The Greenbrier

A couple of weekends ago we got a really good deal on the room to go to the Greenbrier.  We've always wanted to go so we thought this was our opportunity.  Let's just say the only thing that was a good deal was the room.  The rest is outrageously priced.  It was a short trip so we didn't get to experience it to the fullest, but we made the most of our time while we were there.

While the snack/drink bars in the room were overpriced like any hotel, this one was probably the cheapest thing in the hotel.  A bottle of water was only $3 (for 10oz).

We really had no idea what to expect but all I had in my mind was that it was comparable to the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort in Colorado.  There were many similarities, but this one was more of a historic nice.  It was renovated to look old if that makes sense.  We stayed in the Windsor Club area, which we never actually figured out what that was.

                                                           

Thankfully I brought Mallory's robe because when she saw ours she wanted to put them on. I wasn't going to post this awful picture, but it's the only one of me and the kids from the whole trip.  Apparently I did not take very many pictures and I apologize they are all out of order and all over the place in this post.
                                                          
I realized we never actually got a picture of the outside, so this one is from their website.

The first day we were there we went bowling.  We had a good time and Jared LOVED playing with the bowling balls.  The only downside was that he cried every time we threw the ball down the lane and it went away.

Towards the end Jared just wanted to be held, so I finished bowling with baby in hand.

Next we ate lunch, which we only ordered one Calzone because they said it would easily feed 6 (maybe six 2 year olds).  After that we headed to the pool.  We didn't have to worry about swimming after eating because none of us were full.  Although we did get the buffet at breakfast and stuffed ourselves to where we couldn't walk because it hurt (we did this on both days so apparently we dont learn from our past).

Mallory was fascinated that you got a new towel to dry your hand each time instead of a paper towel.

                                                      This is why I didn't take a lot of pictures.

The biggest hit of the hotel was the toy store.  We let them play a lot and when we went to our fancy dinner, we had the sitter take them there to play.  Jared went around to every animal in the store and would bark or roar depending on if it was a dog or bear.

We got a few pieces of chocolate but it was $55/lb so we limited ourselves to a few peices.

Like I mentioned, Eric and I had a sitter come to watch Mallory and Jared while we went to dinner.  This was the first time we have ever had someone we don't know watch them.  We all survived, and they had a good time eating food and playing in the toy store while we enjoyed our meal and dancing at the Main Dining hall.  My lack of wine knowledge embarrassed us at the beginning of the meal, but the rest of the meal was very good.  Our dessert threw us for a loop when it came out looking like raw fish or something, but it still tasted really good.  We finished with a little dancing, but were so full we headed back up to the room so we could free the sitter and head to bed. 

 Mallory watching them make chocolate.

The big bear that seemed to be dressed differently every day.

Overall it was a nice family trip and something we don't get to do often.  I definitely think it would be more family friendly in the summer and closer to Christmas, as we didn't see many other kids in the hotel.  To end the trip, we were sent off when nice warm chocolate chip cookies, which I think might have just been a decoy to make you forget about all the money you just spent.

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We have all been Victims

Did I mention that Jared thinks everything should be thrown....especially when standing only a few inches from you?  The other night I got a remote whipped at my head.  I think that is the first time I have yelled at Jared.  I felt bad, but it hurt really bad. I didn't think to take a picture of the big egg it left on my eye, but here is what was left of the bruise a week later.

I am not the only one.  Mallory has probably taken more beatings than anyone else as Jared does it so quickly when he is playing it's hard to get out of the way.  Blocks, cell phones, whatever, you better watch out.  Don't worry though, it's always followed up by sad eyes and kiss and hug.  Jared, it is OK to give me a hug and kiss without hitting or hurting me first.

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Credit Card Theft

Either Eric purchased some expensive escort services or we were victims of credit card theft. The first question people ask is how we found out.  For whatever reason, probably out of laziness, we have always kept our Wells Fargo account everywhere we've moved, even when there isn't a Wells Fargo branch. It's not the easiest thing to bank by mail, but we've never really had a problem with it until now.

One of the benefits of Wells Fargo is that they call you immediately once they notice suspicious activity on your account.  In these cases, they have you verify recent charges to your account.  In most cases, it's an instance where Eric and I are in different states both charging the same account (so for those of you looking to hijack someone's credit card, do it in the same state the person lives).

Anyway, back to the story.  On this particular day, I stopped at Panera to get food and headed to get the children from school so I could take Mallory to dance. I was on the phone with my boss so I didn't pick up the phone when the 800 number called me.  Less than an hour later, I realized Eric had been calling my phone numerous times.  This is how I found out we were victims of credit card theft.  Eric on the other hand found out a much more embarrassing way. 

Since I was at dance with the kids, Eric stopped to get Wendy's on his way home (in his suit might I add :)). When he went to pay (we always pay with the Credit Card for the points), it kept coming back rejected.  Puzzled, he called Wells Fargo.  They had turned our card off due to the extra suspicious activity on the account. Strike 1.

Next, Eric went to pull out his debit card, and since we never use it, it had expired back during our move so we never got the new cards.  Strike 2.  Of course Eric didn't have any cash, because who carries cash these days? (um we do now).  Strike 3.  We also don't have any other form of payment as we cancelled every other type of card back when we were trying to qualify for our house without Eric's income. Strike 4.  I think at this point the people at Wendy's felt really bad, and probably really awkward, so they gave Eric his food for free. I can only imagine what was going through Eric's head at the time.

Anyway, we had a trip planned for the next day, but it required a credit card. Hmm, the new cards would take a week to get there, but no worries, you can just go get a temporary one from the Wells Fargo branch.  Oh that's right, we don't live anywhere near a Wells Fargo.  Ok, we'll just use a check.  Oh wait, I just wrote the last check a few days ago.  Just before cancelling our trip, I remembered that USAA had a sent a card a while back that I was pre-approved for and all I had to do was activate.  I kept it thinking I could give it to Mallory to play with....all I can say is that saved the day, and the weekend.  Luckily, we had a few checks lying around uncashed because we bank by mail and I couldn't find a stamp the day before.  We had to open a bank account in town because we had already written "for deposit only".  Needless to say, it all worked out after a lot of hassle. 

This was one of those moments where I wished lived closer to any type of family.  I felt pretty helpless and violated not having access to any of our money, but we learned never to only have one account, especially when you bank by mail.

The great news is, we don't get stuck with the charges, but the bad news is that I have a lot of fraud paperwork to fill out.

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First Time Being pulled over in WV

November 1st is the day I realized (or at least made the connection of things I have overheard) that in WV you need inspection stickers on your car.

I'm sitting at a stop light and all of sudden I was being pulled over.  I wasn't speeding so I had no idea why I was being pulled over.  After about 10 minutes of trying to find my proof of insurance (which I have no idea why I didn't have because we just needed it to get our plates), I asked him if I could just show him a soft copy on my phone.  He said it had to be a hard copy (I'd be curious if the law actually says "hard copy").

Me: Sorry officer, I guess I don't have it.

Officer: Did you know in the state of WV that I can tow your car for not having proof.

Me: No.

Officer: I mean, I'm not going to but I could.

Me: OK?

Officer: Do you know why I pulled you over?

Me: Honestly? No.

Office: You don't have inspection stickers.

Me:Inspection stickers?

Officer: Yeah, if you look, ever car has stickers in their window right here.

Me thinking: I'm sorry I don't look at every one's windshield to notice a sticker.  I think however someone did mention something of the sort to us a while back that is probably what you are talking about. 

Me: Ok, where would I be notified of this, I just moved here 3 months ago?  If it's required, why did they not require it for me to get my plates, or at least tell me about it then?

Officer: In WV, you have to have plates and inspection stickers.

Me thinking: You still have not answered my question of how I would ever know this.

Me: I'm sorry, I was never informed of that, you would think they would require it for first time plates in the state.

Officer: Well, I guess I can be nice and not write you up for no stickers if you go get them today, but I am going to write you up for not having proof of insurance.

Me thinking: Nice? Nice would be walking away without any ticket at all.  I wish I had the law right now to prove to you that it doesn't say I'm required to have a "hard" copy of proof of insurance. 

Me: Can I prove in court that I did?

Officer: Yes you can.

Me thinking:  Wow, what a waste of our government money.

Random car pulls up....

Random guy: Officer, sorry to interrupt but there is bad accident about a few blocks back.

Officer: Amanda, go get your stickers and get insurance in your car.  It's your lucky day.

Me thinking: Lucky day? This is not how I envisioned a lucky day, maybe winning the lottery or something would be a lucky day.  I wonder if there really is an accident or if someone just thought they'd be funny and try and get me out of a ticket.

Well it was true, someone did get in an accident.  I don't think it was my lucky day, just someone else's unlucky day that got me out of a ticket (for something that nobody every tells you need, probably on purpose as some scheme to make more money).

                                                          

Moral of the story, ask your neighbors for things you may need in a new state that the state fails to tell you otherwise.

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Halloween Festivities

Unfortunately my phone seems to be the fastest way to capture the moments for the blog so the pictures are poor quality, but I guess it's better than nothing.

Jared in his shirt he made at school.  I love how his hair does some chicken little flare.

  

Our neighborhood had a Halloween party at the clubhouse with a bonfire and food. 

Trick or Treating in our neighborhood.  After a hard work out, walking a couple miles up and down hills pushing a stroller really pushed my limits!

Mallory did really well walking the whole time despite it being hilly and cold. She loved when she just got to go the houses and just get candy out of a bowl instead of having to say trick or treat.  The first 10 houses she wouldn't say anything more than thank you, but by the end she would finally say trick or treat.

That's right...here comes trouble!

Checking out her goods (which she has only eaten 1 piece and has completely forgotten about the rest).

I used it as a sorting of "like" items learning session.

Only one Kit Kat, really? Those are the best ones.

Don't worry though, we got lots of fake gummy teeth.

And a lot of fake spiders.  Next year, these will all be thrown away immediately.  I walked into the kitchen and kicked what I thought was one of these fake spiders only it kept running....I'm still freaked out by this.

I had to bring pumpkins to school for the kids to paint.  By the time I went to the store, we did not get the best selection of pumpkin shape....but even the misshapen pumpkins need to fulfill their halloween destiny, right?

Mallory's cat shirt she made at school.

Inclusive of a tail (and a shirtless Jared, which seems to be his preferred clothing choice lately).

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The Squirrel

I always feed Jared in the car before driving home from school every day, and this day there happened to be a squirrel at the tree in front of the car eating from the bird feed.  Jared thought it was hilarious the squirrel kept hanging upside down and was so distracted we didn't end up leaving for over a half hour.  I didn't realize how much squirrels can hang upside down.

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The Phantom Has Struck!

I have heard and seen this before, but never actually participated until this year.  The gist of it is that you get a gift and then you give it to 3 others (I have only heard of one other, but my guess is for the sake of time, it was 3 this year).  This is the one we got:

And I'm probably breaking some phantom rule and ruining this for anyone that I gave this to, but these are the 3 I gave away (which it was crazy to me how much your heart starts racing when you are trying to put a gift on someones doorstep in the dark without being seen. It reminded me of tp'ing the coach's house in CC in high school). 

Fun idea, but when you aren't prepared, it's difficult to give yours away within one day of receiving yours.  Oh, and don't forget to put the sign that you've been struck on your door right away or they keep returning (lesson learned).  Next year I will have stuff on hand so it doesn't result in a Wednesday trip to Target with tired kiddos. 

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Stride Rite

I've always seen the commercials for Stride Rite and never thought much of it, but let me tell you, I love them! Well, not the price, seeing as children only get an average of 3 months in one shoe size at this age, but overall I have been very impressed with them.  Jared loves them because they aren't clunky and they don't make him walk funny.  I felt so bad that he had to have his shoes on all day at school so I was in search of the most comfortable pair, and that is what we got!  I think she said the only times they have sales are in April and Aug, so I would definitely hold out for one of those because each pair is $35-$50.

On a side note, the lady at the store kept calling the brand Robeez, "Rob eeze."   I went home and looked up the pronunciations and sure enough it is Rob eeze, not Row beez like I had been saying it.  A little piece of useless trivia.

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Ellen's Ice Cream

A couple of weekends ago we spent a nice Sunday afternoon in downtown Charleston. It's always nice when you don't have to do anything or have anywhere to be.  We decided to eat at Pie's and Pints and then stopped in at an Ice Cream shop that recieved good reviews and both places lived up to our expectations.

If you ever come this way, we recommend the Oreo Mocha ice cream. 

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A Letter in the Mail

At our household, we love mail! Well, we love mail that isn't a bill.  The other day, we received a letter from MiMi and Grandpa Foster.  It was mainly a bunch of my old, awesome, report cards, but in it was some money to go spoil Mallory and Jared. On my way home that day, I stopped

with Mallory and Jared at Toy's R Us and let them pick out a toy. 

Mallory picked out building blocks and Jared picked out a pack of balls (no surprise).  Mallory and I built the the tallest tower we could: 

Jared had fun knocking it down.

Until they all landed on his head and then he wasn't a fan.

We outdid ourselves and built one even taller.

We challenged Eric to building one taller (which was the only way he'd do it).  It took him FOREVER and it still wasn't as tall as ours (in my opinion).   He blamed it on the fact that Jared was coming over and trying to knock it down.  Excuses Excuses. 

Jared make me laugh everytime he knocks it down because he does this little laugh where he ducks his head down and covers his mouth like he just did something wrong that he thought was funny.  It makes all of us laugh everytime he does. The pictures don't capture it fully, but enough to where you'll get the point.

We have been playing with these blocks every night and we always think of Grandpa and MiMi when we use the blocks. It really makes us miss living closer to family!

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Marika, The Antique Doll

I am not even sure where to begin this post.  When Eric's dad and Cathy came to visit, they came with a gift from someone we have never met. The gift came with this letter:

A Little Doll Named "Marika"

My Dear Mallory:

We never met, and yet, you and I have something very special between us: you and your little brother Jared have all his love and I have a beautiful friendship with your Grandpa Robert.  He showed me your pictures, tells me stores about both of you and somehow I feel that I also love both of you.

Some of the things that I will tell you here, you might not understand at this time, but when you are a little older, you will understand how much this little doll named Marika meant in my life....and because I know what a special young lady you are, I would like to ask you to accept her in your life, and to take care of her and love her the way I did and still do.

She came to me when I was younger than you.  It was in Europe during II World War in Budapest, Hungary.  We went through many, many things together during our lifetime together.  She came to me under a huge, beautiful Christmas Tree, dressed up like an Angel in a long silver gown, a silver crown on her head and beautiful silver wings.  It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.  She also had a big bed under the tree and I, being a little girl, went to sleep under the tree in her bed.  Everybody was looking for me and they could not find me. I was having so much fun under the tree listening to all the commotion.

Marika had a lot of beautiful dresses, pants, and all the things a little doll needs, but they were all lost through the years.  We had to leave our home land and she came with me.  We crossed the  Atlantic Ocean in a huge ship, went to Bolivia, and later to Brazil.  She did a lot of traveling and she was always with until we both came to the United States, first to New York, and now in Florida where I met your Grandpa and Cathy. 

You know, I might have to take a little trip and would not like to leave Marika alone, and that is why I decided to ask you to take care of her and lover her for.  I know she will be very happy to have you as her new friend and mommy. 

I would love if once in a while you could let your Grandpa know how she is doing. 

Thank you so much and Bless you both.

Love,

Maria

Upon reading this letter, I am not going to lie, I was a little concerned as to what  was going to find. Perhaps I have watched to many Chucky movies, but I was expecting this antique doll to come out very tattered and torn and to come alive at night and go crazy in the house.  After surviving a few nights in the house with the doll, and debating on whether or not to store the doll until Mallory was older, or to give the doll to Mallory now, we decided to give the doll to Mallory.  I couldn't be more sure that we made the right decision to give it to her now. 

Here is Marika in her new outfit.

Mallory, not having seen the Chucky movies, was so excited for the doll and did not put her down from the moment she picked her up.

Maria was so thoughtful and got Jared a gift from Pottery barn so that he would not feel left out when Mallory got her doll.  He loves throwing them and making the sounds of each animal.  The only one we struggle with sounds on is the turtle...we kind of make little snapping sounds, which has turned into clucks.

Putting Marika to sleep.

Here are the clothes she was originally in.

I love the knitted socks.

Mallory wanted to have Marika sleep with her, but I was afraid she'd roll over and break her, so we made Marika her own bed right next to Mallory's bed.

It's been a month now and Marika has adjusted to her new life in the Holway household. She is the new doll of choice, and Jared constantly wants her because Mallory has her.  I always here Mallory saying, "Jared, you cannot have Marika, she is very special and you will break her."  Apparently Marika doesnt make very good choices because Mallory is constantly reminding her to make them. :)  While I am still fearful that the doll will break, after having survived a month without falling apart, I think I can rest assured she'll be ok.

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