End of Summer and The First Day of School 2018

This summer, the summer of 2018, has to have been the fastest summer I have ever experienced.  It flew by so quickly, likely because we packed it full of so much fun.  The last Sunday before school was no exception.  We had breakfast with my mother-in-law in the morning, then after a little fun at home we headed to my parents' house for lunch and swimming.  

The kids were determined to make a slide into the pool as we've done in previous years, and my dad came through with some modifications to make it stay put.

Every year on the Sunday before school starts, I take the kids to school and practice our drop off.  It helps all of us mentally prepare for the first day, and this year it had an added bonus of strategically preparing us for the first day.  In our school district, fifth grade is a move up to the middle school building, so for the first time the kids will be attending different schools.  Baylor had the brilliant idea to have Bryson come with us so we could simulate the drive to school without Mollie, which he probably thought was more for him but really worked out to be a great preparation for both of us.  Mollie wasn't sure where her line was going to be for the morning, so after we practiced dropping her off, Baylor showed her where it would probably be.  They are so good to each other!

We then practiced dropping Baylor off, with Mollie and Bryson following behind in Bryson's car, and that is when things started to sink in a bit for me.  Which is why there aren't any pictures of our time at his school practicing, even though we stayed there for a bit longer to let the kids try out the playground.  I just needed to hold it together, so pictures fell by the wayside.  Our evening went well enough, all of us feeling a little more prepared for the next day than before, and the kids went to bed without too much worry.

Then Mother Nature hit ... a couple big thunderstorms rolled through, waking up the kids, dropping sticks and leaves all over the house, and eventually knocking out the power to a few of the schools in our district.  So, at 5:50 a.m. on Monday morning, we found out the first day of school had been cancelled.  The kids and I were upset; we had gotten all prepared, and they had actually gotten excited about the first day!  After a morning full of meltdowns and indecision, we ended up going to my parents' house for lunch and a swim; it really helped us take our minds off the huge change in plans and got out some energy.  An afternoon appointment, dinner, and showers followed, and then it was time for another night before the first day of school.  Oh, and to make things even more interesting, it was our 13th wedding anniversary.  Needless to say I experienced a full gamut of emotions last night.

Then all of a sudden it was the morning of the first day of school.  The kids got ready so quickly, and we had plenty of time for pictures!  Baylor picked his favorite t-shirt to wear on the first day.  (Seriously, it's his favorite.  He wore it on the last day of third grade, picture day in fourth grade, the last day of fourth grade, and a million times in between.)

Mollie picked one of her current favorite dresses and had me put a small braid on one side of her hair.

We dropped off Mollie first, and all our practicing was for naught ... she had to run straight in the front door because of all the rain.  Luckily, she's amazing and took it all in stride.

Then Baylor and I made our way over to the middle school.  At first he commented on how he missed Mollie, but I redirected him to the book he had been reading and we talked about The Odyssey and how it compares to Percy Jackson the rest of the way.  Once we got there, we figured out that we could either park or just do a drop off, and he opted for parking and me walking him to the door.  The principal greeted us and gave me a reassuring nod and smile after Baylor went inside.

Then I got in my car and started crying.  It's a first day of school tradition that I apparently cannot go without.  I cry partly because I miss them during the day when they aren't here and partly because I worry about how their day will go, if kids will be nice to them, if they'll get along with their teachers, etc.  It's hard to let go and entrust their care to someone else, but I know it is good for all of us.  And now I get to look forward to hearing all about it at the end of the day!

Have a wonderful day!

Happy 89th Birthday, Grandma!

Today is my Grandma Betty's 89th birthday!  Since she is one of my most loyal blog followers, and since I haven't been as diligent about writing these days, I thought a nice gift might be to write a blog post ... about her!  So, Grandma, this one's for you!

You, the lady who has held my mom ...

... me ...

... and both of my kids in her arms.

Thank you for showing us that family is important.  (That lady on the bottom right of this picture is my grandma's mom, my great-grandma Eva Amalia ... better known as Mollie.)

And thank you for sending me these pictures recently!  You have always been one to keep in touch through the mail with letters, photos, and the occasional coupon or magazine article, and I love it!

You raised four amazing children, Grandma.  Though two of them are no longer with us, the fond memories I have of them and how loving an aunt and uncle they were stays with me.  (And thank you for passing along your emotionality to me.  As awkward as it can be sometimes to be tearing up randomly, as I am as I write this, I figure people will always know how I feel about them.)

You and Grandpa have been married for 69 years, which is quite an accomplishment! (Baylor was just a baby at your 60th anniversary party ... hard to imagine, isn't it?)

Thank you for being such a loving presence at my own wedding!  I hope Bryson and I are as fortunate as you and Grandpa have been!

Thank you for always showing an interest in my kids!  It's a rare gift to have great-grandparents who are so willing to listen and love.  I know it's easy when they are babies ...

... all cute and cuddly ...

... able to be held ...

... and full of silly smiles!

But it's a whole other thing to make such an effort to keep them captivated, ...

... and to dive in when they ask for your help building Legos ...

... or take notes for an idea they had.

Know that your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and in-laws love you so much and are wishing you the happiest of birthdays!  (I realize this is only a fraction of the people I just listed, but it turns out I don't have certain pictures I thought I did.  This will just have to do, I guess.)

Happy 89th birthday, Grandma!  I love you so much and hope to see you very soon!

Always,

Your eldest grandchild

Nicole

Throwback Thursday: Summer Road Trip 2017 Part Two!

Our next stop on last year's road trip was Pennsylvania.  We visited the Crayola Experience in Easton.

They had a cool screen that made it look like paint was pouring down all around you.  The guys had a little fun with it.

Mollie tried using their Color Alive technology to bring a fairy to life.

We got to make little puzzles with our own designs on them using this cool machine.

And we even got to name our own color of crayon and customize the label!

We put the specialized label on our naked crayons using a special roller to get it just right.

Mollie found a special crayon friend to bring home to remember the experience.

We were in such a hurry on our way in that I didn't get take a picture of their cool crosswalk, but I made sure to get a picture of it on the way out.

We left the Crayola Experience and drove a little over an hour-and-a-half to Hershey, Pennsylvania where we visited Hershey's Chocolate World!  The car ride was just enough to rejuvenate the kiddos so they could enjoy all the chocolatey goodness.  Well, except for the 4D experience ... as it turns out, the kids are NOT fans of 4D (where they spray water at you if there is water on the screen ... stuff like that).  This was the only happy picture of that experience.

Then we learned how to do a proper chocolate tasting.  The kids even managed to hold the chocolate in their mouths until it melted just like they were asked to!  Some of it was pretty bitter, but overall they seemed to enjoy this attraction.

After the chocolate tasting we split up.  The guys went on a tour of the town and the rest of the grounds, and Mollie and I went and made our own candy bars!

The hairnet and apron were the deal breakers for Baylor, but Mollie didn't mind.  In fact, she used the apron to try to keep herself warm while we made our candy bars.

I will be honest, they didn't have as many ways to customize it as I would have liked.  They were a little more expensive than I would have expected for what you get, but Mollie and I had a lot of fun making them and sometimes it's the experience that matters.

The next day we got up SUPER early and made our way to Gettysburg National Military Park.  We had neglected to secure a tour guide ahead of time, so we had to try to get there early enough to snag one of the available ones.

It was even still a little chilly.

We made it in time to secure a tour guide who we would meet later on.  In the meantime, we got tickets to go see the cyclorama painting, and we looked at all the artifacts in the lobby area.

They had all sorts of state-specific artifacts, including buttons and belt buckles.

Michigan had 87,364 Union enlistments and 0 Confederate enlistments which surprised me; it is hard to imagine so many people being unified toward a single cause, but I am certainly glad they were.

This was the sign outside the cyclorama.  It was awesome!

After viewing the cyclorama, we got a rather early (and expensive) lunch in the cafe then met our tour guide.  He drove us around in our rental car, narrating all the sights along the way.  Occasionally we would get out to devote some time to the bigger monuments, but most of the time we could just sit back and enjoy the history-filled ride.

The monuments ranged from those for individuals, like this farmer who helped join the effort at Gettysburg, ...

... to whole units, like this one for the 24th from Michigan.  (At the start of our trip, our guide asked us where we were from and made sure to show us a lot of Michigan-specific monuments.)

Sometimes we would get out not just to see a monument but to also get a better view of the battlefield for a more complete understanding of what happened.

Our guide was fantastic and made sure to engage all of us.

Occasionally monuments were for all the men for a particular state that fought at Gettysburg.  This one, for the soldiers of Mississippi, was incredibly detailed and gave us a better idea of what the men went through while fighting this war.  Our guide pointed out all the nuances of this sculpture, from the fallen flag to the shoes nearly worn away from use.

Our guide would also take us up hills to get better views of strategic battle sites, like this one at Devil's Den.

Our guide was fantastic and had a real passion and extensive knowledge about the battle of Gettysburg, and he was so happy to share it with us.  If you are going to Gettysburg, I highly recommend getting a personal guide to take you around.  It certainly was well worth the money, and it made the large park much less overwhelming.

After our tour of the battlefields, we went to the amazing museum they have set up at the visitor's center.  There they have chronicled nearly every aspect of life right along side the military details of the war, from the terrible inflation in the South during the war ...

... to the holes made in the joists of a home because of cannon fire.

We honestly couldn't make it through the whole museum; they have such an incredible collection that it was difficult for us to see it all with the amount of energy we had left.  By the end, the kids had to lean on each other to try to get through the many videos they wanted to watch.

We spent the night in Pittsburgh, and the next morning we got up and moving to make the drive to Canton, Ohio.  While most people arriving in Canton that day were there to go to the National Football Hall of Fame inductions, we were headed to the First Ladies National Historic Site.  The park is made up of two buildings, the first of which was the Education and Research Center, operated by the National First Ladies' Library.  The Library has re-creations of most of the first ladies' inaugural gowns, all displayed in glass cases.  Mollie found these enjoyable to look at, particularly since we had spent so much time the day before talking about the Civil War, something she wasn't all that interested in.

The kids worked on their Junior Ranger badges.

Then we headed over to the second building of the park: the Ida Saxton McKinley Historic Home.  We took a ranger-guided tour of the home and learned all about this fascinating first lady.  They had so many interesting artifacts on display, including some beautiful, specially-designed wallpaper ...

... a Native American rug of hers and President McKinley's and book cases that once lined the walls while she was in residence ...

... their presidential china and a commemorative plate ...

... and one of her actual dresses that showed just how incredibly tiny this first lady was.

After we finished at the McKinley house, we went into a little garden area to stretch our legs before getting back into the car.  The archway of the garden appeared to have been sponsored by the Canton Rotary, and I loved their plaque entitled "The Four Way Test of the Things We Think, Say, or Do".

We had a lovely time at the First Ladies National Historic Site, and I was glad to be able to share a piece of women's history with my little lady, as up until then most of what we had learned on our trip was about the achievements of men.

We then decided to push our luck and take the kids to the McKinley monument just a few minutes from the First Ladies Site.  I say "push our luck" because we were all pretty tired, getting hungry, and kinda warm ... and there were all these stairs!

It was a good walk up, though, and good practice on stairs for Baylor who has some hip issues and often struggles with climbs like these.

It was a lovely monument, dedicated to the lives of President and First Lady McKinley.  Records of their contributions to our nation were inscribed on the walls, and it was an interesting look into a president that we don't often hear much about.  It was also their final resting place.

Above their tombs was a beautiful stained glass window.

After looking at the monument and making the long walk down the stairs, we got some food in our hotel room and then made our way down to the hotel pool.  The kids had never been in a hotel pool and were giddy at the opportunity.  They were also the only swimmers there, so it was an extra special treat.  And what dip is complete without a nice bubble in the hot tub afterwards?

When they got out to dry off, Baylor noticed just how tiny the hotel towels were.

This is his "Are you kidding me?!" face.

Mollie tried wrapping hers around herself, but it only really covered her front side.

The next morning we woke up to complete the final leg of our road trip.  We slathered on the sunscreen and headed to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, one of the newest of our national parks.  We quickly got to work on the Junior Ranger workbook.

Again, I cannot stress enough how much I love the Junior Ranger program.  It allows you to explore a large park, like Cuyahoga Valley, with more focus and clues you in to some of the important aspects of the park that might be otherwise missed.  Particularly when you are short on time, as we often are with kids, it helps you to get as much out of a park experience as you possibly can.

It really was such a beautiful park to visit, and we had a gorgeous day for it.

The end of this particular Junior Ranger program has you check out the ice cream store on the park's grounds, so the kids got to experience morning ice cream for the first time.  We then went and did their least favorite part of the program: the oath.

We had a little time left before we needed to get on the road back to home, so we explored Brandywine Falls.

Mollie was starting to get a little tired of all the walking, but we did manage to stop for a picture.

Sweaty but satisfied with our park experience, we piled back into the car and started on our way home.  By this time, the amount of stuff I had amassed in the front seat area was starting to cramp my style ... and my legs.

Nearly five hours later we made it back home safe and sound.  Though we had had a lot of fun, this was certainly a welcome sight.

Our first major road trip as a family was a smashing success!  We gained so many fond memories and learned so much along the way.  What more could you ask for?!