St. Pat's and Tornados!

What a weekend! Ron's mother came down Friday evening to pick up Ben for the weekend. He hadn't been able to celebrate his brithday with her and Grandpa yet. And, Clay was off to Barstow for an OA weekend. While she was here, we went out to Sandhill for some shopping and then I went downtown after they left to take Ron dinner. Remember the big project that ate up all those weekends? Well, after at trip to Nashville to visit the vendor last week they were sure it would happne on Friday night. Ron got home at 6 AM! He was exhausted and we had planned to meet up with friends for the St. Patrick's Day celebration. We chose to sleep in and go down a little later. In the process I kept complaining that I had a scratchy throat.

We met up with Aimee and Marley and headed to Delaneys for lunch and ended up spending the rest of the day there because of the weather. I had planned to go meet my friend Stephanie to see Edwin McCain and she texted that it was cancelled due to tornado warnings! It was crazy! Apparently it never got bad downtown, but out where we are several friends have told us it was really nasty. Quite the experience for our first St. Patrick's Day in Columbia!

We thought we had gone all out buying beads and buttons and green jewelry, but some of the people were a HOOT!! Like the guy above who was completely decked out in his leprechaun suit. Some people had their hair dyed green, and it was GREEN, GREEN everywhere you looked!

Remember the scratchy throat? Well, I've spent the whole day laying around due to a sore throat and fever. YUCK! Ron has been taking great care of me bringing medicine and picking up so that I can rest. If I don't feel better tomorrow, I'll go to the dr.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We Got Our Glasses....Again

If you remember back at Christmas, we were all excited about getting the Flying Saucer Christmas '07 glasses, well, last night was St. Patrick's Day glass-nite. After the Jaycees membership social at Wild Wings about 15 of us headed over to Flying Saucer to get glasses...and we almost literally got the very last ones they had! (They always go on sale at 7 and they were sold out by 8 last night.) These are really cool, too, just like the Christmas glasses. And, no, we don't use them...these are totally for collecting at our house.

Elizabeth and I show off our glasses!

We even wear our sunglasses at night! Haha! Rhea, Ben and I just all happened to still have them on us and thought this would make a great picture!

This is too funny because Ron and Brett were actually talking to each other....they were inputing their numbers into contacts....

What a Sunday!

We were up early again this morning. Okay, not as early as yesterday, but early for us. My friend, Elizabeth, invited us to visit her church and we got up for breakfast and to pick up some things at Walgreens before meeting her. We LOVED the church and can't wait to visit again.

After service we hurried to drop off the boys and get dowtown to the Heart Center to join the Jaycees to work on the B106.7 Radiothon for Children's Hospital (I'll be back on Tuesday night and if we don't get any calls, I may be calling YOU!) We were able to stay there for about two hours before leaving to meet the JWC girls (and a couple of other hubbies) and the kids from the shelter for a "behind the scenes" tour of the State House. One of our provisionals, Michele, has a husband who works at the state house and he arranged for us to not only see the "usual" tour, but also to visit the basement (which is almost entirely granite and yes there are some tunnels, but not the rumored "escape" tunnels) and the dome(s). I chickened out of going all the way to the top of the dome as the heights got to me about halfway. Ron and whole bunch of others, though, went ALL the way. He was so excited as we were pulling off of Main St. to point to the tip-top of the State House and say, "I was up there!". It was an AWESOME experience to see parts of the building that most people don't get to, hear the history and workings of the facility.

The best joke was that in one room there was a hatch to an underground area and you have to be put in and lifted out by harness because of potential dangerous gas that Jack Bauer wouldn't need a harness and he would make through the gas to the bad guys hiding underneath to save the building. After that we started making JB jokes as the facility guy pointed out safety features.

Another really cool thing was the "moat" that surrounds the building and the earthquake prevention features that have been put in. Completely fascinating!

I will add more pictures later....my friend Paula took some GREAT ones and when I get those, I'll share them, too (especially the one of us in the "dome").

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How Did You Spend Your Leap Day?

That seemed to be the question of the day on the Internet, TV and radio. Most of my "leap day" was spent just like always.....at school (though we did go to Young Chef's Academy for a field trip and that was different and fun). After school was a different story.......

Ron and I are volunteering at the "March for Meals" 5K tomorrow morning (we have to be AT the zoo by 6:40 AM...CRINGE) with Jaycees. I needed to pick up our tee shirts so we wouldn't have to change when we got there in the morning and so after getting Clay from school, it was very nice outside, the boys and I decided to go on and utilize our membership by spending an hour or so at the zoo before picking up the shirts and meeting Ron for dinner at the Salty Nut.

We had a really good time. Their were way more people than we anticipated (January and February are free on Fridays for Richland and Lexington residents. I'm guessing that explains it), but most of the animals were in rare form. The flamingos were hilarious...they were "talking" and stretching their necks. We saw the lemurs for the first time. Not sure how we missed those. And, then we got to see the new baby koala....it is SO cute!! Maybe they all new today was "leap day" and they were taking advantage of it!

We go to the zoo quite a bit, most definitely getting our money's worth from the membership. And, I have taken hundreds of pictures, but I still always take my camera and take more. It seems that every time we go, there is something new to document.

I'm sure the zoo won't be nearly as great at the crack of dawn in the morning so I am glad the boys and I enjoyed it this afternoon! :)
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Another Birthday Celebration for Ben

Today my parents came down to visit and celebrate Ben's birthday. We met them at the State Museum and toured it for a while, did a little shopping, ate lunch in the Vista at 5 Guys and walked the grounds of the Robert Mills house. It was a fun afternoon! And, Ben was thrilled to get another celebration (this birthday has streteched for over a week now!)....he promptly took his $$ gifts to buy a Civil War set at the museum and a new Wii video game!

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Primary Day Fun

Last week for the Republican primary was wet, cold and yucky. Today, for the Democratic primary its cold and dreary. (I hope this isn't a foreboding of our next presidency...yikes!)

Having left Ron's car downtown last night and Clay receiving a call late yesterday to see if he could present at University of Scouting (an adult training event) for the OA lodge as a council rep, Ben and I went with them to breakfast and then dropped them off at the parking garage. Seeing all the media excitement around the state house, we decided to circle around, park and go for a cold walk. We didn't see anyone important, but we did see lot of camera men, reporters and other technical TV people standing around and filming. It was quite exciting to see all this hoopla in little old SC.

Even the parking meters were blocked off for media

You can see the trucks and tents on Sumter Street behind Ben

One of the media set ups on the state house grounds

Across Gervais were even more media tents and trucks....if you notice the people huddled on the median, the news crew was interviewing a guy standing there with a John Edwards sign

Post Christmas....

Now that the excitement of Christmas is over (well, pretty much over...we still have to celebrate with Ron's parents and sister this weekend) and we're all still on vacation the blah's began to set in quickly. We've been staying up late, sleeping late and just hanging out around here for the most part. The boys have been playing with their Christmas goods and we did go out to a nice dinner last night at Bonefish Grille. And, then today we couldn't stand it anymore! We just had to go find something to do.

Clay playing "Guitar Hero" for the 1000th time

cooking a post-Christmas meal (notice everyone is still in pjs and this is for DINNER!)

Ron needed to pay car taxes, pick up his tag and I needed to finally (I guess I am officially a resident of Columbia now) change the address on my license. We did all that and had lunch before driving through the Vista and just exploring. Along the way we ended up down at the Riverfront Park along the Columbia Canal. This isn't an area that we have explored and so we parked and hiked a little ways along the trail, stopping to read the history signs, see the old pump house, the canal and a beautiful heron, which I took a ton of pictures of as you will see. It was quite pretty despite being overcast and just the rejuvenation (and excercise!) we needed.

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Only In Columbia......

......can you enjoy lunch from Roly Poly with your husband and son OUTSIDE on NOVEMBER 14! And, it is so warm, you wish you had on flipflops!!!!

I was so busy eating and enjoying the day that I forgot to take a picture.....but, take my word for it is a beautiful, warm (early summer-like) day. On the way back, the temp signs said 80.

I guess the saying is true "there are four seasons in Columbia....almost summer....summer....still summer and Christmas". At this rate, the seasons might be limited to three :)

Last Minute Fun

With Ron and Clay camping for the weekend, Ben and I called my parents on Friday night and invited them to come down and go to the zoo with us on Saturday. They arrived on Saturday morning and we started our day out at the Village at Sandhill. My parents have wanted a palmetto tree for their car window (if you aren't from SC or don't know someone from here that probably doesn't make any sense....almost every car you pass in SC has a palmetto tree sticker on the window...they come in all colors and themes from military, polka-dot, Carolina, plaid (like mine), and a million other styles). I had seen a gold one at a store there. We ended up walking around for a while and stopping to peruse the sales at Ann Taylor Loft and picking up a new Vera Bradley for my mom at Le Bag Lady.

After lunch at Chic-Fil-A, we stopped at two other stores that carry VB as my mom was also looking for a checkbook cover to match her pattern. No luck! We then, at Ben's insistence, headed to the Riverbanks Zoo for the afternoon. It was actually very nice outside, only a little hot, and we had a great time.


When we left the zoo we headed back downtown and towards the stadium. My parents had never seen Columbia and the game trappings of Game Day. So, we braved the traffic and long lines and circled around so they could see all the 1000s of people tailgating and trying to get into the parking areas. It made me really wish I were going to the game. :( We setted for dinner at 5 Guys in the Vista before heading back to our place and they got on the road home.


Thanks for coming to spend the day with us! Ben and I had a great time and we'll look forward to taking you to the state museum the next time!

Ear check....

We LOVED the meerkats! They are SO cute!

It was Enrichment Day and Ben had the opportunity to make a fruit loop bird feeder.

Remembering 9/11

Ben and I heard on the radio this morning about a 9/11 Museum event at Finlay Park. We headed downtown to check it out. Columbia was the first stop on the tour for the mobile museum. It had a wonderful photo display, a video and then you could sign the steel beams (which we heard on the radio this morning is produced in Columbia) which will be used to build the actual museum when it is built.

The boys before visiting the museum.

Ben and Clay signing the beam that will be used in building the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

We were asked to write a brief message for the Museum in remembrance of 9/11.

Kristie!

Our friend Kristie is working on her MLIS (Library Science Masters) degree and she has to come down to USC for class every now and then. This was one of those weekends, so she came early, on Friday night, to visit with us. She got here a little after 5 and we headed dowtown with Ben (Clay was going to the Northeast game) to meet Ron for dinner at Flying Saucer, a great German-food place in the Vista.

Me, Ron and Kristie

Serious.....


....and silly :)

We had a great time catching up with Kristie since we haven't seen her since we moved. We're looking forward to next month when she comes back for the whole weekend and brings her son, Levi, one of Clay's best friends.

I have no idea what Ron was doing!

Keeping Ben entertained with my camera.

Fan Appreciation Day

After church, Ron, Ben and I (Clay is at the lake with his friend, Chase and his family for Chase's birthday) had lunch downtown and then ventured over to Colonial Center for Fan Appreciation Day. We had a fun time seeing all of the coaches and players with thousands of fans!

The lines were long so we opted to wait for Cocky and Spurrier, but not the football team. Ben had already collected many of their autographs earlier in the summer. (notice Coach Spurrier's look and Ben's smile? Spurrier was asking who had signed over his picture on Ben's poster --- it was Cocky! Spurrier's comment to Ben, "someone needs to tell Cocky to quit signing on my picture".)

He did, however, want to get a poster autographed by the soccer team and a couple of cheerleaders. Ben was all smiles after getting his autographs.

Dishing!

We did something different and fun today! Thursday while opening our new checking account, I stopped at Let's Dish, a pre-prep meal store and took a quick tour. I brought the info home to Ron and suggested we try this as an alternative to eating out all the time. We mulled it a couple of days and then after lunch today, Ron, Ben and I headed over there. Ben ate snacks and played with his Lego-Men, while Ron and I made four meals. We made two chicken dishes, steaks and pizzas. It was SO MUCH FUN! We laughed and had a great time together while prepping for next week's dinner. We enjoyed it so much that, as long as the meals are as good as promised, we're doing it again next week.

Clay Didn't Come Home....

....he stayed out ALL night!

Clay called about 11 ish and asked if he could "please, please" spend the night with Chase (the student whose mom, Julie, brought them over here last night). Now, normally we would probably go, "NO WAY! We just met them.....TONIGHT". But, Julie knew the guys who were visiting us, she's a youth volunteer -- SS teacher, etc. --, she knows my teaching partner, Chris, and Chase is a LIFE scout. So, we were thrilled Clay is making friends, felt really good about it, talked with Julie for a few minutes and said "YES"!

I just talked to him and they have just gotten up and she's cooking them breakfast. (as if making new friends isn't enough, Clay is super-excited that someone is cooking him breakfast). I'll be picking him up in an hour or so......I can't wait to hear all about it.

Maybe I'll be next to make some new friends and won't have to live vicariously for long :)

EdVenture Adventure

We finally ventured (haha!) over to EdVenture, the kids museum, tonight for family night. The place was packed for the $1 admission, but we got a good overview and checked out a few of the exhibits. Ben and I are really looking forward to going back and exploring. Clay, however, will be there tomorrow. He's volunteering for their MAP (museum apprentice) program and has his orientation/training. But, back tonight.........

Ben and Eddie, the World's Biggest Boy

Ron and Ben get a little excercise while playing an interactive volleyball game

One of my favorite games as a child was "Operation", nothing like a giant game board challenge with Ron....he won in case you were wondering

Dr. Johnson, DMD someday maybe?!

Mr. Cool tries out a VW Bug...one of the cars he'd love have when he can drive

Ben and Clay both had to slide down the fireman's pole

BINGO!! Ben found the Lego's!

Climbing the rock wall

The boys had a good time on our EdVenture Adventure!

4th of July Fun

Our 4th of July didn't quite go as we had planned. We were supposed to drive up to Spartanburg for a cook out at our friend, Kristie's house. However, Ron hasn't felt good this week and yesterday wasn't up the trip. Instead, we hung around Columbia and enjoyed some true, American 4th of July fun as a family! All in all, it ended up being one of our best 4ths!

We had BBQ at a place down the street from where we live.

This was HILARIOUS!! We had these three old women in front of us (the line was wrapped around the building). This guy went to "break", he was joining his family several people in front of these women and one of them speaks up:

Woman: The line starts back there.

Man: I'm going up here to meet my family.

Woman: Well, maybe your family should be back here in line with you.

Man: Ma'am, I think you need to shut your mouth.

Woman: shuts her mouth

The Johnson's: look at each other, grin and cover out mouths to keep from losing it!

The BBQ was allright...let's just say it wasn't the Pig! But, the entertainment was sure worth it!

Later in the afternoon we gathered our chairs and headed out to Ft. Jackson for the Torchlight Tattoo. This was awesome! Thousands of people and soldiers, patriotic music, a cannon salute for each state and fireworks.

Ron and Ben playing

Clay and Ron didn't want July 4th tee shirts, but the conceded to wear matching hats.

After about 10 self-portrait trys, this was the best we could get!

Ben and Mommy are ready for the fireworks to start!

I don't really understand how to use the "firework" setting on my camera to get the pictures to really look like fireworks, but here are some that came out pretty cool anyway.

I love this up-close picture of Ben watching the fireworks intently.