The GA Guinn Trips

Divorce Sucks! There's no other way around it! I always struggle with how much to address on this blog since it is public and the world can see, but since this is my version of the girl’s baby book and the divorce is a part of their life, so I feel like I should address it here.

Over a year ago, my world fell apart when Frank and I separated. Feelings were hurt. Hearts were broken. Anger was everywhere. I shut my emotions down and turned off to survive. It was easier than feeling the hurt that was all around me. But still I hurt. I cried more times than I didn't. I yearned constantly for my children to not be separated from me, and I was constantly worried about where they were and what they were being exposed too. I didn't sleep, and eventually I got sick and felt like I was losing my mind at times. We divorced in October and at that point, I reached my lowest and ended up in the hospital. While hospitalized, I found out I had celiac and slowly began to feel better as my diet got better. (Please note that this is only my personal feelings, Frank has his own and he has his own perspective of what happened...)

Frank made some changes in his life around the end of Jan. He began calling more in February; it wasn't something that was planned. It was just a small thing. We talked about small things: the girls, work, his plans for the house, and my growing dislike of my job. After a while, we both realized that we were becoming friends again. Frank asked me one day if I was willing to go back to counselling with him. I am not sure why, but I agreed. And so began the next chapter in our lives.

We did not take this step lightly. We both have issues that we are working on. I am not going into this with blinders on. Trust is something we are hoping to rebuild. We are not sure where this road will lead us. It may be a train wreck. It may be the best thing that ever happened. But where ever we end up, at the end of the day, we can look our children in the eyes and tell them that we didn't just break up their family without trying. We are committed to coming out at the other end of this as FRIENDS. We are working with our counsellor to make sure our girls are okay through all of this. I don't have blinders on, and I am NOT stupid, but are my kids worth me trying one more time? YES! A RESOUNDING YES! Some people have asked why I wasn't willing to try before this and honestly, I was too angry, too hurt, and too shut down to even begin to be open to forgiveness, but between being sick and the changes I have made to make myself feel better, I have realized that I can forgive....

We are not asking for support. We are not asking for our families to accept this. We are not asking for anything other than time. Time to let us work through this. We know that many people don't understand. We understand that many people will think we are crazy. But we are committed to trying this and what happens is being left in GOD'S hands. He knows my heart. He knows Frank's heart. He knows what will happen and for once in my life, I am attempting to NOT lean on my own understanding and allowing him to direct my path!

I think someone needs to remind MOTHER NATURE that this is GA not the North Pole...We have had our SECOND Snow fall of this winter and its only Jan.  The Christmas Snow had us a bit worried, because we like the British royal family of olden times, go on progress during the holiday seasons....expect we don't hunt, we stay at our families houses (Not on Manors), and we don't have chamber maids to command (although we do have three littles who like to command us)...LOL!  But essentially its the same thing...

So when the snow came on Christmas, we developed the plan: will do if we can or wait if we have to ...aka Nana wants to play in the snow, so we will play and then pack like crazy people and hit the road before it refreezes...She's got priorities people. 

So we played...I am not a cold weather person, so I don't deal well with snow and ice, but I have to be out there with my kiddos, so I bring the camera...it keeps me safe from the snow balls and I don't have to make snow men or snow angels.  See there is a method to the madness...

Snow angels

More snow fun...

Poppa and the girls sleding...and the photo behind is a once in a lifetime photo, because Trinity is NOT a snow dog apparently...She doesn't like snow...Is that odd for a husky?

Nana and the girls and their snow angels..

After all our playtime, we ran inside got the girls dressed, ourselves dressed, and threw some clothing in a bag and headed out to LA...We got about halfway and decided to get a hotel...Poppa was NOT into the idea, but in the morning he was THANKFUL...

We spent a good long time visiting the family and I will update that soon, but I am ready for bed tonight...

We are Rock Stars!

Nana and Poppa join the Rock Star Group!

Makenna

Day Three was really exciting for me, because I have never been to Animal Kingdom.  We began with safari breakfast!  One thing about a big party like ours is that we have to pay the 18% gratuity.  I honestly never mind paying for good service.  I am a great tipper, and if the service is great I will tip above the 18%. But I really have an issue with tipping 18% for crappy service, and our service was crappy!  But in the end it was completely worth it, because Alyssa got to see Goofy!  They were in the parade with Mickey and the girls did great! They took their little rattles and marched all around the dining room.    Daisy came by too!  It was a ton of fun! 

Alyssa seeing Goofy for the first time!

The look on Alyssa's face shows her love here (I can't believe she was this excited about Goofy, because last year she was scare to death of him!)

A hug from Daisy

Mickey and the girls!

Alyssa in the parade! 

Makenna with all three of the girls!

Afterwards we headed straight over for the safari ride.  It was a lot of fun (although not as much fun as a real safari!  I could so do another one with Poppa Wallace…(HINT! HINT! HINT! Just kidding, Poppa!).  The girls loved seeing the animals.  Although Poppa did get yelled at by the guide for letting Alyssa stand up, which would NEVER happen on a real safari!  LOL! 

Aunt Jean on the Safari!

After the safari ride, we headed over to the Festival of the Lion King.  The girls LOVED all of this except the Scar song and fire thrower which was a little scary!  What was really cool was the girls were chosen to be in the parade!  They went by themselves around the entire theatre with the characters shaking their rattles!  It was too cute, but I did not get any great pictures of it.  Hopefully, Nana and Aunt Jean did!

In the parade! 

 After the festival, the girls were SO tired they could barely keep their eyes open, so Poppa and I headed back to the room with them.  All three were sound asleep by the time we got to our drop off point. Luckily the bus driver was amazing and we laid two of the girls on the seats of the bus, got the stroller off, and then loaded them back into thestroller.  Poppa went and picked up lunch.  We got the girls changed and they ate a quick lunch and then we all took a long nap! After nap, we headed back to the park. 

We headed back to the African section and the girls spent 30 minutes playing drums.  When we left, they all informed Poppa that they wanted to BIG drum from Africa!  LOL! 

We had another great supper in the African area and then headed over to DINO-LAND.  The girls got to see Plutoand Goofy.  Pluto embarrassed momma by bowing down to her when he saw triplets. I got that a lot from the characters, and it made me blush EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!!!  We rode the dinosaur version of the dumbo (do you see a pattern here). Then we headed to run around the bone yard!  The girls LOVED this area.  But we were all pretty run down at this point, so we headed back to the room to pack and get ready for the last day.  

And then the biggest wildlife encounter of the trip occurred on the way to the treehouse.  Poppa was as usual walking about 10 feet ahead of Nana, Aunt Jean, and myself pushing the girls in the stroller.  All of the suddenhe jumped and ran the stroller off the path. Aunt Jean, Nana, and I started to hassle him about it.  When he announced that there was a snake in the path.  We honestly thought he was joking!  But sure enough as we got closer we saw the little snake moving off the path. Poppa had saw it as he approached, but thought it was one of the fake ones that were all over animal kingdom.  As he rolled the stroller pass, the snake struck at his leg, and the jump off the path was his reaction!  Luckily, he was not touched and the snake went on his way! 

As soon as we got to the treehouse, we bathed the girls,began packing, and told Aunt Jean goodbye, because she was heading out early the next morning!  We then collapsed into bed! 

This weekend the girls and I celebrated a up until this year, rarely known holiday in the world of education known as TEACHER FURLOW DAY!!!!  And since I was off (and not getting paid for being off), I decided to head out with the girls!  (Nana and Aunt Sandra headed the other direction to Birmingham for a race!) 

I thought our weekend might be in danger, when Friday we had the 3 inches of Snow, but Saturday morning by 10 am, it was clear enough for us to hit the road! 

And we did!  We arrived around 4pm and checked in.  We got dressed and headed down to the waterpark.  We stayed in the upper lodge, so we had to take the bus down to the waterpark area.  For the girls, the bus ride was the best thing ever!  They sang "The Wheels on the Bus" everytime we got on it! 

We arrived at the waterpark at around 5:30...We LEFT the waterpark at ALMOST 9 pm (and we did not eat dinner that entire time! )  The girls would not come out of the water!  I thought they would stay in the kiddie areas, but not my girls...We spent almost the entire time in the WAVE pool!  Yes!  I was in the WAVE pool with three little girls by myself for almost 3 hours! 

(And because I was the only one there, there are NO pictures to show you how much fun they had!  Next time, I'll have to bring a waterproof camera to snap some pics!

We came back to the room, ordered pizza and crashed!

Us getting ready to crash and YES that's right!  I took them somewhere without a tent!  I let them sleep on a bed (well two beds pushed together!).  They did really well.  I did learn that Alyssa is gonna be an early bird and she may have to have her own room so that Makenna can get the sleep she needs!  LOL! 

The second day, we headed to the lift to go up to Ober Gatlinburg (the ski resort!)  On the ride up, they packed us into the tram like sardines, so the girls could not see anything.  Heck they were yelling at me to get closer and I had to inform them that there were three little girls in front of me, who needed some room to stand! 

Waiting in line!

Issy looking drunk while waiting in line. 

Alyssa would not get away from my leg, so she not pics of her!

At the top, we ate lunch and watched the ice skaters.

We did the animal encounters, which I have a video of and will post as soon as I get it downloaded.

Then we headed back down the mountain! 

As soon as we got back to the room, we went swimming again!  More riding on the bus and tons of fun in the wave pool (although it was SO cold!) 

Today we awoke to this, which made me decide to try and get out before the roads got bad!

Yep, it was crazy!  So I finished packing (including a quick room escape and elevator ride for a girls without momma!) Luckily she did not get far! 

We did a quick breathing treatments and hit the road!

I just noticed that I did not get a single pic of Alyssa on my digital....Hopefully, I got some on the video camera! 

It was a great time!  I can't wait to do it again!

If you have lived in the South for any extended time, you know that we NEVER get snow.  We get ICE, SLEET, a Mixture or ICE, SNOW, and SLEET!  You will walk outside to "play" in the snow only to hear it crunch beneathe your feet and if you made a "snowball" (aka ball of ice) and chunked it at a window, they you could break it! 

But for the FIRST time in my 31 years on this earth, I have seen REAL snow in the South.  Soft, Fluffy, Pretty Snow!  And the girls, nana, and I had a blast!

It was so soft you could eat it!

We even went sleding in the South!  Can you believe it Sleding!

Nana Sleding with the girls!

We made Snow Angels!

My job was sled puller and carrier!  I got a workout today pulling these girls on the sled!

After a while, these little Southern Girls got COLD, so we went into the house to warm up a bit and dry off. After dinner however, we headed back out into the cold for a little more fun in the dark!

Issy in the dark!

Alyssa in the dark...the second time around, Alyssa was not as into the cold as she had been earlier so she and Nana headed inside for some hot chocolate!

And this final pic, just sums up how much fun today was....Makenna is completely content!

And now I have to get off the computer and get packing...because tomorrow, I am driving just me and the girls to a Indoor Waterpark resort to celebrate the holiday known as Teacher Furlow! 

Check on the photo section for more pics of the girls hanging out!

Since Granny and Paw Poley bought us the Wii, they girls have been very interested in bowling on it.  So since poppa was home and is a pretty good bowler, we decided to introduce the girls to what real bowling is like. 

When Nana and Poppa told the girls we were going bowling, Alyssa was very excited.  She did her little Wii bowling hand throw and said "weeeeee." 

So we headed up to Stars and Strikes Bowling Alley.  This is a new alley right by our house.  It is REALLY nice.  It has the normal bowling on the left side and glow bowling on the right, a full arcade, air bumper cars, and laser tag.  It also has a resturant where you can get filet migon and any kind of seafood you want. 

When we arrived, the girls were SO excited!  They could barely contain themselves.  Since all the "serious" bowler were on the normal side, we decided to head to glow bowl side...plus its really cool to see all the pretty colors. 

The magangement was amazing.  They got us all setup!  The owner even typed in all our information into the computer for the game to begin.  

And then the fun began...the girls used a bowling ramp to bowl down the alley!  Alyssa LOVED it!  Isabelle was the best bowler and she liked it!  Makenna liked it for about the first 15 minutes and then she was ready for something else!  

We had a great time bowling, but we learned some REALLY important lessons:

1. Everyone bowls with bumpers, so if the girls want to bowl before their time, they can.

2. We must bring something for the girls to do, while the others are bowling, because they get antsy. 

3.  Bring Sippy CUPS!!!!

And the result was that Issy beat everyone with a score of 100.  It is really bad when a 3 year old beats you by almost 40 points! 

So after bowling we headed over to the arcade and the girls discovered the wonders of the arcade world....TICKETS!!!!  They have a family package at the bowling alley that includes an hour of bowling, 6-$5 arcade cards, pizza, shoe rental, a large pizza, and a pitcher of soda for around $40 dollars, so we had $30 worth of arcade tokens, we spent the entire time playing all the ticket games, because the girls LOVED getting the tickets! 

After all the time we spent playing and gathering tickets, we came home with three little foam icecream cone shooters and a bouncey ball a piece...It was completely worth it...So much so that we went back less than a week later and did it all over again!  LOL!

So for the last few weeks, we've been having a little trouble getting my girls to pic up their lovely toys! It becomes a bit of a fight pretty much every day (especially with Poppa Wallace who is a stickler for toy pick up!). Alyssa is usually pretty good with picking up her toys!!!! Isabelle will pick up a few, but the SECOND you turn your back, she will begin the slow walk while playing with the toy to the toy box game! Makenna is definitely her momma's child and she HATES, HATES, HATES to pick up any toy!

We have tried making it into a game, giving money (their favorite thing right now), and even a few times of momma losing her temper and in a very STERN Voice (Read: Trying not to scream at the top of my lungs!) demanding they pick them up!

Well this morning, Nana opens the Texas Guinn Triplets's Blog to see a post about a rough patch that they were having regarding good behavior! This "rough patch" resulted in the Guinn's entire toy room being stripped of all toys! Lathan, Lauren, and Logan were told the toys were gone! (They are actually hiding in the garage and Stephanie is making them earn them back ONE at a time! This idea is GENIUS!!! ABSOLUTELY GENIUS!)

So Nana had her own moment of genius! She told the girls to come see the Guinn Trips! Now, my girls know the Guinn Trips! They love their blog! They will even ask to see it, Alyssa has a HUGE crush on little London! When we got their Christmas Card, the girls fought over who got to carry it around!

They were so excited to see a picture of the Guinn's playing in their room...Only to feel GREAT sadness when Nana then clicked to show them the "NEW" toy room. Nana told them that they hadn't been picking up their toys when they were asked and Mrs. Stephanie had sent the toys back to Santa Claus! Issy and Alyssa BURST into tears! Makenna replied..."How Sad!!!! I'll pick up their toys!"

A few minutes later Poppa came home and asked the girls to pick up some toys, so that they could play trains! Needless to say, Makenna was the first to pick up the toys, and surprise, surprise, they picked them all up!

When I called to check in at lunch, Makenna was STILL talking about how she had to pick up her jack in the box, so Santa did not come back and get it!!!!!

Big Thanks to Mrs. Stephanie for creating a learning moment for both sets of Guinn Triplet! And thanks to Nana for getting it done!

Well, I scheduled Alyssa's surgery today.  She is going under the knife on December 28th.  Wish us luck! 

In other news, I need to play catch over our Thansgiving adventure!  On Thanksgiving day, we had an amazing dinner with Aunt Sandra, Poppa Wallace, and Nana.  Aunt Sandra's turkey was wonderful and the girls loved the sweet potatoes. 

Alyssa is so excited about the turkey!

The girls eating

After Thanksgiving, we headed to North GA for the weekend!

Alyssa checking out the hotel tree!

Issy posing for the camera!

Makenna refused to pose for the camera.  The highlight of our trip was the ride in the Santa Express Train

Here we are meeting Ms. Claus.  Notice Makenna's position...this was her favored position during our trip! 

The girls first train ride!

Watching the world go by!

Meeting Rudolph!

Here's Makenna's attempt to meet the characters!

Running around the train!

The next day we went to the tracks and took some pics

After hanging around blue ridge we headed over the the waterfalls to go on a little hike!  The girls did great, so as soon as the weather warms up, Frank and I are gonna attempt and overnight with basecamp and hiking trip! 

Alyssa chekcing out the waterfall!

After the waterfall, we headed up to see the lighting downtown blue ridge! 

Bundled up in the sleigh!  We has an amazing time! 

After a month and a half of a continuous ear infections, Alyssa and I spent part of her special day at the ENT....After doing a pressure test and feeling around on her throat, he told us that she has enough fluid behind her ears to float a boat!  So TUBES are going to happen, and then to my surprise, he also said that her adenoids are extra large and he want to remove them.  So we are going to schedule an appointment as soon as humanly possible! 

Today for her special day, we went to Momma's work, so that momma could have a quick meeting and then we went and had Alyssa fingernails done at the nail salon (while momma had her eyebrows waxed!)  It was too funny!  The nail tech when to file her nails and SHE FREAKED!!!! I mean seriously FREAKED!  I did not think she was gonna let her touch her after that, but we finally got her to let her paint her nails a very light pink.  When we got in the car, she sighed and said, "Oh so Pretty!  Paint Lady is SO nice!)

We went to Mellow Mushroom where she ate THREE pieces of pizza.  Then we went to the ENT and finally to Target, where I realized I was raising Frank!  It is no secret that Frank has expensive tastes (and I MEAN expensive!) At anytime, he has a list of three to ten things he wants that cost over $1000 dollars...Right now this list is topped by a Harley Motorcycle, a complete backyard makeover, and a trip to the East Coast of Ireland!  And since Alyssa has more of Frank's blood than the other two (via blood transfusion while in the NICU), she got her daddy's expensive tastes!    When I told her she could pick out her special gift, she went straight to the aisle with Spike the Dinosaur!  She wanted Spike so bad!  I spent 30 minutes trying to convince her that she could not have Spike!  When I would try to suggest another toy, she would tell me "No Momma, I want SPIKE!"  Eventually, I got her away from Spike and she chose another toy: a $60 Pink and White Swan Castle!   Another 15 minutes passed of me trying to talk her into something else!  Finally, she chose a Dora the Explore Talking Backpack!  Now, I knew that allowing her to get this backpack was a VERY BAD IDEA, but I caved and let her and NOW I will pay for it, because Makenna and Isabelle also want this backpack and they want it BAD!   (I also need to take Makenna and get her something else, because her present cost about $10 less than her sisters!  I have to be fair right?)