Agnihotra

Last Thursday, 10/18
The girls and I drove to Citronelle to visit Grandmother and Grandfather (Perry's mom and step-dad) at Middle Earth (their permaculture farm). The drive was tough - driving rain much of the way. But we made it and the girls were excited. They helped Grandfather collect the eggs from the chickens, and played puzzles. They weren't very excited by the vegi-burgers for dinner, but they survived on french fries and salad. After dinner, we all went for a walk in the dark with flashlights. That was big fun - we stopped to listen to all the noises: frogs, crickets, wind, owls. After a little ice cream, the girls went to bed.
The next morning they were up at 5:30, but that was OK because I'd been awake most of the night. There were terrible storms all night, and I was thinking about tornados. Plus I was on the couch so I wasn't very comfortable.
Grandmother and Grandfather (G&G) are a bit "eccentric", but I love that about them. Some of what they do is so very cool, such as their solar panels, their electric car, their rainwater collection, their gardens, the labyrinth, the fairies, etc. And then, some of it is just too "out there" for my conservative disposition. The humanure (the bucket of sawdust that replaced one of their toilets) and their morning Agnihotra ritual are just two examples. In case you're lost now, you might want to google it, but I'll try to briefly explain the Agnihotra. It's an Indian ritual performed either at sunrise or sunset; G&G choose sunrise. You burn ghee and cow dung in an inverted pyramid and say a chant. That's the what. The why? Well, it has something to do with energy, and purification of the atmosphere, and healing. I don't get it. The girls didn't pay much attention to it and didn't ask any questions, much to my surprise.
After a little breakfast, S&A helped Grandfather collect sticks for firewood, then we got dressed and loaded up to head to Mobile.
So, Friday Oct 19th we headed to Mobile and went straight to Dodge Elementary School to have "lunch" with Emily. Actually she eats at 10:40 so we just had a little snack. Then we checked her out and went to Blu Rabbit to play with Leah and Jenna. I was able to spend quite a bit of time with my friend Dara. It was a great hour and a half. After a little pizza, we left. We drove through our old neighborhood which made me a little sad - I really loved that house. Then we went to Mimi's house for a nap.
After naps, Emily opened her presents. It was a Hannah Montana / High School Musical birthday. We gave her an iPod Shuffle with 47 songs; she also got 4 HSM dolls, a new My Generation doll, a HM CD, and HM sweats. We had dinner and a Hannah Montana birthday cake. The girls spent the night at Leslie's house (yea!) so I was able to visit with M&D and Debbie (who was in town to help George's parents move).
Saturday, Oct. 20
Today is all Emily, all day. We drove to Spanish Fort to start our day at Build-a-Bear. Sarah and Emily built bears, and Abby built a bunny. Clothes, shoes, purse...over $100. Then they put on bathing suits and played in the fountain. Lunch was McD's outside by the fountains. Then we went to Toys r Us so they could play on the indoor playground. And then, finally...naptime. For all of us. After long naps, we went to the park down the street. Then we had pizza for supper. A VERY full day. The girls stayed at Leslie's house again (double yea!).
Sunday, Oct 21
We all hung out at Mimi & Pop's this morning and then S&A and I headed back to Birmingham. It was a pretty easy drive, with a stop at Priesters, but Sarah got a headache about 30 minutes from home. I hate that she gets these - it makes me sad to think that she's going to be plagued by them for the rest of her life. We made it home around 4:45 and played outside until dinnertime.