If it's a double word score that's 48, and I used all my letters, that's an extra 50.
Now I have never been a Scrabble fan. I'm just not that good at it. When I was a kid, my dad or my brother were always better at it than me. I played John once when we were dating, and got completely stomped on. Butu, we played a couple weeks ago when we were having a cup of coffee down at Molten Java. It was actually a competitive game. Then I wanted to play again.
The next night I went down to the game closet and found out that we didn't even own the game. I thought every home had a copy of Scrabble but we did not. I resisted the urge to go to target right then and pick it up. The next day though, I was at Target picking up a game of Scrabble.
We played again and I actually won! I couldn't believe it! I beat John at Scrabble. He knows tons of obscure words and I beat him! Now we play every night - and every night so far, I've gotten trampled upon. Tonight he beat me by 225 points. (He is very good at finding words that use all his letters and get him that extra 50 points).
Today I found myself thinking about words. I would stop and pick up the Scrabble dictionary (we picked it up last week at the bookstore next to Molten Java) and looking up words - particularly Q, X and Z words. It is becoming an obsession. I have done it before, I can bet John again. I know I can. Even if we have to play Scrabble every night for the next 10 years.
Now that I have a larger kitchen, I have had the joy of purchasing an ice cream maker. I have been having lots of fun making various flavors and experimenting. While have been edible, some have been better than others. My favorite so far? Chocolate Raspberry, followed closely by Fresh Peach. With this love of ice cream, what's a girl and her family to do, but make a pilgrimage to the holy land of ice cream - Ben and Jerry's.
We didn't plan to go to Ben and Jerry's when we got up on Saturday. But, around 7:00 John said, "What do you want to do today?" I replied with the ever original, "I don't know, what do you want to do?" John mentioned a hike to Kent Falls, which is about an hour up Route 7. Okay, I guess. "I hear the drive up 7 and up to Route 100 is really pretty." John says. We look at the map. Route 7 will take you all the way to Canada it turns out. "Well," I say"If we wanted to we could make that trip to Ben and Jerry's. we want to go there sometime this summer anyway."
So, while we weren't sure if we were going to go that far, we prepared for it anyway. We packed an overnight bag because we really weren't quite sure where the day would take us. We knew we were going to Kent Falls, but after that who knows? We even took our passports in case we decided to go to Canada.
So, we get in the car, stop and pick up donuts and Dunkin Donuts (is there any other kind here?) and headed up Route 7. We had driven it in March on our bridge tour and trip to the maple farm, but now it actually was green and not white. It was so beautiful. And then we arrived at Kent Falls.
When we were there in winter they were totally frozen and the trail was covered with snow. Now it was all green and the boys were both ready to go. Sam walked the whole trail except for any stairs. Those we just popped him up over or carried him depending on how big they were. We got lots of pictures at different stages of the falls. James loved it. Sam loved it. It was great!
Now it was decision time. I was feeling good and so were the boys, so we decided to keep driving. We made a stop for lunch at the golden arches, and when we left we weren't really sure if we were going to make it in time that day. We pulled out our AAA guide and checked the time. The last tour was at 5:00, and we were scheduled to get there around 4:00. Plenty of time!
We kept driving and the boys took naps. The drive was beautiful. We passed through all sorts of small towns and beautiful countryside. Then we saw it. The holy grail of ice cream. The Ben and Jerry's Factory in Waterbury, VT. Now, according to Google, it is a 4 1/2 hour drive. We left at 9:00 and got there at 4:00 after all our stops.
We got our tickets ($3 for john and me, free for the boys) and got on the next tour. We wnet in a watched a movie (mostly, the boys didn't really want to sit any more) and then went to see the factory. The factory doesn't actually run on weekends, so we saw another video while looking at the factory floor. Then we got free samples of the new Creme Brulee Ice Cream. our rating - delicious! Very tasty. The we headed to the gift shop where I got the Ben and Jerry's Recipe Book (of course), John picked up a pint of Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream (we've been looking for it since it was announced on the Colbert Report), and a small cowbell. Then we went outside and discovered there was a playground there. (I wish we had known that before the tour). James and sam played, we ate some ice cream, looked at the Falvor Grave Yard, and at 5:00 figured we should start heading out. We stopped at the gift shop and got t-shirts and decided to drive back home instead of getting a hotel.
So, we took Interstate 89 back, made a stop in New Hampshire for dinner at a Subway (there aren't a lot of choices on 89), and got home around 10:30pm. Then we slept. Sunday I woke up with the kids. then when John got up around 8, I went back to bed. We were exhausted most of the day, but it was a great experience. And our neighbors probably think we are crazy.
It turned out that the trails were not very well marked. At one time there had been a miniature railroad around the property, so there were trails and paths for the railroad. It
After our tour of the castle, we had lunch at the park sitting out on the deck overlooking a canyon. It was a beautiful day out and the boys had had a lot of fun.
We hopped back in the car and decided to take the ferry back across the river. The ferry holds about 12 cars and seeing it pull up to the dock to let the other cars off, you wouldn't believe they can get them on and off. They are packed in there just right. We were first in line for the ferry, so we were at the very front. That was nice, because I didn't feel comfortable taking Sam out of his car seat and out onto the boat. I stayed in the car and enjoyed the view while James and John got out of the car and watched us pull up to the other side.
After our drive home, we all hopped in the pool to cool off. The end to a great Father's Day!
What time is your alarm clock set for? Do you use the snooze button?
My alarm clock is set for whenever it wakes up. Sometimes it cries, sometimes it climbs into bed with me, sometimes it says "1,2,3 wake up Mommy!" I would love to use the snooze button, and have tried to send it back to bed, but it never works. But, my sons are the cutest alarm clocks in the world, so I guess it is okay.
Sam also seems to like the toddler bed. He has yet to actually fall asleep in the bed, I put him in it after he falls asleep in the crib. He is still very excited about the bed and prefers to stand on in and bounce instead of lay down and go to sleep. Hopefully he will fall asleep in it tonight. We still need to paint Sam's room, probably after he has made the full transition to the toddler bed.
Baby Sam is now a toddler and just Sam, and James is all little boy now , sleeping in a big bed and riding his bike. They get big so fast (especially my little guys).
Yes, it is true! The Trent clan will indeed be coming back to California for Christmas. We will be there from December 22 until New Year's Day! We look forward to seeing friends and family. YEAH!!!
