Summer Adventure Challenge Blog

Custer State Park

2009-10-01T11:47:00.002-04:00

In June, we camped at Custer State Park in South Dakota. It was a great, inexpensive, place to stay while visiting Mount Rushmore.

I am in love with Custer State Park. It's like a national park that just is run by a state. It was made a State Forest in 1912 and much of the buildings, including the following (the visitor's center) were built by the CCC.

For those who don't know, the CCC was one of the social programs of the Great Depression. The Civilian Conservation Corps put young men to work during the depression. They built bridges and roads, and frequently built picnic areas and buildings within state parks and national parks across the country (my favorite Texas State Park, Garner State Park, is full of CCC architecture). They built in an Arts and Crafts style. And their designs, very rustic and close to nature, often using locally found materials, is often referred to as "National Park Rustic." Anyway, I enjoy CCC architecture and was delighted to see it in the park.

There are a lot of bison in the park and can be easily seen. This picture is not zoomed in at all. I took it out my window as we drove past.

They like to hold up traffic, too:

As do the burros. Many, many years ago (I believe in the 1920s?) you could hire a burro to take you to Harney Peak. When that service was discontinued, the burros were just set free. Now a "wild" herd of burros live in the park and beg drivers for food. When we passed these, another group of people were beginning to approach the burros with pieces of bread. The park allows it, since they're somewhat domesticated (or at least are the descendants of domesticated animals), though they tell you to "use your judgement." (Unlike the bison--everywhere you go and on every brochure/map/etc. it states "Buffalo are dangerous. Do not approach.")

We saw a lot of other animals in the park, too. In addition to the animals I mentioned in the last post, I also saw pronghorn, mule deer, a beaver (I think), and a bat. Also in the park, though we didn't see any, are big-horn sheep, mountain goats, rattlesnakes, and mountain lions.
A very hard to see mule deer:

And, a hiding pronghorn:

We really enjoyed Custer State Park. It was a great place to camp, and there's a lot we didn't get to do. We just might go back sometime, notwithstanding the 6 hour drive. :)

Mount Vernon

2009-10-01T11:43:00.003-04:00

We visited Mt. Vernon in late June. It was hot and sticky, though not as hot as Virginia can get later in the summer. I rather missed the cool-ish, arid air of Colorado. We cooled off from our walk from the parking lot inside the visitor's center for awhile and watched a movie about George Washington.

After the movie, we walked toward the house, to get in line for a tour. We spent about an hour in line, during which the 3 boys had fun playing with leaves and being silly:

The tour was a bit rushed, but interesting. (Rather than your standard tour, there was just a line of people going through the house and a "tour guide" in each room talking about the room you were in). I found it rather interesting that the key to the Bastille is displayed here, having been sent to George Washington by the Marquis de Lafayette (a close friend to Washington, practically his adopted son).

I also found it interesting that, since he wanted his wooden home to look like stone, sand was thrown onto the wet paint to make the texture of the home look like stone. On one of the dependencies, I saw this chipped corner that shows how the "stone" is really wood. Also, I'd always heard about how the Mormon Pioneers had painted the pine used in early buildings, like the Salt Lake Tabernacle, to look like nicer woods. George Washington did this too; his pine paneling in the house was painted to look like mahogany.

What I really liked, though was his "backyard." With a superb view of the Potomac, and a cool porch to sit on, it was my favorite part of the estate.

Besides, there were magnolia trees! I haven't seen my second-favorite tree (the first being really big Live Oaks) in years. I love the big, white flowers that smell so nice! I gave James and Thomas each a boost to smell this one.

We stayed until past closing time (they stop letting people in at 5, but you can stay on the grounds until 5:30 and in the visitor center until 6). And, we of course visited the gift shop and added to my bookshelf. :) I'm glad I got a chance to see Mt. Vernon!

Fort McHenry

2009-09-30T19:33:00.004-04:00

When we lived in Maryland, I'd wanted to visit Fort McHenry, but we'd never had a chance to do so. So, while we were back east in June/July, we stopped by for a visit. Being the history buff that I am, I didn't want to miss Ft. McHenry. It was an integral part of creating the affinity for the American flag that we now have. The war of 1812 cemented America's Independence. When you think of it in its historical context, our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, is really a moving song.

They are building a new flag pole, so instead of seeing the giant flag wave, we got to hold it while a ranger spoke about the Battle of Fort McHenry and its significance, as well as the significance of the American Flag.

I enjoyed standing on the ramparts and feeling the sea breeze coming off the Patapsco River and Baltimore Harbor. It was a nice view, too. I've been having fun with my new-found panoramic feature on my camera, can you tell? :)

The boys' favorite part was seeing all the cannons. Thomas and James were dismayed to find that this stack of cannonballs were all attached to each other, so they couldn't try and pick them up.

In the barracks, the boys got to try out holding this gun; it's longer than they are tall!

It was really an interesting place to visit. I enjoyed it a lot and the kids had fun. And, I have to admit, when they played the National Anthem and we stood to honor the American flag, in the very spot where the flag that song was written about was flown, I got teary-eyed. God bless America!

Rocky Mountain National Park

2009-09-30T19:26:00.005-04:00

I've wanted to visit Rocky Mountain National Park since we moved to Colorado. I mean, I LOVE national parks, and this is one of the big ones! And it's not far away at all.

But, there was always some reason why we couldn't. Summers are always busy. And this is really a park to visit in the summer. We decided on the spur of the moment to take a weekend trip into the mountains to visit RMNP on one of the last weekends of August.

We drove up after the kids got out of school on Friday. We spent the evening exploring Estes Park and then went to bed. We got up early-ish the next day to head into the park.

There was a car show that we happened upon. I had to take a picture of this DeLorean. Really, would anyone remember DeLoreans if not for Back to the Future?

I am in love with the Stanley hotel. Isn't it beautiful? I LOVE historic hotels. Someday I want to stay here (though I think I'll not watch The Shining or take the ghost tour first). Anyway, I was curious, so I explored a little. The lobby is gorgeous. Someday Matt and I will come stay here. Someday...

We spent all day Saturday at RMNP. We hiked Bear Lake. The kids seemed to enjoy that until it started to rain and thunder. We saw a lot of chipmunks (one almost climbed into my lap), and the kids liked that. Henry would point at them and say "ch-mmmmnk!" The lake was so clear and pretty.

As we waited for the storm to clear out, we ate lunch and checked out Morraine Park. We saw this coyote as we drove through the campground. There were a lot of Elk. A herd was wandering through the campground, and another was in a meadow near the visitor's center.

We spent the afternoon driving Trail Ridge Road. It's the highest continually paved road in the U.S. I believe its highest point is 12, 183 feet above sea level. Here we are at one of the overlooks:

The view from one of the lower-elevation overlooks (click for the best effect):

At the Forest Canyon overlook. What makes this place neat is that you can drive to see the Tundra. At other national parks, that requires long hikes. Not here! (And yes, note the warm clothes--this part of the park is never above 50 degrees. Not even in the hottest part of the summer. At least we were here at the end of the summer--hardly any snow. It had all summer to melt. )

Just behind us is a gorgeous view of Forest Canyon. Looking down into the canyon, you can see thousands of green trees. It makes you feel like you're standing on the top of the world.

Speaking of the top of the world, while this is a fantastically beautiful drive, it's not necessarily for the faint of heart. Those with fear of heights might not do so well with the fact that in many places there is no guard rail, 6 inches of "shoulder" and then a 1000+ foot drop into oblivion. Ever hyperventilate at 11,000 feet? I wouldn't recommend it. :) Okay, I didn't really hyperventilate. But, the quicker breathing of nervousness makes for being rather light-headed at 11,000 feet.

But, it sure is beautiful up there.

I didn't get any pictures of the road as we drove, as I was a little too preoccupied. :) But, here's a video of some of the road that I found on youtube. At :39, you can see the part of the road that was both my favorite and least favorite. :) It's right near the highest point on the road. It has the best views, and the furthest drop. :) The video was taken just a couple weeks before we visited. At other times, there's more snow along the road.

We also checked out a couple visitors centers and dropped by the Sheep Lakes. We didn't see any sheep, though. And, the info booth at Sheep Lakes was closed for the season (that season being Fall--Fall comes early to the Rocky Mountains. The aspen were starting to turn. Only another month, I think, until they close Trail Ridge Road and the storms start.)

On the way out of the park, we stopped at the Beaver Meadows visitor center. As I walked out of the bathrooms, I stopped to read a sign about the architecture of the visitor center (designed by an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright). As I read, I heard a noise in the brush. I looked up and was surprised to realize that I was standing right next to a mule deer. Here he is:

We headed home after this, getting home around 10pm. It was a nice little weekend trip. We plan on visiting much more often!

2009 Adventures, revised

2009-09-30T19:20:00.006-04:00

Yeah, I didn't do most of the things on my 2009 Summer Adventure List. I got too ambitious. Here's the original list:

1. Westlands Park
2. Mt. Rushmore
3. Roxborough State Park
4. Cheyenne, WY (Technically, I've been here, but just driving through. Living so close, I'd like to check it out a little closer)
5. The Colorado State Fair in Pueblo, CO

The only one I actually did (unless you count driving through Cheyenne again, thrice) was Mt. Rushmore. But, I did have a lot of adventures this summer. New ones, even. So, I'm just going to revise my original list. :)

Here's the list I actually did:
1. Mt. Rushmore
2. Rocky Mountain National Park
3. Fort McHenry
4. Mount Vernon
5. Custer State Park

Reviews to come soon. :)

Cherry Hill

2009-09-28T12:07:00.001-04:00

New Summer Adventure #5

Since I last went to Cherry Hill (many MANY years ago), it really has changed. The first thing I loved was the abundance of grassy shady areas with chairs for families and their bags to park. This green space is the center "island" for a pretty big lazy river, that passes under old time bridges and in front of fake western store fronts, etc. My kids were content with that scene for at least a couple of hours, and Peter and I took shifts with Sean on the green space. I immediately regretted that I brought NOTHING to read, and no fake old time bookshop in sight. It was a shame.

You don't have to pay for a tube, you just have to keep your eye out for someone to be done with theirs. It never felt like we had to wait too long. :o)

Ben decided to snuggle in the towel on my lap for a minute. He is silly about pictures! Always hard to get a good one, but still they capture the moment.

Sometimes I'm mean and take pictures of my kids when they are in the middle of a cry. This is Ben when he still wanted to be in the river. But then I busted out the strawberry milks and all was forgiven.

Zach was not a fan of the canyon ride, the whole water in the face thing. So since he went on it with Peter the first time, I could NOT talk him into going again with me. I tried all the tricks in my book, still I ended up riding that alone while the boys were patient snacking and waiting for me.

I had shown the boys the 360 degree pictures on the Cherry Hill website, and they were stoked about the pirate ship near the toddler-deep splash pad area. But guess what? No climbing on the pirate ship. Lame!

We swapped out our wet towels with some dry ones in the car and headed over to these slides:

They were a hit with the kiddos. Peter and I each got to go down at least a few times with each child. Good times. The turns were pretty zippy, and try as I may I almost always goofed up on my leaning and nearly tipped over at the end every time!

Zach's impressions of the blue slides. (Not a lot of water in the face here, see?)

Cherry Hill is great for a lot of things, especially so for families with kids just a little bit older than my own. I love that there is an RV park and campground right there, so it makes for a good family reunion set up. For the price, if you live nearby and think you would come often, I think it would actually be worth paying for the season pass. I had coupons such that one of us was free and the others were at a discount, and it was still a $35 day.

As we were leaving, and here is the lamest part of the whole thing... I finally decided to ask someone to snap our picture at the mini golf and blue slide exit near where we parked. Soggy towels and swimsuits and all. So the nice lady took two pictures, and said, "do you want to check them?" Me: "no, I'm sure they're great!" Then two seconds later in the midst of loading the kids, I check and NO pictures of our family group. Bah! I just wanted one because we likely won't be making Cherry Hill an every year event. What do you do? Unload everyone? And find another poor bystander to help us out? Ah, well. We were pretty beat and happily headed home to the tunes of the kids telling us they were STARVING. Poor things.

Reflections on my Summer Adventure Challege 2009

2009-09-02T13:26:00.004-04:00

In reflecting on my Summer Adventure Challenge, I feel very satisfied. I had 20 items on my list, including places in four different states. I sucessfully completed 14 of the challenges, and substitued another destination challege that I had not listed, ETSU's Model Railroad Museum. We have one more yet to complete delayed due to a raindate. We had a wonderful time, exploring a variety of types of places, with our five children (ages 5, 8. 12, 15 & 17). I appreciate the Summer Adventure Challege because it helped me to stretch my thinking to seek out new places that we had not gone before, and the meeting of our goals was satisfying. I can't wait for a new list for next year. Hope to see ya then.

Cami, Adventures 3, 4, 5, and sort of 6.

2009-09-02T02:45:00.002-04:00

Ok, so since school has started, I suppose I should finish up with my Summer Adventures Challenge posts. I'm trying to remember what I've said so far--just the Living Sea Aquarium and Museum of Ancient Life. SO, on to the next ones:

#3: Thanksgiving Point Gardens and Children's Garden

We went to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens many a time. Actually, just twice to the actual gardens, during which I forgot my camera. I'll hunt down some pictures from my sisters. It is quite expansive, and we just chose a few of our favorite gardens to show the kids. They each had a map and had a great time finding their way to the next garden. The Secret Garden was a hit, since you come in through a door hidden in a tunnel, and there was a fountain. But the kids loved it all and were great sports with the long walk. They always do love the big waterfall.

I found some pictures. Here they are:

But the Children's Garden we pretty much did instead of a pool this year because of the great Noah's Ark splash pad. Very fun. But every time we went it seemed we found more to this little garden. There is the hedge maze, and the bear cave, and the pond with fish you can feed, and a lighthouse you can climb up into, and we found on Tuesdays and Thursdays there are even little craft classes my kids loved. They must do little shows on the "bug stage," but never when we're around, so the kids just go up on the stage and have fun.

Those are the obvious parts of the garden. But turns out, there is a whole action area type place that is more of a nature path with lots of fun things. We wound around the whole path with all the cousins and played some natural wood xylophones, built with natural blocks, climbed up and around woodsy areas, and looked at the big gardens from lookout points. It was very fun. Now if only they'd just open the gates between the big gardens and the children's ones, it would be perfect.

So much for the gardens.

#4: Thanksgiving Point Farm Country

NEXT, the other day Jake and I took the kids to the Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. Our mistake was going on a Tuesday night, when it's $2 to get in. Since we have a pass, that didn't matter, but all in all, the farm is never that busy. It was like a little petting zoo, with some other exhibits about milk and farms and shipping produce that the kids loved. It was small enough to not get overwhelmed, but big enough that we felt like it was really worth coming. The kids really liked all the animals, and we even watched a pony try to eat a girl's skirt! (The sign told everyone the pony was a biter!) Everyone also gets a ticket to go on a pony ride, which was when we wished we'd come another day, since we waited a good 25 minutes for our ride. But CRAZY to behold, my scaredy cat Jeffy got on the biggest horse and did a great job riding without supervision. Ethan was ok if I was next to him the whole time, and was even alright when I stepped back to take some pictures. Hoorah! Janey, however, HATED it. She cried the whole time, poor girl. I don't know why Jake didn't just take her off the pony, but there you go.

#5: Seven Peaks Water Park

We've been meaning to go all summer, but the kids aren't SO great at water, and we wanted to go with other people, and no one ever really wanted to. So, today was my bro-in-law's birthday, and I thought I'd call them to see if they had any plans. They didn't so we did a spontaneous trip to the water park in Provo. Jake and I have been a million times since we used to have a pass when we lived in Provo, but the kids have never been. It was only $6 after 6 p.m., and since we were only going to stay a couple hours anyway, it was the right way to go.

Well. It was certainly an adventure. Jefferson really had good intentions of going down some slides. Jake finally got him to go down a biggerish kids slide and he hated it. He doesn't love being splashed. But the really little kids slides he was so wimpy on, we finally gave up on slides with him. I put Janey down a couple, and I'm not sure she loved it either. Ethan refuses to step into water that is not beach entry, so we finally left all the fun kids areas behind and took up residence at the wave pool.

Little did we know they turned off the waves just after we left the first time, so they never DID see any. Lame. However, it may have been better, because Jane is not an easy girl to control in the water. Without the waves, it was just a giant beach-entry pool. We only went to the pool a few times this year because Jane plunges in and screams if you hold her, and it's just too hard to do. But this was PERFECT. I was able to keep pretty good track of both boys and Janey, and even just sat down in the water while I watched Janey go back and forth in the water, jumping up to save her from drowning each time she slipped. She was in total heaven.

Jake did a few slides with Lili and Jeff (big Jeff, not Jeffy), but after a while, it was pretty cold outside (it was past 7), and we were enjoying the warm water. As people leave, they often give you their tubes (that you have to pay for, so we didn't), and someone gave us one and the kids had a BLAST with everything you can do with a tube without actually FLOATING in it. They just pushed it around, got in the holes and pretended it was a boat, etc. Jane and I got in and let the boys push us back and forth for a while too, and that was fun.

And the rest of the time we spent watching the big kids (Jake, Lili, and Jeff) go off the rope swing, and convincing Jefferson to put his head under water at the risk of losing his DS if he didn't. (That was the deal from the beginning of getting his DS for going under water 10 times.) He always forgets that it's pretty easy to do, and I'm wishing we gave him more opportunities to practice this summer.

SO, it was worth it for $6 each. Until the kids are bigger, I wouldn't pay more. But it was a really fun end-of-summer fun pool time. The pizza and brownies (that everyone else had) afterward looked way fun too.

BONUS: American Fork Canyon.

This is sad. We were supposed to go up many times. The kids have been begging. And perhaps there are still hikes and campouts in the future this Fall. However, since a kid was taken from his tent and eaten by a bear last year, people have been more cautious, and we'd all like to be in trailers and whatnot. Also, many a sister is pregnant or just had a child, so maybe that's an adventure for next year.

BUT, we did go. We went to visit my parents on a Sunday, and they told us to just load up and follow them up the canyon. They had parked their T@B up there for the week, and just went up and down the canyon as they pleased and slept up there. So we packed up and went.

I didn't realize how far up their parking spot was--it was probably a 40 minute drive up the windy roads (and Ethan does NOT do well with windy roads), but it was SUCH a lovely drive, and my kids had never actually been in a real live canyon before. This canyon is as much home to me as any other place in the world, and it was really great to see the kids be so excited about all the trees, the cliffs, the river, the lake we passed, and everything great about the mountains of Utah.

When we got to the campground, the kids roasted marshmallows and made s'more-ish type treats with brownies. THAT was a big hit, even though it was pretty tough keeping Janey out of the fire. Mind you, we didn't know we were coming, so Jane and I were in Sunday dresses, and hers got completely filthy. Good times.

Then we took a walk around the hilly roads of the campground and the kids explored their guts out in the woods around the campground. It was a big hit. The kids were mad when we had to go home. I wish we'd spent more time, and I'm sure we'll go up there plenty when the leaves change, but it still counts that we went up there in the summer, so hooray!!

I stole these pics from Matt:

And THAT my friends, is the end of my Summer Adventures. This year was easy, because everything we did was new. Next year we'll actually have to hunt down some new stuff! What will we find?

Also, we are planning to go to Moab sometime soon. Even if it's not summer, perhaps I'll post a link. :)

(I've been working on this post for DAYS and it took me about 1.5 hours to get the pictures for this post. Seriously. Insane.)

Pirate Adventure

2009-08-28T21:42:00.001-04:00

Other than canoeing, my kids had never been on a boat ride, so when I read somewhere about this Pirate Adventure that sails out of Annapolis I thought that it would be the perfect thing for our family. It cost a few dollars more than a standard boat ride around the Annapolis Harbor, but it was worth every cent.

As soon as we checked in at the little building on the bay, the pirate who owns the place gave us all name tags with nautical names like Dreadful Drew, Starfish Sydney, Admiral Alison, Adventure Andy, and Mighty Matt. Then the kids headed to a large sandy area where they had a large trunk full of pirate dress-up stuff, and the staff painted tattoos on the kids. Drew went with the blue mustache and skull on the arm, and Sydney thought that a pirate ship on her arm would be nice.

On to the pirate ship we went, and the staff shuttled all of the parents towards the back of the boat, while the kids were fully into their new role as pirates on the hunt for buried treasure. We happened to get seats up front by the kids because we were almost the last ones on the boat and everyone else opted to take the shady spots in the back. It worked to my advantage though, as I had a better view for watching the adventure and taking photos. In the photo above, the kids are reading the treasure map with their leader.

Drew scans the horizon, looking for landmarks that will lead them to the buoy with the big X on it.

Oh No! It's the bad pirate... all of the kids got to shoot him with cannons that spray water until he fell into the bay. He was a funny guy who made very dramatic evil faces and brandished his sword well. There were enough cannons for each child, and I did not witness one meltdown of any sort for the whole hour long adventure... pretty amazing since there were a few 3 year olds aboard.

There were plenty of sailboats around, since Annapolis is "the sailing capital of America" ... or maybe the world. I can't remember what the sign says, but I can say with confidence that they do love sailing there.

The kids were so excited after they defeated Pirate Pete that Sydney and some others randomly broke into a dance party.

X marks the spot-- Drew helps to pull the treasure chest up from the bottom of the bay onto the deck. I appreciated that they actually let the kids do most of this stuff-- it made it much more realistic, especially for the older ones.

Each pirate got to grab a handful of treasure.... lots of plastic money and pinata toys!

Sydney sits with her loot in her lap.

Andy and Matt look at Annapolis Harbor.

This was a great time from start to finish. Every person on the staff was friendly, funny, and seemed to really love their job. The kids never lost interest the entire time, and Drew and Sydney played pirates for days afterward.

Manassas Battlefield Park

2009-08-27T10:32:00.000-04:00

Manassas Battlefield Park was the last stop on our 2-week vacation through Virginia and Tennessee and so we did not arrive at the park until late in the afternoon, and we were all tired. I was worried that it would be a disaster, but was pleasantly surprised at how interested my five children (ages 5-17) were in the park. We went to the Visitor's Center first and I obtained Junior Ranger booklets from the desk. I highly recommend you doing this, if this is the type of thing your children enjoy doing because it helps to give them a focus and an idea of what to look for. It was helpful to me, too, because they give different booklets out for different ages, so it helped me to point out interesting things in an age-appropriate way. The museum in the visitor's center is very interesting and the 6-minute display/description of the battles that took place there is a very good introduction. You can follow a ranger-led tour, but we chose to explore the battlesite at our own pace. The kids loved being able to touch the cannons and such and just walking on the field made you really being to imagine the soldiers that were once there. The admission (very inexpensive at $3.00 per person 16 years of age and older and free for those under 16) is good for three consecutive days, so you have plenty of time to explore the entire park and even take the driving tour. We were able, however, to see most of the sites near the visitor's center in about an hour and a half. Click here if you would like to see more of our trip there.

Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

2009-08-27T09:10:00.004-04:00

This photograph just doesn't do the scenery along Skyline Drive justice. (Although you can click here to see some more, if you would like.) The depth and variety of shades just cannot be captured even by the best of photographers. You just have to be there.

It cost us $15 entrance fee to be able to drive along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and worth every penny. We drove along it for 40 of the 105 miles beginning at Rockfish Gap, sometimes stopping at the overlooks, sometimes slowing down for a quick view from the car. I learned first hand why these mountains are called Blue Ridge. When we had to turn off for a different destination everyone in the car was sad to leave the beautiful mountain views, even the younger of my family, ages 5 and 8. This is some breath-taking beauty that never got old. A must-see.

Sunspots Studios, Staunton, Virginia

2009-08-26T12:58:00.000-04:00

Sunspots Studios is really a shop that sells handmade glassworks, but there is a workshop in the back in which you can watch glass being handblown. We found the free (although there was a donations jar) demonstration very informative and interesting and his presentation entertaining. The items in the shop are, not surprisingly, a bit on the pricey side, but my daughter was able to find a little figure for about $20. If you are in the area, I would recommend it as a way to spend a enjoyable afternoon. (Click here for more photos.)

Lake Sherando, Blue Ridge Mountain area of Virginia

2009-08-26T11:05:00.002-04:00

Our experience at Lake Sherando was very mixed. We planned to camp there for two nights and enjoy the lake as well as other attractions in the area. We discovered when we got there, however, that the campground is really not suited to tent-campers, like us. The tent sites do not have bathrooms, water or electricity, so we opted for the water/electric sites, which are designed for RVers. There seemed to be a lot of RVer's that camp there every year for long periods, forming sort of a club-like atmosphere among the campers. I suppose it is really nice if you like that sort of atmosphere. We hated it. The sites are very small and close together. There was a nice woods with stream around the campsites, which my children enjoyed exploring and was a relief from the hemmed-in feeling at the campsite itself. The ground was a hard-packed sand-gravel mixture, which made driving in tent steaks hard, and cold and uncomfortable to sleep on, even with air mattresses. It was wet the whole time we were there, and even all our things made from paper warped (books, etc.) just from being there. The camp locks its gate at 10:00, which I suppose is necessary since the sites are so close together but means that there is a large line of cars/campers that come in at 9:45. My husband and daughter wanted to go to a Shakespeare play in the nearby town of Staunton, but since they would be getting back later than 10:00, they would not be able to get back into the campground. Lake Robertson locks its gates too, but they give the campers there a combination for the lock so that campers can get back in, but outsiders cannot. We elected to go back to Lake Robertson for this reason despite the fact we had already paid for our site for another night.

The next morning, however, we explored the lake there, which is gorgeous. We had a wonderful time there, and hated to leave it. My assessment of Lake Sherando is that it is a wonderful day park to visit for a swim in the lake, and good, I am guessing, if you like the comradery feel of RVing, but an awful place to camp if you are tent campers. Click here if you would like to see more pictures of the lake, but I do not have any pictures of the campsites.

American Shakespeare Center's Blackfriar Players

2009-08-25T13:31:00.000-04:00

If you are in the Staunton, Virginia area, The American Shakespeare Center is a must-see. The Blackfriars perform Shakespeare's works under the original staging conditions -- on a simple stage, without elaborate sets, and with the audience sharing the same light as the actors. My husband and daughter (17) went to a production of The Merry Wives of Windsor there and they both loved it. The ticket price of $20 per person for balcony/general admission is very reasonable for theatre. The musical performances at intermission were modern pieces, which in some ways seems out of place, but is in keeping with giving the audience a similar experience as in Shakespeare's day, because the musical pieces would be currently known works.

C&O canal boat ride

2009-08-25T08:49:00.001-04:00

I've been wanting to take a ride on a C&O canal boat ever since I heard there was such a thing. It's nice that my kids are at an age (mostly) when I can do this cooler stuff with them. I invited tons of people to come with me and the group that ended up joining was just right. Lots of kids and great moms, even a dad. I have this to say:

*not a bad drive from my neck of the woods down through the ginormous Potomac homes into the National Park, took me maybe 35 minutes

*lots of parking, lots of picnic tables

*the visitors center is tiny, at least the part we got to go into. There are apparently 7 different visitor's centers along the C&O canal - the one we went to is called Great Falls Tavern. The part with most of the stuff to look at is being renovated right now, which is a crying shame.

*the tickets to ride were only $5 per person (and my kids were all old enough to cost money, darn it)*The junior ranger books were a total bust. The one for Sheely's age was all writing and she balked and would have nothing to do with it. Xavey too. Oh well. I'm glad we did the Clara Barton/Glen Echo one, it was so much more interactive.
*There was a giant mound of dirt for the kids to play on while we waited for our 11am boat ride - they announced it was time by blowing a giant bugle.

*Our "tour guide" was awesome - energetic and fun to listen to. The atmosphere was casual and yet attentive - Preston was by far the most outspoken, sometimes commenting or asking questions and sometimes just talking REALLY LOUD. You could get up out of your seat for a minute or two and walk a bit without getting in "trouble"*Sheely was freaked out that the sound of my camera taking pictures would spook the mules and she got really crabby at me but we worked it out

*the kids got a kick out of the whole "lock" system, when we floated up it was crazy - even I was impressed with how it worked. It reminded me of being in Germany on a boat with my friend Lis when we went around a canalway.*the mules pulled us FAST . It went way quicker and smoother than I'd anticipated. The whole set up with the ropes and harnesses is pretty ingenious, when you think about it. And a "tow path" where the mules walk with their handler - again, the kids got such a kick out of it and so did I.
*I thought when it was time to go back that they would just switch the mules to the other end and we'd float back, but I was wrong. They turned that boat right around, apparently it does have a front and a back :)

*At the end our guide started playing a concertina! get out of town! It was awesome! He even played The Red River Valley, which is the song my husband sings to my kids at night, they loved it! Then he handed out a bunch of old time instruments and we all played along and stomped our feet while he played a lively version of "Simple Gifts"*When our ride was over we had a lunch along the canal and then went for a walk down the canal, over it and up the tow path along the Potomac River. OH the fun! The kids found a path down to the river and we played and explored for a long time. That is one mighty river, certainly the biggest one I've ever stopped and explored around. Preston found a "rock hill" and Xavey and his friend found a hidden waterfall (that Preston found later and was convinced that he found it first and had a M-E-L-T-D-O-W-N because no one would get excited about looking at it except me and apparently I don't count)*Then we went to the overlook to see the "falls" which is not very overlook-worthy, in my opinion. I couldn't even bring myself to force my kids to be in a picture in front of it. I heard the Virgina side is amazing, so we'll do that someday. The kids chatted and pet the mules and then they found ANOTHER path, actually called the "River Trail" and we walked along the river some more until I got tired and hot and was ready to go home :)

*All in all: SO FUN.
Boat ride=fantastic
tow path=super fun
river exploring=superb
come again with husband=for sure, and with sturdier shoes :)

Bay's Mountain Park and Covered Bridge of Elizabethton

2009-08-24T12:37:00.001-04:00

Bay's Mountain Park has so much to offer that we were unable to do it all. We began in the Nature Center and watched two shows in their Planetarium. Then we went on the barge ride, which took us all around the lake by a very interesting and competent guide. The highlight was when our guide gave wolf howls to get the wolves, which are in pens on the nature trails, to start howling.
After the barge ride, we had to then follow the trails and see all the animals, including, of course, the wolves. There were many more trails to follow, but we wanted to see the Covered Bridge in Elizabethton, so we had to cut our time short. When we get a chance, we certainly want to go back and explore Bay's Mountain Park more.
The Covered Bridge in Elizabethton has been closed to traffic and opened up as a footbridge attached to a park. Built in 1882, the Covered Bridge is believed to be the oldest such bridge that is still in use for pedestrians.It is a wonderful place for peace and serenity. We fed the ducks and explored the area for quite some time. I highly recommend stopping here if you are in the area for a quiet time to reflect. Click here to see photos of our adventure.

Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park

2009-08-23T14:21:00.002-04:00

This park has many of the things you would expect for a state park such as hiking, fishing, camping and even a swimming pool, but it also has a reproduction of the cabin in which Davy Crockett was born. The cabin is furnished with reproductions of things that would be in a cabin of that day and there is a tended garden in the back. The footstone of the original cabin is outside the reproduction. The museum on premises has educational material about Davy Crockett, including a short video. (For more photos, click here .) We had a very fun, peaceful and educational time there. If you are in the area, you should really give it a try.

State Line Drive-In

2009-08-21T12:20:00.004-04:00

Yeah, I know...what is new about a Drive-In? Fact is, it is so old, it is new. The State-Line Drive In reminds me of the drive-in I went to as a child, years ago. The name comes from the fact that it is on the Tennessee-Virginia border. It has a small playground of swingsets and teeter totters under the screen for the young ones to use before the show. The concession stand has incredible prices, with candy as low as 25 cents on up to $3.00 for a large popcorn. Although they do not show the most current movies, the price for admission is only $5 per person, 12 and over, free for anyone under 12. It was an entirely different experience than going to a regular movie theatre, with people bringing out picnic baskets and socializing before the show started. If you are near the area, I highly recommend you checking out the StateLine Drive-In, and if you don't, you might want to see if there is a drive-in in your area. You might be in for a pleasant surprise.

Cooper's Gem Mine, Blountville, TN

2009-08-21T11:42:00.001-04:00

Cooper's Gem Mine is not a real mine, and the "mining" you do there is not authentic; its basically a "tourist trap," but it is oh, so much fun! You purchase a bucket of rocks that have pre-mixed in them semi-precious stones, fossils or arrowheads, depending on which bucket you choose. For the stones and the arrowheads, you take them to a "sluice" which is a trough with running water. There you pour your mixture into a box sieve and wash away the sand, dirt and small stones, revealing your treasures. For the fossils (and arrowheads, if you wish) you use a dry sieve, which is set up in a little tepee, because the water can damage the fossils. We all had fun at this. The place has been decorated to look like a TV version of a western town. It is very cute and we enjoyed taking pictures of the kids in around the fixtures. The kids enjoyed the treasure hunting aspect of it; a feeling of mystery about what you might discover. Prices vary anywhere from $4-$50, and include rock identification. For more pictures of our adventure, click here.

Maple Canyon and Mount Pleasant

2009-08-21T01:08:00.001-04:00

New Summer Adventure #4

This was not on my original list of plans, but I'm counting it. Because it was new. Because it is summer. Because it was a great adventure. I may just better count it as a substitute for Cherry Hill, because for the second year in a row, we just can NOT seem to make it there as a family. A perfect hot afternoon may still present itself though, so we'll see.

Also included in this adventure was a drive down Moroni's main street, and a visit to Mount Pleasant. Wonderful, wonderful stuff, and I'm going to share.

All the way to Nephi, as Zach watched the mountains east of us pass by, he began to get frustrated. "Mom, you keep driving AROUND the mountain. We need to go TO it." :o)

Maple Canyon is west of Fountain Green, which appeared to be known for not much but turkey farms. The neighboring canyon is nothing short of a rock-climber's paradise. There are steep, climbable rock faces on every side. Many of them are gold-colored and have what look like nubbly hand and foot holds all over them, it even appeared that they just might be ready to fall apart. Solid they were, though, and perfect for climbing up or repelling down.

I barely remembered to snap this picture as I was leaving.

We went up on a Friday night, and were neighbor campers with our good friends. I never took a walk around the campground, but it seemed not large, and still pretty empty. By nightfall, though, lots of people were showing up and in the morning too. And they were almost all of the same people you would see showing up at any given climbing gym. I did notice a couple of trail heads, but never went exploring.

Take a good look at Sean's hair. I just trimmed it, a VERY little bit though. I'm the only one that gets to hold the scissors until he is one year old. :o)

In the morning, the young women from our ward were coming to have a day of climbing and repelling, which my husband and the other dad were helping with. Teresa and I and the kids hung out until lunch, then we hurried and packed up to go kill time at her parents' house in Mount Pleasant. I have to pat myself on the back here, because I packed up and loaded our entire camp by myself in about a half hour. It helped that Teresa's kids are about the same age as my own so they entertained each other. Neither of us had room in our vehicles for the huge bag of trash. We left that behind for the fellas. :o)

Some things I loved about the drive to Mount Pleasant:
*You're on a back road and it just feels like you could drive as fast as you pleased and you'd never get caught.
*Sometimes you'd see a home, where they have lots of recycled trash art for sale. Tin can windmills and the like.
*The fence posts were NOT from Home Depot. Most of them looked like giant twigs.
*Two places caught my eye in downtown Moroni. The Moroni Opera House. (I've gotta wonder if it's ever used for what it was intended anymore...) The Next Chapter book and gift shop. (I should have stopped in for a peek)
*Then from Moroni to Mount Pleasant you're just passing sprawling fields and farms and my mind loves the slowing-down feeling that just plain happens when you drive somewhere like this. Ahhhh... I should use a memory like that to help me fall asleep at night.

Teresa's parents have some horse property so after a quick pit stop at their house we drove to the field. My kids loved feeding the horses barley, and with my help Ben even dared have them eat it right out of his hand. Ben also got a little ride (walk) around with the horse (an older girl was also on with him). He was so relaxed and just loved it--I'm happy that I got a good video of that. Zach got only got to sit on one of the horses, because they were a little touchy and lots of kids were interested.

I know. Mostly a picture of a horse's tail end. But what do you do?

Then came my favorite part. At the end of the property was a pond, some big trees, and a rope swing; I decided to drive down the gravel road where there was some shade and I could feed Sean in the car. The kids had a running start but I passed them and got to see their happy running faces as they tried to keep up and beat their friends. Don't ask me why I relished this, it was just magical.

Then more moments that I just wanted to bottle up, as I fed Sean in the car. I rolled the windows down so the perfect 75-ish degree air could blow through. In whatever direction you looked you could see only see one or two buildings. My view was perfect for watching the kids play at the pond, my boys contentedly throwing rocks and twigs in. Teresa's dad helped those that wanted to with the rope swing.

Teresa's oldest, who is nine, and his friend made a sudden discovery and came running over to show all of the other kids. They had caught a frog and needed a container for it. Teresa produced a tupperware, probably wondering if that frog would be her new family pet. :o) Eventually things were winding down and we had to head for home. I just left feeling like the day could very well be one of the prize jewels in my kids treasure box of childhood memories.

ETSU's Natural History Museum and Gray's Fossil Site

2009-08-20T13:09:00.003-04:00

We started off our adventure here at the Fossil Dig site and our guide told us how the site came to be, how the get the fossils out of the site and what they have found there. Then we were brought into the museum where we were given a guided tour of the various fossils and the areas where they examine the fossils. The downstairs of the museum in geared toward children and has lots of hands-on activities and gorgeous murals. We had a wonderful time here and highly recommend it. The only part of the museum we did not like was the traveling exhibit, Rainforest Adventure, which was simplistic, not very well executed. I do not recommend you getting tickets for this. For more photos of our adventure, click here.

Virginia's Safari Park

2009-08-19T09:32:00.001-04:00

In this time of restrictions due to high insurance costs and law suits the Safari Park of Virginia is too incredible to believe! It is the ultimate petting zoo. You drive through the park with buckets of feed (which you purchase at the entrance gate), roll down your windows and hold the buckets out your window. The animals come right up to your window and feed from the buckets. We found feeding the ostriches particularly interesting because they take beaks full of feed and throw them up in the air to be caught back into their open beaks, throwing it to the back of their throats in the process. The prices are reasonable (Adults $14.00 and Children [ages 3-12 $10.00, Buckets of feed - $ 3.00 or 4 buckets for $10.00) and admission includes a booklet with color photos and information about all the animals you will see. This is definately a once-in-a-lifetime experience not to be missed. Click here for more photos.

Camping in the Shenandoah Valley

2009-08-18T10:04:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for a campground in the Lexington-Staunton area of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, I highly recommend Lake Robertson. It has canoeing, hiking trails, a swimming pool (this wasn't open when we were there because it was so late in the season) and more. It is a clean, well-kept campground with large camping sites. The staff is friendly and helpful. They have a laundry room and have hot showers. We bought 8 pieces of wood for only $2, and rented canoes for only $5 per hour. The only down side is that it is a long, narrow 12-mile winding road that reaches the campground, which takes about a half-hour to travel at a safe speed.

Natural Bridge, Virginia

2009-08-18T09:53:00.003-04:00

It is awesome to see a stone bridge 20 stories tall made by nature. The Natural Bridge complex is actually several attractions in one place. You can obtain tickets to the individual attractions, or combination tickets. In addition to the Natural Bridge itself, there is also a wax museum, caverns, a toy museum and a Native American Village. The wax museum features the history of the area of Natural Bridge as well as some Biblical scenes. It is cute and sweet. The Native American Village, although small, is very nice and informative. My boys loved it. The Toy Museum was not really a museum and looks to be someone's personal collection of toys. It, in our opinion, is not worth it. This complex is a pleasant way to spend a day. (BTW- This complex does have wheelchair access, taking you and your family by bus up the steep hill and the staff was very pleasant.)

Luray Caverns

2009-08-18T09:38:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know that Luray Caverns are famous for being a fabulous attraction already. I had some worries, however, taking my family there because one of us is in a wheelchair (me), one of us is special needs (autistic) and the fact that there is seven of us to keep track of. I just wanted to let you know that we all had a wonderful time and that they have a wheelchair lift for the steepest part of the trail (the beginning descent.) The rest of the trail did give my husband a workout, but he was able to push me through the caverns.

The admission fee automatically gives you a set of headphones in which you type in a 3-number code at each of the stops along the trail and a little information blurb plays. It is nice that they have an adult and a child's version at each site (different set of numbers) so that it is not too long for the little ones or too watered down for the adults.

The caverns are beautiful and too awesome to describe. There is a lot of variety, too, in the types of formations at Luray. Highly recommend as a family summer adventure. Click here for more pictures.

Concert at the Capitol

2009-08-17T22:40:00.003-04:00

Living minutes from downtown D.C. has upsides and downsides. One of the major ups is the variety of fun and usually free activities and historical sites to see. Of those activities, this has to be one of my very favorites: the free concerts on the steps of the capitol building. The different branches of the armed forces each have a night, and we happened to go on Navy night. I ventured down there with my kids and parked right up close in front of the Botanic Garden where the spots are supposed to be reserved for members of Congress and such. I figure I'm a VIP too, and was fortunate not to get a boot on my car. Actually a security officer there once told me that evenings and weekends are usually ok for those spots-- it has been helpful information. We listened to the music from the ledge (photo above) for a little while, with the Washington Monument in the background. It was a pretty evening.

After a few minutes we moved up to sit on the steps of the capitol building so that we could have a better view of the different instruments. All 3 of my kids were really into the music, especially the lively patriotic numbers. The highlight was probably "Stars and Stripes Forever" and the piccolo players did an amazing job for their solo. Just as Matt (18 months old) was getting really wiggly, our friend and semi-relative Emily met up with us and saved the day with some candy fruit slices.

This is the view looking up from where we sat. Listening to the patriotic songs seemed even more meaningful watching from the place where our presidents take the oath of office and our laws are made. The older people who were sitting behind us said "you have well behaved children" at the end, which was a relief-- I was a little worried that I was the ruiner of their D.C. vacation while Matt was jumping up and down with glee during some of the songs.

Afterward, we walked around to the other side of the reflecting pond and there were gnats everywhere. I took a photo where the flash went off and it looked like it was snowing from all of the gnats. They are still visible in this photo but not as bad. So, we headed back home. I love the magic of good music, and I'm glad that my kids seem to as well.

Killens Pond Water Park

2009-08-16T09:10:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe that you can find a clean Water Park with admission priced at only $2 for those 12 and up and only $1 for kids under 12! Killen's Pond, a state-run park in Felton, Delaware, is mostly designed for the younger crowd. My 5-year old loved it. It does, however have a couple of large slides that has two 27-foot high, 205-foot long twisting and turning water slides, ending with a splash in a specially designed splash pool. There is even a picnic table area nearby. There is a parking fee,($6) however, that is not mentioned in the costs on the website. Our whole family (children ranging in age from 4-17) had a wonderful time, so if you live nearby, I recommend you give it a try! For more pictures, click here.

Adventure #6: Lake Afton, Kansas

2009-08-15T14:48:00.001-04:00

A bonus adventure!

We got a call on Thursday night: a group of friends was going to celebrate the last day of "summer" with a trip to Lake Afton. I'd never heard of it, let alone been there (who knew there were lakes in Kansas?), and since the admission was only $3, I figured what better way to spend the lazy Friday-before-school-starts with a group of friends at the lake.

I was right: we had a blast!

It was a bit chilly when you first went in, but we all acclimated quickly and had a grand time.

Well, K was hesitant at first...

but eventually, she got in and had a blast, too. My camera batteries died, or else I would have gotten a picture from when she was REALLY playing in the water!

One of our friends had brought a boogie board, and A was the one who had the most fun with it...

Especially when she could get someone to pull her around!

The "big" kids had the most fun with water fights, mud/sand fights, wrestling, and goofing off.

It was a grand afternoon (the two hours we were there just FLEW by!), and yeah, we'll be going back next year.

Glen Echo Park, the Clara Barton House, Clemyjontri Playground and Claude Moore Farm

2009-08-13T22:46:00.002-04:00

I know - this is a lot of adventures in one post, but there you go:

Back when I was recovering from my surgery I stumbled upon a little jewel on the interweb - during the summer at the Clara Barton House they put on a free 2-day camp for kids! A FREE camp?? How could I resist? So I immediately called and got Sheely in the final session (Xavey was too young).

I arrived super early on Tuesday because, surprise - there was NO traffic. I forgot that Congress is having vacation. Better early than late, I guess. I hit enough traffic later on to make up for it :) ANYWAY.

The Clara Barton House is the home that darling Clara lived in during her later life, and for a long time it was actually the warehouse and headquarters for the Red Cross of America. I dropped Sheely off in the tender care of a park ranger and then the boys and I were on our own. I went to the GPS and looked for historical sites nearby and WAHOO! I found a multitude of choices. I opted for The Claude Moore Farm - just a short jaunt across the Potomac into Virginia (seriously, a 10 minute drive away). We arrived and things looked a little quiet. Turns out, it's not open on Monday or Tuesday. That figures :) Luckily, on the way (like, across the street) I noticed a playground I've been meaning to go to for ages: Clemyjontri Park!! I may have made a squeal of joy at my luck - I've never been sure of how to spell it so I could never find directions, I just had heard about it from friends. It is a fantastically huge all-abilities playground.

ANYWAY. We went to the playground in the very sweaty stickiness! The kids had such a blast. We ran around a maze and scared each other, I spun them on the tireswing (I've got a special move called "the tornado") and I took them for a ride on the merry-go-round. Xavey made some friends and played all kinds of running and climbing games while Preston stuck close to me and did his own thing on the huge climber. I realized I had a friend that lived nearby that I hadn't seen for ages, so I called her and sweet Michelle dragged her children to the playground for some funtimes and chatting.When it was time to be out of the sun and in the car we drove back over to Clara Barton which happens to share a parking lot with Glen Echo Park. I've been hearing about Glen Echo for ages also but have never made my way over there. I didn't know anything about it, though, so Xavey and I learned together as we did his own Junior Ranger Booklet. There was a sticker-bingo game (a scavenger hunt), he designed his own ride and we learned a lot about the history of the park. First it was a Chautauqua Center, then for a long time it was an amusement park (the first bumper cars in the world were build there!) and now it's like a giant artist colony/historic site/place to hang out. There's a playground where the sandy beach/swimming pool was back in the day. The bumper cars pavilion now hosts outdoor dances and shows. While we were there playing (both days) there was an Irish Dance school practicing on that floor and so Irish music floated throughout the grounds the entire time. There's a puppet theater and a children's theater as well as every kind of cultural arts class you could possibly imagine.

PLUS there is a giant carousel, the original from the time the park began to be an amusement park. We took a ride on Wednesday and I kept thinking about all the generations of people who had sat on those horses - it was built in 1921 or something. If you're a history nerd like me and want to know more, here's the lowdown. The ranger even took the camp kids on it!After our first day of hanging out there we went back to the Clara Barton House in time to catch the last tour through the house before camp was over for the day. Yes, I took my two sons. No, it was not the best idea on the planet but I had no idea of when I'd get the chance to go through it again and since there was only one other guy and his daughter that were going to do the tour, it seemed like as good a time as any.

Plus, the boys did great! They asked all kinds of questions (some relevant, others not so...) and were genuinely interested in the house and Clara herself. We watched a neat video about her life that actually made me a little misty-eyed at one point. What an AMAZING WOMAN. I never knew what an interesting life she led or even how famous she was while she was alive. I'm overflowing with information about her that for some reason feels really important. I hope I can come away from this earth doing for others even a tiny portion of what she did.The house itself is massive and we did a scavenger hunt in there also. The boys got a bandage put on their legs and they pretended to be wounded soldiers. We saw the giant red cross windows and learned about how even visitors to the Clara Barton House had to work during their stay (she had sewing machines in the guest rooms!) To save time and money, Clara nailed bandages to the walls instead of covering them with plaster :)

After camp that day the kids and I went up to my moms to spend an evening together and had a sleepover in the basement (first watching two episodes of Psych with my mom, of course).

Next day, more fun! Sheely's first day at camp was all about Clara Barton - they did behind the scenes stuff, some archeology, took a crack at plastering walls, had crazy obstacle course type games and generally got Sheely wanting to be a park ranger when she grows up. The second day for her was all about Glen Echo. The ranger booklet here is cool - it's actually both in one - one side is Clara Barton and if you turn it over and upside down, it's Glen Echo! How fabulous.

While Sheely did her thing, the boys and I went BACK to Claude Moore Farm, since it was open on Wednesday :) The farm is set up as a poor tenant farm circa 1771. What I think of this place:

*easy to find and inexpensive ($7 for all three of us)
*woodsy and peaceful
*friendly costumed interpreters - when there was a two-handed saw Xavier wanted to try (a no-no), they led us over to a field where a tree had fallen down and demonstrated it for us *small, so not too much walking, it was just enough - but probably not big enough to drive down there just for that
*lots of animals walking around, entertaining Xavier and TERRIFYING Preston if they got close*some things to touch for the kids - a few old time toys, corn to grind*fun paths to walk (one takes you to a "spring" where there's fresh water and a tiny stream), sticks everywhere, a pasture with no cows that we could find but a glorious fence that entertained my kids for 20 minutes while they pretended to be soldiers *picnic tables in the shade, perfect for a snack and some work on the Junior Ranger book

Really, it was a great outing. Xavier probably took 60 pictures of random things and had a ball. We were probably there for an hour and fifteen minutes and we were all happy the entire time (except for Preston and his geese fear).

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Glen Echo, watching the Irish dancers, playing on the playground, watching my sons wrestle on a stage while other parents (or, really, I'm thinking nannies) watched them also, assuming I would stop them soon. Nope. I bought a cup of ice and was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it was for my boys to eat big pieces of ice.When we got back to Clara's, the kids were presented with their Junior Ranger badges and I felt like it was two days worth of effort well spent. We learned a lot, we played hard, I had some quality time with my boys, Sheely got to be a VIP at a National Park site, I got a better appreciation for the history of that part of Maryland, I got four new NP passport stamps and marked four new outings off my list.

EnergyExplorium

2009-08-08T22:47:00.001-04:00

Today we took a family trip to the south end of Lake Norman, near Huntersville, where the Duke Power EnergyExplorium is located at the McGuire Nuclear Station. Lake Norman is a man-made lake built by Duke Energy in 1963. There are three power plants located on the lake--nuclear, hydroelectric, and coal.

McGuire Nuclear Power Station

Cowan's Ford Dam and Hydroelectric Plant

We learned all about how nuclear and hydroelectric energy is made and how it is transmitted to our homes. Since this is a Duke Power museum, and it is free, we learned how amazing Duke is, how well they protect the environment, and how safe everything is. In truth, I was impressed to learn that the control room operators of the nuclear plants spend one out of every five weeks in training.

Our family favorites in this museum were the generation station,

the treadmill generator (which powers up a TV),

and the plasma globe (where Carter got a nasty shock from Jonah).

It only takes an hour to go through this museum, but we had some good learning experiences in there. The kids really grasped how electricity is metered on our home and we have to pay for the lights we have on and the games we play. When we came home, Courtney ran around unplugging and turning things off. They also gave us some great workbooks to take home for each kid. Thankfully, they included an answer key workbook because I have no idea what the answers are to some of those questions.

If you do visit, make sure to plan some other activities in the area to do as well. There is a butterfly garden next to the museum as well as a 1 mile nature trail.

There are also some nice parks on the lake, and of course, there's always geocaching to be done! We took a quick side trip to this monument to General William Lee Davidson, a hero of the American Revolution. He was killed in a spot nearby that is now under water, thanks to the damming of the river to make the lake. It was for him that both Davidson County and Davidson College are named.

Climbing a Lighthouse

2009-08-07T05:57:00.000-04:00

Each year, my family stays at a beach house in Buxton, North Carolina. Normally, I am content to just play at the beach.. digging, lounging, reading, surfing and swimming. This year, our family wanted to do some side trips too, so we decided to climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse which is only about one mile from where we stay. At the lighthouse, they have a rule: no carrying kids (even in a backpack), so my baby and my husband went on their own adventure to find the local airstrip. Fortunately, Sydney (my 4 year old) met the height requirement by a few millimeters and was able to come along too.

Drew (age 7) got to lead the way, and I walked right behind Sydney in case she slipped, which never happened. Since this is the tallest lighthouse in North America, there were A LOT of stairs. There were landings every few floors (where there were windows) and we could take a rest when necessary. Sydney and Drew were eager to get to the top, and it probably only took us around 10 minutes.

We made it! It was a windy and overcast day... the Atlantic Ocean is behind us but the nice woman who took this shot covered it with the railing.

Drew and Sydney comment how "the people look like little ants". It really is higher than it looks from the ground.

On the way back down. Note how thick the lighthouse walls are behind Drew.

After the climb, we went exploring in the bushes near the lighthouse. Climbing the lighthouse was a great little activity. It cost $6 per person I think, and you don't need to pay to get into the park. Since the house that we rented is only about 1 mile south of it, it was nice to look at the beacon from the light and know that we made it to the top.

Reed Gold Mine

2009-08-06T14:18:00.002-04:00

Today our Carolina adventures took us to Reed Gold Mine, about a 1/2 hour from home. I only recently learned that the first documented gold discovery in the United States happened here in 1799. Little Conrad Reed was playing down by the Little Meadow Creek one day and brought home a 17 pound shiny rock.

His parents thought it was nice and used it as a doorstop. Three years later, John Reed took the rock to a jeweler, who gave John his asking price of $3.50--a week's worth of farm wages to John. The rock was then sold for $3,600 (or $200,000 today). Of course, John was annoyed, but he began searching his land for gold. For awhile he pulled it out of the ground like potatoes. Eventually, they went underground and the area was mined for 80 years. At the height of the Carolina Gold Rush, there were 300-600 mines in operation throughout the state.

We first walked through the museum and then took a guided tour of a renovated section of the underground mine. Our tour guide was very good and the kids had a great time. One thing that I found amazing is that John Reed didn't think mining for gold was an ethical way to earn a living, so farming was still his first priority! Of course, he died a wealthy man.

We were about 50 feet underground through the tour and it was a nice 62 degrees down there. This is looking up the shaft:

And this is us standing on the top of the same site:

The whole thing is free, except it is $2 to pan for gold.

We found two small flecks as well as a very random piece of tin foil from the 1930s.

We spent a little over two hours there, but you could spend more or less depending on what you want to do. We didn't watch the video or take the tour of the mill house where they would grind the quartz to get to the gold inside. There are also some trails to walk around and we did see the foundation and chimney of the room that pumped the water out of the mines. The Reed Gold Mine is in the middle of nowhere, but there are picnic benches on site.

This is a great place to take out-of-town visitors. I knew it was a success as we were leaving and my kids asked me when we are going back!

James K. Polk Memorial

2009-08-05T21:19:00.000-04:00

Both Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk were born within a half an hour of where we live. Both ended up in Tennessee. Both ended up in the White House. Andrew Jackson was known as "Old Hickory" and James K. Polk, who was a big supporter of Jackson, was known as "Young Hickory."

The James K. Polk Memorial is located right behind the Carolina Place Mall in Pineville, North Carolina. It consists of a relocated family graveyard (I-485 was going to end up right on top of it), a visitors center/museum, some period buildings, and a dodgy memorial to Polk from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Pros:

It's free.
It's conveniently located.
You get an actual tour guide on the grounds.
It's quick. You only need an hour.

Cons:

Pretty much nothing there is original to the Polks. The family moved when James was 11 and no one thought to preserve the site until the early 1900s.
The museum is pretty skimpy on the artifacts. I learned a lot about slaves in Mecklenburg county, but not as much about the man and his presidency as I would have liked.
And that memorial from the DAR circa 1904...

Deer Valley Music Festival

2009-08-05T19:18:00.003-04:00

New Summer Adventure #3

First just let me get something off of my chest. It was my long-held hope that the Utah Symphony performance we would be going to up there would be in mid-August featuring Elvis Costello. It was embarrassingly hard for me to let go of this when it became clear it couldn't happen. I have not really thought of Elvis Costello since my high school days; in fact, I can only put my finger on one or two songs anymore. To hear what a concert with him and a symphony would be like? I couldn't wait to see for myself! Long story short, I shed my tears as I let go of this mini-dream, that in days past would have been an easy and exciting get-away. Now I have a family, a growing family, and other people's needs and plans to consider. And that's OK.

Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture performance was an excellent plan B. It worked out perfectly to combine this concert with our overnight stay in Park City. Since we got a package deal of concert + lodging, it didn't make sense to leave our 3-month-old with a sitter 30 minutes away. I was a little anxious about bringing a baby to the concert. And the signals were mixed about whether it was allowed. Over the phone I was told it was fine, online it looked like it wasn't...? Being an outdoor venue, I wasn't overly stressed about it. I crossed my fingers and figured that if they were stinkers about it, we would go find something else to do. I understand WHY they have policies like that and I am ultra aware when I take my baby out; there are others looking for (and paying for) some cultural refinement as well.

I'm making this too long. We checked in, Peter asked about the tickets, they told us they were at will call. Five minutes before the performance, we arrived (which was a Park City traffic miracle with the arts festival also going on). At will call they did not have our tickets. We called the hotel. Oh! They have them! And they will bring them right up! (grrrr...) It was fun to feel so "on time" for a minute though. :o)

The good news is that I printed out some 1812 Overture history from Wikipedia and crammed it in the diaper bag, so we had something to read while we waited and listened to what we were missing. A half hour later we called the hotel again to see when we could expect them. To my surprise, the phone was answered by the same guy I had spoken to earlier who had just brought them up! He hadn't even looked for us in the box office area, just took them to the window. At one point I took a picture of Peter and Sean on a bench, and it was probably then, when my back was turned that he dropped them off.

In we went. We had general admission lawn seats so we were way up on the hillside. The amphitheatre setting, you're basically at the bottom of the main ski lift, with the mountains all over, is really impressive. Having the rows and rows of condo units looking over us took away from it a little bit, I thought. Surely if I owned one of those condos I would feel differently. :o)

It was a perfectly lovely evening, just the three of us and our big levi blanket. Most of the show was this harpist, and though we couldn't really see, I think her harp is painted blue. Some of her stuff was really great, she electrified her harp for part of it and really rocked out, some was a little weird. We were surprised that she actually DID finish her performance with a bizarre love song about the garbage man. I so rarely go to professional performances of any kind, though, so I was relaxed and enjoying myself. She shared with us her "congratulations" birthday song that was still in my head the next morning. Smart for a performer to have one of those, so they don't have to pay the late MJ any royalties for the traditional "Happy Birthday."

During intermission we got some hot chocolates and a pretzel, all for under ten dollars. I almost bought their huge chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, I should have. Now that I'm thinking of that again, maybe I'll just make my own tonight. I make them smaller, so I can have three. :o)

The cool thing I had heard about the 1812 at Deer Valley is the cannons that they actually fire off at the end. It was grand and LOUD. Thankfully, we were completely on the opposite side of where they were, and they didn't scare Sean. He was a very good boy and I only had to stand up and walk him around once during the coarse of the night. The overture was about 20 minutes long. I think everything was done just before 10:00, and then we learned why people parked so far away and walked up the parking lot. We parked as close as we could to the entrance and it took us almost 30 minutes to get out onto the main roads.

Were I to go again, I think I would choose a concert with more symphony, because that was the part I enjoyed most. I would also bring in some goodies. You can bring any food in, people were hauling coolers. We saw everything from KFC to watermelons.

Landsford Canal State Park

2009-08-04T17:46:00.003-04:00

The kids and I decided to head to South Carolina today to visit Landsford Canal State Park. I like this park because it is a good mix of nature and history.

There are two trails in the park--one that follows the Catawba river and one that follows the now-defunct canal. Both trails are easy to walk on, and I was able to use my stroller without too much trouble. We saw remains of the stone dam that led into the canal as well as the guardlock and a footbridge. There are more structures on site, including a mill site and lockkeeper's house, but we didn't get that far south on our hike. The kids enjoyed learning how the canal worked, and I was able to make it personal since one of our great-grandfathers was a lockkeeper in Yorkshire.

remains of stone dam behind the kids

My oldest standing on the guardlock

kids on the stone support for the old footbridge

There are some nice benches and picnic tables where we stopped to snack, a kid's play area, and the restrooms were clean. The park rangers were very friendly and visible, so even though we only spotted a few other visitors, I felt very safe alone with the kids.

The ford is also a place of historical significance as both American and British troops crossed the river here under Cornwallis and Sumter during the American Revolution.

There is a pair of resident bald eagles and we were able to spot their nest. The kids noticed some white feathers around the park that they are certain came from the eagles.

There is ample shade and it is cool walking along the rushing river, even on a 90 degree day like today. We'll definitely go back next May when the spider lilies are in bloom. The large white flowers bloom on the rocky shoals of the river and are apparently quite the sight.

Landsford Canal State Park is located in Catawba, South Carolina, about 45 minutes from my house. It costs $2 for adults aged 16 and up and kids are free. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there in total and had a great time! It's definitely worth the trip.

Museum of the Waxhaws & Andrew Jackson Memorial

2009-08-02T22:22:00.004-04:00

Any time I head south to Waxhaw, I always see the signs for the Museum of the Waxhaws and Andrew Jackson Memorial and I figured it was high time to stop in and take a look since it is within half an hour of our house. I will admit, I had very low expectations. But really, this museum is a gem and I would recommend it to anyone.

The Museum of the Waxhaws is privately owned and set back a little ways just off of Hwy 75, about a 1/2 mile outside of downtown Waxhaw. The museum is small, but very well done. There is a 15 minute video that gives a nice overview of the history of the town, starting with the Waxhaw Indian tribe. The museum has a nice collection of ancient arrowheads and explains that the Indians of the area were largely destroyed by tribal warfare and smallpox about the time the colonists came south and settled the area. There is an exhibit about the Scots-Irish settlers, their faith and their farming.

Then there is a large exhibit about Andrew Jackson who was born locally (although there is a big debate about whether or not it was on the South Carolina side or the North Carolina side). He was a messenger boy in the American Revolution, and battles were fought close by.

Of course, the Civil War was also featured in the museum and I got a kick out of explaining the Confederate flag to my kids. (I can't believe we've lived here 3 years and I haven't had to do that yet!)

There is currently an exhibit about the history of schools in the area, and Jonah enjoyed trying on the dunce hat.

There is a living history farm on the property and we were able to tour houses built in the early 1800s that have been relocated there and are currently being restored.

There is an easy trail through the woods that leads to an old graveyard and also apparently an Indian settlement, although we didn't really know what we were supposed to be looking for.

The museum is only open Friday, Saturday and Sundays, and costs $5 for adults and $2 for kids 6-12. Kids 5 and under are free. It's worth every penny and is a great way to support the preservation of local history.

Tredegar Iron Works

2009-07-31T16:45:00.004-04:00

We drive down to North Carolina from Maryland a lot. This summer I thought it was time to start exploring the city we've driven through about a thousand times: Richmond, Virginia! The first place we decided to try was part of Richmond National Battlefield Park and called Tredegar Iron Works. Unfortunately, HORRIBLE summer beach traffic limited our first visit to a mere 45 minutes. We barely had time to flip through the Junior Ranger booklets before they were closing the place. SO. We stopped again on the way home :)

The booklets have great scavenger hunts in them - with pictures of things to find, great for my non-and-new readers. One of them I really liked because there was a picture for the kids to find and then they had to match the picture with a word that went with it. There was a picture of a big sword with a spur attached to it, and after reading about it in the museum you found out it went with the word "Calvary," another one was a picture of some old-fashioned sun glasses and they went with the word "sharpshooter." Who knew? Xavey was VERY interested in that one :)

There are maps and guns and models and cannons and movies to watch. The vistor's center is really well done and the grounds are fun to explore. After finishing their booklets, Sheely wanted to turn them in to the ranger, who gave them REAL patches!! She was so excited and let's be honest, so was I :) Then we went outside and had a good explore around the grounds. We saw the old company store (now just storing a bunch of stuff - aren't those shelves crazy-old looking! The sun was so bright I had to hold my hand up to the window to get any kind of picture of them at all :)The kids looked through the viewfinder and fussed about taking turns:Seriously, that picture of Preston giving me the hand just slays me, how true-to-life that one is :)

Xavey wanted to look at everything - old railroad tracks, cannons, gigantic heavy chains - he's an explorer like his mama.Before we left we got a picture taken with Abraham Lincoln (he's VERY hot, in that southern heat, by the way - and can you see that I had to give my melting daughter my sunglasses to get her to be a good sport outside??) The inscription in the back says "To Bind Up the Nation's Wounds." Apparently it's from his second inaugural address. Did you know that Lincoln visited Richmond? With his son Tad? You can read about it here :) That's his son that he's sitting next to in the statue. I love that.
I feel like we got some good Civil War info, some iron-working info, some Abraham Linocln info, and a look around a really historical spot. We've already got plans for what we'll go see next :)

Summer Adventure #5 (Watson Park)

2009-07-31T11:10:00.001-04:00

Watson Park. That's the name of the park that I've seen in the Parks & Rec class schedule that looked like a whole lotta fun.

Yesterday, it was a GORGEOUS day -- in the low-80s, clear, with a breeze -- and so, on a whim (since I was looking at a day full of a whole lotta nothing), I got the girls and we drove out there. It's not as far as I thought it'd be either -- in fact, it's a 119-acre park hidden in the middle of town.

Who knew?

I knew enough to grab some cash because some of the activities there cost money. They decided on the pony rides, and then the paddle boats.

Only the younger three went on the pony rides; M wanted to save her money for the paddle boats... and yeah, it's a pathetic little operation, but they had fun anyway.

The paddle boats were more worth the money. Except that I found out that a paddle boat is incredible difficult to paddle when it's loaded down with two little kids, and I'm the only one paddling.

Let's just say that my legs hurt afterward!

In addition to fishing (no swimming, though), and picnic places, a train ride and miniature golf, there was a nice playground, where we spent a while... until enough people got injured and/or hungry and it was time to go home.

Yes, I know she should have been a gymnast.

It was fun, though. We'll have to go back and try some of the other things sometime.

Living Planet Aquarium

2009-07-28T16:15:00.007-04:00

OK, this was bad. Not the aquarium's fault at all though. If I were to pin the blame on any one person, it would my own self. I'm the one driving the jeep and deciding when and where to stop it and let everyone out, after all. :o) This outing was squeezed between some other events. I was in the area and needed to have something fun for the kids for a couple of hours and this seemed to be the best option, since otherwise we would have been roasting at a public park. So I parked the jeep and we all got out.

Eight dollars for me (ouch, for how small the place is!) and six dollars for my five-year-old. Two and under are free. Though I've little experience with aquariums, it is clear that this one is a work in progress. Still, I thought they had some neat things to offer.

LOVED the jellyfish area. I could stare at those for a long time and Zach thought the fish themselves were changing colors, though really it was probably a cool light bulb nearby. I just loved looking into those dark waters and watching those beautiful glowing things.

LIKED the octopus. The thing was all suctioned to the side of glass, and it was kindof ew, gross, wow, weird, amazing, gonna gag, all at the same time.

LIKED the 100-yr-old lobster. I wondered a little if the poor guy is just ready to be done already. Very big, the biggest lobster I've ever seen.

HATED that fifteen minutes upon arriving, things went sour at the stingray petting area. For the kids sake, I reached my two fingers in to touch the slimy back of the passing sting ray. Ben enjoyed watching them only and standing up on the rock step he was right at level to peek in at them. Then one began oozing its way up the side and showed its slimy pink alarming face to Ben. He let out a yelp/scream/cry as he backed away. I felt so bad for him, it scared me too! Then things turned into full-on crying, which woke up Sean. Then the rest of the time felt lame and rushed and involved my fussy infant and a freaked out preschooler.

LIKED that I had a moment to re-group a little in the sunken pirate ship -- an area with some wood puzzles and where they host birthday parties if you like.

LOVED the shark tank. Remembering the good times when I kayaked over leopard sharks not long ago. This was Zach's favorite part and no one felt too scared when we were looking at things safely on the other side of the glass.

LIKED the huge starfish. My kids had never seen anything like it, and I hadn't since being on the Oregon coast eight years ago.

LOVED the south america exhibit. My children enjoyed the buttons on the wall that made different frog sounds and I liked the mini crocodilian creatures. This spotted stingray was small and almost cute.

LIKED the Utah waters section. We saw four different types of trout, which wasn't too thrilling to be honest. But what do you expect when you go see an aquarium in the middle of the desert? At this part my kids really liked the boat turned play area, where they could sit in a driver's seat and watch a movie that made them feel they were really on a ride.

This is a different boat, just a cute little picture spot where I didn't get a very cute little picture. But both kids are looking at the camera, and that's very good.

HATED that they make you exit right past the gift shop. It just wasn't my day to add that icing on the cake.

I think we'll go back. Someday, when they're bigger and better. The aquarium, my kids, or both. :o)

Hudson Highlands Nature Museum

2009-07-26T15:51:00.002-04:00

Well this was supposed to be fun. It looked like fun. This museum has "Discovery Quests" on the weekends where you buy these guidebooks and then go on some marked trails and fill in the book and stuff. There are four trails, Pond Quest, Field Quest, Woodland Quest, and Hiking Quest. Super fun right? Well not if one of your kids happens to be Mary in a really really bad mood. Okay, it wasn't completely horrible...but kind of. Emma was really sweet and patient, she didn't fuss once about walking. She said it was hot but she didn't say it in a fussy drama voice so wahoo.

We chose the Field Quest because this huge group just went on the pond one and it was pretty crowded over there. I guess the first mistake was completely mine...I misread the map right at the beginning and actually took us on the wrong trail (in my defense the red flag I was supposed to find really was marking the wrong trail). But I figured it out quick and we retraced our steps. We did see some cool flowers and stuff. Once we were on the right trail I thought things would get better. Mary had already been doing some pretty significant fussing at me. The thing is, they didn't get better. At all.

The trail was only 1/2 mile on completely flat ground. It was pretty much a big path someone had mowed through a field. The guidebook was alright...some of the things were fun like circling different plants we can see and listening for sounds. The "Quest" part is filling in these rhymes and then doing a word puzzle at the end. Half of these rhymes Emma could not get at ALL. And some of them weren't even rhymes. So that was a little lame. But some of the activities were good. And I would like to do the other ones sans Mary completely hating me. Don't let her cute smile fool you in some of these pictures...they all involved some sort of bribe (she's holding marshmallows in the one of her by herself). Mostly I carried her on the trail and the girl is HEAVY. Solid little thing. On the way home we played "What was your favorite part of our outing?" And Emma said she liked finding the flowers and doing the rhymes. Mary said, "You have to help me...I can't remember."

There is also another part of this museum with exhibits, it is about 1/2 a mile away and at this point it was get home. But I'd like to go try that too.

This was on the wrong trail...but Emma didn't mind. She was trailblazing for us.

Please note the look of joy on Mary's face here...this was her face for almost the whole time

Please notice the marshmallow bribe

This was about 2 minutes after we got there...no one had cried yet.

Mount Rushmore

2009-07-22T13:57:00.006-04:00

I got to visit Mt. Rushmore last month, in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.

I had always thought it a little kooky that someone had decided to carve some of our most revered presidents into the side of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. On this trip, I found out who carved it (Gutzon Borglum), why he did it, and that it's not really kooky at all. And, by the way, the mountain was called Mt. Rushmore before anyone ever thought of turning it into a sculpture.

It was the idea of Doane Robinson, the founder of the South Dakota state historical society. Through support from Peter Norbeck, a U.S senator, it was eventually determined that it would be made a monument to our country, much like the Washington Monument or Lincoln Monument, except carved from a mountain. Gutzon Borglum and his crew blasted their way through the granite to carve the 4 presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

There was also to be a Hall of Records, because Borglum felt that a monument to our country should hold the history of our country. Alas, it was never completed (it was to be a stone vault behind the peak). But, there are now many interpretive exhibits at the memorial, recording the history of the monument, the history of our country, and the history of the presidents that grace the mountain.

When I arrived, I thought it was just a carved mountain. When I left, I saw it as a monument to the greatness that is my country: The United States of America. I really liked this quote about Mt. Rushmore from the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum:

"I want, somewhere in America on or near the Rockies, the backbone of the Continent, so far removed from succeeding, selfish, coveting civilizations, a few feet of stone that bears witness, carries, the likenesses, the dates, a word or two of the great things we accomplished as a Nation, placed so high it won't pay to pull down for lesser purposes.

Hence, let us place there, carved high, as close to heaven as we can, the words of our leaders, their faces, to show posterity what manner of men they were. Then breathe a prayer that these records will endure until the wind and the rain alone shall wear them away."

It was really a great place to visit.

Blueberries: Farmed and Wild

2009-07-19T20:31:00.001-04:00

The playgroup that we have been attending for a few years went on a field trip to pick blueberries, which was perfect for us since it was on my summer activities list. It was a beautiful day in late June (I'm a bit behind on my blogging, I know). We went to Butlers Orchard in Damascus, Maryland.

We got to take a tractor ride to and from the fields.

Blueberry bushes at the farm.

Sydney and Drew both ate plenty of blueberries right off of the bushes. They tasted great, and they were cheaper per pound than Costco or the grocery stores, so we really loaded up. That night, we made blueberry crisp for dessert. It was great to do it with friends, and we got to play at a playground and eat snacks after we picked.

A few days earlier, I had a very rare 2 hours to myself while Drew and Sydney were at a playdate and the baby spent some time with Andy. I decided to go hike the Billy Goat Trail which is a part of Great Falls national park in Potomac MD. I didn't take many pictures as I was semi-rushed to get some errands run before picking up the kids, but I hope to get back there soon and do a better job. I did shot some photos of this nice waterfall just off of the trail, and while there, I saw some blueberries growing in some soil mixed in among the rocks. Normally, I do not eat wild berries in case of poisoning, but with these I was sure what they were. They were small, but they were the best berries that I have ever had-- super sweet. To wrap it up, I recommend picking some fruit this summer. It is fun and delicious!

2009-07-18T22:24:00.003-04:00

I LOVE going on new adventures. When I explore new places and learn new things, I feel like I am living my life to it's fullest. I live in the Washington D.C. area, so even with my somewhat limited budget this summer, there is plenty of fun to be had. As a mother of 3 small kids, I have great little friends to bring along for most or all of these adventures.

Here is my list of some of the things that I want to do this summer:

-fruit picking
-Concert on the steps of the Capital Building (Washington D.C.)
-Plum Point (on the Chesapeake Bay)
-kayaking
-Climbing to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (Buxton, North Carolina)
-Crabbing on the Chesapeake
-National Building Museam (Washington D.C.)
-Explore the bike trail near my house
-Play frisbee golf
-Camping on the Chesapeake
-Pirate Adventure
-Hike the Billy Goat Trail (Great Falls, MD)

Crayola Factory and National Canal Museum in Easton, PA

2009-07-07T21:59:00.000-04:00

It turns out that the 4 hour round trip drive was completely worth it to go to the Crayola Factory and National Canal Museum in Easton, Pennsylvania. I was worried about not getting there until the afternoon (Emma has morning swimming lessons, another story altogether) because the web site mentioned being super crowded in the afternoons in July and August. Yeah. And it was, in fact, super crowded. So much so that at first I almost felt claustrophobic.

The deal is this. There are arts and crafts projects EVERYWERE Here is a list of what we did:
*Coloring pages at the massive circular crayon table
*Seahorse puppets
*Fish prints (a Japanese art technique apparently)
*Fingerpaint
*Color Wonder
*Crayon Rubbing
*Play with Model Magic clay
*Watch a bit of crayon making
*Paint a ceramic-y type fish (it wasn't exactly ceramic but it was a 4 inch three dimensional fish with tables full of water colors
*Sidewalk chalk
*Play in the little kids area
*Use these little tokens (part of your admission) to get a marker and a 4 count box of crayons
*Write on a plexi-glass wall with markers that wash off (I think they are actually called window markers)

Mary's tracing her hand here...she LOVES tracing her hands

You get this bag when you go in to put your stuff in and each girl had a full bag by the time we left. They had a blast. The more things cleared out the easier it was to relax and let them just hang out at the different stations without feeling like you had to hurry up and move so someone else could try. And this was just at the Crayola part.

Upstairs was the National Canal Museum. Apparently the only one in the country. It was super cool, very hands on. There was this massive replica of a canal with boats the kids could float along it and actually work the locks on the canals and stuff. Emma was a huge fan and we did that twice. There was also a big boat to play in, a tiller to try, a mule to harness (full size but obviously fake) laundry to wash in the washtub and all kinds of other stuff. Then there was yet another floor full of building toys: Legos, Lincoln Logs, cardboard bricks, etc. There was also a water table and a sort of sand type table but with something other than sand. We spent four hours between the Factory and the Museum. We ate McDonalds right there on site and I have to say that I quite liked the massive Crayola gift shop.

This is the canal replica, you can't feel the size of it from this measley picture

Emma was massively thrilled that the boat was named after her

When we were leaving Emma said, "Mom, that was so fun!" And so wahoo for me. Mary only yelled at me once so I'm calling it a thumbs up from her too. It's 10.00 a person for ages 3 and up so it can get pricey if you have a big family but I feel for sure like I got my 10.00 worth - a massive bag full of crafts and four hours of happy children.

Treehouse Childrens Museum

2009-07-07T00:51:00.003-04:00

New Summer Adventure #1

Man, it was hard to get out the door for this one -- for reasons I can't remember -- but I'm so glad to be, in my new mother-of-three status, feeling ready for at least a bit of adventuring.

Sean's first impressions. Ha!

Technically, this was not my first time at this museum. I went when it was more like a little hole in the wall a few blocks away from where it now stands. I'd been looking forward to visiting the new location, and though I did go in early June, it was one of my off days. So I went again, and this time, I have lots of good to say. I have determined that the worst place to try and get pictures of kids looking at the camera is in a childrens' museum. Still I tried. :o)

Stuff we liked:

**Parking is nice and close, and there seemed to be plenty. This museum is right by the Ogden temple, in the up and coming nice downtown part of Ogden.
**You pay for your child when they begin walking, which I think is perfect. It bugs when a childrens' museum charges for a one-year-old who is just going to be chillin' in the stroller the whole time.
**They have a cheaper toddler time, which is I believe from 10-noon on Mondays. This includes some extra goofy story time which we caught when we went in June. Part of this story time included a 65-ish woman at the keyboard with songs like "If You're Happy and You Know It," and I imagined that she had been doing it and loving it for years and years. I think she even accompanied the story time with dramatic music when appropriate. And that, to me, is some serious piano talent.
**This museum has a huge tree in the middle of the building, you can go up the tunnel/stairs to the upper floors. They have a slick rock slide for going part of the way down, but this is currently cardboarded off for some reason.

Stuff we didn't like:

**Much of the parking, I think it may just be the parking closest to the entrance, is for only two hours. So they expect you to drag your kids out of the museum to move your car and then come back in? That sounds fun.
**No strollers allowed on the museum floor, which yes is probably the status quo at places like these. Luckily, this time I came prepared with the Bjorn. Still, after the three hours we were there, I was exhausted.

Exhibits:

**One of the first places we stopped in was made up of little houses representing different countries. My kids liked Africa. There was a straw-roofed house to take apart and put back together. And Ben thorougly enjoyed the flatbed safari truck. He was very sad that he couldn't take it with us to the next exhibit.

This little showcase, about the size of a shoebox, was a part of the Japan house. I stared at it for a long time, all the tiny detailed pieces were neat.
The Great Britain house had a tea party set up, as well as lots of books and information on Beatrix Potter. Wish I could have stayed and browsed but my boys were SO moving on. :o)
**Upstairs there was a very cool exhibit coming soon of "Be the Hero of your Own Story." I loved this area, even though it wasn't quite done. Huge books, complete with classic titles on the spines, made up the desks and partitions, they were stacked for the stage. I wish I'd have gotten a picture but my camera was dying.
**Ongoing activities at the art garden. They had these cute little pre-teens there to greet the children and get them started (accompanying grownup still had to be there too). We made these yankee doodle caps, that you staple together, complete with a feather on back. Ten minutes later I was wishing I would have just stapled them to my diaper bag, since I was the one carrying them most of the time. :o)
**OH, the music area. We spent a good amount of time here. I am finding that it is nigh impossible to get a good picture of my Ben without a flashed over-exposed face. He just moves too quick, always a blur.

Ben's favorite were these drums.

Yankee Doodle Zach liked the wall-mounted marimbas.
**The "castle" area is SO much fun! They have some turret tower scenery, treasure chests filled with dress ups for kids of all sizes, a curtained stage for life-size acting out, as well as a little puppet theatre to the side.

Since my boys really like Robin Hood right now, they loved these castle building pieces, complete with horses and knights to liven things up.

Here is the stage. I think it was at this point where my Sean was getting fussy and I gave up trying to get any decent pictures with my dying camera.
**I love these huge floor maps so much.

There is one of Utah and one of the U.S.A. The kids can press a button to hear trivia questions, and they stand on the state or county that is being referred to. Too mature an activity for my boys now, but perfect for older kids who visit the museum.

A funny thing about this day was that I was going to meet my sister-in-law there, she also with a newborn (and her own three older kids, AND two she babysits). We did meet. As we were passing each other while chasing kids across a lobby area. :o) So my visions of chatting with a friend while my kids were entertained were not fulfilled. Ah well, I think we'll go back again sometime and I think she will too.

Bottom line... I think this is a winner place to visit. I want to say that the feel there is a type of old-fashioned imagination-building that should never be extinguished. Lots of emphasis on telling stories, on creating a place to pretend in for awhile. I loved it.

Summer Adventures Challenge: Living Sea Aquarium and Museum of Ancient Life

2009-07-06T22:24:00.009-04:00

by Cami

Ok, so I've decided to NOT post the Thanksgiving Point Gardens until I have more fun pictures. We'll be going all summer since we got a pass, so I'll leave that til later.

I WILL however, try to catch up on the other places we have been that I haven't posted about. First one:

THE LIVING SEA AQUARIUM

So, it was small. You have to understand, "my" aquarium is the National Aquarium in Baltimore. So it was hard to just kind of drive around some little back roads in Salt Lake until we came upon what looks to be an old grocery store turned aquarium.

Having said that, it was cheap to get in, and JUST the right size for my family. Sure, I had a great time in the Baltimore aquarium, but would my little baby and my boys who tend to run off? It's just right for a quick afternoon with the cousins. And it was cheap enough that I felt pretty good about donating some dollars to get some penguins.

There are other bonuses. I never lost my kids--even wandering Janey. So I could sort of relax and let the kids wander where they might. There were LOTS of hands-on exhibits, and Jeffy, yes, my sensory dysfunctional child, reached right on in and TOUCHED a sting ray. More than once. And these were no ordinary sting rays. When you put your hand in or above the water, they will JUMP OUT AT YOU, to give you easier access, I guess. Very friendly sting rays my son touched. And then he moved on to the star fish and other smaller sea creatures. Very big step for my boy.

We went to a live animal show, which I was really quite worried about. Janey doesn't sit still and Ethan is terrified of any living non-human thing. So, I tried to position us in such a way that Ethan would not freak out, but so I could stand up with Janey. It's true, Ethan sort of screamed and moved 3 rows back every time they brought out something new. Birds, snakes, tarantulas, etc. But we made it through and he might have thought it was a little cool. Jeffy surprised us all again by actually TOUCHING the snake afterward. Seriously.

They also had a great little walk-through exhibit about Utah's natural habitat and whatnot, and though I'm pretty sure none of it actually soaked into my boys' brains, they enjoyed playing on the boat!

And then, of course, there are other cool exhibits (GIANT OCTOPUS!), fun little reefs to crawl around in, an aquarium you can look at from both sides so as to pretend you are IN it, and puzzles to do. So, it is kid friendly, and very fun. It was a good experience over all, and it's always fun to be with the clan.

So, I'd for sure do it again, and I'm sure the kids would too, without getting too bored. It's a keeper.

MUSEUM OF ANCIENT LIFE

This is part of Thanksgiving Point, and since we bought a pass for ALL the properties, we can go to this anytime we want. It's the only thing that is truly open all year, so it really makes it worth it. I was worried, at first, that it was a one-time kind of place, but I am happy to say I was completely wrong. We could go here every couple weeks all year and be just fine.

First of all, it is the LARGEST dinosaur museum in the entire world. ENTIRE WORLD people. And it is literally 5 minutes from my house. I figured, when I heard that, that the other museums just must be pretty small, but no, they could be big and still be trumped by this awesome museum. It was practically a maze. There were so many exhibits, I feel like we barely scratched the surface.

How do I explain it? There are lots of dinosaurs. They are all over. Some of them you can stand under the feet on one floor, then walk up the next and be under the head. There are hallways made to look like the dark of space with stars (which Ethan refused to go in), and actual rooms where you can watch them work on the bones, and excavation tools you can look at, and fossils you can touch, and all sorts of scientificy things.

Then there are toys and puzzles and computers. There are rubbings. There are build-a-dino velcro walls and models. There are mosaics you can draw part of.

But most of all, there is . . . The sand and water room.

That's right, there is a room with a giant tub of sand with a constant stream of water coming from several different fountains. It is a sort of ellipse which you can stand around, or crawl under and go to the middle (which has a raised floor for shorter folk). Kids are building dams. Kids are making rivers. Kids (mine) are burying as many dinosaur figurines in as much sand as they possibly can. It is a Build Destroy Build sort of game that went on for probably 30 minutes before I dragged them away. Janey splashed a bit as well. And the provided smocks make it so the kids don't get TOO wet.

After we were washed off, I wandered around to get out and went the wrong way, because we didn't go out the door Jeffy had seen from the outside, so we snuck back in the exit and found the room full of sand. This, the kids went into barefoot, grabbed a few paintbrushes, and began to dig up life-sized dinosaurs. I was tired by then and made them come out after only a few bones. (Janey was sick and tired of the whole place by then.) But I got them out with promises that we could come back as many times as we wanted, and that made them happy.

There is also an IMAX 3D movie, but I am afraid that may be too much for the kids right now. I think maybe Jake will just take Jeffy sometime. But that also costs extra. But there were also other "free" exhibits that the kids really want to check out, so there is plenty to do that we haven't done.

So, all in all, these outings (which are things I NEVER would have done sans husband in the past, and which I braved ALL on my very own), have been so great and fun. I definitely recommend both to any locals or visitors to the area. If you come, give me a call, I can get you in to TP half price!

Seeing Dallas

2009-07-05T20:32:00.000-04:00

Things we did in Dallas on the 4th of July:

(stayed up too late the night before... Russell and Scott went to a concert and didn't get in until 2 a.m. The girls didn't go to bed until 11:30 p.m.!)

Hung out with Hubby's friend, who was wonderful and let us crash at his house (and the girls play with his kids' toys).

Went to the Nascher Sculpture Center and participated in a First Saturday kids event, which included a scavenger hunt,

A community puzzle, where everyone drew their own pieces,

(M organized the puzzle. Yes, she is our daughter.)

I even drew something, because I remembered what Mo said...

And an artist presentation.

C had a grand time with that, and got chosen to help the artist mix the plaster.

Ate lunch in a parking garage.

Went to the Dallas Museum of Art, wandered around a while (our favorite collections was the "house" -- they have it set up like a villa in the French Riviera, and its full of furniture and art... it was a lot of fun), and ended up in the kids center for a while.

Went to an enormous Korean grocery store and stocked up on supplies (can you say "years supply of soy sauce and go chu jong and seaweed"? Plus kimchee, asian pears and enormous grapefruit!)

And ate at Eskimo Joe's, which is not in Dallas but is in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It's much like the Hard Rock Cafe: you eat there to say you ate there (and possibly buy a t-shirt), not because the food is good. Cool building though.

Maybe next time, we'll do more.

Turner Falls, Oklahoma

2009-07-05T19:38:00.001-04:00

We were thinking about what to do in Dallas this past weekend, and Hubby headed over to his barber (yes, he really has one) and was chatting with him, and he (the barber) suggested we try out Turner Falls in Oklahoma, which happens to be on the way to Dallas. We looked it up on the internet, and it seemed like a fun place to stop. So, we did.

Aside from getting a bit lost (Google Maps had never led us astray before), which was easily rectified (by asking directions in a grocery store)... and aside from the 40 minute wait to get in...
We had a grand time.

It's a river with a series of shallow rapids that begins at a 70 foot falls, and heads down to a man-made lake. We changed when we got there (the girls actually changed in the car while we were waiting in line), and went down to the lake part.

I should admit that we didn't know what the heck we were getting in to, so we all ended up with banged legs and bruised toes. Next time we'll wear water shoes.

Hubby, A, K and I found this little waterfall and the girls had a grand time sliding down the rocks, and hanging out under the falls.

(Can I say how much I LOVE my rash guard?)

Then, everyone went off the diving board multiple times...

Yes, even K and A...though they had problems with waiting in lines...

After that, we decided that since we really did need to get to Dallas, we had to go. Before we went, we walked up to the falls proper (and discovered a whole other swimming area!). On the way we found a castle:

(See, it tells us it's one!)

M found these, which she thought were amusing...

Turner Falls park even has camping grounds, as well as restaurants and lots and lots of picnic places... which means

we'll be back!

Wichita's Splash Parks

2009-07-02T15:32:00.003-04:00

I've known for a while that there are assorted splash parks around the city. I've even been out to one, even though it was in a slightly questionable neighborhood... Anyway, someone had told me about this splash park at Osage Park in South Wichita (I wish we could get one on our end of town...). I convinced my Thursday-morning playgroup to go there today... It turned out that while not many people came (most of those kids in the picture are with a day care group...), but those who did had a grand time.

The weather was nearly perfect -- it could have been a smidge warmer for those who got wet -- and everyone seemed to have fun at both the splash park as well as the playground nearby.

K didn't take nearly as long to get warmed up to the idea of sprinklers as she did last year.

And, of course, A just dove right in (in fact, I wasn't going to suggest swimsuits, but she insisted: if there's a splash park, they needed to bring swimsuits):

C wasn't that into the whole idea (in fact, she spent much of the time saying she just wanted to go home to listen to Inkheart on tape...)

But A and K had a grand time.

Yes, they waited and waited until that bucket dumped. A ran out at the last second -- tired of waiting? -- and had to go back and wait for another round.

Needless to say, we're going to go back again.

Phewf! I'm a contributor!

2009-06-29T23:12:00.003-04:00

I'm Cami. I just moved from Maryland back to Utah where I grew up. This is our first summer here, so EVERYTHING is new. I've already completed some of these challenges, but here is my list. I'm doing Road Trip:

1. Thanksgiving Point Gardens
2. Museum of Ancient Life
3. Living Sea Aquarium
4. Hogal Zoo OR 7 Peaks Resort
5. American Fork Canyon (Do I dare to do Timpanogos Cave with my kids? Probably not this year.)

BONUS: Zion's National Park--this is bonus because I'm not sure we'll get there this summer with all the moving going on, but I'm sure going to try! It may be a fall adventure.

Now, I'm already done with 3 of these places, and there are more to add, I'm sure. So maybe I'll do a giant adventures challenge post with slideshows pretty soon.

Does anyone have any more suggestions for where else we should visit this summer? I can't be TOO ambitious, so let's stick to within one hour of Lehi, shall we?

Bradley Fair Concerts

2009-06-28T10:05:00.002-04:00

Ever since we moved here, we've heard of the summer evening Jazz concerts they hold out at Bradley Fair, an upscale strip mall on the east side of town. We'd never gone... it always seemed like a good idea, but never happened.

We decided it was about time to go. So, Hubby came and picked me up after yoga and we headed out, getting to the area about a half-hour after the concert started... we parked on the far side of the far (on the other side of the "lake"), and walked around. We could hear the music... but I wasn't expecting what I saw:

Don't know why, but I didn't expect that.

Anyway. I also didn't get the name of the band (though I did catch that they were from Austin, TX). Maybe next time we'll actually get there soon enough to get seats in the "concert area" (as opposed to crashing in the cracks) and find out these things.

We stopped by Marble Slab (not as good as Cold Stone), and picked up ice cream (since it was a bloody hot 95 degrees...yes it was 8 p.m.) and crashed at the fountain in the center of the square to eat it

(or in K's case, watch it quickly melt).

The best part was splashing, though.

We didn't stay until the end... the girls were cranky (too hot!) and tired (too late!) and wanted to go home (turned out that A was suffering from heat stroke or a migraine... she ended up throwing up into a cup on the way home!). So, we did.

It's something to keep in mind as they get older, though, because it looks like it could be a lot of fun (and good music).

Hershey Park in Hershey, PA

2009-06-27T14:25:00.000-04:00

Adventure #1 for the Summer Adventure Challenge

the story, as I remember :)

*We got there just after it opened but with our huge group, it took forever to actually get in the gates

*even with my $12 off per adult coupon (yes, Sheely was considered an adult!!) it still cost me $140 to get in with my kids. WOW. That's a lot of dollars.

*I made both of my boys wear red AND they had wristbands there where you could write your cellphone number and put them on your kids so they could call you if your kids get lost. I find this a fantastic idea, since I've just been writing my cell number on my kids' hands for years!

*I chose not to drag around my expensive camera - so my pictures turned out kinda lame, but that's what I get. I knew there would be much chucking of the backpack and I didn't want it to
get trashed (I was right, lots of chucking of the bag)

*we convinced my mom to rent one of those awesome electric wheelchairs - and thank heavens, that is a hilly park! it would've been a nightmare on her crutches!

*as soon as we got to the first set of "kiddie" rides, I realized my problem: I had no husband and two big kids and one little kid. I had not thought logistically about how to help everyone get what they needed (i.e. - big rides for big kids, little rides for the Tuft). I started feeling really stressed next to the little dragon ride when my sister Erin hooked up Sheely with Chris and off they went to the huge roller coasters and Xavier was content to stay and do some younger stuff with Tuft. Sigh of relief

*Jordan and I took Emma and Xavey on a spaceship ride that went up pretty high, they liked that

*So many rides for little kids! That was fun - Preston was so thrilled to run from one to the other and back again, OVER AND OVER. His favorites: the Ladybug, the little swings, the little pirate ship, but especially the little kid SCRAMBLER - LOVED it and begged for us to keep walking back over there :) On the ladybug you just keep going around in a loop but there are a couple little bumps along the way, and every time we'd hit a bump, Preston would do his closed-eyes-manic-laugh that slays me.*It got really hot but not really humid, so if you stood in the shade, it was quite pleasant

*Two hours after getting in there, we left again to have a peaceful picnic lunch outside, and after food, bathroom, and more sunscreen, we were ready to head out again

*half way through the day, Chris brought to my attention to the fact that Xavey's shoe broke, like, the entire sole was almost completely detached, fun huh? He was really patient with it, since I was not about to buy some Hershey Park shoes - he just flapped around with it the entire day!*Until about 3pm, I hadn't been on a single adult ride, it was just the way it went. I wasn't feeling frustrated, just a bit bummed, but when we found a shady spot with three great kid rides and a few bigger adult rides nearby, it worked out for me to go on one by myself and one with Lauren before she had to leave, so that was fun - thanks to all my helpful family that made that possible

*it was really fun to see Preston hanging out with his littler cousins - especially the ones closest to his age. He usually just sticks with his big brother, but when Jordan and Chris had both my big kids off on big rides, Preston was so cute with the younger ones, I really liked that

*Emma spiked a fever and Mary was lethargic too, so after lunch Erin ended up renting a double stroller, which worked out awesome and the nice first aid people gave Emma some motrin (after she took a long nap) which perked her right up*Sheely really liked taking Ava on the Frog Hopper over and over more

*around 5, my sisters with really little kids were ready to crash, so we headed to the front of the park for dinner together. We just lucked out that we picked a restaurant where the seats are right in front of a drum show performance. Xavier was SO INTO it, he stood there like a statue and watched the whole thing! Then, when they started doing the limbo, he totally joined in :) THRILLED this mama, let me tell you! I got some video of that, I have no idea if I'll ever get around to posting it :)*Also, Xavey was so cute and helpful with Alex, he wanted to sit by her at dinner

*Since Erin's kids seemed to be good to go, she and I stayed after everyone else left! This was the season of "divide and conquer." To start off, Erin took Emma, Sheely and Xavier on the Comet, a pretty fun wooden roller coaster. While she did that, I took Preston and Mary on the Tilt a Whirl. Then we swapped kids again and I took Sheely and Xavier on the Super Looper something or another roller coaster (Xavey LOVED going upside down!!). Then we just kept swapping in such a fashion so that Erin and I both got to actually go on all the roller coasters! How is THAT for finally getting your moneys worth? My favorite roller coaster was probably the Wildcat - CRAZY PSYCHO fast and long wooden roller coaster. Preston told me that his favorite part with the big ferris wheel with me. I loved that too - the view was incredible! So strange to have big huge amusement park and then farmland :) Sheely loved the Mouse Trap, which I hated because I always think I am going to fly right off that horrible thing. Xavey loved The Claw, which is what we went on last.

*Sheely harassed me about treats for a long time until I finally said - at 7pm, it's treat time - one treat for everyone, talk to me about it before then and NO TREAT FOR YOU :)

*Tufty wanted ice cream (a cone, with sprinkles, of course). When we got there, I saw they made blizzard type confectionery delights so I ordered myself a peanut butter cup one. THE MINUTE that they handed me his cone, he had to go #2 - STAT. OF COURSE. So he did the twinkle dance while I paid and waited to grab my cup and then we sprinted all the way up the hill to the bathroom. Phew, we barely made it. Then I could get Sheely and Xavey their ICEE things and everyone could have treat happiness.

*THEN, more and more and more rides. Rides everywhere and with no waiting and SO MUCH FUN. I am just such a huge fan of the fast roller coasters that it thrills me that at least two of my children are right by my side in that love. This park really does have some good coasters.

*At the end of the day, Erin and I took turns going solo on the wildest rollercoaster of all - the storm chaser or something. It's one that goes from 0-60 in 1 second or something - HOLY COW that ride took my breath away it was so fast! I'm glad I told Sheely she wasn't allowed (even though she was tall enough). It was on the verge of scary for me! While Erin got her turn, Sheely took Xavier Preston and Emma on the frog hopper (a little free fall for kids) over and over and over. They would go on it, laugh hysterically, then run around and get on again - for at least the 20 minutes that I was in charge of them.

*The final ride (after yet ANOTHER sprint to the bathroom for someone) was the aforementioned Claw ride. Picture one of those giant pirate ship type rides that swing like a pendulum back and forth until they are pretty much vertical, but instead of a ship, you're sitting in a big circle in chairs where your feet dangle down and it spins you around WHILE you swing back and forth. WOWEE WOW. We just barely didn't make it on, so we stood in front and watched the one before us go. I could see Sheely and Xavey getting nervous, but they stood their ground and we all had a good laugh when BOTH of some one's flip flops flew off the ride and into the woods beyond the fence :)

*As we got settled into our seats, I asked Xavey if he wanted me to keep my hand on his knee. He said, "yes, so I don't fly away like a lost flip flop." and gave me that silly Xavey smile. I love that boy. We LOVED the ride - Sheely told me she was going to close her eyes the whole time, but she never did once, we laughed our guts out and screamed and while we were riding, the whistle blew for the park to close. A perfect way to close out the day.

*On the walk back, my boys held my hands. Sheely said a spontaneous, "THANKS MOM!!" and Xavey said, "This was a GREAT day." Sounds silly, but those words are what really made the 12 hours and $140 dollars worth it.

*both boys fell asleep, heads leaning against each other, on the tram

*arrived back at the caboose at 11:30, got everyone in bed and took a shower before soothing my poor blistered feet. An incredible and overwhelming and riotous day with my sweet children. Can I recommend Hershey Park? ABSOLUTELY. Wonderfully clean. Great rides. Lots for all ages. It was expensive, but as I've looked around, it seems to be comparable to other big amusement parks. Plus, there are giant chocolate bars that walk around and take pictures with you. It's a winner in my book.

Wye Grist Mill

2009-06-25T16:26:00.004-04:00

I went to the Wye Grist Mill when I was a small child and I still have fond memories of this trip. It is just a small mill located on a ¾ acre plot of land in the Town of Wye Mills, on the border of Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties, Eastern Shore Maryland, however it is full of milling artifacts and museum exhibits, many of them hands-on. The kids spent a long time using the various grinders and enjoyed looking at all the exhibits. Grinding Days are the first and third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. so we were able to see volunteers demonstrate the traditional stone grinding process. They were grinding corn meal the day we went, but they grind wheat and buckwheat flours on other days. You can also buy sacks of the flour. The timber frame structure was originally constructed on the site circa 1682, with multiple additions and renovations over the last 325 years.

Located just off Route 50 at the intersection of Route 662, 213, and 404 on Maryland's Eastern Shore, 15 miles from the Bay Bridge. The Wye Grist Mill is open from mid-April to mid-November. Friday, Saturday and Sunday - Doors open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. $2 Donation.

If you would like to see more pictures of this trip click here.

Summer 2009 List

2009-06-25T11:02:00.020-04:00

Here is my list so far of places we want to go in

Virginia:

1. Skyline Drive and/or Luray Caverns

2. Frontier Culture Museum

3. Gypsy Hill Park

4. Blackfrair Playhouse

5. Antique Firehouse Museum

6. Natural Bridge

7. Haunted Monster Museum

8. Safari Park

9. Manassas Battlefield Park

10. Sunspots Glassworks Studio

Here is my list of places I want to visit in Maryland:

1. Wye Grist Mill

Here are the places I want to visit in Delaware:

1. Killens Pond Water Park

2. Fort Miles

3. Massey Air Museum

Here are the places I want to visit in Tennessee:

1. Cooper's Gem Mine

2. Bay's Mountian Park

3. Covered Bridge, Elizabethton

4. Gray's Fossil Museum

5. State Line Drive-In

-Phyllis

My 2009 Adventure List

2009-06-18T16:55:00.002-04:00

1. Westlands Park
2. Mt. Rushmore
3. Roxborough State Park
4. Cheyenne, WY (Technically, I've been here, but just driving through. Living so close, I'd like to check it out a little closer)
5. The Colorado State Fair in Pueblo, CO

I'm in

2009-06-09T23:44:00.003-04:00

Gotta write it down if I'm gonna do it

1. Utah Museum of Fine Arts
2. Cherry Hill
3. Valley of Fire State Park, Las Vegas (probably save it for the fall though)
4. Treehouse Museum (Ogden)
5. Living Planet Aquarium
6. Deer Valley Music Festival

Summer 2009!!

2009-06-09T14:55:00.000-04:00

FRIENDS! I have been reminded that summer is now in full swing! I am going to start up this blog again for anyone that wants to participate. If you want to join in the fun you can become an author and after your outing, post to our blog! Just email me at newsummeradventures (at) gmail (dot) com

Here's the scoop (same as last year):

So, summer is practically upon us. As many of you know, I am a "go out and do" sort of person and this summer, I'd like to try to do some exploring. Join me, will you? Here is the challenge - go somewhere new in your part of the world. Do something different. Explore a part of your city or town that you've never tried. Maybe a new museum, amusement park, restaurant, playground, nature trail or historical site. Maybe there is a festival you've always meant to go to. I'm a mom of young children, so most of the time I'll be bringing my crazy ones with me, but you certainly don't have to have kids to participate!!

If you want to join the challenge, here's how we'll do it. The challenge will run from June 1-Sept 1. You get to decide what is an adventure for you - if it's the same places you always go during the summer, probably it doesn't count. If you can't think of anywhere you haven't gone, call friends. Google "places to go in____" . I check out travel guides of my area from the library or go to a hotel lobby and pick up some of their brochures.

Here are the levels:

Level 1: Walk around the block
explore two new places this summer

Level 2: Road Trip
explore five or more new places this summer

You decide what level of challenge and how far from home you are willing to travel :) Make a list of places you want to try on your blog (you can add to it or change it any time). Then come back here and sign up by commenting with your list post (after your name, put where you're from, will you?? Oh, and please be sure to put the link to the actual post, not just to your blog). Even if you find this after June 1, it is not too late to sign up!!! You can sign up until its over. If you want, you can also just post your list on this blog, if you prefer. You can put the little button on your blog to show that you're making an effort to spice up your summer!

Then you must have fun! See new places!! Post about the quirky details and what you loved or hated about where you went, then come back here and post your review. Then we can all read about everyone else's adventures and maybe get some ideas of places to try some day. Leave a comment if you want to sign up, spread the word and see you around!!

Adventure 2009!

2009-06-08T08:23:00.001-04:00

Since we had so much fun doing it last year, I thought we could do it again....

So, places and things we want to try (aiming for the Road Trip option):

1. There's this park south of town (can't remember the name) with a lake and playgrounds and such. I've been meaning to get down there for three years!
2. The splash park by the south Y
3. Something in Dallas, since we're going down there over the 4th
4. Something in Salina, Kansas since M has a dr's appointment there
5. a jazz concert out at Bradley Fair (it's a local shopping center that has a free concert series in June)

That's a decent list. Any suggestions about Dallas?

Bear Mountain State Park - New York

2009-06-07T21:29:00.004-04:00

Tom and I took the girls to Bear Mountain State Park, something I've been wanting to do since we got here. It was a lovely day so out came the bug spray and the map and we were off. Our first stop (after getting a few extra maps) was the playground. It was so lovely right on the water. The kids couldn't get over how many people were fishing (Hessian Lake is fishing and rowboats only).

After a bit of fun there we headed on the trail to take us to the Zoo and the Trailside Museums. It was a nice walk...lots of shade, lots of people but there was so much room it didn't feel all that crowded. We had to go though a tunnel under the road and we walked past a big huge beach entry pool! It's not open for a few weeks still but that is going to be some good times. I forgot to mention the snake we saw just off the path...Emma screamed but it was all good. Just past the pool was the entrance to the zoo. When I say entrance, I mean a box that says "one dollar donation per person suggested." So we put our money in the slot and began our walk. The Trailside museums were these plaquards everywhere describing trees, animals, and other information about Bear Mountain. Emma loved reading them and Mary actually kept asking her to read more. The zoo is really small...but cool. Almost all of the animals were raised in captivity or injured. In fact, by each animal it said, if applicable, how the animal was hurt. Most of them were car and gunshot wound. In the zoo we saw porcupines, a bobcat, coyotes, foxes, bears (3 of them!) all kinds of frogs and snakes, an otter, owls, turkey vultures, and a bald eagle. Man is that bird beautiful. This one has a permament wing injury and can no longer fly. It makes me so sad to see that amazing bird, so powerful and grounded.

One nifty little sidenote, the Bear Mountain Zoo is actually on the Appalachian trail which is marked by a white rectangle. In fact, the Bear Den at Bear Mountain Zoo is the lower point on the whole 2000 mile trail (120 feet above sea level). I have photographic evidence to prove it but I won't trouble you all with it.

After walking the trail, we ate lunch at an awesome snack bar and rode on the lovely indoor Merry-Go-Round. Emma rode the bear but Mary insisted on a horse. Then the girls ate those crazy huge rocket popsicles and it was back to the car.

The last thing we did was drive up to Perkins Memorial and seeing the Hudson from the top of the mountain from this huge tower. Then we headed back down. By this time Emma had passed out in the car and Mary was close. Such a fun day. Highly recommended!

Cherry Crest Adventure Farm, Pennsylvania

2008-09-19T17:29:00.008-04:00

Cherry Crest Adventure Farm is one of the Amazing Maizes across the US. Although the maze has stops along the way for the younger kids to play in, it is really for older kids and adults because it takes hours to complete! However, while the older kids are completing the maze, the younger kids have plenty of activities they can do such as a huge slide, petting zoo with farm animals, a "pumpkin" slingshot (which you really load with tennis balls), lots of smaller corn and hay mazes, pedal carts, two huge bouncers to jump on and a conestoga wagon to explore, and lots more. The good news, too is that it open until the first week in November.

Our End of Summer Adventure Camp

2008-09-07T15:32:00.000-04:00

Every year during the last week of August and the first week of September my husband takes two weeks vacation and our family hosts a family camp. We do lots of at home activities that the kids wanted to do during the summer and never got around to, or things they really like to do and want to do one last time before summer ends. But we also go new places each year. They are usually short day trips, but this year we went camping at two campsites in Maryland. Let me show you some of the fun things we did this year:

We kicked off the camp on Friday night after my husband finished work. We had a Mexican fiesta with a taco bar and pinata. During the next few days we did such activities as making a castle cake from scratch. We baked the cake in the morning and decorated it in the afternoon. We made foil sculptures and play things. They decorated the sidewalk with chalk even after it got dark! We made tie dye t-shirts. We picked apples and made applesauce. We made a pinaqua, which is a trash bag filled with water that they can hit with a stick until it bursts. We had water fun -finally got out the water slide, water balloons, water pistols, etc.

We made homemade marshmallows (pink!), had a bubble fest, foot print art mural, went fishing at a local pond. We went to a local beach and made plaster-sand casts. We had a wonderful time being together having simple fun.

Adventures ending???

2008-09-04T22:46:00.003-04:00

So, I suppose TECHNICALLY summer is over now. Good for all of us who made a little more effort to explore our world :) I think - this blog should just stay out there though. I already love that I am learning about so many other amazing places to see and visit.

In summary, if you desire, please continue to post. If you visit somewhere cool and want to share it, please post it here. I know I will - and everyone who played along for the summer, THANKS!! I'll put out a shout on my blog again next summer :)

Assateague Island, Maryland

2008-09-04T06:41:00.000-04:00

If you enjoy camping, a wonderful spot is Assateague Island, Maryland. The beach is absolutely beautiful, although you do have to be careful of rip-tides, which can pull you out before you know it. Our kids held hands for safety.

We also enjoyed watching the little clams wash in with each wave and quickly bury themselves back in the water.

The National Park there has a National Seashore Museum with hands-on activities for the kids.

They also have three trails: a Life of Dunes, Life of Marsh, and a Forest Trail. At the Seashore Museum they will give you little booklets on each of these trails and the trails are so nice my husband was able to push me in my wheelchair on them.

But, the most fantastic part is seeing the wild ponies, which just wander the whole island. We saw them on a dozen different occasions, including just wandering by our campsite! Although you cannot touch them, they are wonderful to see, living wild and free.

And we had the added bonus of a wild deer wandering into our campsite. He just walked right up to my son, Sam.

Concert at the Gorge (George, WA)

2008-09-03T12:48:00.001-04:00

I really like the Dave Matthews Band; I have from the first time I heard them. I would say that Erik LOVES the Dave Matthews Band. So much that at times I’ve thought “Enough, I’m going to go crazy if I have to listen to one more DMB song!” It turns out that the band loves to spend Labor Day weekend in the practically nonexistent town of George, Washington (ha ha) playing three consecutive concerts at the Gorge Amphitheatre. With Erik’s birthday on September 4 (usually over the Labor Day weekend), what a great gift but tickets to one of the shows! Even better, old friends, Fred and Kim are now living in Eastern Washington so they got tickets too and met us there. Here is a photo of the Gorge that I found online so you can see what a cool venue it is:

It was about a three and a half hour drive from Port Orchard (where we left the kids with Erik’s parents). Once we crossed the mountains the weather was beautiful and sunny! We got passes for the campground and waited for Fred and Kim. Once we could drive in together our quest for a camping spot began. The place was a complete and utter zoo! There were plenty of people left over from the Friday show and there was zero order (park in rows? Don’t be ridiculous!). We finally found a spot near the back cow field which was actually close to one of the few remaining road-sized paths in the humongous field used for camping. Lots of hanging out, drinking, snacking, talking, etc.

Finally it was time to head over to the concert. Silly me, I was just following Erik and Fred as Kim and I chit chatted almost the entire hike over to the amphitheater. Also realize that at this time 1) it is still light out and 2) everyone is migrating to the same location. This will become important later. At the show we parted ways because Erik and I had tickets in a different section. AWESOME tickets I might add—the fourteenth row! I could see everyone on stage with my own eyes! Totally clearly, it was great. I was so bummed though because I realized that they didn’t care if you brought small cameras. I don’t know if that is the band’s policy, or all concerts are like that because they have given up trying to keep cameras out. I remember reading the rules and seeing “no professional cameras” which made me wonder if that meant you could take small cameras, but I wasn’t going to risk getting my camera confiscated. So I was kicking myself as everyone around me whipped out their cameras for cool shots. And they are all lazy because I can’t find ANY of those photos on the web yet. I stole a few shots from the DMB fan site; they are from concerts earlier this summer:

Before the show began they played some old Beastie Boys. I was laughing and asking Erik, “I wonder how many people here are too young to know what this music is?” Then I about died when, during the concert, they performed a cover of “Sledgehammer”! One of my least favorite Peter Gabriel songs, but they did a great cover of it. Again though, how many people didn’t know what that song was? It also seemed very fitting since the last really great concert we went to happened to be Peter Gabriel, so we had been reminiscing a little about that earlier in the evening.

The show was simply incredible. I thought I liked DMB before, but they are so much better live! I can see why they have such a following. However, I don’t see how people AFFORD to follow them, those tickets weren’t cheap! There was a couple sitting behind us who had flown in from Minnesota and were going to all three nights. Wow! It would be kind of cool though because they perform completely different shows each night of the weekend. It amazes me how much good material they have to choose from. Here is the set list from our show (again, thanks to the DMB fan site):

08/30/2008
Dave Matthews Band
Gorge Amphitheatre
George, WA

Dreaming Tree *
One Sweet World *
Stay Or Leave *
Two Step *
The Song That Jane Likes *
Grey Street *
Louisiana Bayou *
Out Of My Hands +
Sugar Will *
Jimi Thing *
Sledgehammer *
Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
Stolen Away On 55th & 3rd *
Crush *
So Much To Say *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *
Too Much *

Encore:
Sister ~
Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)
Stay (Wasting Time) *

Special Guests:
* Jeff Coffin
+ No Horns, Dave on piano
~ Dave, Tim, Carter and Rashawn

After the show Erik and I waited in line to buy shirts and then started our trek back to the campground. Note to self: take a flashlight next time you go to the Gorge. It is DARK out there! And once you get to the campground it is extra dark and everything looks the same. And it’s huge. I was with Erik and he has an amazing sense of direction. But I remember stifling a feeling of panic as we seemed to roam endlessly around searching for our campsite! We finally got back around 12:30. I saw a lantern out and yelled “We’re here!” But no one else was there. Hum. To make a long story short (oops, too late), Fred and Kim had decided to race each other back to the campsite. Unfortunately Kim took a wrong turn and got lost! Of course she didn’t have her cell phone on her. I waited at the campsite in case she arrived there while Fred and Erik went on the hunt. Amazingly enough, they found her! Praise the Lord for cell phones! I can’t imagine how completely frightening that must have been. I know I would have lost it—they didn’t get back to the campsite until 1:30.

After a freezing night with bad camping gear (ergo, hardly any sleep) we packed up bright and early to start our trek back to Port Orchard. On the way out we stopped at the scenic overlook to get a photo (self-portrait). I was thinking if we had been smart we would have stopped on the way there—I must have looked better twenty hours earlier.Hopefully we'll be heading back to the Gorge again, it was great.

Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

2008-09-03T07:31:00.000-04:00

My boys love trains, especially my 14-year old, so it was an easy choice for us to check out the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Since we have a large family, it was the same price for us to become a member as to buy tickets for the whole family for the day ($40). With the membership, you get free admission to the museum for the year. I am suspecting that we will be back again!

As well as the hundreds of locomotives on display, some of which you can go inside, there are lots of hands-on activities for kids to do. There is a simulator in which you can pretend to actually drive a train. The screen responds to your motions, and shows what you would see.

There is an area in which kids can pretend to shovel coal (black foam shaped like coal) into the firebox.

A display of the system used to sort mail on the train allows kids to sort plastic cards into the slots just like they did on real trains.

And they have a huge area that has all kinds of models and hands-on activities. Even my 16-year old daughter had fun there, directing the romote trains that were on a shelf around the top of the whole room.

Port-Huron Metroparks - Michigan

2008-09-02T12:17:00.003-04:00

We were lucky enough to find out about the many Metroparks around our area. These are parks that offer all kinds of activities. The activities are different at each park. We visited two parks this summer: Metro Beach and Stony Creek. Metro Beach Metropark is a huge place. There are docks for boats, a pool with water slides, mini golf, lake swimming, bike trails, etc. Stony Creek was more tranquil and in a more natural setting. It has lots of trails for biking and hiking and two beaches for swimming. You can also rent paddle boats and canoes there. The cost is only $4 per car and there is SO much to do. We will have to explore the other parks next summer.

Tuckahoe Park

2008-09-02T10:11:00.000-04:00

For years now we have been taking our kids to the "Tire Park" at Tuckahoe. It is a wonderful playground made out of recycled tires. This year, however, we decided to camp there so we could do more of the things they offer. The campsites are comfortable; set in the woods. The kids had a wonderful time hiking and exploring in the woods and even found a cute little bridge over a stream. Once we had set up camp, we went canoeing on the lake there and then we played a golf type game with flying disks. We all had a wonderful time and plan to do it again in the spring.

Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum & the Capitol Building - Austin, Tx

2008-09-01T11:07:00.007-04:00

Ok, so I only got to three of my five I had planned, but it's been brutally hot and I'm 8 months pregnant, now. I can write up a few of the other places I went, later, because even if I've been there before, you probably haven't.

Anyway, the kids had cousins in town, just before school started, so we did a ton of stuff together. One of these days we went to the Texas State Capitol. If you get the chance, this is always a fun tour.
They've done a fabulous job of keeping all the historical architecture while upgrading technology for modern convenience. Of course, the funnest part when I was a kid (and even now as a parent) is to walk to the center of the rotunda and look at the seals of the six sovereign nations that have ruled here (FYI, this is where the Six Flags theme parks got their name, the Six Flags Over Texas) and then look up to the star at the very top of the rotunda dome.

I never get tired of the capitol. There's always something new to discover, and the building itself is just so beautiful.

Just up the street is the Bullock Museum. The exhibits are pretty good, and they do cover the whole of Texas history, from pre-colonial & Spanish eras, all the way up through the Alamo, cowboys & the Civil War then on to NASA & Buddy Holly.

It's an interesting place, but not quite as cool as I was hoping. This was especially a bit of a letdown after the utter awesomeness of the capitol. The one thing they do have going for them is the IMAX theater. They're currently showing Dolphins & Whales, Grand Canyon Adventure 3D, Sea Monsters 3D, and The Dark Knight. Yup, they've got Batman, and he's three stories tall. How cool is that?

**In the interest of full disclosure, all these pictures are off the web. I got there too late to do the whole tour at the capitol and the Bullock museum doesn't allow cameras.**

Lake Blanche, UT

2008-08-27T12:44:00.001-04:00

I really love backpacking. When Peter and I married, we did a couple of backpacking trips. Then when Zach came along, (naive as we were) we even entertained the idea of toting him along into the great back-country wilderness. With one of us hefting all of the gear and the other keeping baby happy... it would be a great time. Or would it? The truth is that I don't know, because we've never tried. Packing for anything overnight with a child, even in a hotel, seemed like work enough!

This year, for our anniversary, we decided to save a little money (thank you, rising cost of EVERYTHING!) and do one night backpacking and the second in a hotel. As we looked at our options locally, I was totally playing the tough girl. Like this: Well, hun. I can probably handle the long hike, but what about your ankle? It's true, and I was secretly hoping he would choose the easiest one. :o) Well, we're still 21-at-heart, or nuts, or SOMEthing. Because even after my dad described the hike to Lake Blanche as having "a couple of tough grinds," we felt overly confident and good to go.

It was about 6:30 at the trailhead, which you'll find at the stairs switchbacks up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I think it is officially called Mill B Fork. With our headlamps, mountain house meals, water filter, and itty-bitty camping stove tucked away, we were on our way. I should have paid more attention when we looked at the topo map on the computer where it gives you a graph of the incline. The first part was moderately easy and I was thinking, 'yeah! this is my kind of hike!' Then came the grind. And let me tell you, my dad's words kept repeating themselves in my head for that final S-L-O-W stretch. AND the blisters developing on my heels were not helping.

We reached the lake, which we had completely to ourselves on a Thursday night, just in time to see the sun setting. Lovely, lovely. The lake itself isn't much, but the view of Sundial Peak was fantastic. It is still spring at this elevation and we had a lovely field of wildflowers to walk through on our way to a little waterfall where we could filter water. I have given up trying to get the pictures we took to go with this post, since they were taken with hubby's phone. But here is a picture someone else took of Sundial Peak...

The distance of this hike was 2.78 miles, and the elevation gain was 2700 feet. In the end, I was really glad Peter stuck to his guns on doing this instead of two full days of lounging. Yes, it was tough. But I get a bit of a thrill and satisfaction when I push my limits. (remember that one time I ran a marathon? :o) And it feels oh-so-nice to completely get "away from the things of man... away from the things of man." (I'll make you brownies from scratch if you can name that movie!)

Troy Family Aquatic Center - Troy, MI

2008-08-25T21:03:00.000-04:00

This has been my favorite place to discover about our new city. I have always been a pool girl whether taking lessons and hanging out with the SAHM's kids at PG Pool in Mt. Rainer, MD when I was a kid or working in the summers, so I had to find the pool here. Well, I fell in love. It is such a great place. This is the public pool. I'm sure that there are plenty of membership only pools, but this is really a gem.

One thing I love most about this city is the diversity. It is a different kind of diversity than I have been used to living in the DC area, so it has been so lovely to get to know cultures with which I have little experience. There are fairly large populations of people from China, India and the Middle East. The pool is no exception. I have met people from Iraq, Sweden, and Morocco. Jackson's swimming classes are made up of kids from all over the world, some even wearing long sleeved leotards and long pants to swim in. One woman, who the boys and I met, is from Iraq and she has such an interesting life story. (That is for another post.) She actually thought that my husband must have been from the Middle East after looking at the kids. I don't know about that, but it was a first.

If anyone is ever out here in the summer, it is a great fun way to spend the afternoon. It isn't too pricey, unless you go there often. They have a large snack bar and a great main pool with a beach entry, so it was great for my 12 month old. The children's pool is very shallow with spraying water features, a slide, and a waterfall. There are two adult slides that are similar to water slides at a large water park. Jackson took and passed the swim test to go on them. If that wasn't enough they have two enormous sand volleyball courts. We spent a lot of time at the play structure that has tons of sand around it. The kids go crazy in there making sand castles with the water that they get out of the mini waterfall. It is really cool how they all end up working together with kids they just met on some great creation.

North Beach

2008-08-25T14:35:00.001-04:00

My great friend Mendy told me about this beach out on the Chesapeake Bay. While I've been to beaches on both sides of it, I've never tried this one.

First off, it's only an hour from my house. That's awesome. The drive went great and the weather was PERFECT. I recruited several friends to come along, which helped a LOT. Unfortunately, no one who had children any where near Sheely's age was able to come, which bummed her out quite a bit. She found a great 4 year old girl to play with, though :)

One annoying thing: since it's a municipal beach and not a regional park, you do have to pay. $5 per person. However, here are the good things: bathrooms RIGHT there, nice sand, fun pier to play on, a huge wooden pirate ship to play on, they have the beach NETTED OFF so I did not see ONE JELLYFISH the entire time. IN AUGUST! That's worth $5 a person, for my crew. Sheely's got jellyfish-phobia. The water is super shallow, although the mud/sand is pretty slimy once you get past the rocks. There are hardly any waves (which can be good or bad, depending on whatcha like).

We had a fantastic time, I'd definitely go again.

A view of the beach where we played, from out on the pier:

How Sheely spent much of our day: in time out

all the kids!!

the mommies (and an aunt)

my three sweet ones in their floaties

the mud was a big draw for my boys

there are two sides to the beach - after you pay you can go right or left of the pier. On the left is the pirate ship, so it was more crowded. We chose the less crowded right side.

see the nets keeping those jellies away??

my sand-lover

on the pirate ship

Kitty Hawk - Kill Devil Hills, NC

2008-08-24T14:44:00.000-04:00

While in the Outer Banks, we went to Kitty Hawk. It was amazing to think that the Wright Brothers flew here in 1903...and that just wasn't that long ago. Explaining the advent of flight to the kids was more difficult than I imagined. There are two visitor areas there, one older museum and one opened in 2003 to celebrate 100 years of flight. The older museum houses a full-scale replica of the airplane that flew December 17, 1903.

Outside, markers note the distances of each of the four flights flown that historic day.

In the dunes of Kill Devil Hills above the airfield, a monument has been erected to honor the Wright Brothers. I love the inscription which reads:

IN COMMEMORATION OF THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR BY THE BROTHERS WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT. CONCEIVED BY GENIUS, AND ACHIEVED BY DAUNTLESS RESOLUTION AND UNCONQUERABLE FAITH.

View from the top of the dunes:

My Wilbur and Orville looking over the airfield:

Bodie & Hatteras Lighthouses - Outer Banks, NC

2008-08-24T14:41:00.000-04:00

The Bodie Island Lighthouse was by far my favorite of the three we visited this trip. It was just stunning and I still get a pit of awe in my stomach when I think about it. It is currently not open for climbing, but restoration plans are in progress.

Since we were already partway to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, we decided to head down there as well. Cape Hatteras is the largest lighthouse in the US and was relocated in 1999 due to the encroaching sea. We arrived well after climbing hours, but enjoyed the setting sun. They paint the lighthouse every 5-7 years, and unfortunately, I think it is overdue!

All of the lighthouses on the Outer Banks are still functional as not all ships have GPS. The come on at dusk and turn off at dawn. We all really enjoyed watching the Bodie Island Light flash on our drive home.

Jockey's Ridge & Currituck Beach Lighthouse - Outer Banks, NC

2008-08-24T14:38:00.000-04:00

First stop was Jockey's Ridge State Park. Jockey's Ridge is 420 acres of sand dunes, the largest natural sand dune system in the Eastern US. It rained on us pretty steadily the whole time, but that didn't stop us from having fun.

The pictures don't do the scope of these dunes justice, but we all had fun running down the dunes (most of us falling down) and we watched the hang gliders for a little bit from the hang gliding school located there.

Next stop was lunch. We ate at Bob's Grill and I still laugh every time I think of the restaurant's slogan:

Our last stop of the day was to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

I have always loved lighthouses so I was so pleased when Jonah took a hugely enthusiastic approach to the top of the lighthouse. Jonah was the first one of the group up the 214 steps and chatted with me incessantly the whole way. About halfway up, I found out that I've developed my mother's fear of heights, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the view at the top.

The Detroit Michigan Zoo - Royal Oak, MI

2008-08-20T11:07:00.003-04:00

Early in the summer, the boys and I went to the zoo as part of a playgroup activity with our church. Having just moved to the area, I didn't know who I was looking for or what they looked like, I am still amazed that I actually found the group. Upon entering the Zoo, I was highly irritated because they asked me to give them money. Money? It's a zoo, aren't they all free? Well, apparently not. I guess that is the wonderful thing about living near the nation's capitol. Go figure. After paying $20, or more I really can't remember, we entered the zoo.

I have to say that it was totally worth the money. The place is huge and they have some really neat features. Even a train that takes you from one end to the next, so that you don't have to walk your tired feet all the way back to the beginning. (Bring cash, it costs money too.) We really enjoyed the butterfly exhibit and the absolute best was the polar bear exhibit. It really was amazing.

There is this beautiful tunnel that goes right through the water, so you can see the sea lions and bears swim right next to or over you.

They had a penguin exhibit and the prairie dog exhibit had tubes that the kids could poke their heads in and be right in the middle of all the frolicking prairie dogs. We liked it so much that we bought a season pass. Well, Jackson and I did, Luke will grow to like it...

Golden Spike National Historic Site, UT

2008-08-19T16:17:00.002-04:00

This was a place I had always wanted to go and see, most especially with the SERIOUS railway enthusiast that is my first-born. He thought this was the coolest, and is already talking about going back with Dad.

We went on a Friday. I had tried to find as much information as I could on their web site, which was pretty informative. However, they gave no specific information about the engine demonstrations, because they can change without notice, so I was pretty clueless going out there. I did learn that one of their annual events, the Railroaders Festival happens every year on the second Saturday in August -- the day after our visit. But we had a birthday party to attend, so I didn't change our plans. And while we were there, I didn't ask about the festival because I didn't want to know (or have anyone hear...) what we were missing out on. :o)

The drive is every bit of 30 miles west of Brigham City. We are talking in the middle of nowhere, people. It's good that I enjoy road trips; it was kinda fun to watch the landscape unfold, looking for any sort of a facility in site. I had to laugh when we finally saw the engines from a distance and Zach in his giddy voice was saying, "I'm going to stop feeling so excited!!" This is the view he was talking about:

We arrived at 11:30 and I had packed picnic lunch so we went in to look at the offerings. I paid my seven dollars and glanced at the schedule they had written in chalk behind the counter. One of the trains arrives (from where, I have no idea!) at 10:00, the other at 10:30, so my heart sank thinking we had missed that and wouldn't be able to see them move at all. At 12:00 they had a "steam demonstration" so we hurried and watched the 20 minute video, then got our lunches to sit out at the benches where the locomotives were. Um, zero shade. But thankfully a comfortable amount of wind so the sun didn't feel too hot. They had picnic tables in other spots and there may have been some trees there.

The replicas they have made really are impressive. You can get up close to them but no touchy. First they demonstrated the 119. Zach was sitting next to me and Ben was standing in front of us when they blew the whistle before it started moving. I myself probably jumped a couple of inches, it will be funny to watch the video I was trying to make. Poor Ben about fell over. After that, Zach was nervously playing with my hair and covering his ears for much of the time. They also demonstrated the Jupiter by backing it up a couple hundred yards and then bringing it back. Nothing fancy, but it was fun to sit and enjoy our lunch while we watched. When the engines are parked, they have stairs and a platform on one side of them so you can get a good look into the cabs. The engineers are there to answer questions and we learned some new things. The 119's sandbox has a picture of Johnny Appleseed painted on one side and Daniel Boone on the other. I also didn't know that one of the trains used coal and the other wood for fuel, because of what was most available from their respective side of the country.

Oh yes, we also got to ride on this speeder. I thought it was such a treat, and it made the coolest old-fashioned putting sound. The driver told me that it is run with an engine that actually has to be turned off, and then restarted to turn the other way to return us. (No reverse gear) I'm sure that, had Peter been there, he would have caught the term for such an engine!

The remainder of our time was spent in the gift shop, where Zach decided whether or not he wanted to spend his money on things or not. He had about $11 and thought about the small wooden trains they had. What he really wanted were the HO scale Bachmann model trains, each were $75. In the bathroom before we left he was trying so hard not to cry about it. I really was so proud of him because I think he is getting a sense of how it is hard to save for the things we want most -- though I wish he had much smaller goals. He just knows the model trains are the most fun for him to watch and as close to the real thing as you get.

All told, it was a worthwhile day. I thought we would do the Big Fill, which is a 1.5 mile walking trail to see unfinished trestles, I think. They had a display of the trestle with model trains that was interesting enough for Zach. I was told the path was do-able with a stroller, but it was best that we passed, because the kids were so tired and it was a sunny day. (No shade there, either)

I hope that this visit gave Zach a better appreciation for the history behind these trains. He kept asking, 'but mom, why are they just parked there?' I tried to explain that it is simply so people can come learn about this important event that happened a very long time ago. I think the timing with this outing was good too, because we had just happened to recently have borrowed Peanuts Building of the Transcontinental Railroad video from the library. Other fun related books are Coolies and Iron Horses.

Little Bighorn National Monument

2008-08-15T17:23:00.002-04:00

On our way to Spokane, my husband noticed that we drove right by the Little Bighorn National Monument, so on our way back through Montana (which is a LARGE state, by the way), he decided that we needed to stop there. Never mind that we got a horrid night's sleep the night before, that we'd been on the road for 7 hours already (as I said, Montana is HUGE) and that we still had about four hours left to go before we got to where we were going for the night. We stopped and paid our $10 to the Park Service to see the graves:

More graves:

And Native American Art:

The girls wondered why...

and were actually kind of glad to get back to the car.

(For the record: both Russell and I thought it was "interesting" and "educational". The girls did like the gift shop.)

Park City Moutain Resort, UT

2008-08-14T17:19:00.002-04:00

There is lots of family fun to be had up here, but for this new adventure, we were trying out the downhill mountain biking. Each all day lift pass was $18, one ride up I think costs $11, and the two lifts available to ride are the Payday (the main one at the base of the resort) and Town (right from downtown Park City). Payday lift was S-L-O-W. I never checked my watch but I bet it took at least 30 minutes to get to the top. On the way up we tried to decipher the map and match it to the biking trails we were seeing beneath us, and it was already feeling rather confusing.

We chose Trestle trail. Had it not been for the huge roots and mini boulders, it may have been a fair ride. There were even fallen trees at head level that could have totally knocked me out if I hadn't been paying attention! Pretty disappointing, so I let out some grumblings and almost tears and then tried to make a positive experience of it. I will say it was cool to see the occasional old rusty trestle hidden in the trees, from mining days I guess.

When the trail would split, there were no signs to guide us so we consulted the map -- which was SO not helpful. Um, yeah, pretty much we were lost and I was feeling a little bugged that they call this a fun place for mountain biking. Eventually (and don't ask me how) we were on a really nice trail, one where I could stay on my bike for a few minutes at a time, until the tricky switchbacks. That trail was taking us south-east and it dropped us on a road up above Park City, so we had a nice speedy ride on the pavement to downtown. It turns out that the only nice part of the ride wasn't even on the property of the resort!

I'll be honest, I was SO done, but hubby wanted to give it another go, so we rode the Town lift up. This one was a lot quicker and dropped us at the same starting point. I don't know what the deal was, but our only other option to get down was on the dusty service road, and even for that we had to beg passage because they were moving cement by helicopter above our heads. A pretty unusual day at the resort, but with the trails they offered I don't think I would choose to go again.

What I DID love from this adventure was dinner at Boua Thai Restaurant, located right at the resort. I love it when you have a waiter/waitress that is not putting on a show of kindness or being a pleasant person. She just was naturally hospitable and at ease. The food was superb. I was so excited to have some leftovers to take home! She told us how her dad was waiting for her downtown as they were getting things ready for their booth at the Arts Festival the next day. I was not surprised to find it was a family business. Doesn't it seem like those are always the best?

We tried to take a leisure ride up on the lift after dinner, but they won't allow going all the way up to the turnaround (to ride down) after 8 pm.

For treats we stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Honestly, how do you choose just one thing?! We didn't even try to resist. :o)

A Rich Person's Adventure

2008-08-13T22:10:00.002-04:00

As part of my husband's family reunion, his older brother rented three boats -- two pontoons and a speedboat -- and five families headed out to Cour d'Alene lake in northern Idaho to go boating.

It wasn't a great day -- windy, so the lake was choppy, and not terribly warm, so the lake was cold. But that didn't stop us from having fun!

Hubby got to drive a boat (for the first time):

The ride out was nice -- C and a cousin chilled on the seats --

But once we got to a little cove, the fun began. M dove off the side of the speedboat:

And her uncle let her have a turn driving the boats.

C was one of the brave souls that went tubing... (it was REALLY cold!)

A wanted a turn in the water, so Hubby swam with her (well, carried her, practically) from one boat to the next -- if you look closely, she's freezing and clinging to his neck!

But settled for a speedboat ride instead.

K and I were "smart" and never got in.

But we really liked riding on the little speedboat. Especially when we went fast!!

We've been to Cour d'Alene lake many times, but we'd never been out on boats before (it being a fairly expensive thing...). I'm glad, though, that we have relatives with deep pockets! It sure was fun!

Denver Aquarium

2008-08-13T14:03:00.002-04:00

We stopped at the Denver Aquarium on our recent trip to Washington state. Mostly because we knew there was NOTHING to do in Billings, which was our next stop, but also because we like aquariums. And we didn't get tickets for the Denver Mint.

When we first entered, it was decorated like a ship. The girls -- especially A (she even asked to go all the way back to it), had fun pushing buttons, and playing with the wheels.

There were lots of interesting exhibits. Everyone's favorite was the flash flood (what does one do for a local natural exhibit when the aquarium is in a desert? Well... tarantulas, snakes, birds, and flash floods!) where there was a "thunderstorm" and the river overflowed and got us a bit wet. It was too dark to take pictures, though. There was also a tunnel where you could walk through and see the fish around...

but K wasn't too fond of that. (Or perhaps it's just the huge manta ray overhead?)

One of the other things the girls liked was the tank where you could go up underneath and see the fish from the inside. It made for some very interesting pictures.

And they even got to pet a sting ray at the end -- though only C and A were interested. (K would have nothing to do with it, although I tried to get her to pet the ray...)

And this one, because K looked at them and said, "Bubbles!"

In the end, though, it wasn't enough for us... especially for the price. It was nice, it was fun -- it only took 1 hour! -- but it was way overpriced. C'est la vie.