Our Great Adventure-Day 10

We all started out early this morning for Chicago. We are all so excited to see Neil, it has been almost 10 days! After picking up Eva's birthday cake, we headed out. Our car was full, there was myself, Nana, Riley, Abby, Emma, Jensen, and Garrett. We only went through one thunderstorm. They have been having a lot of bad weather in this part of the country lately. Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy were not far behind us. The Vowells and Haldrups(carmel) were leaving a little later. The Shields had gone to Chicago the night before so they could pick up Eva and all the airport people. There was a total of 26 people making there way towards Geneva, IL which is just outside of Chicago. Geneva is a quaint little town. We all arrived(not the Vowells and Haldrups(carmel)) about the same time and had lunch at the Race Mill Inn that is right on the river. At lunch, we learned the Vowells had been hit from behind on the interstate. Their car is probably totaled and everybody was taken to the hospital to be checked out. No one had any major injuries. Robert and Ellen both hurt their backs and everyone else was a little stiff. We were just glad no one was seriously hurt. The Haldrups(carmel) were able to turn around and go back and help them out. They all eventually arrived just a little later than expected. We had a dinner outside in the gardens, played a few games, and enjoyed each others company. I think it is a memory that Eva will never forget. I think I forgot to mention that we were all gathering for Aunt Eva's 80th birthday!

Our Great Adventure-Day 9

Today was spent doing laundry, repacking, and trying to enjoy time with our family. We went to the Vowells to help and shop their neighborhood garage sale. Garrett thinks they have the nicest neighbors because they gave him a toy gun he was admiring for free! He can't believe they just gave it to him! Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy came by to say "Hello!" It was fun to see them. Emma came back to Nanas with us to spend the night. Everyone is getting excited about their trip to Chicago!

Our Great Adventure-Day 8

This morning we got up, ate breakfast, and headed to the Columbus Zoo. We found out that morning that the sweet Mr. Graham Powell had arranged (through his brother, John) to have tickets for us. It was a great way to start off the day. The zoo was enormous! We saw elephants(at a really close distance), rhinos, koalas, kangaroos, manatees and that is only to name a few. We were really impressed the zoo. They also had rides which everybody got to pick two. Garrett and I tried the whirly-gigs, but they went too fast for the little guy and since we were the only ones on the ride, the guy running it stopped it for us. Riley and Jensen rode the frog hopper and were disappointed. We all rode the bumper cars and it was our favorite ride! We then decided to start out for Indiana because the kids were anxious to see their cousins and Nana. It was about a two hour trip and we were pulling into the Vowell's driveway. The kids got to play with Emma, Luke, and Ben. After Ben and Luke left for their meeting (in their GI Joe outfits), Aunt Jane and Emma went out to dinner with us. After dinner we made our way to Nana's. We all enjoyed catching up with Nana.

Our Great Adventure-Day 7

Today was a day of driving! The trip from Hershey to Columbus, OH took six hours. Almost all of it was through the mountains on the Pennsylvannia Turnpike. We did get to go through four long tunnels which the kids loved. I didn't love all the mountain driving and tractor-trailer trucks. I was also glad that I filled up with gas in Hershey and that I no longer drove a big SUV because there only about 2 gas stations along the whole turnpike. We hit some traffic and rain in Columbus, but finally made it to our hotel. It was a long day! Our hotel was across from a mall and since Riley and Jensen had some gift certificates we went to see if they could spend them. We didn't have much luck shopping so we ate dinner at Macaroni Grill and then headed back to the hotel. Since the hotel had an outdoor pool and it was raining, there was no swimming. We decided to make it an early night. Columbus had a bad storm during the night and sirens went off, only Jensen and I heard them. But neither of us woke up enough to be concerned. Everything was fine.

Our Great Adventure-Day 6

We headed out this morning, after making sure that Aunt Sally was set. We drove from Chantilly, VA to Hershey, PA. It was a short trip and we went through Frederick, MD where my mom's family is from and where I spent a great many summers with my grandparents. I got to drive the kids by my grandparent's house, although they were not very interested in seeing the place. We passed by Gettysburg and waved to the battleground. We arrived in Hershey where we went to The World of Chocolate. We took a tour and learned how chocolate was made and watched a 3-D movie that made us all laugh. The smell of chocolate was wonderful and we all enjoyed the free chocolate they gave out at the end of each program. We wished we could have bought some chocolate, but we didn't want it to melt in the car. We had dinner at Fuddrucker's and all that change the kids got from Uncle Wayne went into the game machines. At the hotel, the kids swam in the pool, cleaned up, got pjs on and settled in to watch some of their favorite tv show. We marked it down as a great day!

Our Great Adventure-Day 5

Today we left Greensboro, NC and the Clarks to head to Chantilly, VA and the Leeders. We spent most of the day driving. It was an uneventful trip, although we did keep a tally of some of the animals we saw along the way. The tally is that we saw a lot of cows and horses, one llama, and one white-tailed deer. We got to check on Aunt Sally to make sure she was recovering okay from her recent foot surgery. She is becoming quite fast on her walker! My cousin, Jason, came over to eat pizza with us and then we went over to see his new townhome. For a bachelor, he has done a good job with his place. The kids got to raid Uncle Wayne's change can and made away with bags of coins!

Our Great Adventure-Day 4

June 22, 2008
After all the excitement yesterday, today we took it easy. We hung out at the Clark's house with our family. Of course, Riley and Jensen wanted to sit in the new car all day. I had to convince them that they would be spending more than enough time in the car over the next few weeks. Garrett has played with cousin, Holden, non-stop. They both really enjoy being together. Uncle John, Aunt Brittany, and Filson came last night as a stop-over on their way to Virginia. It was like a family reunion. Uncle James grilled delicious filet tails and Aunt Jenn made mac-n-cheese and a candy bar that were out of this world. Just a nice day was spent with everyone.

Our Great Adventure-Day 3

June 21, 2008
WHAT A DAY! We are now the proud owners of a NEW mini-van! Poor Neil didn't know this trip would end up costing him an arm and a leg. The big truck is now gone and we will finish out this adventure in our new mini-van. It has all the bells and whistles so now we just have to figure out how to work everything. Buy a car is a VERY long process so we are all exhausted from our big purchase.

Our Great Adventure-Day 2

June 20, 2008
We enjoyed our day in Greensboro. We took Holden to his Safety Town Camp and then did a little shopping. After we watched Holden perform all the correct safety procedures in his car, we went to lunch at Natty Green's in downtown. We sat outside because the weather was so nice. While eating the boys got to watch two trains crossing the train bridge by the restaurant. We hung out downtown for awhile and then headed to the mall to do some returns. After the mall, we enjoyed dinner at Red Robin's Restaurant. With balloons in hand, we headed home to watch the Jonas Brothers movie on Disney. The girls enjoyed the movie and then it was off to bed for everybody!

Our Great Adventure-Day 1

June 19, 2008
Today was the first day of our great adventure. Jensen, Garrett, and I left Charleston for Greensboro, NC to pick up Riley. Riley has been staying with Aunt Jenn, Uncle James, and cousins, Holden & Reece for the past five days. We will stay in Greensboro until Monday, June 23rd. Our trip today was uneventful except for a detour we made in Greensboro to avoid a wreck on the interstate. We purchased a navigation system for this adventure and the lady in the system, whom we have affectionately named, Penelope Vanilla, because we picked an English accented woman. Anyway, Penelope did not like that we deviated from her route and kept insisting that we make a u-turn. She finally gave up on the u-turn and steered us in the right direction. We enjoyed pizza with our cousins. I hope to add pictures later. Stay tuned for the next exciting day!

Summer has begun

The summertime fun has begun. The kids first day out of school was yesterday. We went and signed up for every reading program in town. Neil and I went to a wine tasting last night with my book club. Everyone had a great time and tried to learn a little bit more about wines. I can't really tell the difference, but it was fun listening to someone who is so passionate about what they do. Today, Garrett has a birthday party to attend for a classmate. Neil will be taking him since it is a snake party and I don't do snakes. More than likely we will make a trip to the pool this weekend, but other than that we will just hang out and enjoy spending time together.