Um ... NATURAL Formation?

During our family Spring Break trip to Arizona, my mom and dad took us to the Arizona Museum of NATURAL History.  I have typed the word "natural" in all CAPS because this post is about a beef I have with their liberal use of that term as related to the following picture.

As you walk through the initial entry way into the heart of the museum, there are dozens of photographs or pieces of artwork depicting different NATURAL formations in earth's history.  Many of the depictions are inspiring and beautiful, and I found myself willingly accepting the arguably arbitrary historical timelines under which these phenomena were NATURALLY visible.  I'm sure you sciency people out there will get all riled up and defensive, but I find it a little difficult to just accept the concept of 300 million years ago versus 2-4 billion years ago.  Isn't that a bit BIG of a range?!  Really covering your bases there huh?!  But I digress ...

Amid all these images, I came across a NATURAL formation that was formed exactly 1.6 billion years ago.  It is utterly amazing that real living people were finally born which looked exactly like these NATURAL head shapes (which have a whole history about them being carved unnaturally by human hands within just the past century).

At least the kids enjoyed digging through recycled tires to find buried "dinosaur bones."  I wonder if the museum curators believe those are NATURAL too?

The picture to the right is where the kids panned for "gold" (which was also not NATURAL at all).  Just so many false claims!

(Please note the sarcasm of this entire post.  I am neither truly angry nor truly devoid of any intelligence).


Song Of The Day:
Although he is now a successful country singer, Darius Rucker used to front the band Hootie and the Blowfish.  I thought of their song "Time" as related to this post, for obvious reasons.  Listen along and see if you can catch some sarcasm in the words of the tune as you think about this post.

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Golfing Every Morning ?

One of the most enjoyable experiences of our family Spring Break trip to Casa de Case in Arizona, was the opportunity to go golfing with my dad and my two older sons ... every morning!  Thanks very much to Grandpa Jerry for his membership connection (and even more for his willingness to go out early each morning) that allowed us to golf for free each day!

The boys got better, but no one ever beat me over the whole 9 holes (we played 10 holes each round, but that is just because the 9th hole has a makeshift tee box that aims directly back toward the green of the 1st hole).  We always played that hole as a double-or-nothing hole (since I was pretty much always ahead by a lot at that point).

We played initially by strokes against par (normal scoring if you don't follow golf), but gave that up after about 3 holes because we had nothing to track the scores on that first round.  We began to keep track of two things: total strokes and a modified point system (there was 1 point open for each hole, which could be halved if two or more players tied for the lowest number of strokes for that hole).

I was very proud of my sons, who joined me with a first stroke that stayed on the green on the 8th hole.  This didn't occur until our 4th morning of playing, but it was very cool nonetheless!


Song Of The Day:
I have chosen "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs for two reasons in this post.  First, it is more from my father's generation of music, so I can picture him doing his "car dance" to this tune ... and it cracks me up!  Secondly, the song was featured in one of the best golfing movies ever: Happy Gilmore.  I need to watch that film with my boys!

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Is It Time For Some Random Pics?

Yes, I think it is.

Here are some pictures from our first few days of Spring Break.

Savannah and Cat "Strike a Pose"

Captain Goofball at yer service!

Not sure why but there was lots of "spanking" on this trip

Just.  Look.  At.  All.  Those.  KIDS !

Josh & Kevin doing some side-planking

Myra and mommy (whose smile is being faked?)  :)

Yay!  Finally some age-appropriate toys!  :)

And this was the "serious" picture pose!

Karen and Amy spent LOTS of time in the kitchen

(I wanted to just insert a link to my Facebook page here ... But I can't figure out how to do so from an iPad or iPhone ... Sheesh this should be easier)

Song of the Day:
I've always liked the song "Take My Picture" by Filter.  I think it definitely applies for this post, especially Catalina's pose as the Statue Of Liberty!  :)

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So Is This A "Trip" Or A "Vacation" ?

You may never have thought about it before, but I have often wondered when is a family outing considered a "trip" and when is time off considered a "vacation" ?

I submit for your consideration a very simple difference of definition:
- A "trip" is travel (anywhere) with or without other people.
- A "vacation" is a break from the stress of everyday life.


Amsden / Case 2012 Spring Break TRIP to Moab, Utah
(ONLY 11 kids and 4 adults!)

To that end, our family embarked today on a TRIP across the country to hang out at an Alabama Beach House (google map Fort Morgan, AL and you can't miss our location) with some great friends of ours (whose family is almost as big as the Case 9).

Josh & Karen vacation 2012
(Disney Cruise w/no kids)

Why is this not going to be a 'vacation' you ask?  Because there will still be 20 people who need to be fed, clothed, cleaned up after, and accounted for as we embark on several smaller trips to a variety of nearby destinations.

It might not seem like a difference to you, but I am certain I will feel a need for a vacation after this great family trip!  :)

Song Of The Day:
It's an all time classic for road travel, and deserving of it's place in the very start of our Case Family Spring Break 2013 Road Trip ... "On The Road Again" by Willie Nelson.  Here's hoping Mapquest is mostly accurate with the directions and estimated driving time (23 hours out, 21 hours home from Central Alabama).

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