Blackie's Grand Adventure
Blackie and Peanut in Western Springs, Illinois
Blackie and his friend Peanut arrived in Western Springs, Illinois well rested and looking for adventure. Blackie had never heard of Western Springs and did not know it was right in the middle of TY Country. Blackie went to visit TY's new office building which is only a couple of minutes away. Of course, there is no name on the building so if you don't know what you are looking for, you would never find it. Blackie was all excited when Joey B. told him his Grandma Carson lives in Lisle, Illinois (about 25 minutes from here). Joey told Blackie how his grandmother had given him his very first beanie, STEG, a couple of years ago. Blackie remembered that Mary Beth from the Beanie World magazine lives in Lisle. But we couldn't find Mary Beth anywhere. I guess if we had her address it would have helped.
Joey's friend next door, Henry, was real excited to meet Blackie and have his picture taken with him. Joey's mom bought a couple of photo albums and has put together all the pictures that came with Blackie so that it is more organized for viewing. Henry was pleased that his picture was going to be traveling all over the world with Blackie. Henry's mom works at FOX Television Studio in Chicago so Blackie got to go to the studio with her. He was so excited about all the cameras and lights. He even had his picture taken in the studio as he was adjusting the cameras. Then he went sight seeing in Chicago and saw the Hancock Center and the Wrigley Building.
A very special trip was planned for Blackie. He has been hearing all about the Winey Bears on Beaniemom's Website and he had read about them in Beanie World Magazine. But he never really expected to actually get to meet them personally!!! It was kept a secret from Blackie until we walked through the door at Antiques and More in LaGrange, Illinois. What a surprise!!! Everywhere Blackie looked, all his cousins were calling out to him. He even got to meet Lemon Sunshine (from the Lemon Lainey website) and had his picture taken with her. He was sorry he had missed "Cloud" from the Beaniemom website, but he was out having his picture taken for publicity purposes.
We took lots of pictures here and will send them on to Linda and the kids. A couple Polariod pictures will be put in the photo album to go with Blackie just to prove he really did meet all those famous relatives of his.
We will be sorry to see Blackie leave and wish he could have spent a few more days with us. But we hope he enjoys his Easter Sunday with the next host family. Thanks for the opportunity to share our small part of the world with Blackie.
Happy to be in Kentucky
Following are my entries in Blackie's diary;
I arrived in KY on Saturday morning. It was a bumpy ride- somehow my traveling home got ripped, but, thank goodness, I didn't fall out. WHEW!! What a ride. I was soooo glad to be taken out of the box and start my new visit with the folks in KY.
My host family took me on a visit to Salyersville in Eastern KY where Sarah, 10 years old, took me to her cousin's birthday party in West Liberty, about 30 miles away. I really enjoyed the trip. We took Mountain Parkway from Lexington to Salyersville and then a two lane road to West Liberty. I could not believe how friendly the people were in Eastern KY and how many of the kids brought beanie babies as gifts to Samatha's birthday party. The kids there get their beanies from adjacent towns because, so far, no one sells beanies in Salyersville. They also get them from internet and from some televised beanie baby networks. I was surprised at the number of children who used the internet for buying and for school projects.
The view on Mountain Parkway was great. I saw lots of hills and trees that would be perfect for black bears - in fact, Sarah told me there had been a black bear seen on the hill behind her house recently!
We also visited the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg about 20 miles away. It is a really nice facility where various types of music are promoted. The week-end shows may include local talent or well known groups like the Oakridge Boys.
I thought it was a great idea that a number of the businesses there were promoting a drawing for a princess bear with the money raised being given to the UK Children's Hospital to buy beanie babies for the sick kids.
I went to church with Sarah and met more nice Eastern KY people. Afterwards, we went to her grandmother's house where her grandmother said she was fixing a typical Eastern
KY Sunday meal. We had chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, home canned green beans, corn that had been raised in Sara's garden, salad, homemade potato rolls PLUS
cornbread, and milk or iced tea. For dessert, we had dried apple pie with milk.( I had never heard of dired apples, but they were delicious! ) We had to eat a good lunch
before our dessert though. And Sarah's grandmother said that they had to go back on their low fat diet the next day!
Monday, I arrived back in Lexington, KY and went to visit children at the University of Kentucky Children's Hospital . I couldn't believe how many children had beanies in their
rooms. The nurse told me that the kids periodically receive beanie babies from money raised by nice people in KY.
The cancer kids get beanies at the start and end of their cancer therapy. The nurse said it really made the kids feel better - especially when they could take their beanie with them to scary tests or procedures like heart surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, treatment for bad burns, etc. I also got to visit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where there are babies as small as 1-2 pounds!!
There were even beanie babies in there being used to position the babies on their sides! I had never thought of beanies being used for that purpose. The hospital was really a neat place if you had to be in a hospital. All the rooms and halls were brightly painted and big stuffed animals sitting around.
I saw their playroom- I wanted to stay longer to play on some of those neat toys. They had a great big, huge, puzzel structure at the Hospital that was as tall as the ceiling with all types of neat gadgets inside that, withgravity and pulleys, sent a ball through tunnels and spouts and animal looking mouths.
I could stand and watch it all day!! It was soooo neat - lots of the children go and watch it work and it makes them feel as though they are on the playground.
When I was ready to leave, one of the cancer children, Mary, walked with me to the front door to tell me ' bye'. It was GREAT because she was going home. She had won her battle
with cancer - she had been cured!!!
Here is the latest from Williamstown, NJ
Dear Linda,
Blackie has had a few very busy days here with us. On Friday he spent the morning at our home playing with Jennifer, Anthony and Matthew. They enjoyed the sand box, trampoline, and even watched Grizzly Mountain again. Since Friday was Good Friday, the day that Christians recognize that Jesus died on the cross, Blackie attended a reinactment of the crusifiction. It is a very somber and moving event which is staged by a local church and the parishioneers. It was in Atco, which is about a half hour away. We met at Jennifer's NaNa and PopPop's house. They went with us, along with her Great Grandfather and several friends. We all attend this event every year. It was a very beautiful, clear evening, but also very cold. The kids were all bundled up, with hats and gloves. Blackie had his fur coat, but even he decided to stay under the blanket to keep warm.
Saturday was another fun filled day. Mom had some Easter errands to run earlier in the day. Blackie stayed home with Jennifer and her brothers. Her friend Arielle came over and got to spend some time visiting with Blackie.
They had fun playing outside and later playing games. Our friends, Deena and Gregg came over for dinner and to help decorate eggs for Easter. I don't know about other families, but this family decorates several dozen eggs. One for each of the kids, and one for Dad. Blackie had some very creative ideas for decorating eggs. He told us they were pointers that he has picked up across this great country of ours.
Today was Easter Sunday. The day naturally started out very early since the kids were anxious to see what Mr. E- Bunny had left in their baskets. Naturally they were all thrilled when they saw that he left each one their very own Ears. Blackie was quite honored when he came downstairs and saw that there was even an Easter Basket just for him. Then the candy munching began and no one wanted breakfast. Boy does Blackie have a sweet tooth! Soon we were searching for several dozen eggs that were hidden through out the house. Usually we end up not finding a few until they start to smell rather bad, but Blackie has a very good eye for egg hunting, and each egg was accounted for by the end.
After we finally got all to eat breakfast, it was off to St. Mary's Church for mass. Fr. Pete was the priest who celebrated mass. The church was so crowded we couldn't even get to ask him to take a picture with Blackie. But we got one outside. Blackie was very well behaved during mass. We were so proud of him. When mass was over we headed to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's house. Blackie got to meet many of Jennifer's relatives. He especially had a lot of fun with her cousins Megan, Chris and Ryan. Before dinner we spent some time relaxing in the back yard where Blackie felt right at home. He loved the waterfall and stream that Jen's Dad constructed in the yard. Since we still had to go to Jen's other Grandparent's house, we ate a light meal. This was tough with all the delicious foods that were there. His favorite was the pasta with broccoli rabe. Soon after we had to move on and go for a visit to Jen's NaNa and PopPop's house. Blackie once again met Great Grandpop and also the kids' Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Mike. There were also other relatives who came for desert too. Blackie said that he really enjoyed the escarole soup and also the ham.
But you should have seen him eat the cheesecake for desert. What a sweet tooth!
We have certainly had a wonderful time visiting with Blackie. It was wonderful to have him as the guest of honor for Easter. He has been such a pleasant houseguest. We will certainly miss him when we must send him packing. But we will be sure to track his travels by following his web page.
Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity to share.
Dear Linda,
Yesterday Blackie was thrilled that his new address did not arrive until late in the day. He got to meet the kids cousin Thomas who came for a visit yesterday. They all played together and it was almost like Easter once again with all the candy and bunnies for everyone. We took some neat pictures of Blackie playing with the kids and will include one in the travel journal. We thought that it would be neat for us to see Blackie with the people that he has just come from.
Monday night was again Girl Scout night. Blackie was thrilled to see the great girls in Jennifer's troop one last time before he had to go. We had a tour of Commerce Bank planned for the evening. Blackie got to pretend to open accounts, make deposits, imprint checks, and work in the drive up teller window. After the bank tour he went with us to McDonalds where all the girls got ice cream.
When we got home it was there. We had been expecting it all day, but it still left us all with a sinking feeling. The new address where we are readying to send Blackie. He is off to Atlanta, Georgia. We will miss him terribly, but are excited for him and the new host family who he will bless with his presence. We can't thank you enough for the opportunity to participate in such a fun and exciting experience. We wish you, the children and of course Blackie all the best in the future. God bless each and every one on your individual grand adventures.
Mark, Dorothy, Jennifer, Anthony and Matthew