Girly Mom

I have no eyelashes.  So when I find a miraculous mascara that gives me visible, dare I say long lashes, well, I’m ecstatic.  I am so happy, I just might stand at my front door and tell all the people that drive by to stop and look at them.  Or maybe not.  They might want to come in and my house is a total wreck.

Anyway, the mascara that gives me spectacular lashes is called Imju Fiberwig and I love it immensely.  Not only does it give me noticeable lashes, but it doesn’t smudge or run.  I wore it on our trip to Chattanooga at an amusement park and at the end of the long, hot day, there were no raccoon eyes on this girly girl.

If you ever see me in person you might ask yourself, “That girl is excited about THOSE lashes?”  Please remember that I have horrible, nonexistent puny little wanna-be lashes.  So of course I’m going to be happy when a product creates something from almost nothing.  My lashes would be almost invisible without it.

This mascara is a must for those of us who weren’t blessed with good lashes and those of us who aren’t coordinated enough to figure out false ones.

After a thrilling day one, we launched day two with a stroll around downtown Chattanooga.  I controlled my sweet tooth and only bought one caramel at the fudge shop and nothing in the candy store.  Thank you, thank you very much!

Around noon,  we took the kids to see a Mystery Theater show.  It was hilarious!  The lunchtime show is just for kids; the older kids (OK, the parents too) laughed the whole time.  The younger kids weren’t sure if it was funny or scary.

Next, we went to the zoo.  We saw some kind of kill-anyone who-comes-too-close breed of snake.  Completely disgusting!  We saw Red Pandas, a Snow Leopard, gorillas, Spider Monkeys, and lots of little creepy-crawly things.  The zoo also had an area where the kids could pet goats and ponies and little donkeys.  M and I were fine until we saw a slew of mice and we went running out of the barn.  Our husbands and the worker guy seemed amused at our distress.  Some things just aren’t right, and mice are at the top of that list.

After the zoo, we went out for dinner.  I figured I deserved a little treat after the nasty mice incident, so we ordered Chocolate Divine and Peanut Butter Cheesecake.  Delicious!  Then we walked around at an outdoor art festival.  I met a lady, and her cutie daughter, who sells her stuff on Etsy.  She was super nice and I love, love, love her books.  Then we headed back to the hotel and stayed up late talking and playing.

Another successful day of vacation!

On July 4th, we loaded up our three kids and headed to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the weekend.  I packed for a family of 12 heading to the desert for 4 weeks.  I’m a horrible packer, I admit it.  I always pack one outfit for each day, a few extras in case we go somewhere nice for dinner or someone gets their outfit dirty.  Plus, I always throw in a few extra items in case the weather goes all arctic on us.  And I never forget the shoes for dressing up and for dressing down and for walking around.  Unfortunately on this trip, I forgot sleeping bags, swim goggles and one kid’s medicine.  But hey, they sure did look good.

Anyway, we planned to leave around 10 in the morning, so of course it was noon when we pulled out of our driveway.  That’s actually not too bad for us.  We had a pleasant and uneventful drive, which any parent of small children will tell you, is a wonderful gift from above.

Our kids entertained themselves with their video games and movies and even looked up occasionally to enjoy the view.  We didn’t make the usual four stops every ten miles, which was great.  My husband and I were able to have an uninterrupted adult conversation.  I’d almost forgotten what that was like.

We checked into our hotel in Chattanooga, threw the luggage in our room, then headed off to Lake Winnie Amusement Park to meet our best friends, J and M, and their four kids.  We have traveled more times than I can count with them and surprisingly, they still seem to like us.

Using our parenting genius, we divided up so the kids could ride as many things as possible.  The toddlers rode a bunch of kiddie rides, including a mini roller coaster. I rode with the kids the first time and M rode with them the next go-round.  As is her luck, the coaster stopped part way into the ride.  She had to drag two of the kids out of the car and climb over the tracks.  She also got stuck in the hotel elevator on our NY trip last year, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised.  Crazy things always happen to her.

The bigger kids rode paddle boats, the ferris wheel and several spin-you-around-until-you-throw-up rides.  M and I agreed that we were insane to let our kids ride some of those rides.  We’ve put too much time and effort into getting them raised to this point to lose them on some crazy rickety old ride.  Our husbands just laughed at us.

The kids loved the park. We thought it seemed kinda dirty and some of the people there were just plain scary.  Maybe it’s not normally like that, but ewww.  It’s definitely not Disney, but it’s nearby and the kids had a blast.  Plus, I did enjoy a huge Icee and a funnel cake. That was definitely worth putting up with a few carny folk.