Monday 10 September 2007

More Live and Learn

We're currently sequestered in the Quality Inn, Asheville, NC having family-wide, post-conference-stimulus meltdown. This is achieved rather easily... simply wake up the kiddos at the ungodly hour of 9:30 am (after a 1:30 am bedtime), drive around the conference facility (Effie walked - she was having seatbelt sensitivity), then drive through the village of Black Mountain but don't stop for any food for the kids cause the driver and navigator can't agree on what to do, where to park, or what we're doing in Black Mountain in the first place. After an eventful spin through the Asheville mall, by 4:30 pm three quarters of us are asleep. We knew this was coming. When you are surrounded by a hundred joyful, like-minded families you don't want to miss one second of it.

Effie saying "see ya - don't follow me". For a five day stretch we saw her while she slept, waved to her at meals and bumped into her once in a while.


Eff with kidnapping buddies Emma and Jayne


Fergus with one of Max and Otto's zipzap remote control cars. Fergus' on-the-road-birthday in three days will most likely feature some variation of this as well as light sabres thanks to the strong influence of our Chicagonian friends. We tried, with moderate success, to return the favour by getting them hooked on Nintendo DS.


More RC car chasing...

3 comments:

Kevin said...

As a father of one of the kidnappers, I extend my deepest gratitude for housing my daughter during the wee hours of each morning at the conference! It was fantastic spending time with you, though I now find it wasn't enough.

P.S. Dan slept the entire second leg of the flight home, obviously exhausted after shunning the attention of the lovestruck gaggle of girls (Effie excluded, of course!).

Anonymous said...

Enjoying all your pictures. Looks like it was wonderful -- I'm jealous!

balloonatikmama said...

"though I now find it wasn't enough": Ah Kevin, ain't it the sorry truth! We cherished every second with you 3 (even the early morning ones) and the wait to see you again at LIFE is Good simply cannot pass fast enough for us!

Hang in there you poor lonely fellow (though I have to admit I occasionally yearn for a lonely feeling to hit me, guess I should be careful what I wish for, eh?)

P.S. Poor Dan. I am not sure Effie was completely unmoved by his beauty, but perhaps not quite as enthusiastic as the others?