The Adventure continues

Saturday, June 9th - 8am

After catching roughly 4 hours of sleep, the children were awake and ready to get the day started almost before the sun.  We stalled as long as we could so we could check the weather, find things to do, see where there was to eat and more but they were ready to go.

Our first stop was the Great Bridge Locks Park.  Its a wonderful wooded area with a few trails and a playground and also sits beside a canal where we got to watch some magnificent boats and yachts launch into the bay.  Its also the site of the Battle of Great Bridge during Revolutionary War.  We were there just in time to see the monument being dedicated and get some snowcones and kettle corn.

I'm not sure who was more ready for lunch - the kids or us.  Because, you see, upon our research that morning, we discovered there was a Five Guys Burgers and Fries joint in the area. 

Bacon cheese burger with "all the fixins", cheese dogs, Cajun french fries, strawberry Fanta followed by grape fanta  followed by raspberry fanta and all our children ate was....

...the free peanuts.

A pleasant discovery of our trip - gas is cheaper down here.  We were excited to fill up at $3.37 only to find another gas station down the road had gas for $3.19!!

After eating lunch (at about 3pm) and a nap (4:30pm), we headed off to a local park called Fun Forest - a 3 acre Imagination Kingdom Playground.  Even I was sad when it was time to leave.

Look at the size of this sandbox!!

The park closes at dusk and as we were leaving Bree starts excitedly screaming

"Look what Papa did to the sky!!!  He did that for us!!"

Goodness how I love that child.

Somewhere in the ballpark of 9pm we thought it was a good idea to get some dinner in our bellies and Spaghetti Eddie's was calling our name.

And boy did it hit the spot.  Pizza cooked in a 900 degree brick oven.  Lasagna stuffed with the right amount of cheeses and - get this - sliced meatballs.

I think I know where our pit stop on the way home will be.

Upon returning to the hotel we discovered Becki, Mike, Austin and the rest of our convoy finally caught up to us.  One more sleep and 3 more hours on the road until we reach our destination.

OBX here we come!

Outer Banks 2012

The Adventure Begins

Friday, June 8th - 3pm

Everybody loaded. 

 Bree not a fan of the AC, Jacob not certain of whats going on, Jim at the wheel and me, the trusty navigator are all set to get the vacation started.

We made it as far as the turnpike...

... and Jacob was already passed out.  Me thinks this will be a good trip.

Then again maybe not.  Two hours in and the big sister has a meltdown over a book.

After 11 hours of driving we made it to our destination of Chesapeake Virginia at 2:30am.  We checked into our hotel room and set up camp until the rest of our party arrived the following evening.  And what a wonderful hotel it was. 

It came equipped with a microwave and complimentary popcorn.

Full size fridge, sink and dishwasher (dishes and dishwasher soap included).

AND mini stovetop with pots and pans. 

In case you're wondering what Jim is doing in the above picture, our room was F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G when we walked in.  55 degrees to be exact.  We cranked the thermostat up to 75 degrees and turned the burners on high to get some heat going in there.

Bree, who was not a lover of the AC in the car, did NOT like the temperature of the hotel room.  At. All.

And finally, at around 4:30am, our children who were as giddy as can be to:

1. be on vacation

2. be in a hotel room

3. be "sleeping" in the same bed

needed to be separated so Mom and Dad could get some much needed sleep.

We promised them more adventures and fun in the morning if they would just go to sleep. 

eventually they did.

And all to soon they woke up.

And the adventures did continue...

Knee High 2

Bree with her Dora binoculars on.

I love when the field behind us has corn. 

Day by day, week by week, I watch it grow.  I watch the fireflies crawl up the leaves and light the summer nights.  Then slowly, little by little, the corn starts to dry out and turn brown.  And day by day, week by week, the excitement inside me grows along with the corn as the best season of all inches closer.

Fall, I anxiously await you.

http://betterwhensimple.blogspot.com/2010/06/knee-high-by-fourth-ofjune.html

First of many

Two weeks ago, yes I know I'm even further behind in blogging then that, we found an awesome surprise crawling on my marigolds.

Mother Nature may say that summer begins with the solstice, but where I live summer begins with the first firefly caught.

Fireflies

I like to chase the fireflies,
Chase them to and fro'
I like to watch them dart about,
Their little lamps aglow.

In the evening's twilight dim
I follow them about,
I often think I have one caught,
And then his light goes out.

I cannot tell just where he is
Until he winks, you see,
Then far away I see his light,
He's played a joke on me

Ready....

Set.....

P-L-A-N-T-!

In case you were wondering, that's...

6 beefsteak tomato plants

6 cherry tomato plants

12 banana peppers plants

6 green pepper plants

1.5 pounds of onion bulbs

23 mammoth sunflower seeds planted

12 regular sunflower seeds planted

18 marigolds

60-ish random flowers

and

chives, basil, parsley, and grapes.

Whew.

And if my green thumb fails me this year, we at least had fun planting it all.

Like Father, Like Daughter, Like Granddaughter

We held our first garage sale of the season a few weeks back and to keep the kiddos entertained I busted out the craft box.  Paper, funky scissors, ribbons, google eyes, stickers, glitter - all in attempts to coax them into making a card for a grandma or two. 

 However, my darling baby girl had another idea.

"Lets make cards for the people who come to buy our stuff."

And that she did.

One lady was so touched by Bree's generousity that she started crying.  It was a great opportunity to talk to Bree about how every gesture we make, no matter how small, can make a difference in someone else's life. 

What would you do...

... if you ran across a hungry, hungry hippo?

Feed it, of course!

I think he's cheating but we'll cut him some slack 'cause he's cute!

Year 2

Dear Dad,

When I run into someone I haven't seen in a while, they always ask me 

"How are the kids doing?  How old is Jacob now?"

I reply with "The kids are great.  Jacob's two now."

"Wow" they say.  "Two years old already?  Can you believe it?"

Well yeah, I can.  Whenever I recall how old Jacob is a little part of me aches as I can't help but think its been that long since I've been able to talk to you, to call you for advice, to ask you any random question in the world because somehow you would know the answer.  I ache for Jacob who never got to know what a great person you are, who will never get to come to you with boy scout questions, who will never get to go on a lawn mower ride with you.  I ache for Bree who will never have her Papa pick her up from preschool or attend a Grandparents Day at school.  I ache because I see the details of her memories of you are starting to slowly slip away.  However, every now and then Bree surprises me with a random story she recalls about you in such detail that I can only hope that its because you're visiting her in her dreams.

I'm trying my best to start implementing the life lessons you taught us into my life.  Hard work, dedication, maintaining, if it needs done then do it - even if its not your job, and don't forget to spend time with the family.  Learn where you came from and work hard to get where you want.  If you need something, then buy it.  If its a frivolous spend, it can wait.  Do what makes you happy.  I struggle with that last one. You worked harder than any one else I know to make sure that our projects for school were the best that they could be.  You took the time to teach us how to do things for ourselves (canning, house repairs or otherwise).  You sacrificed so much for us so that we could have a life better than your own.  I know now that when you see your children happy and the values you instill in them coming out then you reap the rewards of parenting.  But still, I can't help but think of how much more you deserved from this life, how much more you had to offer doing the things that made you happy.  You had only just truly begun.

I avoided it for as long as I could but eventually I caved and joined a website called Pinterest.  You would have loved it, Dad.  Oh the things that people can make using the most common of things all grouped together for easy searching.  I think you would have found some wonderful project ideas to make for the people up at Rainbow Oncology.  I know you would have because Becki and I have.  We're doing what we can to keep your memory alive up there too.

I miss you so much.  Some days its still so unreal that you're not going to be on the other end of the phone when I call.   Whenever I'm having a bad day with the kids it would be so wonderful to hear your voice, reassuring me that I will get through this followed by a story of how I did something so much worse and what all is yet to come.  But then, at the most random of times, I'll catch a whiff of something familiar, something that reminds me of you and its like a hug.  A reminder that you are always with me and sometimes thats just what I need.


                                                                                       I love you, Dad.
                                                                                              Rachel

http://betterwhensimple.blogspot.com/2011/04/year-one.html