One Year Later: Miss Nancy's Last Ride

There she is, in all of her glory. Eighteen years later and off to the salvage shop. Named (if you're curious) after one of our favorite ladies of all time, Miss Nancy Abbott (who Raleigh is named for in a roundabout way).

In Virginia Beach last summer the repairman told us that she had about six (maybe twelve) more months of life in her. And he was absolutely right! We drove her til her dying day sometime back in March.

Sweet Miss Nancy.

To fully understand our love affair with Miss Nancy, please check out one of my all time favorite posts here. And as icing on that cake, please check out this other post here.

This is How the Big Boys Tube

Nate . . . Dallas . . . David.

My daddy's the coolest.

(Thanks, Kenda, for the pictures!)

Almost Three, and It's about Time!

Long, lovely (a little scraggly) locks . . .

That have never come into contact with scissors.

Almost to her waist! We'll miss the natural curl . . .

Or will it still curl? We hope so!

Finished!

Sniffle.

Vicious-Licious

Lil' Miss Precious beat up her friend Joshy tonight.

Gave him a bloody nose.

And earned herself a good old-fashioned time-out.

The Time of My Life

Last week when I was sitting on the side of the pool watching Raleigh and Madeline perfect their backstrokes, some good friends of ours randomly asked me if I wanted to go to Six Flags with their family later that afternoon. They were taking their boys, and they had just enough free passes to get us into the park (minus Dallas, who was working).

I told them I would consider it - I had a lot to do to get ready for a church activity I was semi-in charge of, and I am seven months pregnant, and it does feel like the middle of July here (even though it's the beginning of June). And I would have to take three kids by myself (no Dallas) to a theme park!

But it was free. And spontaneous! And just what we needed to make a little summer memory for the girls, who have been dying to go to Six Flags.

So I went. We packed some snacks, wore our swimsuits, talked it up and got really excited, and we even made it there in 40 minutes! The big boys went with Mr. Mike on the big rides, and Audra and I took the girls and the younger ones with us to all of the kiddie rides. It worked out great! Especially since I cannot ride anything anyway (pregnant as I am).

It was such a fun day for the girls - they couldn't have been more excited! They've never been on roller coasters, and they were so brave! I had just as much fun watching them as I would have had riding them. I think. We spent a lot of time cooling off at the water park, and we played HARD! We spent time in parts of Six Flags I've never been in, mostly because we had little kids with us who couldn't go on big rides.

But walking through the park, a flood of memories came to me of trips-to-Six-Flags-past. It's unreal to think that the same ride that my friend Brea Zondervan pulled me onto (semi-against-my-will) seventeen years ago is still there. I remember that I was hesitating about going on it because I'd never been on a roller coaster with loops. I sat down next to her for a second, and she pulled the strap down. The kind that you can't unlatch until the ride is over. And when I am in a dangerous situation, I pretty much freeze up and become useless. Well, I froze. But as the train slowly made its way up the hill, I was thinking in my mind of every possible way to squeeze out of my belt and jump off the ride (because of my impending death-by-roller-coaster). At the first loop, I squeezed my eyes shut. Wait? Was I screaming and laughing?! Was this really fun? After that I was in love with scary roller coasters, and the Mind Bender is still one of my favorite rides (mild as it is).

Six Flags is a graveyard of former boyfriends and love-interests. If you're not already "together," you will be by the time your night at Six Flags is over. But come Monday at school, you won't be. If you're already dating, Six Flags will deepen your romance! There's nothing like adding intense summer humidity, tight crowds of people, and screaming together on big mechanical hills to enhance your relationships.

For me it holds memories of best friends and terrible pranks involving BB pellets being dropped by handfuls from the Sky Train onto lunch-goers under plastic umbrellas and very expensive, very potent stink bombs being let off in the lines to get onto the rides. It is holding hands for the first time with crushes and running together in the dark. It is middle school and high school all blurred together.

And at 6:00 pm when the storm clouds started rolling in, and we were making a run for our cars, I could remember this same scene, half a lifetime in the past. Only this time, I was holding hands with my girls and pushing a stroller. I was laughing and running with the loves of my current life.

And as I drove home with chattering sweet little girls in the backseat (one of them falling asleep) and the thunder booming overhead, I looked back at them in the rearview mirror, and a haunting song from the past came on the radio:

Another turning point;

a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.

It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.

Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time.

Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.

For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

My thoughts immediately turned to one of those boyfriends-past, and a scene played in my mind from ten years ago. High school was over and he was home from his mission, and we were still the best of friends. We were out together, and he drove into a cul-de-sac, and before I knew it, he was proposing to me. I heard myself telling him, "No."

No more words were spoken, and silently he drove me home. Green Day came on the radio and played this song for us in its entirety. It was a short drive, and this is a short song, but it played from beginning to end and drowned out the silence. And during that drive, a flood of good memories drowned out the hurt that we both felt. It was melancholy and nostalgic, wonderful and sad, and "in the end it was right."

And half a lifetime since my first trip to Six Flags, I realize that Dallas and I have never been there together. In some ways I hope we never do. I'll let those memories rest in peace.

And continue to make memories for the present.

I'm having the time of my life.

Gold or Garbage

The other day my hormones were a little wacked. At least that's where I would like to place the blame for the following:

We were in the Costco parking lot, walking into the store, when Madeline accidentally stepped on the back of Raleigh's flip flop. Raleigh started freaking out, acting like her world was crashing down, and I said, "Why don't you just smash her face on the pavement and see how bloody it gets?"

Then she and Madeline both looked at me like this:

And after a good long pause, I was like, "You know I wouldn't really want you to do that, right?"

I think they were both unsure for at least the next 20 minutes, and we had sparkling behavior from both of them. But they were a little afraid of me.

The next day I made up for it. They were in the other room (all three), playing dress-up and having a "fancy ball," and I knew they wouldn't want to come eat lunch when I asked them. So I got out an index card and sent them a "special invitation" to a "royal luncheon at 11:45 am" after they had cleaned up their "royal mess." Unfortunately, the royal cook ran a little late and I was called names like "servant" and so forth, but their mess was cleaned up, and the fancy ladies couldn't care less about what I served for the luncheon. The ham sandwiches, carrots, and grapes never tasted better!

As I remember reading on my friend Ashley's blog: "Are my words gold or garbage?" when I speak to my children. Obviously, a little of both. Just working to keep more gold in our house this summer!

Purdy Family Reunion 2010, Lake Wedowee, Alabama

Welcome to our awesome vacation! We spent a weekend at Lake Wedowee, Alabama, where we . . .

Admired the Southern view,

(Dad and Mom)

Admired our new lil' cousins,

(Dionne, Emerson, Choobs)

Hung out with Rikki,

(Madeline, Raleigh, Rikki)

Spent time being sisters,

(Raleigh, Choobs, Madeline)

Celebrated a wedding anniversary,

(Dad and Mom)

And warmed up to the tube - it's been a couple of years!

(Grammy and Raleigh)

We cheered on cute cousins,

(Grammy and Dade)

Relaxed on the boat,

(Madeline, Kenda, Dade)

Found cozy spots to fall asleep,

(Raleigh)

Got a little more brave on the tubes,

(Dionne, Madeline, Dallas, & Raleigh)

Covered our ears,

(Grammy and Choobers)

Tubed with our cousins,

(Dionne & Choobs, Nate & Calvin)

Got a little splashed,

(Dionne and Choobs)

Waved to our adoring fans,

(Nate and Calvin)

And waved to each other,

(Dionne & Choobs, Nate & Calvin)

And realized we were having fun!

(Dionne and Choobs)

We got a little more brave again - at least enough to go faster this time,

(Grammy and Madeline)

Then got a little crazy,

(Dallas and Raleigh)

Passed on the boat driving to toddlers,

(Nate and Calvin)

Got crazy with our sisters with a little help from Grammy and Daddy,

(Grammy & Madeline, Dallas & Raleigh)

Swung like monkeys,

(Madeline)

Enjoyed our mom and uncle,

(Grammy, Nate, and Calvin)

Posed for group photos,

(Grammy, BoBo, Nate, Calvin, Madeline, Choobs, Raleigh, Dallas)

And got silly!

We climbed many flights of stairs,

(Choobs and Dallas)

Jumped in the lake,

(Raleigh)

And couldn't stop smiling.

(Raleigh, Calvin, and Nate)

We laughed at BoBo who was laughing at David,

Who absolutely made our day! (Videos of this scene later.)

We passed around babies,

(April and Emerson)

And gave cheers to great cooking!

(Everyone)

We let our sisters fix our hair,

(Madeline and Choobs)

And took on the impossible . . .

(David and Dallas)

Obviously.

We licked beaters,

(Madeline)

Soared,

(David and Dade)

Cried,

(April and Calvin)

Roasted marshmallows indoors,

(Dallas and Madeline)

Swung,

(Madeline)

Took out the trash,

(Dallas and Dad)

Took a walk for old times' sake,

(Dallas, Dionne, Madeline, and Dade)

Admired big trucks in our diaper,

(Dade and BoBo)

And the magnolias,

And the cute parents,

(Dad and Mom)

And the cute couples.

(Kenda and Dave)

We wanted to eat scrumptious babies,

(David and Emerson)

And look as good as our sisters-in-law,

(Rikki, April, and James)

And we finally decided we like the tube! (She laughed the whole time!)

(Dionne and Madeline)

We caught some ZZzzz's (and need to catch a few more to recover from all the fun),

(Dade)

And we think we'll come back again!

(Rikki)