Even with the impending doom of Hurricane Irene, we decided to go to Hershey Park as planned.

The storm was scheduled to hit our area on Saturday late afternoon. We headed to Hershey early on Friday and planned to get back before the storm came. We had a beautiful day on Friday at the Park.

Just arrived and heading into the park.

The kids were so excited to be able to ride a real roller coaster.  Truman was pretty apprehensive when we first got there and actually saw the rides.  We started with the Ocean Motion* type ride.  Truman wanted to turn back, but Sophie and I encouraged him to try it.  Truman and Sophie both made it with smiles on their face!

Sophie and Truman were in the 42″-48″ range.  So they weren’t able to ride the really big roller coasters, but there was one similar to the Blue Streak* that we could ride, but they had to be accompanied by an adult. Justin took Sophie first, while I stayed with Archer and Truman.  We got some ice cream to pass our time.  Then we swapped and I took Truman, while Justin stayed with Sophie and Archer (and they got ice cream). Both kids really enjoyed the ride and even wanted to do it again, but with our trade-off process taking so long (since one of us had to be with Archer and the kids weren’t ready to ride on the coaster themselves) we decided to move on.

The kids also road a Snake River Falls* ride with Justin.  The wait was nearly an hour, but the kids didn’t mind.  That made for yet another opportunity for Archie and me to sample some food!  I was hoping Archer would fall asleep as I walked all around the park, but no such luck.

The kids also enjoyed some of the smaller kiddie rides.  They couldn’t believe they could just ride whatever they wanted as many times as they wanted.  They’re used to the fair where we only have a few tickets to spend on rides.

They road this one about 5 times in a row!

We left the park around 6pm, since Archer didn’t sleep much the whole day. Once at the hotel, we ate some food, Archer went down for the night, and I took Sophie and Truman down to the pool.

The kids loved that there was an indoor and outdoor pool that connected.  Then we were even more ecstatic when we noticed the movie playing on a projector near the outdoor pool.  We watched the movie for a bit and then went back to swimming.  They loved their first experience of swimming at night.

The kids had no trouble sleeping that night.  Saturday morning we went to breakfast and stopped at Target.  We decided we should pick up some extra bottled water just in case the storm was bad.

Back at the hotel, we let Archer take a morning nap and Justin took the kids to the pool again before we left  We quickly packed up before noon so we could make it home before the storm.

Luckily the storm didn’t turn out to be too bad for our area.  We lost power for nearly 12 hours (some of that what while we were sleeping though) and church was canceled, but didn’t have any other problems.

*Having grown up near Sandusky, Ohio and visiting Cedar Point multiple times each summer as a kid, I can only relate the rides to the Cedar Point ones. =)

Sophie loved seeing some of her friends from school this summer and she ended up with some great craft projects too.

Week 1 - Foam Picture Frames.

Week 2 - Crazy Flip Flops.

Week 3 - Tie Dye Shirts.

Week 4 - Rock Star Bracelets.

Week 5 - Make your own stuffed animal - cut out, sew, stuff, embellish.

Week 6 - Decorate a flower pot and plant a flower.

Week 7 - The final craft was a mini-scrapbook each of the girls put together.

The summer craft club was a success from our point of view and I hope to continue the tradition next year.  We ended up with 7 girls, hence 7 weeks of crafts. Because of summer traveling, there were never all 7 girls at a craft. But it was still worthwhile to have the standing appointment for those in town.  Along with the main craft, most moms offered a smaller craft or activity to keep the girls busy, along with a snack.  Then the girls would just talk, play, listen to music, etc. the rest of the time.

I’m considering doing the same thing with Truman next summer with boys, but maybe science experiments or something along those lines. Any other ideas for a boys group?

We had an eventful weekend with grandparents visiting and celebrating Truman’s birthday.

The best part?  Truman learned how to ride his bike without training wheels!

In this picture he's actually riding Sophie's bike, since we realized once we got to the park that his bike seat was too low. He successfully learned using Sophie's bike and now he's back to using his own again.

Way to go Truman!  And thank you Grandma for taking the time (and energy) to teach him and cheer him on!

We’ve been spending a lot of time at the pool this summer, which of course Sophie and Truman love.

Archer doesn’t have any complaints either.

At about 2pm yesterday we felt a little shake.  I looked at the kids and said, “What is that?”  Then it began to shake more, Archer fell down and began to cry, then the other kids began to cry.

We huddled together near a wall and I decided if it started to shake harder for for any longer that we would crawl under the nearby kitchen table.

Then it stopped.  Truman immediately said in a very shaky concerned voice, “Now the Tsunami is going to come!”  I reassured him that that wasn’t the case for us, but that we did have a little earthquake. For quite a while afterwards, Sophie said her legs still felt shaky.

Because I was most concerned about the kids, I can’t even tell you how shaky it was or wasn’t.  All I know is that things were moving and I was trying to gather up the kids.  I felt pretty calm through it all. (Probably because my kids were so freaked out – someone had to keep a calm face!)

Later we found out it was a 5.8 earthquake in Mineral, VA which is about 90 miles south of us.

We didn’t sustain any damage here. Barely anything even fell off any shelves, although our neighbors showed us a picture of their china cabinet being shaken with things falling over.

Luckily there was little damage and few injuries reported across the board and I was glad to hear from Justin, who was working in DC, that everything was fine there as well.

And if you know Justin, you won’t be surprised that he got a short sound bite on the news!

His interview is at about 1:58

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/

I’m happy to report that all is well here and now we have a great story to tell for years to come!

On the morning of Truman’s birthday, he woke up to balloons and streamers in his bedroom, per our tradition. This year he specifically reminded us that he wanted balloons and streamers when he woke up!

Justin went into work early, so he could be home early.  When Justin got home we quickly packed up and headed to the pool (a favorite activity of Truman’s).  We ordered a pizza and ate dinner there (another favorite of Truman’s).

Once we got home we had an ice cream sandwich treat and opened presents.

Truman couldn’t have been more thrilled!

Truman's best pirate face.

One of Truman's favorite gifts were these finger flashlights.

Truman had a pirate themed birthday party, arrgh. We ended up having 7 guests here for his birthday (6 boys and 1 girl).  It was a handful, but Truman loved every minute of it!

And I was very grateful to have the extra pairs of hands from visiting grandparents!

Fun and games outside as the guests arrived.

Decorating their bags to collect all their pirate loot.

Truman's friend taking a swing at the treasure chest pinata.

Time for cupcakes. Yum!

Happy Birthday Truman!

On the spur of the  moment one day I said to the kids, “Let’s go mini-golfing!”

I’d like to say that I’m usually that spontaneous, but it was mostly because Archie wouldn’t stop fussing and whining.  Getting out of the house sounded like a great idea!

The kids were more than excited to oblige.

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And Archie was a happy boy during the whole 18 holes!

Carrying his own putter through the course.

Having a little snack.

When we lived in Michigan going to the fair became a fun family tradition, but this was the first fair we attended in Virginia.

I’m happy to report that not much is different.  We saw cloggers perform, a dog show, farm animals, rode rides, smiled nicely at the carnies, and indulged in some irresistible carnival food (the main reason I like to go).

Sophie always looks forward to riding the Ferris wheel and this time was no exception.

The kids were feeling brave and also rode the “super shot”, which is the one that takes you up and drops you down.

Almost to the top.

Coming down and looking a little nervous.

Whew, they made it. Notice the look on Truman's face!

The kids would have loved to ride a few more rides, but after the Ferris wheel (4 tickets each) and the Super Shot (4 tickets each) we were out of tickets. Twenty dollars well spent! 😉

Then we went off to sample some carnival delicacies.  The kids decided on ice cream cones, but I couldn’t pass the chance to get a funnel cake.  It was delicious and well worth the 1000+ calories.

Archie had fun just toting around and checking out all the new sites.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to run 100 miles to burn off that funnel cake!

Tie-dying shirts is a fun summer craft.  And the results are so cute!

It was the perfect alignment of schedules. I was missing my relatives, my cousin was having a reunion, and Justin was able to take a day off work.

A quick check on flights and I was able to leave early on a Friday and return late on a Sunday for a short little get-away to visit family.

Friday was spent eating out, getting a haircut, stopping at garage sales, and having a lovely boat ride on my brother’s new boat.

Wolf Lake boat ride. Deb, Dee, Sam.

Saturday I got to sleep in until 8:30am.  Whew-ho!

  We also made food to take to the reunion, did some shopping, and hung out at the reunion.

Saturday night was a fun girl’s night back at Kathy’s place.  It was nice to just hang out and laugh a lot!

Sunday we ate more and headed to the airport.

My flight was delayed an hour, then another hour. We finally boarded and were delayed on the tarmac for another 1 1/2 hours. Ugh.

It was a long night, but seeing another passenger carrying her 4 month old and trying to keep her content on the plane during our delay, made me so grateful I was traveling alone!

It was a great weekend that left me feeling grateful for a husband who was willing to stay home with the kids for the entire weekend so I could visit my family.