August 2010

August was a wild ride for us! The end of summer always seems pretty crazy. The kids wanted to spend every waking moment possible at Six Flags. While that is great in theory I had to limit them to 2 to 3 days a week! (I couldn’t handle more than that!) The first part of the month Jeramis was gone for some training so the kids and I kept busy. My friend, Tami, came into town to visit her family and we arranged a time to visit. A little back-story for those of you who are more recent readers – I’ve known Tami since back in the day! We’ve been friends all these years. She moved out of my hometown back in high school when her family relocated. On our honeymoon Jeramis and I stopped in at her home to visit. We’ve kept in touch with emails and letters but there is nothing quite like catching up face-to-face. To me it is a testament of a true friendship when you can pick up right where you left off. It’s just awesome. So, anyhow, Tami and her dad met the kids and me BK. We figured that would give the kids somewhere to run while we chatted. It was a really enjoyable visit and my only regret is that we didn’t have tons of time. Anything is better than nothing though! 

Jeramis came home shortly after and we were really happy to have him back for a few days before he had to head out again for more training.  While he was home we did some family stuff… you know, hanging out, playing, being goofy. The good stuff!  

Jeramis picked Jaz up a drum pad. It has become a favorite toy for him. If he wants you to join him he will grab you by the hand and pull you over to the pad, then pull down on your hand so that you sit.  It’s pretty funny because it is a very direct approach to getting you where he wants you.  Jaz has also become a hug-you-tight boy. If he wants you, he reaches for you and holds on fierce.  He has really been into Jordan lately. He wants him to play with him, wants him to hold him, wants him to feed him, sit with him on the couch, watch his movie… you name it.  It’s cute.  The kids started school this month as well. Jordan is now a big old 6^th grader! I can’t believe he’s in middle school already. He was a bit nervous about the new school. We had a special tour set up before the school year started to help him get oriented and to help relieve some of the stress involved in going to a new place. He met his counselor too. It seemed to help him gear up better and his attitude about school started changed quite a bit.  For 6^th graders here they have the kids go to school for 3 hours the day before school starts so that they can get familiar with the school before the 7^th and 8^th graders are there as well.  It was a good opportunity for Jordan. Jade was very excited to go into 2^nd grade. She’s been looking forward to school all summer. I’m glad she likes school so much.  On Jade’s first day of school I took pictures of her out, waiting for the bus, and then went up to the school and took pictures of her coming off the bus. I guess I’m a little crazy when it comes to photos but I know eventually she won’t want me taking them so I’m going to get as many as I can now!

Jasper missed both the kids but he took a GREAT nap! I guess not having all the noises and stomping up and down the stairs really makes a difference.  

We cut Jasper’s hair for the first time. I have loved his cute little curls but he started to have to tip his head back in order to see where he was going! I finally caved and the official ‘cut’ happened on the 31^st.  We did a few snips in the living room and then I put him in the tub to finish the cut. He didn’t want to hold still and was a little afraid of the scissors. Being in the bath he was distracted enough that I was able to trim it up pretty well (and keep some curls still too!) 

Overall August was a fantastic month.  Six Flags was the highlight for the kids. By the middle of the month Jordan had officially ridden every ride, coaster and water, in the park. Jade’s favorite ride in the park is the Roar with The Wild One coming in as a close 2^nd.  She is proud to have overcome her fear of several of the roller coasters and rides that made her cry in the past.  I was so proud of both kids for getting on new rides and old ‘scary” rides too. Now that they know they like them it has been fun to do all the rides in the park.  I was able to ride quite a few rides because our babysitter, Wil, ended up buying a season pass in July and he would come with us to the park. Between him and Lacey we would all switch off watching the kids so that the ‘big kids’ could slip away to ride the other rides too. It was nice. My favorite ride in the park is Batwing.  Jasper loves Thomas Town. There are quite a few rides in there that he can go on and I enjoy letting him have fun running in the water area as well.  It’s been a really good season for all of us.  This has been a memorable summer. While I’m sad to see it go, I won’t miss the heat! It’s been really bad this year – record breaking bad! I’m so grateful we had a place to go to cool off. So, I guess that is our little update for August. I'll have to post the first day of school photos later.

Come back soon, September’s update is just around the corner! I can’t believe I’m almost caught up FINALLY!!!

July 2010

Jaz with his li'l pool

I've been having issues with getting my pictures to sit where I want them in the blog so if I couldn't get them where I wanted them they are at the end of the post... so be sure to scroll down! 

July was a busy month. Summer was in full swing. We enjoyed the Fireworks for the Independence Day celebrations that go on around here. The weather was lovely and it was a lot of fun to be together.  We went to a BBQ on the 4^th and we had a wonderful time hanging out.  It was a great way to start the month.  

Jaz and his curls

The temps were hot enough that we decided to get a small pool for Jasper to cool off in whenever we weren’t out at the water park.  He enjoyed it a lot.  The kids and I spent 2 to 3 days a week at Six Flags every week this month. I have another friend that gets season passes as well. They have 3 kids that are very close in age to ours and so it is really nice to meet at the park and hang out.  We decided this year to switch off so that she and I could both ride some of the ‘bigger’ rides. It’s been really nice. I have been slowly trying to encourage the kids to try out new rides instead of being scared of them.  It has taken 2 full seasons of coaxing but this year, dragging him by his arm, I was able to pull Jordan up onto the Mind Eraser. (An upside-down, loop-d-loop coaster.) He was scared, very scared, but after riding it he realized he LIKES roller coasters and the ripple effect has been great. His goal by the end of the season is to have ridden each roller coaster in the park at least once.  Jade is still afraid to try new rides but she has slowly opened up to the idea. By the end of the month we were able to get her on three new rides and 1 roller coaster.  

Jaz in his bucket

Jasper’s hair has become very curly and long. Jeramis wants me to cut it but I just LOVE his curls so very much I can’t quite bring myself to do it yet!  Jaz is also very funny. He’s discovered that he can fit inside a bucket that we use to hold his Lego blocks.  He dumps everything out of the bucket and climbs inside. He plays in it and will drag it around the room so that it ‘sits’ by other people.  Later in the month he discovered that he could get Jeramis to carry him around in it. This produced giggles and laughter and some great photo ops! He also has figured out how to open pretty much any drawer or cupboard in the house. I have had to watch all my Tupperware and bowls become ‘toys.’ To help stop the excess washing I decided to give Jaz a few of the things I didn’t use much. He loves this colander and tries to sit in it. He puts it on his head sometimes too.  Jasper also likes to play drums on Rockband. He doesn’t really “play” with the songs but he likes to bang on the drum pads. The first thing he makes a beeline for when he comes to our room is the drumsticks.  

The Capitol Building

This month we had a nice visit from “Aunt” Julie. It was great to have her here. The kids loved showing her all their favorite things. I had to fight for time with her! It was so nice to visit and catch up. We took her into DC one day and we all went up to the top of the Old Post Office. For those of you that have never been to DC or those who haven’t explored a lot, the Old Post Office offers and AMAZING view of the city. It is really cool to be able to see so many of the buildings and landmarks from up in the tower. It also has a nice little food court and some shops. It’s easy to get to and from the building and other downtown sites too so you can do it as a part of your day trip. We liked taking pictures from the tower.  We also took Julie down to the beach to hunt for shark teeth, fossils and pirate beads.  The kids played in the water and found some fish to “save.” Great fun! 

Jeramis celebrated his birthday this month. We made him a German Chocolate cake. We loved being able to celebrate as a family. 

Jeramis on his birthday

Jasper is really into music right now. He likes to bang on the piano whenever he can. We dug out an old mini-keyboard that we let the other kids use when they were younger. He has enjoyed making the demo songs run along with plunking out sounds on the keys.  

So overall July was a lot of fun. I didn’t take many photographs since we were (more often than not) at Six Flags.  We spent as much time as we could together this month, making great memories and enjoying the summer. 

Jade at the Old P.O.

Jaz playing Rockband Drums

The kids at the Old P.O.

Jaz in his bucket watching TV

Jaz-carried in his bucket

Jaz playing his keyboard

Niagara Falls, Canada - June 2010 -LOTS OF PICTURES

LOTS of PHOTOS in this post! 

We planned our trip to Niagara relatively last minute.  Mid-June Jeramis came home from work and said that he thought we should do a family trip before his work related stuff started picking up and his options to take time away became less available. He had a few ideas already in mind. The top of his list was Niagara Falls.  With a little research he found a great hotel / sites package and we booked it for the last few days of June and the first of July.  Since we live by DC we figured we would drive up through Pennsylvania, into New York and then Canada.  Looking at the route options we figured we could afford to stop in at Gettysburg, PA on our way to the hotel we picked out in New York. We stayed in Corning, NY that night and then drove to Niagara Falls the next morning.  It was nice to break the drive up and see some things on the way.  Here's a break down of our adventure.

DAY 1-  We headed out around 8 a.m. and drove to Gettysburg, PA.  We stopped at the Gettysburg National Military Park and Museum and walked around. In the gift shop we purchased an Audio CD Guide of the battlefields and sites around the town. Using that we drove around to the various sites and listened as the CD explained what happened there and what the memorials standing represented. It was useful and informative. It's hard to imagine all the destruction and death that occurred there since the locations are now fields and homes. Thinking of the ground, dyed red from blood, while looking at it flourishing with crops is such a strange thing. After seeing the sites we hopped back on the freeway and up to Corning, NY.  We checked into our hotel and relaxed for the evening.

DAY 2- We checked out of the hotel and headed over to the Corning Glass Museum. I really enjoyed the museum. There was a ton of modern glass artwork as well as a huge collection of glass art and creations dating back through history.  It was cool to walk around and see how things have changed and how some things have remained the same.  The kids enjoyed the painted glass, blown glass and the diversity in the texture and concepts in the art.  I could have spent hours in the museum portion but with the little ones in tow we took the museum at a brisk pace.  We watched a glass blowing demonstration and then went into the 'exploration' section where the kids were able to do some hands on exploring.  There were several little demonstrations going on there as well and we were able to listen in.  After enjoying the museum it was time for some lunch and then we hit the road to head into Canada and on to Niagara Falls.  Crossing the border was pretty smooth for us. We had about a 20 minute wait. With the new border control measures we had to have our passports with us but the kids are still young enough that we only needed their birth certificates.  After giving our information, we headed in.  The drive from the border to Niagara Falls was quick and easy.  

We found the hotel and pulled in to unload. That is where we found out that you had to pay to park - $30 for on-site Valet, $20 for off-site Valet.  Thinking that we’d drive around ourselves a lot we decided to do the on-site Valet.  Turns out that was a waste of the extra $10/day.  So note to any of you that might decide to go there. Go for the off-site Valet. 2 reasons: 1^st the Valet still has to get the car for you, either way. 2^nd You pretty much can walk anywhere or use the hotel shuttles/attraction shuttles.  We didn’t use the car once while we were there.  Once you make the selection they bill it to the room so you can’t go and change it down the road. So, lesson learned! We unloaded the van and headed up to our Suite. Man-o-man! Jeramis did great! We had a gorgeous view of both the Horseshoe and American Falls; just gorgeous.  The room had a ‘living’ room area where the kids took up residence and then a separate room with our bed, a little sitting area with a fireplace and chairs and wall-to-wall windows.  The bathroom had a huge whirlpool tub – more like a personal spa – and a separate shower/bathroom.  We were excited and ready to get moving.  After enjoying a peak out the window we headed out to dinner.  We had to rush a little because we had tickets that night to a magic show.  After dinner we boarded the attractions bus and headed over to the “Las Vegas Magic Show.” The Magician, Greg Frewin, was actually pretty good. The kids loved the show and at the end we got in a cage to have our photo taken with a tiger… great fun!  After the show we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. Before falling into slumber we had to look out our window a little longer to enjoy the Falls “nightly light show.” They have lights of different hues shining on the falls. It’s really lovely to see and we all ‘oo’d and ahh’d over it.

Day 3- We spent this day walking around the ‘tourist trap’ of the ‘downtown’ area of Niagara Falls. We hit a 4-D movie (under the sea style), compliments of the hotel, and shopped a little. We also enjoyed checking out the different shops. They had a Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum among the shops. The kids were afraid of the statues in front.  Some of the other buildings had odd facades. Jeramis watched Jaz and I took the big kids up in the Sky Wheel. (At Jade’s request.) It was rather amusing because she REALLY wanted to ride it but once it started going she wanted off because she was afraid we would fall out!  It took several rotations before she stopped freaking out with every little swish of our cart.  The view on the wheel was pretty nice.  We also hit up Dave and Buster’s while we were there. (Another compliment of the hotel – some game credits.)  We enjoyed a stop into the Rain Forest Café and The Hard Rock Café, as well.  It was a really nice day and we had a good time spending it together.  Back at the hotel we swam for a little in the pool and hot tub and then came back and relaxed in the room.

Day 4- On this day we hit the “Maid of the Mist” first thing in the morning.  If there is one thing you do when you go to Niagara Falls, the “Maid of the Mist” is a must. We all enjoyed it, even Jaz! We also all got soaked! So if you don’t like to walk around wet be sure to go on a hot day or plan to go back to the hotel to change.  It was warm enough for us that by the time we were up the hill and on our way back to the downtown area we were dry.  It was a beautiful site seeing both the American and Horseshoe Falls up close. The force of the Falls is amazing to experience and it was SO FUN to watch the kids get excited about all the ‘mist’ (feels more like rain) pouring down.  After we finished our ride on the Maid we decided to walk around downtown again and pick up souvenirs.  We ended up catching a sidewalk show called “Galaxy Girl.” It was a bit odd and (in my opinion lame) but the kids, especially Jade, liked it.  The girl climbed a huge tower and did acrobatic stunts from it, without safety harnesses. The “danger” factor was what made it so “cool” but over all there was too much talking and not enough action, in my opinion! After we watched that we finished up downtown and the caught the bus back to the hotel.  Later that afternoon we caught the shuttle down to the Falls and we walked around and snapped photos.  The weather was so nice and I just loved all the rainbows cast about! The kids had more fun “playing” games on the grass and benches.  That night we enjoyed our last evening of vacation.

Day 5- LONG DAY! We left Niagara Falls early and started our trek back.  Originally we were going to take 2 days to head home but we decided, last minute, to just drive it straight through.  Leaving Canada we passed JELLYSTONE! Really. I could have killed myself for not knowing about it before our trip, as I would have loved to stop and take the kids – at least for a picture next to Yogi!  (For those of you old enough to remember Yogi Bear and his crew! I was absolutely laughing that there is such a place and I wish I could have exposed the children to it before the new movie comes out!) As we neared the border we realized the mistake we’d made. We left on a Canadian holiday so the border was a mess.  To help the kids we decided to stop at the Duty-free shop at the border to stretch our legs and use the bathroom.  At this location we realized that we could have purchased a lot of our souvenirs here for less.  We got back on the road and were able to cut in front of a lot of the traffic that had originally been in front of us. By using the duty free exit and entrance back to the road we ended up further up and didn’t have to play the stop and go game as long.  The rest of the day was one long drive home.  We got in around 9 p.m.  The nice aspects of just driving through were that we didn’t have to pay for another night at a hotel and we had a full day (the next day) to recoup. 

Overall I must say that our visit to Niagara was really great.  There were some things we didn’t get to, which is fine, but we were able to see the main stuff and enjoy being together.  I really enjoyed having a chance to work with my new camera some and experience the beauty of Niagara Falls. 

My tips for anyone that decides to go:

1- Don’t pay for the on-site valet. The off-site is easy enough and anywhere you drive you have to pay to park so it’s easier and cheaper to either walk or use the shuttles.

2- Bring/Buy a waterproof camera for Maid Of the Mist

3- Buy your gifts and souvenirs at the Duty-Free shop.

4- Don’t forget your passports or birth certificates if the kids are under 16

5- Stay on the Canadian side. The American hotels just don’t have the views! Trust me!

6- Take a walk along the sidewalk by the Falls during the late afternoon /early evening. In the morning the sun is in your eyes and you don’t get all the rainbows but by late afternoon /early evening they are brilliant.

7- Talk a walk during the night so you can enjoy the falls ‘lit up’ with color. 

8- Read up on some of the history of the Falls as it adds to your enjoyment. We learned about the ship that was intentionally run aground so that the men on it weren’t swept over the falls.

9- If you have time, drive up to where the ships go through the canal (the locks) (We didn’t get to do this but I’ve been told it’s pretty cool to see!)

10- Look for package deals for the attractions, as you will save money that way.  Also if you book your hotel make sure they offer a shuttle pass so you don’t have to pay. That saved us quite a bit of money.

11- You can walk pretty much anywhere. We rode the shuttle often but we also walked from our hotel to downtown and it only took us about 15 minutes. 

12- Bring a sweater. Even though it had been warm we found that we used our sweaters, especially in the evenings. During 2 of our 4 days we wore the sweaters almost the entire day because the high temps weren’t above 70 and with the breeze from the falls it was chilly.

13- If you are traveling with an infant/toddler that needs whole milk or other refrigerated items, bring a large ice chest and plan to fill it with ice throughout your stay.  The fridges in the room are really small and there is no freezer space at all.  Also, bring a small stroller because there isn’t always a lot of space for the larger ones on the shuttles. We have the Joovy Cooper, which folds down like an umbrella stroller, and it was really nice to be able to stow it easily.

14- Bring a backpack for toting around snacks, drinks, sweaters and souvenirs.

15- If you have the time, check out Corning, NY’s glass museum; it was worth the stop!

More to come soon on the blog-front. July and August updates are in the works. So come back soon! Maybe I'll actually keep on top of this for a change!