9 states, 950 miles, and a Spring Break Adventure

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a chicken and a scaredy cat. When I was a teenager, I still wanted my mom to go with me to the checkout counter when I purchased something at a store. Still, as an adult, when I'm going to go run errands, I always feel better when someone goes with me, even if that somoene is 4 years old.

So, when I came up with a plan to travel alone, without R, to take the kids to visit my cousin for spring break, I almost didn't go through with it. You see, I hadn't seen this cousin in 25 years. I was going to have to drive 950 miles by myself and I was going to have to stay in a hotel by myself. But, growing up is good for us and at 38 years of age, I am still growing up. So, I suppressed my anxiety, listened to my husband's encouraging words, and went. And I am so glad I did. We had a wonderful trip.

Armed with many hours of books on CD from the library, we began our adventure. Our drive took us through New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, a small few miles into and then out of Georgia, our destination in Tennessee, and a day trip into Alabama.

We had a great time with my cousin and her family. Her boys, and B and C are just a year apart in age and they hit it off great.
My cousin and I got to talk and talk and talk... her husband was so kind for letting me monopolize her time. I also go to visit with my Aunt and Uncle and really get to know my Aunt. She is wonderful. I wish we lived closer.

The kids enjoyed all of the animals, especially Corinne, who enjoyed helping my cousin's one son with caring for all of the animals. (3 dogs, 2 cats, gerbils, a rabbit, and one of their 3 horses.) One of my cousin's son's took us on a riding tour of my Aunt and Uncle's property.

We took a day trip to Alabama to visit the Rocket Center in Huntsville, and go bowling. We got to see lots of rockets, planes, and other space related items.
The kids got to sit in some simulators,
and B and C got to try rock climbing.

We also spent a day in Chattanooga where we visited the Aquarium,
road the Incline Railroad to the top of Look Out Mountain (it reaches a 75 degree incline so the train is built "crooked" or we'd have been falling off of our seats at that point),
and visited Point Park on the top of the Mountain (the site of a civil war battle).

One evening my Aunt and Uncle hosted a family dinner.
My other cousin and his wife and daughters came over too so the whole group was there.
My Uncle played the piano, we sang and danced, and had a great time.

It was hard to say goodbye when we had to leave. It had been such a wonderful trip.

On the way home, we discovered the Army Heritage Center in Carlisle, PA. We had fun seeing all of the outdoor exhibits and stretching our legs.

California

I'm a little slow in getting this posted but life has been busy. (When is it not?) Anyway, since we're leaving on a spring break trip in two days, I thought I should try and get my last trip blogged about before I was two trips behind.

My brother, W, got married in February, and since we really wanted to be there and California is a long way from New York and plane tickets are expensive, we decided if we were going to go, we would turn it into a family vacation, so that is what we did. The kids got their Disneyland Tickets for Christmas and on February 9th we headed out. Originally we weren't going to leave until the 10th but we had to change our plans at the last minute so that we didn't get caught in the huge snowstorm that arrived here on the 10th.


We spent three whole days in Disneyland and California Adventure and had a wonderful time. Wednesday and Thursday the park was not very busy so we rarely had to wait more than 5 minutes to ride a ride and many times we just walked right on.


Some of our favorite memories are....

P getting to meet some princesses.



P laughing her head off on her first roller coaster ride (The Go Coaster in Tune Town) and literally jumping and bouncing when she got off of the ride saying "I want to do that again." We road it three times in a row ( and again on other days.)

B and C loved Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and P was a trooper because she didn't really like it at first but she kept riding it anyway. We road it 7 times over the three days. The highlight was when we got to ride it on it's last ride of the night before the park closed on Thursday. It was dark outside, and with our eyes being adjusted to the dark, we could see inside the tunnels better and see things that we couldn't really see during the day.

R and C road California Screamin and loved it. P wasn't tall enough to ride and B and I didn't want to go upside down, but we had fun watching them ride it.

We all tried to be brave when P wanted to ride the big tall Ferris Wheel. R and I don't really like them but since P wanted to ride it, we all went. We all decided that Ferris Wheels were not our thing so, after arriving safely back on the ground, we chose not to ride that ride a second time.

Autopia was also great fun. I loved driving here when I was a kid so after riding with B one time, the next time I drove. It wasn't that exciting to drive as an adult because, as an experienced driver, you accelerate and decelerate slowly and you steer smooth enough that you don't bump the rail. That takes all of the fun out of the ride. It was much more fun to ride while B or C drove. Their quick accelerating and decelerating and over steering made for an unpredictable and exciting ride so I always rode with one of them after that.

We enjoyed getting to see lots of characters, especially lots of our Pixar favorites while we were in California Adventure.


One of R's favorites were Andy's plastic Toy Soldiers from the Toy Story movie. They were driving around singing a marching cadence.
After three fun days in Disneyland, we got to spend Saturday with family at all of the wedding festivities. I was so busy having a good time that I didn't take very many pictures. I don't even have a good picture of my brother W and his wife C. If you want to see good pictures, you will have to check out Mom's blog.

The reception was tons of fun with some singing
lots of dancing,



Also, yummy food, and a photo booth, complete with dress up accessories. For fun, my sister L and I, dressed up our two brothers. We used to do it all of the time when we were kids.

After the reception we headed off to the beach so we could spend some extra time with my cousin and her husband, and the rest of family that was there.

Between Disneyland and the wedding and reception we have a ton of great memories. It was a wonderful trip.

Our Turn for the Snow

I promise that pictures and a post of our California trip are still coming as soon as I get the rest of the pictures I am waiting on. In the meantime, I thought I'd give a little update on what's been happening since we got back...... Snow!!!!!

We missed the first big storm when we were in California. When we got back, school was delayed one day because of snow and ice. And then this last week the kids had school Monday, a delay on Tuesday and no school for the rest of the week.

Thank goodness we live in an area where our Wednesday and Thursday precipitation fell as a mix of rain, snow and sleet. We shoveled about 3 inches of the sloppy stuff but it would have been a lot of snow if it had fallen as snow. Thursday night into Friday it turned to snow and the wind started blowing and it got bad. Here are pictures from Friday morning when we went out to shovel. All of this fell overnight. Before we went to bed there were patches of grass showing in the lawn and the streets were sloppy and wet but basically bare. Now everything is buried.


It is hard to tell from the pictures but we got around 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow. And the piles that I had to shovel from where the snow fell off of the roof were torture. There were 2 to 3 feet deep and compacted. The good news... it sure is beautiful outside now. We're supposed to get snow flurries the rest of the weekend but hopefully not much accumulation.


B started building an igloo with the snow that was here when we got back from California. It doesn't look very big because of all of the snow that is now piled up around it, but he can get inside of it very comfortably.

Happy Birthday C

Nine things about C. (Since she turned 9 on Saturday.)

1. She is enthusiastic about life.
2. She is almost always happy.
3. She makes people smile.
4. She is talented artistically.
5. She is nurturing.
6. She is self-confident.
7. She does well in school.
8. She excels in her Jazz dance class.
9. She is helpful.


C was thrilled to receive new clothes and money for her birthday, but was most excited about receiving a digital camera. She was also surprised to find out that Dad was sneaky and managed to pick up her favorite cake (The Devils Food Cheesecake from Juniors in NYC) when he was in the city for work early in the week. So, getting the one thing she REALLY REALLY wanted, and being surprised with her favorite cake made it a wonderful birthday.

A Brother's Love...and protection

A little background to the following story:

Our church congregation is half families and half college students, about 99 percent of them being male. Every year a few of the students become close to our family and our kids. This year we have about 4 that come over on a regular basis for dinners on Sunday. Two of the guys in particular, (G and T) love teasing our girls.

Before church started this morning, P and C were sitting with G and some of the other students. G leaned over to P and said, "Watch out because T's going to try and steal your seat. Don't let him have it."

A couple of seconds later T came walking up and since all of the seats in the row were basically filled, and because he loves to give P a bad time, he said, "P, are you going to let me have your seat?"

P's response was a firm and confident "no!"

So T said, "Well, my Dragon is bigger than your dragon." (That's another funny story for another time.)

Anyway, P responded with her little 4 year old attitude and confidence, "Well my brother is B and he is 12 years old."

She was not going to be intimidated by some tall 25 year old guy and she let him know it. If he tried to mess with her, he'd have to watch our for her big brother. The fact that B is only half of T's size didn't matter in her mind. Her big brother would protect her.

2009 In Review

My original intention was to do our 2009 Christmas letter on our blog. Christmas was almost a month ago and I am just now getting this done so I guess I'll call it a New Year's letter. Since I started this blog back in March of 2009, you can find pictures and descriptions of the fun things that happened in our family this year by just looking through our blog. Here are some of the highlights.
R - Still in the Branch Presidency and staying busy with work. Skied in Utah with his Dad. Played at the opening day of the new Yankee Stadium (see picture above.) Attended Scout Camp with B. Marched in the NYC Veteran's Day Parade.

Me - Young Women's President. Did "Mom" stuff all year...cook, clean, shop, homework help, etc. Planted a traditional garden for the first time (in addition to my container and square foot gardens in my back yard.) Beatles got the best of it but next year I'll be prepared for them. (P took the above picture of me.)

B - 7th grader. Ordained a Deacon in the spring. Took a father/son trip to Palmyra. Attended Scout camp. Achieved 2nd Class in Scouts. Snorkeled in California. Ran Cross Country in the fall. Plays percussion in the middle school band.

C- Social and artistic 3rd grader. Won a local art competition. Turned 8 and was baptized last February. Earned her orange belt in TaeKwonDo. Played in the ocean in California. Started Jazz dance this fall.

P - Danced in her first dance recital. Started Pre-K this fall. Loves to go to the library and also loves to help me cook.

We traveled to Utah and got to see all of R's family. The kids and I took a day trip to Philadelphia with some friends. B and C got to fly by themselves to California to go camping with cousins. We took a family trip to Boston in the Fall and spent our Christmas vacation in S.C. with R's parents.

As I've thought back on all that we've experienced and enjoyed this last year and how my children are growing up, I feel so blessed. We truly have a wonderful life and I know that we are blessed by our Heavenly Father, who loves us very much. Now we look forward to 2010 and all that it will bring.

Wishing you a VERY late Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and a very blessed 2010.

Christmas Vacation 2009

We spent our vacation with R's parents in S.C. It was a wonderful trip. We drove down, stopping to spend a day with friends in N.C. on our way.

Besides just getting to enjoy warmer weather and spend time with family, we also got to do some fun things. We took the back roads on our drive from N.C. to R's parents house. Driving through one of the small towns, Cheraw, S.C., we discovered the birthplace of Dizzy Gillespie. It was a fun little diversion. We stopped to see his statue in the little downtown area and drove to the little park that was once his home site.

After spending a day relaxing at R's parents, we all jumped in the car and headed to Myrtle Beach. The purpose of our trip...an appointment at a glass blower's shop where the kids and Br got to blow their own Christmas ball. It was a ton of fun. We learned a lot as well as had a great time and came home with beautiful ornaments. And the kids had fun swimming in the indoor pool at the condo. It was way too cold to swim at the beach.




Christmas day was nice and relaxing. Everyone had fun opening presents. The one that caused the most curiosity was the big box that was addressed to all 3 kids. B kept insisting that it was probably some joke. They unwrapped the large box and found 3 smaller boxes inside, one addressed to each of them. Inside their boxes were coupons for Disneyland tickets to be used when we travel to Los Angeles, in February, to attend the wedding of one of Br's brothers.


Monday after Christmas, R and Br got away for a day and drove up to Asheville, N.C. We toured the Biltmore Mansion. Br had been there last year with R's mom but was more than happy to go again so that R could see it. It is such an amazing place to get to see and it is decorated so beautifully at Christmas time.