Our Visit To Greenlawn Cemetery

Last Tuesday, me, Caitlyn, my cousin Rachelle and Aunt Nancy drove down to Greenlawn Cemetery. We arrived around 5:00 and were amazed at how big it was. From the road it looks like a small cemetery but once inside the main road veers off into all these other roads that seem to go on forever. We wanted to find the main office so we could look in the directory to see where our relatives were buried. Aunt Nancy was driving, so she picked a road and we started to go down it. We came upon this huge mausoleum, so we got out of the car and went to take a closer look.




Rachelle is a big Stephen King fan and of all things ghost related so she was quickly at the doors of this creepy looking mausoleum. I was hesitant because although I enjoy watching ghost shows such as Taps and Ghost Hunters I really did not want to see anything for myself. It fascinates me but I'm perfectly fine hearing about other peoples experiences. I admit I'm a chicken. There was a space between the doors and Rachelle was peeking in and taking pictures. I was a little curious so I cautiously peeked in, afraid that an eyeball would be peering back at me. It was musty smelling and you couldn't really see too much because it was so dark but there was a lovely stained glass window on the back wall. When I got home, I did a little research online and the mausoleum was mentioned and it's supposedly haunted. If you knock on the doors, something or someone is said to knock back.
Something strange that did happen is that Caitlyn had brought her camera and had it fully charged before we left home. When she went to take a picture of the mausolem, her camera was dead. It wouldn't even turn on! I gave her my smaller camera to use and had also charged it up before we left and when she turned it on the battery light was flashing and was about to go dead as well. Very weird, to say the least!

Here is Rachelle standing at the doors





Behind the mausoleum there is a swamp, so we walked back to check it out. Talk about goosebump creepy. It looked exactly like something from a horror movie. I half expected to see Freddy or Jason leap up from the water. It was old smelling too.

We got back in the car and preceded on down the road. Did I mention this place was huge? We saw several interesting graves. Many of them where in the shape of the Washington Monument. The next one that made us stop looked like a little cottage. It also had a beautiful stained glass window on the backside. I found this one online as well and it too is supposedly haunted. Some kind of mist is usually seen in front of it.


Rachelle and Caitlyn checking it out


Caitlyn pretending to be spooked



Across the street from the cottage looking one, we see another large building. We thought maybe it was the office but turns out it was a chapel. On the side of the building was a humongous hornets nest. Rachelle went up for a closer look. As she is checking it out, a man in a car drives up and yells to her that it's a hornets nest, to which she replies "I know" She tells him, she wants to get a picture of it. He then drives away and we get a little creeped out because he seemed to come out of nowhere and seemed a little strange.
As Rachelle was taking a picture, her camera started to act funny. She said the power was really low but that she had just put in fresh batteries the night before and had only used her camera a couple times. We were really starting to freak out.




Another stained glass window






By this time it is getting late so we really want to find the office. We start driving again and try a different path. Along the way we see a car pulled off to the side, so Nancy drives up along side of it and Rachelle rolls down her window to ask if the person knows where the office is located. It turns out to be the creepy guy back at the hornets nest. He tells us the office is closed. We thank him and he replies "You all have a nice night" in a scary serial killer kind of way. Ok maybe it was just my imagination and he really didn't sound like that, but I couldn't help wondering why this guy kept popping up everywhere!

We are bummed that the office is closed and continue to drive on hoping by sheer luck that we might be able to locate our relatives graves on our own. We see several Heil's which is my Grandma's family but we weren't sure if they were related. While we were out looking at one, out of the corner of my eye I saw an animal run in between some graves. I thought at first it was a dog and it had a small animal in it's mouth. I pointed it out to Nancy and she said "That's not a dog, that's a coyote!" Fa-reaky!! Rachelle had wandered off at this point and it's like she completely disappeared. I started to worry that she might run into the coyote. It was a good 10 minutes before she reappeared and I was so relieved. The cemetery is known to have open graves so I was worried that she may have fallen into one!

It was about 7:00, and we were getting hungry so we got back in the car and headed back up to the front entrance. We get closer and all of us look at the gate and it's LOCKED! (Cue the Psycho music) Instant lump in my throat and butterflies in the stomach. All I can think is we were going to be trapped in the cemetery overnight. Luckily Rachelle remembers that there is a back entrance so we head back that way. We're driving down all these twisting turning paths and finally make it back to a main road and see the other entrance. As we get closer, we see a guy and he's locking up this gate as well. We stop and the guy doesn't even look back or anything just continues to mess with the lock. He finally turns around and its creepy serial killer guy! I'm thinking ok, we are so dead but then he opens up the gate and steps aside. Rachelle once again rolls down her window and we say goodbye and he once again says "You all have a nice night"(Cue Psycho music once more)

I think I have had my fill of cemeteries for awhile!

It's That Time Of Year....No Not Christmas but Pretty Darn Close

It's been so busy around here the past week. Friday, I took all the kids back to school shopping. The kids have uniforms they have to wear so it makes it easy when buying clothes since there is only a limited variety to choose from. Still took us five hours. We hit Kohl's, Old Navy, Target and finally Office Max for supplies. I think it's pretty crappy that Office Max charges double what Target or Wal-mart does for school supplies. We had a gift card for Office Max so that is why we went there. When all was said and done the total for the day was about $700 and that was only for three of the four kids! That should be an advertisement for preventing pregnancy.
My Aunt and Cousin are both in town as well. They live in Texas and arrived Friday night. Cailtyn, Colton and I went down to their hotel and visited for a couple hours. I love when my cousin is here. It's like we just pick up from the last visit as if there was no time in between. She is only here until Wednesday so I'm hoping to spend as much time with her as possible. We are going down to Greenlawn Cemetery tomorrow. Greenlawn is famous for being haunted and it was also the place where our grandparents were married. I know weird right?! I just found that out from my cousin. My Grandma was even picked up in a hearse for her wedding! I guess my Great- Aunt and Great- Uncle were caretakers of the cemetery and lived in a house on the property. My Aunt said she would spend summers there and at night she would look out the window and see all the gravestones. Creepy! The house has since been torn down. Funny the things you learn about your family that you had no idea about. Who knows maybe we will see a ghost if we're lucky!

This House Is Clean* (said in my best Tangina voice)

*All you Poltergeist fans will get the title :)

Well we all survived the Great Sickness of '09. Chandler is 90% better. His blisters have all scabbed over and he is back to wrestling with Carson so all is good. I am finally able to join the land of the living once again and even managed to get some housework done. Not too much though, don't want to over do it.
I have to take Chandler back to the eye doctor today just so they can recheck his eye and make sure the shingles still hasn't affected it. It looks all clear to me so I'm not worried.
Caitlyn is being taxi driver today and taking Colton over to the high school to pick up their schedules. I can't believe I have TWO high schoolers! Doesn't seem possible.
Everyone starts back next Tuesday and then it's just me and Carson once again. It will be nice to have a little peace and quiet during the day.

Below are some pictures of the fair we went to in Kalamazoo, MI that I was unable to post due to all the craziness of last week.


Carson and Chandler in old timey car



Funhouse





The Scrambler- we were surprised that Carson wanted to ride this!



Fishing Game that Carson suckered us into letting him play.



With a Horse



With a Tractor

Sickness Runs Rampent 'Round These Here Parts

Yesterday we had to take Chandler in to see his regular Dr. because when he woke up, his left eye was swelled shut. We have been very concerned about the shingles affecting his eyesight so they told us to bring him in right away. Charles had to take him on his own since I was all doped up on Nyquil that I had taken before bed because I have now come down with the flu. Trying to deal with two sick children while being sick myself has been quite the challenge. Carson still has the croup. So Charles gets Chandler to the Dr and they look him over and determine that it is just the swelling in his face that is causing his eye to look like he had just gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson and lost. They gave him another prescription, Tylenol with codeine for the pain and itching, and that seems to be helping him. The blisters have begun to pop and crust over which means he is on the path to healing. I thought the Tylenol would make him sleepy but it seems to have the opposite effect. Last night we all sat in the living room until almost midnight playing "Name that song or artist" It's our family game where Charles plays songs on the i-Pod and we all have to guess either the song title or who sings it. Caitlyn was beating everyone, but her advantage is staying locked away in her room listening to music 24/7. Chandler was dancing around and seemed to be in better spirits. The swelling has gone down in his face which relieves me greatly. I, on the other hand, am paying dearly for staying up so late. It's now 10:00am and I am still in bed. Charles said he is starting to feel something in his chest. I told him he wasn't allowed to get sick until I got better. We can't be having two sick parents at the same time, can you imagine what chaos would ensue? It would be like Lord of the Flies around here! Ugg, I need more medicine.

Michigan Vacation- Early Departure

Our family vacations are never complete without some kind of emergency situation. On Monday we went out to lunch and Chandler began complaining of his face itching and hurting. I looked and he had a small rash on his left cheek, so we stopped by Target and picked up some cortizone cream which seemed to help. The next morning when he woke up, his face had broken out into several blisters and patches of redness. I noticed that Carson also had what looked like a rash on his face as well. We located the nearest Urgent Care and took both boys in. The Dr. came in and looked at Chandler and seemed puzzled as to what it could be. He finally diagnosed him with contact dermatitis, saying that it was probably something that Chandler had come in contact with that he was allergic to, especially since it only appeared to be on the left side of his face. He said that Carson looked like he had it but not as bad. He also said that Carson definitely had croup. So he gave both boys a dose of steroids and prescriptions for croup and Chandler's dermatitis. Great. We thought all was good and the problem was solved. We took the kids to the Kalamazoo county fair later that night and Chandler seemed to be having a great time. He was a little insecure about the blisters on his face and felt like people were staring at him. I told him not to worry about it that he wouldn't ever see any of these people again, but I know it bothered him. It made me so mad when people just stared at him. I know it's human nature but part of me wanted to yell "What are you staring at?!" Again, it's the whole mama bear thing. We got back to the hotel late and the kids went straight to bed.
This morning (Wednesday), I went in and checked on Chandler and his face looked even worse. Charles agreed so we tried calling the Urgent Care place back. He talked to the nurse and she said she would call back in 15 minutes. In the meantime, Charles sent his mom a picture of Chandler's face. She in turn sent it to her friend who is a nurse. Her friend was working so she showed the picture to a couple doctors. They told her that Chandler needed to get to the hospital ASAP that it was NOT contact dermatitis. We decided that we would rather have him be seen at a hospital back home so the next hour we ran around packing everything up. The Urgent Care place had still not called back. We get on the road and Chandler was just miserable the whole way. We make it back around 7:30. It was about a 5 hour drive. Charles drops me and Chandler off at the hospital and then drove the other kids home. We get checked in an amazingly are called back in less than an hour. Charles gets back just in time. The Dr comes in, takes one look at Chandler and says that he definitely has Shingles. Shingles occurs in 20% of people who have had the chicken pox. Apparently once you have had chicken pox, the virus lays dormant inside you and can "awaken" at any time. When that happens, it's called Shingles. It involves the nerves as well and is usually in one particular area rather than all over like chicken pox. We told him what the Dr at the Urgent Care had diagnosed Chandler with and he was stunned. He said he was embarrassed to call the other Dr his colleague. Kind of harsh I thought but he was unapologetic. He said that it was quite obvious that it was shingles. I'm so glad we decided to come home. It upsets me to think that we could still be up there giving Chandler the wrong medication and him not getting any better. Oh and the Urgent Care still has not called back. Charles said he is going to deal with them once we make sure Chandler is all better. On the plus side Carson's rash cleared up, so we don't think his was the same thing. His croup cleared up as well.
Now we are back home and Chandler is resting comfortably thanks to Benadryl. It has been a loooong day so I am off to bed as well.

Michigan Vacation- Day 4 Greenfield Village

It finally stopped raining for us to be able to venture out. Since Greenfield Village is 2 1/2 hours east of where we are staying, we had to be up at 7am and be ready to leave by 8. I was up at five because as it turns out Carson has a case of the croup. I thought only babies could get it but apparently children up to age four have been known to come down with it. Needless to say it has been a very stressful couple of nights. That's when it seems to be the worse for him. It got so bad at one point, he was crying and said "I want my bad cough to go away" Broke my heart because there is nothing I can do to help him. I read that giving a child warm clear liquids can help, so I keep a glass of room temperature Sprite next to the bed and it seems to help him a little bit. I also read that the first two nights are the worst and that it can last anywhere from 5-6 days. Fun times!

Here is a brief description of where we were headed:

Entering Greenfield Village is like stepping into an 80-acre time machine. It takes you back to the sights, sounds and sensations of America’s past. There are 83 authentic, historic structures, from Noah Webster’s home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, to Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, to the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law. The buildings and the things to see are only the beginning. There’s the fun stuff, too. In Greenfield Village, you can ride in a genuine Model T or “pull” glass with world-class artisans; you can watch 1867 baseball or ride a train with a 19th-century steam engine. It’s a place where you can choose your lunch from an 1850s menu or spend a quiet moment pondering the home and workshop where the Wright brothers invented the airplane. Greenfield Village is a celebration of people — people whose unbridled optimism came to define modern-day America.

We got to the Village around 11:00 and it was sooooo HOT. Actually it was more humid than hot. Carson's poor little head was sweaty before we even made it to the front gate and he still didn't seem to be his usual happy self. We started walking around and going through the different little houses. Then we sat and had lunch by a shady tree. I had packed us lunch because those kinds of places always charge an outrageous amount for food. Carson mostly fed his lunch to the birds.

The kids always enjoy going to places like these. We were also unlucky lucky enough to be there for the World Tournament of Historic Baseball. They play by 1867 rules and don't even wear mitts. It was actually pretty interesting. There was a team that was from Columbus and they made it to the championship game so hubby wanted to stay and watch. The kids were so miserable at this point from the heat and I was worried about Carson because he did not eat anything so I decided I would take them over to the Henry Ford Museum where it was air conditioned and wait for hubby to be done watching the game. Chandler decided to stay with him. So the four of us headed over to the museum. We decided that we would come back up to the village another time when it's a little cooler like in October or November. We have a family membership to both the village and museum so it gives us an excuse to come back.

On our way back, we stopped off for dinner at a Coney Island. I guess in Michigan, coney's are a big thing. I wish we had them in Ohio. The kids and I all had coney's and chili cheese fries and hubby got a deluxe breakfast. Strange I know. He did order a coney as well because even he thought it was silly to come to a coney place and not try one. As we were leaving, the manager had seen our Ohio plates and so he asked hubby where we were from. Turns out he grew up in Ohio about a half hour from where we live. This turned into a 10 minute discussion about there being no decent coney places where we live other than Skyline Chili. The manager hands hubby his business card and on the back he had written "one block of chili and 20 hot dogs". He asked if we brought a cooler up and said to stop back in and he would give us the chili and hot dogs. We were so surprised and thanked him for his generosity. Talk about a great souvenir!
We made one more stop to get ice cream and as soon as we got back to the room, everyone fell asleep from exhaustion.


Carson and Colton feeding the birds.



Me and Hubby and part of Carson taken by Caitlyn who needs to work on her photo skills and no, hubby never smiles in pictures.



Colton giving Carson a ride- you can see in the pics that Carson wasn't feeling too well :(



Old Timey ball players.



Me, Carson and Caitlyn watching the game.




A couple of the houses. My favorite is the grey one.




The Four C's


Period dressed people. I felt sorry for them that they had to walk around in the heat in those get-ups.


Horse drawn carriages. There is a carriage you just can't see it, but you can see the driver's foot ;p


Model T cars that you can ride around in.


At the museum- Caitlyn and the Weinermobile


Carson the hot dog.

Michigan Vacation- Day 3

Yesterday we woke up to this


So we spent the day at the hotel. We switched rooms to the two bedroom suite and this is how the kids spent their time.

Carson watched Spongebob


Chandler and Colton sat around being goofy


and Caitlyn chatted with a potential new boyfriend.


Later it finally stopped raining, so we went out to dinner to Brann's steakhouse. On the way back to the hotel we saw something that was the most bizarre thing ever. There was a man in a truck next to us and he was playing a flute while driving! I've seen people reading a book, shaving, even being on a computer, but playing a flute? Now that was a first LOL.

Michigan Vacation- Day One

Yesterday morning, Carson woke up with a barky seal cough. I thought maybe we would have to spend the day at the hotel but he seemed to be better after breakfast so we headed out for the day. We decided it would be a mall day (aka, my kind of day) so we checked the GPS for the nearest malls and found that there were three nearby. We get to the first one and hubby's knee starts bothering him so we get him one of those electric wheelchairs. Carson got a kick out of pretending to push him.




Carson checking out a gigantic iPhone


A Kodak moment


We left the first mall, which wasn't a great mall in my opinion and headed for the second. From the outside it looked promising, but when we got inside, it was like time had stood still and we were transported back to the late 70's early 80's. The only modern stores they had were TJ Maxx and Old Navy. Caitlyn and I had gone into one store and the worker lady stopped us and told us that they had rearranged the store and then preceded to point out where all the different sizes were located. I guess that would be helpful if we were frequent shoppers to their establishment but being that we were out of towners, I'm quite sure we could have figured it out for ourselves. Caitlyn and I thank her and start walking. Then I hear her saying something about checking bags. I turn around and she is walking towards me, again, talking about checking bags. I had a bag from TJ Maxx so I thought she just wanted to check inside it. Instead she hands me a ticket stub and takes my bag. Ok? Never had that done before. She then takes my bag and puts it behind the counter. Caitlyn looks at me and says "Did she just take your bag?" We were both kind of puzzled by this. First of all I have never shoplifted anything in my entire life and second, even if I did, there was nothing in that entire store that I would be prepared to go to jail for if I got caught! Seriously. We're talking neon tops and 80's prom dresses. We look around all of about 5 minutes and then I go get my "checked" bag and we leave.
Meanwhile, the boys had discovered a game at the far end of the mall. You put a quarter in and it pushes all the other quarters and hopefully they fall over the edge. They played it for an hour and a half. No lie. It was hubby doing all the playing too. We were there so long that I had enough time to open Carson's new lego toy and put it together!

The Game- You see that $2 bill in the middle of the picture? That's what they were aiming for. They're big dreamers my boys!


Look at the joy on hubby's face! Like a kid in a candy store I tell ya.



Carson playing with his new toy while we wait



Oh and they had a train set that you could pay a quarter to watch it go around the track one time. WTH? Well I couldn't deprive Carson of the thrill of seeing it so I dug through my purse for a quarter.



The boys finally used up all their quarters. They were ahead by five dollars but instead of quitting while they were ahead, they kept going so they lost it all. At one point they had even had a crowd gathered around them watching! That right there should give you an idea as to how boring of a mall it was. When the greatest form of entertainment for other shoppers is to watch people feed quarters into a machine.

We finally left and headed to our third and final mall. I was disappointed with this one as well. However, I have never been to a mall that had so many Auntie Anne's pretzels. There were three of them and also two other pretzel places and it wasn't that big of a mall. They must love pretzels here!

Carson started feeling a little warm and I could tell he wasn't feeling too good because as we were walking he kept hanging on to my leg and then wanted me to carry him. So we left. Made a quick stop at Walgreens for some motrin for Carson and then went to get pizza to take back to the hotel.

Caitlyn waiting for the pizza to be done



Ate our pizza and by this time the motrin had kicked in for Carson, so we took the kids swimming.













After an hour of swimming, we went back to our rooms and conked out for the night.

Michigan Vacation- Arrival Day

Just once I would like to go on a vacation and have everything go smoothly! We left home about noon and got to our hotel around 6:30pm. The kids did really well in the car, there was only one fight amongst them all. It involved someones feet being in someone else's space so nothing too dramatic. When we arrived at the hotel was when the first bump occurred. They were repaving the driveway so we had to go clear around and park in a different parking lot far from the front entrance. For a family of six who bring pretty much everything we own for one week, ok not everything but pretty darn close, this poses a challenge as to how to get all our stuff inside and be able to do it all in one trip. Luckily they had two cart thingys available so we started loading everything up. I had put all our grocery items in recyclable bags and hubby decided to take the heaviest one of them all and try and hang in from the hook on the cart. Any guesses as to what happened next? Of course, the handle broke and groceries went flying everywhere. Everyone else thought this was just hilarious. I was not amused. The laughter ceased fairly quickly. We get everything loaded and head inside. This is where the second bump occurred. We had reserved a two room suite. Turns out the person who was staying in the suite that was to be ours had decided to extend their stay until Saturday. So, we got bumped. Wonderful. They graciously offer to give us two one bedroom suites for the price of the two room for Thursday and Friday and will then move us to the two bedroom on Saturday. Whenever we go to a hotel I like to unpack everything just so we aren't living out of suitcases for a week. Now I am unable to do so because we will be switching rooms in two days. Fine. I guess I can deal with it. We get everyone situated in the rooms, putting Caitlyn and Colton in one room and hubby and I and the two youngest in the other. They were serving chicken pot pie for dinner so the kids and I head down to the eating area. Hubby stays behind because he says he's not hungry. We get down there and get our food and sit down. Carson, per his usual self, is too busy exploring what the area has to offer. There is a fireplace and before I could even get one bite into my mouth, Carson is down on the ground crying. He had scraped his leg on the fireplace and loudly let everyone within earshot know that his leg hurt really really bad. This is the very reason why I never leave home without the first aid kit no matter how much hubby may mock me. With us, someone is bound to get hurt. We've been to the emergency room while on vacation in the past, no joke. So you see why I come prepared.
After dinner we came back to the room and the older three went swimming. Then hubby and I went to the grocery store to get the things we didn't bring like milk and bread. I'm hoping and praying that we don't hit any more bumps for the remainder of the trip!

Chandler just came to me for a band-aid because he cut his finger on Lord knows what. Lovely.


Just some of the many bags we packed



Three of the six bags



Caitlyn showing off her room



Colton relaxing



Chandler's idea of helping unload



Caitlyn showing off the kitchen LOL


Carson unpacking the important things



Carson's first boo-boo of the trip

Lazy Thy Name Is Paula

I have so much I need to get done before we go on vacation but I just can't seem to get off the computer and get to it. I'm so unmotivated. Today hubby had another physical therapy session. We stopped by Sonic on our way there for half price "happy hour" where all drinks are half off, except of course for the drink I pick. Therefore not allowing me to partake in the happiness of said hour. It was more of a complain hour where I spent the next 5 minutes whining and questioning hubby about why my drink did not constitute a "drink" that would be half off. My unhappiness was short lived as soon as the girl handed me my Orange Creamslush and I deemed it worthy of the title "My New Favorite Drink in the Whole Entire World" I even let hubby have one tiny little sip. It tastes just like Orange Julius which I had so many of back in my teenage mall shopping days. Ahh the good 'ol days of walking around a mall, checking out the cute guys and hanging around the food court for hours. Now when I go to the mall it takes about 25 minutes total because Carson is too old to keep trapped in a stroller so he is pretty much a walking tornado who dashes in and out of stores and leaves a path of destruction in his wake. I have to plan the most shortest route possible to the store that I need to go to and then I'm in and out before the boy realizes what's going on. It's like planning a covert military operation. I also make sure not to pass the indoor play area which sometimes means going upstairs and then back down the other side to avoid it. I don't think he even knew that such a place existed until he was about three and that was by accident as I did not plan my route very well that day.
After hubby's appointment we came home and I cooked burgers on the grill. We had bought some "candy" onions and tomatoes at a farm stand the other day so I sliced some of them up. The onions are really sweet and not oniony at all. Carson heard me say candy onion so he said "I want one" and went and got an onion slice and took a bite. His face was priceless. He spit it back out and said "it's not candy, I don't like it"
Alright, I must force myself to get off of here now and get some stuff done or I will be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off come wednesday night.