Signs that made us laugh...
Do not pick up hitchhikers, detention facility
in the area.
Near Deming, New Mexico...litter control
provided by "ex-Wisconsonites"
Sign heading into railroad tunnel "Do not
enter when flooded" Uh, we generally make a practice not to drive
into flooded tunnels...
Auto collision shop slogan ... "making
friends by accident"
This one made us go, 'eewww' ... on the side of
a septic truck "Turdology Specialists"
Alexisms...
When
Bill, Alex, and Becca were hiking to a small cave up in the hills in Texas,
they heard what sounded like a lamb bleating close by.
Curiosity got the best of them and they went off the trail to follow the
sound. The sound kept moving away
from them but eventually they got a glimpse of a herd of wild goats.
The baby goats were making the bleating.
As they pushed through the brush to make their way back to the trail Bill
told the kids that they were “bushwhacking”.
Alex seemed to like the word bushwhack so Becca and Bill told him to tell
Mom when we got back to the RV that his new word was bushwhack.
Back at the RV they prompted Alex “tell Mommy what your new word is”.
He said “My name is bushwhack!”
Ever since then, whenever anyone asks his name he exclaims “My name is bushwhack!”
Sometimes we explain. Sometimes
it’s more fun not to and watch peoples puzzled
expressions.
Alex
has a little toddler Bible and we read him stories from it.
He has come up with his own titles for a few of the stories.
The good Samaritan is “the man in the road
with the ouchy boo-boos”.
The story of Hannah asking God for a baby is “tricking the baby out”.
It took us a while to figure out which story he was asking us to read
whenever he said that and we still have no idea how he came up with that phrase.
Laura says it is because Hannah was making a deal with God and that was the
trick…who knows!
Whenever
Alex sees a fallen tree, he says "Look it has a bonk-head."
If Alex is asked why he did something he shouldn't have he usually responds
either "So because" or "Mommy (or Daddy) said so" depending
on which parent is not around to contradict such a claim.
A
guide to pronunciations, Alex style:
crutches = crunches
pretzels = prenzils
backpack = packback
cocoa crunchies = crunchie croaches
Alex's Favorite Playgrounds
Alpharetta, GA - near Uncle Albert's and Aunt Lupita's - has a cool
'monorail'
Corpus Cristi, TX - Jr. League Playground on the bay - huge!
Hartford, CT - Bushnell Park - story themed tables, water play, fun equipment
and next to carousel
New Mexico State Parks Playground - big and brand new,
Missoula, MT - downtown - huge wooden, dragon themed playland where you
often find free tokens for the nearby carousel
Spokane, WA - Riverside Park - giant Radio Flyer!
Roses and Raspberries
Roses:
 | All our friends and family who allowed us to
park our rig in their driveways |
| Texas state roads - as good as Florida's! |
| Texans - they are so wonderfully friendly!!! |
| National Park Rangers - especially at Big
Bend. They love teaching visitors about the wonderful features of their
parks. At Olympic National Park, we had one stay late to make sure the girls
got their junior ranger badges. Please write to your congressional representatives and senators to
ask to stop considering outsourcing the ranger and maintenance personnel! |
| State visitors bureaus - great, free
information. |
| New Mexico state park play grounds - fun new
equipment covered by sun tents! Thank you! |
| Oregon state parks - clearly putting that
lottery money to good use! |
| The local, state, and national park systems -
giving us such great access to wonderful treasures. |
| The Golden Eagle Passport - for $65 a year,
it gets the whole family (the holder, their parents and kids) into all our
national parks and forests. A fantastic deal! |
| Junior Ranger programs. The kids may fuss when we make them do it but the activities
help us find and
learn things we might miss otherwise and the little pins and badges are
great souvenirs. Plus the rangers are very supportive. |
| South Florida Science Museum membership (or
almost any science museum) -
great reciprocal agreements with other museums around the country. |
| Signage along 90 heading to Spokane that
labels the crops being grown...takes the guesswork out as your buzzing along
at 60 mph |
| The Empire State Building being super accessible
to those in wheelchairs - we got buzzed to the front of every line |
| Country fairs - we love to see the animals,
crops, and argricultural displays and the kids love the carnival rides and
fair food. |
