanting Belinda, but we had come for an adventure and NOTHING was going to stop us from having one...
A great one!
RANDOMNESS #2 - A Zip Lining Story - Part Two - Okay. So this part of the story is all about our two guides, Ross and Drew.
Each group had two guides, and at any given time during the two-hour zip lining experience, it was not totally uncommon for one or more zip liners to come into contact with one or both of the guides...
And when I say "come into contact," unfortunately I mean full body contact...
At ridiculously high speeds.
Before you actually climbed a tower, tackled a swinging bridge or jumped off a zip line tower, you first had to complete a zip lining safety course.
During the course, you were instructed by a young male guide (somewhere in the 20-to-25 year age range) about how to avoid turning backwards on the zip line, flipping upside down on the zip line and the distance your voice carried in the trees when zipping down the line.
The next thing we learned in the class had to do with where your hands should go during "zipping."
Your left hand was to hold onto the top of the main zip lining pulley. The left hand also kept you from turning totally backwards because you steered by turning the pulley slightly to the right or the left which theoretically kept you "straight."
I say "theoretically" because while I didn't turn entirely backward, I did tend to turn to the right each and every time I stepped off the platform. I never could stay completely straight, but I wasn't going for perfection. I was simply trying to survive.
With your right hand, you were supposed to hold the yellow rope in front of your face. This rope was connected to one of two ropes which hook onto the main zip line. If one rope ever failed, you had a Plan B rope.
I am a huge proponent of the "Plan B rope."
After learning the hand placement, they taught us how to slow down when approaching a platform.
You would simply take your right hand, place it above and behind your head on the steel zip lining cable and apply gentle, yet consistent pressure on the cable...
Thus, slowing yourself down to a less deadly speed.
The instructor explained to us if we did "come in too fast," one of our guides would get between us AND the quickly approaching tree.
Basically, the guides didn't want to be hit by flying people at speeds up to 30 mph (and faster), but it was part of their job NOT to let any of us faceplant into a tree.
By this point in the class, my mind had started to wander, and retaining valuable information was just not happening.
Roxie and I had signed up for the Level One Course which consisted of a series of nine zip lines. The two of us were at the rear of our group. One of our guides, Drew, went across first and then our other guide, Ross, sent the rest of us across one-by-one after Drew gave the "all clear."
When it was my turn to cross, I was more or less terrified. Thankfully, peer pressure played a big part of what I ended up accomplishing on the zip line. I didn't want to be the reason ten people I had never met before, (PLUS ten more people in the group behind us) were held up in the trees while the 57 year-old Bucket List Lady was slowly lowered to the ground and picked up by a 4-wheeler to be taken out of the Georgia woods...
Forever labeled a FAILURE!
Nope. Not I!
I took a deep breath and stepped into air...
Just air!
Since I didn't run or jump off of the little platform, AND I'm a little heavier than the average bear, my backside hit said wooden platform...
With a resounding SMACK.
You would have thought that would have slowed me down, but I must have caught a tailwind because I picked up speed very quickly. Before I knew it, I saw Drew holding up both hands. For some reason, I couldn't hear anything except the "zipping" sound I was making, but I could tell by the wideness of his eyes I was coming in "WAY TOO FAST."
I pinned Drew to the tree, and while he took it like a champ, I could tell I had knocked the wind out of him a little.
Maybe even a lot.
"You didn't use your right hand to slow down," he wheezed.
"So you think I came in too fast? Is that what you're saying?"
"Yes. When I held up both hands and screamed, 'TRY TO SLOW DOWN,' and then 'STOP, STOP, STOP,' that is exactly what I meant."
"Okay. I've got it now," I reassured him, and waited for my turn on the next line.
And I meant it...
Kinda…
But I had to admit, it was definitely more of a mental "having it" rather than a physical "having it," because once again, Drew found himself squashed like a bug between me and a tree.
His eyes were definitely watering this second time around, and I tried to convince myself it had more to do with the cold wind in his eyes than actual pain.
He patiently went over the "slowing down procedure" one more time, and I was impressed with his composure and courage as he zipped effortlessly along the third zip line of the day knowing quite well I was probably going to kill him before the end of our two-hour course.
Poor, poor Drew...
And as the zip lining continued and my slowing down failed to improve to any great degree, that is how Roxie and I both started to refer to him.
"Poor, poor Drew is very pale, isn't he?"
"Poor, poor Drew can't seem to catch his breath, can he?"
"Is that a bone sticking out of poor, poor Drew's right leg?"
It wasn't until we reached the seventh zip line that I showed any significant improvement, and whether it really didn't hurt him when I came in OR he was just numb from a lot of nerve damage, I guess we'll never know.
The eighth zip line (which was the longest, fastest and most difficult of the course) was perhaps my favorite. I was no longer afraid of stepping off of the platform, and the bond Drew and I had formed, along with the trust I had placed in him to keep me safe no matter the cost to his own personal health and well-being, was very freeing.
As I glided through the tops of the trees in the beautiful Georgia woods on an equally beautiful autumnal, golden day, I enjoyed every moment of the eighth line from beginning to end.
And as I stood on the final platform before finishing the ninth zip line, there wasn't a doubt in my mind this would be my final zip lining adventure.
It was everything I thought it would be and more, but it was time for me to move on to the next items on my list...
Parasailing and swimming with dolphins.
And if something were to go horribly wrong during the parasailing experience, I might very well get to swim with dolphins all in the same day.
Here's hoping for a twofer!
This is the bridge leading to the first tower I spoke about earlier.
The guides don't take a picture of the part of the bridge that goes straight up the tree.
Nope.
And I know why!
RANDOMNESS #3 - Four (OUT OF TEN) of My Favorite Humans
This one just lost her second front tooth...
This one plays hard...
And relaxes hard!
This one has a new hair-do...
And this one's claim to fame is that she is just too precious for words!
What can I say?
I kinda like them.
RANDOMNESS #4 - Upcoming Post - I'm going to show you how the following simple Dollar General toy can be used (with a couple of other things) to entertain a child or two for a solid 15 minutes (or more)...
At least twice a day!
I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend. It's going to look different from all of the other Easters in my life, but the meaning will never change...
"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!'" Luke 24:1-6
Talk to you soon!
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
When Moms say, "I'm going to the bathroom," kids hear, "Family meeting at the toilet in 5!"
