Got A Hankerin' For Some Cane Syrup? Bring Your Best Jackass!

This week proved very interesting.  Between volunteering at Zach's preschool on Wednesday to traveling to Calvary, Ga. to tour a cane syrup making "plant" I would say I haven't been bored.

One of my brother's good friends, Charles Harrison, is the President of the Calvary Lions Club.  Each year they host what many people have heard of and gone to. . .Mule Day.  Calvary is a very tiny town, apparently no stop light even exists there but somehow it draws a huge crowd each year for this event.  I've never been in attendance myself but I've heard of people who wouldn't think of missing it each year.

My brother volunteers to help out Charles with the making of cane syrup that they sell at Mule Day.  They also use the syrup as prizes to games and contests they host like "Who's Got The Best Looking Jackass".  When David told me about it I was intrigued and, of course, wanted to bring my camera.  I really was interested in meeting the people too.  Apparently they take a couple years to warm up to strangers according to my brother but I was sure they would warm up to sweet little ol' me right away.  Ha!  Not really.  Not by a long shot.

We arrived in Mr. Honda with Papa driving and me in the passenger seat.  The boys were being spoiled by Grammy in the backseat.  When we pulled up it was definitely not as "grand" as I was expecting.  I thought the buildings would be larger and I didn't really expect the smell that I smelled when I got out of the car.  When I found my brother I immediately whispered, "WHAT is that smell?"  He pointed out back to a very small pond and said, "probably that!"  No telling what had been dumped in there.

Whenever I came across a person I always spoke very cheerily as I walked by.  Never got a cheery response.  I toured the cane syrup making building and the corn meal building.  There were two men that were standing in the cane syrup making building the entire time I was there and they never spoke a word to me at all.  I guess my charming personality did not make a difference.  Even though they looked at me from head to toe they did not find me worthy enough of them to speak I guess.

Anyways. . . on to the plant.  I've posted a few pictures and will explain as best as I can. . .

The cane is put into this machine (maybe a grinder?) behind my brother.  It squeezes out the cane juice and spits out the stalk apparently. The cane juice goes in a hose on the ground and around to the cane syrup making building. . .

Here's a close up picture of the machine that squeezes the cane juice out. . .

Here is the shoot that gets rid of the cane stalk after it's squeezed. . . 

then it comes through the hose into this building and they do something with it (sorry I guess I wasn't listening close enough!)

then. . . my brother was the bottler!

and. . . the final product ready to give away or sell!

What an interesting day.  I enjoyed seeing Charles again. . . he is the same same same!  Always happy and smiling and laughing.  I think it was a fun trip for the boys and for my parents.  Zach and Chase loved walking around with Uncle David.  Here are a few more special pics. . .

to learn more about Mule Day go here:

http://calvarylionsmuleday.com/

Or better yet. . . visit it TOMORROW!!!!!!! 

What to do with ALL this candy???? Steal it? Resist It? Feed it to the cat?

Halloween was a blast but with it comes MUCH unwanted temptation for Mom.  I'm here all day staring at the huge bowl of candy on my kitchen counter.  My child is at school.  He'll never miss just one or two pieces that I eat right?  But will he miss them if I eat one or two pieces each hour he is away?  I looked it over thoroughly today and the boy got the GOOD candy.  Chocolate out the wazoo. . . sweet tarts. . . tootsie rolls. . . the works.  All the candy that is right up my alley but oh not so good for my hips and thighs.  What's a mom to do?  I could give it away because it's really not good for my son to eat either.  I could put it on a very high shelf in the pantry so it would be a pain to get down and eat.  I could be an adult about this and put mind over matter and give it to him sparingly and then never give into temptation myself and keep going to the gym every day without even a thought about the scrumptious delicious candy sitting there staring at me.   Well, I'll let you guess what the outcome of this situation will be. . . .

In the meantime I will fill you in on our fun Halloween holiday.  The boys had so much fun!  On Sunday afternoon we had a great time carving our pumpkin.  Daddy did most of the work of course but the boys had fun nevertheless.  As you will see from the pictures Chase Parker was more interested in his socks than carving the pumpkin.

On Monday Zach had a great time at school. His class wore their costumes to school and went trick or treating before having a halloween party and pizza lunch.  Everyone was adorable in their costumes!  I was happy to volunteer to help and had fun taking pictures of course.

After dinner the boys got into their costumes and let me take a few pictures outside.  They are not the most cooperative but I got what I could.  I love my little Superman and my Foreman of Birdwell Destruction Company.  What cutie pies they were all dressed up!

Halloween night came and it was time for Cooper and Cassidy to go trick or treating with us around our neighborhood.  Before they arrived though Grammy and Papa and David, Deke, and Aaron came over bearing treats for the boys.  They were spoiled rotten.

The Harrell twins and our boys had a blast together.  And, the adults always do too.  Chase Parker did surprisingly well staying up til 8:30!  He loved walking around with the big kids.  It was definitely a happy halloween.  Hope yours was too.

Enjoy some pictures. . .

and finally, some Instagrams. . . 

A Day Out With Thomas. . .

Zachary Thomas is appropriately named. . . that's for sure.  We originally decided on his middle name of Thomas because it "sounded good".  Little did we know this little dude would have a complete fascination with trains.  He loves all trains but he has really loved Thomas the Tank Engine over the years.  So, we thought we would travel to Cordele, Ga. this weekend and let him ride the "real" Thomas.

On Saturday morning we arrived at precisely 9:47AM and just barely missed the first 10AM train ride.  Thankfully we had an all day pass to ride as many times as we wanted so it really didn't matter.  We walked around the carnival like atmosphere and made sure we took bathroom breaks before the next train ride at 10:45.  We were fortunate to get to ride in the "premium" car due to our VIP status (all day pass riders that is!).  Our guide, Mr. Jack, was very charming and had lots of great information for us and made the ride very enjoyable.  We rode just two times but that was enough for Zach (thank goodness!).  He enjoyed himself so much!!  Chase Parker did as well.

After walking around some more and letting Zach pick out a couple of toys (Grammy bought one for Chase Parker too!) we headed back up to the trolley that would take us to our car.

The boys had a fantastic time and I think Grammy and Papa enjoyed themselves even though it was a long, tiring day.  The adults got tired and HUNGRY very quickly.  One adult, in particular, was threatening divorce if I didn't feed him "real" food so after our Thomas adventure we found a much needed Cracker Barrel to feast upon.

As we made our way back home to Tallytown we stopped at a cotton field and I was anxious to feel native cotton. It's always has amazed me that something non edible grows from the ground.  Just seems weird!  Zach got out with me and he had a great time too.  We picked a little illegally for him to take to Show & Tell.  He kept asking me if were gonna get in trouble for picking it.  He is SUCH a straight shooter.  We arrived home about 6:30PM and rested up the rest of the evening.  What an adventure yesterday!

Today we enjoyed a nice bike ride in the park and then a picnic while watching everyone set up for the infamous Dog O Ween at Tom Brown Park.  Beautiful day outside!  Looking forward to blowing up the bouncehouse for the boys later and carving our pumpkin.  I have a yummy dinner planned to eat outside by a fire daddy is planning on building for us.  Should be a fun evening!

Here are a few (thousand!) pics from our adventure yesterday. . . . but first, a cute little video of Zach helping to push Thomas out of the station! (turn your volume up!!)

beautiful field. . . 

"REAL" cotton!!

cool planes at the Veteran's Memorial Park where Thomas was visiting!

the real "Sam" in Sams Shortline!

THOMAS!!

Zach and Mom having fun "pulling" Thomas out of the station!

my sweet hubby!

these next few pictures are some of my favorites!

I LOVE this picture. . . my little dude looking out the window riding on a real train.  He loved it!!

the Conductor!

this was one of the "Premium" cars as they called it.  Constructed in 1939.  Beautiful mahogany wood.

LOVE this picture too.  My sweet mom and my sweet boy!

Mr. Jack, one very cool man!

Mr. Jack opened a window for me and let me hang out to get a few pictures!

Lake Blackshear