This months News and Views (June 2000)

During the first part of the month, Paula went down to Fairhope for another visit.  

This time, though, she went to see people other than her mom and dad.  Helen, Vivian, Jerry, Kenny, Jennifer, Joel, Alice, and numerous others were on hand.  With that many people to see, it makes the long journey a little easier to handle.

Since Helen and Ray are going to be stationed in England for a few years, everyone gathered together to see them for the last time.  

Well, that may be the last time THEY see them, but we're planning on catching some type of E-Saver, and heading to England to see the Queen!  Or, at least Buckingham Palace, the guards, and the other sites England has to offer.  Just a little forewarning to Ray and Helen.  You've officially been put on notice of our future arrival.

Anyway, Paula and the kids had a great time.  Thanks for putting up with them.

OK, I admit it.   

I bought a shaved ice machine.  You know, a machine that makes snow balls, snow cones, Hawaiian Shaved Ice, Sno Biz, Tropical Sno, whatever you want to call those tasty, refreshing, icy summer treats.  No, it's not the commercial ice shavers like they have in the Sno Biz or Tropical Sno huts, as those run several thousands of dollars.

I picked one up from Pure Earth, a company that sells water filters, and other environment friendly items.  I ordered from them, because they have free shipping on orders over $25.  The machine was $50, plus you received 2 bottles of flavors/syrup, with your order.  You can see more details by clicking here, and perusing their web site.  I ordered the S-400 electric model, the second one listed on the page, and I highly recommend this machine, as it is awesome!

But, the shaved ice machine is only HALF the story.  You also need a good quality syrup (Also called flavor, or flavoring) to flavor your snow cones.  The ones we received free of charge from Pure Earth were good, but not great.  They still left something to be desired.

So, to the internet I went, looking for a premium, quality, great tasting syrup.  And, after looking on eBay (I always look here first, even though it is an auction site), and then utilizing some search engines, I finally came across Hawaiian Shaved Ice.  They also have the same machine that  Pure Earth sells, but shipping is not free, and two free syrups are not included (Read on, as I should have ordered everything from Hawaiian Shaved Ice regardless of free shipping and 2 sample syrups).  

I honestly believe I've found the best flavors around.  It's from a company called Hawaiian Shaved Ice (Click here to visit their web site) , and, believe it or not, they're located in North Carolina, although they're not close to Charlotte!  Their syrups are, without a doubt, the best I've ever tasted.  They're even better than the local, commercial offerings, and we can make them any time we want, in the convenience of our own home.  Their selection of flavors is also quite impressive.   Give them a try, I'm confident you'll be impressed.

Since hind sight is 20/20, I can easily recommend getting the machine from Hawaiian Shaved Ice for $39.95 (As opposed to $49.95 plus two average tasting flavors, and free shipping from Pure Earth), and a few premium flavors, and getting the best all in one package.  You certainly won't be disappointed, and you have MY personal guarantee on that (Have I ever lead you the wrong way?  I didn't think so.)!  

Yep, and a great Father's Day it was for me.

Paula had just returned from her trip to Alabama, and she brought back a father's day present.  What, you ask?  Believe it or not, she managed to bring back a Johnny Ray's chocolate pie.  If you've ever had a slice of Johnny Ray's pie, then you know this was an awesome present.

She also got several Tommy Hillfiger shirts for me at the outlet center in Foley, some socks, and a pair of pants for good measure.  

That evening, a wonderful dinner was enjoyed, and another father's day has come and gone.  But, you know, with the loving family I have, it seems like every day is father's day.

During the summer, we have some very special visitors for a week, maybe a little longer if we're lucky. 

Once again, it's that time of the year for Jessica, Clark and Timmy to visit.  This was the first year they've been to the new house, where we comfortable have enough room for everyone.  And, this year, our special guests were able to stay for 10 days, which still was not quite enough time.

So, how do you entertain 6 kids?  Quite easily, especially with these 6 kids.  Let me explain.

First off, Jessica and Micah team up, and Micah won't let her out of his sight.  He calls her JJ.  Everywhere JJ goes, Micah follows closely behind.  Jessica was wonderful to have around, as it allowed Paula to do some things, like visit the pool (And not spend half the time in the baby pool), have lunch with me (Without having to help Micah color his menu), and we even enjoyed an evening out by ourselves (We saw Gladiator - awesome, although a violent and bloody movie).  

Next, Brad and Clark team up for fun.  Since we now live in a community with a pool, you can easily imagine that Brad and Clark spent most of their time at the pool.  Our pool allows anyone over the age of 10 to pass a swimming test, and they can visit the pool without adult supervision.  Well, the first day Clark was there, he took the test, and passed with flying colors.  

Finally, Clint and Timmy teamed up.  What did they do?  Play board games, Nintendo, listen to CD's, watch some DVD movies, and, in general, have fun.  

What were the highlights of their visit?  Well, I will start out by saying that the snow cone machine was a BIG hit.  I would say that snow cones were enjoyed at least twice a day, often times more.  I was worried that the motor might get burned out from use, but it's held up fine.

I took Clint and Timmy to Carowinds one Saturday night.  Mental note, don't go to Carowinds on Saturday, because it's way, way, way too crowded to enjoy.  But, we were able to ride the Scooby Doo Ghoster Coaster, Taxi Jam, The Gauntlet, and several other rides. 

The next morning, Brad and Clark joined me for a quick trip to Carowinds.  We had a blast by riding The Hurler, Top Gun, Thunder Road, and some other large roller coasters.  Clark's favorite was easily Top Gun, which is an inverted roller coaster.  I've talked about it before if it sounds familiar to our regular readers of this web page.  We were only able to ride Top Gun  once, as it  was experiencing mechanical trouble when we first arrived.  

We also got to enjoy our local YMCA's new water park that opened just a few weeks ago.  Although we had a little paper work to do to get the Turner kids into the park (No guests are allowed in the water park), our efforts finally paid off.  

Anyway, they've got 2  nice water slides, a large children's play area, and a 9 foot diving area.  The 2 large water slides are really fun, and we raced down these on numerous occasions.  Who ever rode the purple slide usually won, as it was shorter than the red slide.  

The best part of the YMCA water park is that it's not crowded, like the Carowinds water park.  We rarely had to wait in line more than 2 or 3 minutes to go down the YMCA water slide.  At Carowinds, waiting in line for 15 to 20 minutes to ride a water ride is not unusual.

Another treat for everyone was our local ice cream shop, Cabarras Creamery.  Once again, if it sounds familiar, I've talked about it on these pages.  Great tasting, reasonably priced, premium ice cream.  Jessica and Timmy enjoyed rainbow sherbet, Brad and Clint chose banana pudding, Clark got strawberry cheesecake, and  Micah got Bubble Gum.  

Anyway, we enjoyed them, as usual, we're just wondering if maybe, possibly, without much fuss, they could stay a little longer when they visit next year.  Just something to think about Phil and Annette.  

Yes, our cute, blue eyed Marine in the making turned 7 this month.

And, like last year, his cousins Jessica, Clark and Timmy were here to help us celebrate.

But, unlike last year, this year's party was a swimming party, and was held at our club house.  So, for the first few hours, everyone enjoyed the pool.  

Although we didn't have the pool to ourselves, I doubt more than 6 people were swimming while we had our party.

After some swimming, I went and got some Papa John's pizza.  Eight to be exact, which was the perfect number.  We were left with 2 pieces of pizza, and everyone was stuffed.

After pizza, we had snow cones.  Yep, we used the snow cone machine for Clint's party.  Once again, it was a huge hit with the kids.

After serving about 25 snow cones to kids and adults, we had cake (Clint had a hamburger cake), ice cream and opened presents.  For his birthday, Clint accumulated enough money to finally get the trick bike he's been wanting for some time now.  He also received some other nice gifts, like a Mark McGwire collectible trading card, a pool torpedo, and other neat presents.  

After presents were opened, and thanks were given to those attending, the kids wanted snow cones AGAIN.  Yep, everyone wanted another snow cone.  I had enough ice and flavoring, so we broke out the machine, and served at least another 20 snow cones. 

Everyone who attended was full, had a great time, and was tired. I'm sure all the kids slept well that night. 

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