First time to Deep Creek Lake

Back in March we 'won' an item we bidded on in a silent auction for the girls' preschool. It was a week at a cabin on Deep Creek Lake in Western, Maryland--- and I don't think anyone saw this one, because we were the only ones who bid and therefore got it for a fraction of what it was worth ($600 for a week, valued at something around $2800)!

Deep Creek is a really popular vacation destination in Maryland all year round with beautiful terrain,
the lake, and ample skiing in the winter. We have wanted to visit for a while and here was our chance for one week, with a 4 bedroom 4 bath lakefront "cabin" to boot.

So we hit the road for the 3.5 hour trip (a breeze compared to our recent cross-country trip) and met my parents at the cute blue house on the lake that exceeded our expectations. There was a well appointed kitchen, big stone fireplace, dining area over looking the lake, a bed and bath on the first floor (which worked nicely for my mom and dad), and 3 beds and 3 baths upstairs. The room with the two twin beds was perfect for the girls with pink beds, sparkly purple curtains and twinkle lights- even their own bathroom. The master was awesome with its own balcony and jacuzzi tub. There was a wrap around deck, its own dock, and an outdoor whirlpool- sweet!

My Dad relaxing by the fire

We had great weather a little more than half the time (and worth noting, NO mosquitoes the entire time). The first several days were beautiful and warm (but not hot). We chilled on the dock, tied up tubes so we could, well, just float, We swam and hiked. On our last day before the cool weather and rain came in Dave, my Dad and I rented wave-runners! I have to say I was surprised that my dad was willing to go- and he seemed to have a great time! I wasn't so sure I "should" go due to the beany baby I was carrying, but no one seemed to think anything of it so Dave and I shared one (we didn't get crazy though, so we kept the bouncing to a minimum).

We were lucky enough to be able to snag a pontoon one day as well. I had scoped out the marina with the best value rentals and they told me that they go quick. We had the pontoon for 4 hours. My Dad and I drove it back to the cabin to pick everyone else up (along with the tubes for towing). We explored almost the entire lake. And even though it was in the 60s, Dave and the girls hopped on the back and went tubing! It was great watching S & L's expressions back there for their first tube ride ever:)

We also went to the county fair that started during our stay. It was raining pretty much the whole time, but all the rides were running and there were no lines for anything. You couldn't really beat the $10 admission ticket that included unlimited rides on everything. We rode rides, ate food, and said hi to many many goats, bunnies, pigs, and cows. It was really fun (despite the weather) and kind of nice that the size was manageable to hit a couple hours. The last night we were finally able to hit the outdoor hot tub that we were finally able to get open- It was a great week!

The Great Trek to the Midland: Day Three

Day three: Peoria, IL to St. Paul, Minnesota! It’s been terribly frustrating these last three days to explain to the girls that we are indeed going to Minnesota, but that it will take a LONG time. When we hit the road in Baltimore I think it took all of 30 minutes before they asked if we were in MN yet. And then when we tried to explain the concept of staying in a hotel, not one but two nights, and in different cities- it wasn't exactly processing in their 4 year old brains. Or maybe they were just messing with us, which is quite possible. 

Today however, we were able to say that yes, when we are done driving we will be in MINNESOTA! The DVD player has been nice but we have only really used it once a day. I loaded their bags with new books (from the library, hopefully they stay in our possession, maybe that wasn't the best idea), and filled surprise bags with a few new goodies. The surprise bag they just got today, on day three. They have been really good, considering that they are, well, four. This is not to say that there haven’t been meltdowns; most the time involving a princess notebook  that fell on the floor, not being able to get something out of a purse, or a ponytail that isn't as secure as it was at the beginning of the day. Although, I can’t blame all the melt downs on my kids. My impatience hasn't always been a secret. I can only take so much of the continual asking why we are not in MN yet, even after I swear I explained it very clearly…at least 10 times. Or if I am hungry and there just seems to be NO viable options anywhere; all I can see are silos, corn, and billboards for things that are 70 miles away. Dave hasn't always been the happy pilot either, especially when someone is tailing us too close, the music isn't working correctly, or he just can’t find his sunglasses. But what can we expect on a three-day 20 hour road trip? I think by and large we did just fine. Oh, and I spent several hours catching up on this blog. Bonus.

So Minnesota, here we are for 3.5 glorious weeks! Please stop raining!!

The Great Trek to the Midland; Day Two

Day two we are headed from Ohio to Peoria, IL. Our car GPS and or phone GPS are completely different and telling us not only different directions but significantly different travel times. Seeing that our car GPS is out of date we should have gone by our phones! Everything in hindsight…. We stopped at the National Air Force museum in Dayton, OH which was quite the sight. Our old GPS tried to bring us there directly through the Air Force base (which naturally did not work, we were turned around at the checkpoint). We didn't have a lot of time to spend there but there were a LOT of planes housed in that place! We saw the plane that Dave’s Dad flew, a B-47- it was massive. They had planes from several different eras: the Cold war, World War II, and the early years (early 1900s). They had jets and bombs and you could even slide into the pilot seat of a few different models. We could have easily spent an entire day there, but we had to hit the road. We stayed in Morton, IL just outside of Peoria night two. We gorged on delicious Italian food in our room and quickly gave into our food comas and fell asleep.

B47 that Dave's Dad flew during the Cold War

Here we go again! The Great Trek to the Midland: Day One

This time it only took 5 hours to get out of the house. We always think we are ahead of the game but

 something always takes longer than we expect. Or we have forgotten to do something, it never made the list etc. The packing of the cooler always has to be saved until the day of, and while one wouldn't think that would be stressful, I can make it stressful! What do we bring? Will that Ziploc bag keep moisture out? Do we have to access that cheese while driving? What about the grapes? Maybe, and yes. Do we need the beer cold for when we get to the hotel? And should I bring some salad dressing for the salad I think I’m going to make that night? Yes and yes. Do we have enough ice? How many ice packs should I bring and how can I orient said packs to make sure they distribute the coolness to the items that need it the most? These are important questions; after all, we will be in the car for 8 hours. And then another 8 hours. And then one more span of 8 hours.

So the cooler is one thing. But then we need to make sure the dishes are clean, the car is packed, the chargers corralled, the mail is stopped, and the garden is tended to one more time. These are just a few of the last minute joys that end up taking, well, 5 hours.

We finally start driving.

This was the first time the girls got to test out the DVD system in the car, and to no surprise, it was a success. I have to say the wireless headphones are a blessing. Smooth sailing day one. We sleep in Zanesville, OH that night. There was a pool, we played, then ate, then hit the hay.

Gobblers and Pittsboogers

(I am not purposefully calling our Pittsburgh family/ friends inappropriate names, please see below:))
So first things first, I apparently have not done my parental duty (or at least read enough books on the topic to spur conversation) with the girls to have taught them what a turkey is, by name anyway. They still call them Gobbles or Gobblers. But, it's cute, at least for now, so I'm sold. In addition, I have not exactly had the serious conversation about what being thankful is, and what we should be thankful for, hence the turkey posters they made at school. Once again, cute, and albeit true, I wouldn't have minded "mommy" up there or, you know, "i'm thankful for the precious time I have as a child and don't have to worry about much more than if I'm getting cake and what kind of frosting it may have etc."

I on the other hand can indeed be thankful for many many things in general, but I will focus on this weekend for now. From the gracious couple (who had never met us) that invited us into their home for Thanksgiving, the highway angels that opened the gates to a very quick drive to Pittsburgh on Friday (4 hours, which is what it was supposed to take, and it even included 2 stops), Dave's Aunt and Uncle who bravely let us set up camp, or you could say circus, in their home for a few days, to my neighbor Allison (in Baltimore, but is from Pitt and just happened to be in town the same time) who created a great bar-hopping itinerary for us when I snuck out on Saturday night. I was thankful for my husband who slept on the side of the bed closest to where our kids were sleeping (so he was the default getter-upper in the middle of the night), and thankful for his cousin Caroline who not only offered to bring (both) the girls to the bathroom for a #2 adventure (that ended with very vocal proclamations of "I went POOP in the potty!") but also purchased us some fabulous macaroons from her bakery (which unfortunately are not being shared with our offspring- sorry Caroline, we just can't do it, they are too good...the macaroons I mean). I am thankful for Aunt Terry who greeted us with great food, wine, and conversation. I am thankful for Uncle Steve who invited the hubs to Bud's basement bar two days in a row, so 1) I could get some good girls gossip in with the ladies and 2) could 'sneak' out the second night for a slice of Pitts nightlife. I am not so thankful for our drive back (7.5 hours, including same 2 stops) but am thankful for the peace in the back two car seats (relative peace anyway) considering the circumstances.

So a brief recap of our Thanksgiving weekend extravaganza:

• We spent Thanksgiving Day at a friend of a friend. They lived in a beautiful historic home in Mount Vernon and had a 4 year old that the girls had a great time 'chillin' with
• We left for Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon to spend some time with Dave's fam. The girls didn't miss a beat from the last time we were there in September, they made themselves right at home!
• Terry brought all 4 of us to the Science Center where we hung out and played, fixed stuff at the space station, played with robots, and looked at a mini-Pittsburgh with working trains, and rivers, and boats, and houses who's lights came on when it got 'dark' every 10 minutes or so to simulate evening- it was very impressive and I wanted to go in and 'play' with it as much as my kids
• I was able to hang out with my neighbor in Charm City who is from Pittsburgh and was back for Thanksgiving. We went a few different places in South Side, the first equipping me with a variety of toys including a glowing fish, plastic dinosaurs, and a candy necklace (and no, it was not a rave)
• We had a great french toast breakfast on Sunday and hit the road (after several hours of 'pretending we are going to leave')
• We actually did leave finally and got stuck in massive turnpike traffic, but hey it gave us time to digest our weekend, along with lots of random road snacks

Watching the robot

A view of the train exhibit

So now we are back. I am extending my weekend as long as I can; tomorrow begins a long two weeks for me before our next journey to the land of saints and minny apples.

PS. As for the Pittsboogers, we tried to 'amp' up the weekend a bit prior to departure so we talked about going to Pittsburgh etc... so of course when they heard that term they turned it into a new thing, they are 3, need I say more?

The Big Minnesota Trip

Dave and I at the Stillwater wedding

So it has become a bi-annual thing, our trek to to the Big Minny. Sometimes we fly, and sometimes we drive. This time we drove. We were gone for a little over 3 weeks and we packed it in (not only in the car, but the activities as well)!

We left on a Thursday afternoon and decided to push it all the way to Columbus, OH the first day. Which meant we arrived at our hotel around midnight. We stayed at the Hawthorne Suites in East Columbus due to the full kitchen and (more importantly) that my credit card points paid for it. Despite the hour of our arrival, we walked into our room and noticed there was a wood-burning fireplace so of course we had to have a fire. The hotel was a little on the old side and my attempt to bring our complimentary hot breakfast to our room was squashed. Apparently there are a lot of folks who live in the hotel who leave dirty plates in their rooms so that's why I couldn't bring our food back (despite the fact that all the rooms had full kitchens, so if people were going to dirty dishes, they could still easily do it!). I had filled up a large plate and the staff person made me throw it all away, what a waste.
That was our first experience  in East Columbus. I am not sure why we thought it was a good idea to stay in that part of town again, but we did on the way back. The hotel reeked and when we were unloading our car we actually had a man hide behind our family so some guy that was chasing him couldn't 'get' him. Never again to East Columbus.

We made it to MN relatively unscathed and the first thing on the itinerary was to hit the road again to go to the cabin!! Five hours is nothing after 3 days of driving! Becky and the kids, and my mom all went up for the week and then Dave, Bob, and Paul came the following weekend. We all had a blast, ate well, and had perfect weather 70s and 80s the entire time. We picked raspberries, played a ton outside, ate fresh fish, and even dipped in the lake a couple times (definitely not too many times a year one can do that)!

Chilling by the lake with Grandpa

Cascade Falls

Cousins Stella, Luna, Nico, Lucy: after a long afternoon of running up and down the driveway, quite the workout!

We stayed with Becky and Noe for the remainder of our visit. We hit the Como pool, Dave and I actually got a couple nights out due to a friends wedding in Stillwater, and we were able to celebrate Luna's birthday, pinatas and all!

The Frausto birthday tradition; I wonder how many years will she still be smiling after her parents smoosh her face in her bday cake??

 My parents still got it!

Finally, we were able to make it to the state fair, on the very last day, but we still made it! The kids "worked" on the farm, we ate cheese curds and sweet corn covered corndogs; we had fried sunnies with lingonberry sauce and scotch eggs; we had pulled turkey sandwiches and huge dill pickles. And we bought the big bucket of Sweet Marthas chocolate chip cookies, yum.

 Working with the girls on the farm, Luna eating a scotch egg, and the only thing left to do for Stella was chillax for a couple hours in the wagon!

Ocean City, MD

We were able to stay with our friends Tiff & Ryan's parents' beach house in Ocean City, MD in mid July. We hit the pool, the beach, consumed a ginormous pizza and devoured some fresh crabs during our stay. The girls weren't so sure about the salty paradise when we first arrived, but it only took their second dip in the ocean to become hooked. There were a couple 8 year old boys staying with us as well and it was pretty neat how they all actually had fun playing together, what are the chances?? Was it because there was no one else around? Maybe, but still pretty cool.

Lucy and Mom chillaxing on the beach; Stella on duty

  

The boys and girls on the kitchen floor of the beach house playing cars; the troupe in a beach hole; and the massive zah

Charleston

I am a little late to post on our trip to Charleston, SC in May, but a few other things took priority:)

We hopped in the car Wednesday May 22 for our trek to South Carolina for the first time. Our midpoint on the way down there was Huntersville, NC, which was a bit out of our way, but worth the extra time since we got to see some family, Karl & Merna Hesse! We arrived at their farm around 6 and were able to chat for a bit and then take a ride with the girls on the golf cart to see the goats and horses. Then we meandered over to the chicken coop and the girls got to collect some eggs for breakfast in the morning. We ended up cracking two of them (as the girls were 'tossing' them in the bucket); we learned that the chickens will actually eat the eggs- if they are cracked.
After a great dinner and discussion about the history of the greenback and the general concept of money, we hit the hay to prep for our drive the following day. Full of oatmeal, berries, and eggs- we continued our trek to the next Carolina in our journey.

*

*Karl and Lucy after dinner; Merna and the girls the morning we left checking out the Hesse library.*

We chose South Carolina so we could visit our friend Brian, who has a beautiful daughter the same

age as our girls. We knew Brian when he lived in Baltimore and haven't seen him in quite some time (too long)! He graciously let us stay in his home for our 4-day stay. We were able to go to Folly Beach twice and checked out Charleston proper a couple times as well. Every night of our stay we had the bonfire going out back with good brew and good conversation. Of course, the best part of the visit was being able to see an old friend and watch our kids play. It's an entirely different dynamic in your friendship when you can see your own offspring interact with an old friend's offspring. There are unspoken truths that we both can understand now as well.

Sitting outside of Magnolia's restaurant on Memorial Day

Some of the places that we experienced, that I want to remember for next time!

• Folly Beach 
• Farmers Market in Charleston
• Heart Woodfire Kitchen
• Piggly Wiggly: the only one around where you can get growlers from about 100 draft beers on site!
• Black Bean Co. restaurant (feel good food, but in the not-fried and fatty way)
• Magnolias restaurant (feel good food, but in the fried and southern way)... I am sure there were healthier options but we got the seafood and cheesy grits and a fried green tomato BLT... yum