Glenlaurel

This week we start school! I'm looking forward to this year. I know many people have said 7th grade is the most difficult year but I think Jenna can handle it. She is a top notch student. Sarah found out her teacher this year is Mrs. Sheehan for 4th grade and Matthew has Mrs. Shaw for first grade. He is NOT excited about going to school every day. It will be good for him though. He is VERY close to riding his bike. He just needs to work a little more on stopping with the brakes and not his feet.  I'd like to start riding to school instead of walking - that takes a long time!

The other day we had a cupcake wars challenge! 

It was so fun! The flavors were:

• Erik made chocolate caramel coconut (with toasted coconut!) cupcakes
• I made smores cupcakes
• Jenna made lemon mint (and she used fresh mint leaves) cupcakes
• Sarah made strawberry cupcakes
• Matthew made orange cupcakes

Prior to our cupcake challenge I asked for a list so I could go grocery shopping and buy them whatever ingredients they wanted to make their cupcakes. It was fun and we ate a lot of cupcakes. Yum!!

We just had our Glow in the Dark VBS last weekend. I was on the committee and was the teacher. Other people on the committee were in charge of snacks, crafts, etc.  I loved that it was glow in the dark. The verse we were using was: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light" ~Ephesians 5:8

I had to snicker since at first the committee wanted to name the VBS "Children of Light". It all worked out well - we even did glow in the dark yoga. Jenna was a helper and Sarah and Matthew were participants.

Glow!

 This past weekend Erik and I went to Glenlaurel for our 20th anniversary. My parents took the kids for the weekend and it was glorious! Glenlaurel is very pricey but it was romantic (no one under 21 allowed) and beautiful. We stayed in the Douglas suite which had a whirlpool tub and even had robes for us to wear. The dinner is 6 courses: appetizer, soup, salad, sorbet, dinner, dessert. I loved it! Erik even got a scotch to drink so we really felt like we were in Scotland. Even though we ate so much we did several hikes to burn off all that yummy food! I was stung 3 times on Saturday. Two wasp stings and one bee sting. One of the wasp stings was bleeding too. Bummer. We still hiked though. I'm tough like that....

Erik drinking scotch

rocks

Glenlaurel

 For the past 3 weeks several legendary birds have been out in pokemon. I've gone around to try and catch these birds by doing raids with random strangers. Sometimes I take 4 phones with me (mine, Erik's, Jenna's and Sarah's - Matthew is not into pokemon). Anyway - someone caught a picture of me with my 4 phones and I made it on the Facebook site for PoGo. Then today when I went to do a raid someone recognized me and told me I was famous. I am famous among pokemon go players I guess. Regardless, I have all of the legendaries and am up to level 32. The max is level 40.

My pokemon facebook post

 Since our trip was for our 20th anniversary I thought I would post a picture of us on our wedding day and yesterday. We haven't aged a bit lol!

20 years

Mammoth Cave and Matthew's birthday

As promised I am posting a few pictures of our trip to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. This was a fantastic trip. It was a geologist/hobby rock collector's dream. Note: I have a rock collection. 

We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Cave City. This hotel had a full breakfast and a nice pool that very few other people were in. So it worked well for us! 

cave tour

On the first day of our trip Erik, Dave, and my Dad went to the Corvette museum while the rest of us went to Onyx cave. It was a smaller tour and the tour guide gave us quite a bit of information about the caves and all caves in KY. I loved this tour. I liked the Mammoth Cave tours but they were crowded and this tour was much smaller. 

Then we went on two Mammoth Cave tours. We went on the Domes and Dripstones tour and the Historic tour. Both were fantastic! Sarah's favorite part was in the Historic tour where we went through an area called "fat man's misery". She giggled the entire time. There were many stores selling rocks and gemstones too. The kids couldn't resist. I almost couldn't resist. I love gemstones!!

Looks like a frozen waterfall

At lunch - why is Sarah sticking out her tongue?

Kentucky landscape + 3 kids

 We ate really well too! We went to a Mexican place that Erik loved, a steak house that everyone loved, and a buffet with ice cream for everyone. We also stopped at an  Amish bulk store that had amazing donuts. This trip was spectacular! Erik and I left early since he is low on vacation days and in the evening we went to see Tom Petty in concert. The good thing about Tom Petty is that you know all of his songs, especially if you're an American girl.

Tom Petty concert

 The peach truck came to Powell and we ended up getting 40 lbs of peaches. I made 44 jars of jam, 3 peach crisps and 1 peach cobbler. So I was a little busy and up to my ears in peaches. They were so delicious too!

peach truck peaches

 For Father's day we played through the desert and I made Erik some sourdough bread. I have failed many many many many many many times at making sourdough bread. I've tried numerous recipes and even bought fancy wild yeast online in my efforts to make sourdough. Well my friend Megan gave me some of her starter and it worked great! Now I can make delicious sourdough.

Through the Desert

sourdough! Erik's favorite!

 When Erik was in Boston and I was in Chicago my Mom came to watch the kids. Then we all went to the zoo and Culvers. It was a great day. The kids love going to the zoo with Nana.

Zoo with Nana

 Matthew is 7. I can't believe my youngest kid is 7! On Father's day we had pizza (Daddy and Matthew both like pizza) and on his birthday we had cheese quesadillas, corn on the cob, and orange cupcakes with orange frosting. Matthew also got some great gifts! He got a puppet, a GIANT light bulb, a track, some clothes, magnetic money, legos, sidewalk chalk, color wonder, a slip and slide and more! He was very happy with all his gifts. We also went swimming at the Dublin Rec Center to celebrate.

Matthew loves his gifts

Matthew's orange cupcake

In other news:

1. We went to Origins on Saturday June 17. We got to go to True Dungeon ran by Jon Cook, Mike Naglee, and Jen Naglee. It was great to see them and participate in TD. We also were put with a group of people who had done True Dungeon many times so we got a good score and some great loot! At Origins we played several family games too. We actually didn't buy any games this year!
2. The kids took the Summer Enrichment Experience through school. It was two weeks in the morning. Jenna and Sarah both took coding and Matthew took art. They seemed to really like it and Jenna and Sarah both worked on their scratch programs in the evening.
3. Our washing machine broke. Our dryer has broken a few times and we've always called the appliance repair people. Well both are bad. They are 11 years old so we had to buy new ones. Unfortunately our laundry room is small so we were very limited about what we could buy.
4. In addition to our washer and dryer that needs fixed, our blue Explorer is also very broken. Erik and Dave "fixed" the brakes but they didn't tighten everything enough and so it became very dangerous and Tuffy said the tire was about to fall off. Yipee! We are NOT doing the brakes ourselves anymore. No youtube videos! This is the second time we've had to bring it in because of these brakes!
5. Last weekend we camped in Michigan. More about that in a future post!
6. Devry has moved learning management systems. So next session I have 2 new courses with a new LMS. Yay! Also I have two more faculty I'm in charge of because they needed new managers and I'm good at responding. I'm not a fan of this. I feel like the better job you do the more work they give you!
7. I'm teaching Tuesday nights next session but only one night a week so it isn't that bad.
8. I have read almost the entire Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. I've been burning through Urban Fantasy lately. 

Our Orlando Trip

We obviously love playing games as a family and since our kids don't play sports, we have more evenings free to play games. I've asked the kids if they want to play sports but they are all home bodies! Lords of Waterdeep is a game the whole family can play and enjoy. It is one of Jenna's favorites. 

Lords of Waterdeep

I made this glorious tomato tart the other day. Everyone except Matthew loved it. Matthew really only likes cheese quesadillas, pizza, and chicken nuggets :(. 

My tomato tart creation!

Riding horses with Jenna's girl scout troop

Yesterday we flew back home from our glorious week in paradise. We love going to Missy's company house in Orlando. It is beautiful and we always have a blast! Although we might not go during the school year in the future. Too much stress missing class.  

On Friday we went to Universal to Harry Potter world again. It was so much fun! We stayed there all day until our feet were blistered and sore but it was worth it! Last time we went to Universal we spent all our time at Harry Potter world. This time we saw the whole park. We rode several rides although no one would ride the roller coasters with me :(. Jenna and I rode the Forbidden Journey ride in the Hogwarts castle twice. That is my favorite ride! We drank a ton of butterbeer and ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks. Again, again!!! Jenna was picked at Ollivander's for the wand. It's great that she has been picked so many times.

We also spent quite a bit of time in Dr. Seuss world. Matthew's favorite ride was the Cat in the Hat. It was a fun ride that took you through the whole book. Dr. Seuss world was fantastic. I dragged Matthew and Jenna on a water ride that was somewhat of a roller coaster. Afterwards Matthew said he had "down motion sickness". 

 We bought wands for Sarah and Matthew. Jenna already had a wand from the last trip. They loved using the wands throughout the park.

mmmmmmm butterbeer

I love this picture of Jenna drinking butterbeer using her wand

Matthew on the caro-seuss-el

Sarah on the caro-seuss-el

On Saturday Jenna, Missy and I went to the Orlando Science Museum. Admission was free since we are COSI members. The museum was fun although we spent the majority of the time playing pokemon go. I'm a little addicted.....

Dr. Seuss world viewed from the train ride

On Sunday we went to the waterpark that is part of the resort where we stayed. It has a lazy river, water slides, and a giant pool. The kids loved it. The rest of the time we spent in the pool at the house. The house has a pool with a hot tub. It also has 5 bedrooms with 3 full baths and 2 half baths. The house is beautiful. The kids played nonstop and were exhausted every night. The grown ups took turns in the pool then the hot tub. It was glorious!

Erik and Missy ran every day even in the blistering heat of Florida. I'm proud of them.

Matthew has gotten so much better at swimming. Now our whole family can jump in the pool together. In fact, we did a super-cooper-cannonball. Sarah is already in the water (she jumped the gun - you can see her splash!).

Super Cooper Cannonball

mid-cannonball

beautiful paradise!

I have been reading like a mad-woman lately. I've been on goodreads and just reading every book similar to other books I like. Some have been good, some haven't been. I've been reading mostly sci-fi though. <3 sci-fi.  Jenna has also read some of the books I've stumbled upon as well.

Prior to our trip I had binge watched the TV show Lost. I probably should not have watched a tv show about a plane crash before flying!

This has been an excellent trip and I can't wait to go back!

Minnesota and Wisconsin trip

Ice cream at Nelsons

The first week of August we trekked up to Minnesota to see Joel and Megan and then over to Wisconsin to spend some time at a Lake house. It was such a great trip. The 13 hour drive up there was actually pleasant. The kids did really well - probably because they were so excited! When I asked the kids what their favorite parts of seeing Joel and Megan were, Jenna said Ice cream at Nelsons, Sarah said Molly the dog, and Matthew said the popcorn machine (I don't even think they actually used it)

Drinks with everyone's name

 We stayed at Joel and Megan's house for three days and the kids loved it. It was the first time we saw their house and were impressed by his card collection. And impressed he let the kids sleep in the room with his card collection.  We loved their house and would move into it right away if it wasn't in Minnesota. On Tuesday we got to see Dan which was very exciting since he is just a disembodied voice on our Thursday night game nights.

Besides eating ice cream at Nelsons, we went to Snuffy's Malt Shop for burgers and milkshakes. It is similar to Steak and Shake and mighty tasty! Joel and Megan made us spaghetti one night and fajitas another night. The fajitas were so spectacular that we made them again later. Thanks for the idea Joel and Megan!

Joel's cards

 On Wednesday we drove to Minoqua, Wisconsin to stay at a gorgeous lake house with the McClelland family. That evening we saw a water ski show. Before the show, one of the skiiers rigged his jet ski so that he could "walk" on the water. For anyone who read Firefight, like me and David, it reminded me of what the main character, also named David, used to walk on water. I had to get a picture.

Walking on water

 The house was right on the water and the McClellands had rented two jet skis and a pontoon. They had tubes tied to the back of the jet skis so that the kids (and adults, ahem) could ride on the back and be whipped around. It was so much fun! I had never driven a jet ski before and I loved it! Both Erik and I took each of the kids out with us. Then we had the kids on the back with the tubes. Matthew is not a strong swimmer so I went on the tube with him. We fell off and that was the end of that for him. He was done!

The deck outside the house

Jenna and Grace in the boat

The view of the house

 Shelly is from Wisconsin so she wanted to be sure we tried real Wisconsin cheese curds. They were delicious! We rode on the pontoon for a few hours munching on cheese curds and drinking delicious beverages. It was great fun.

Drinks and "real" cheese curds on the Pontoon

Matthew and Daddy on the jet ski

 School really starts early. Next year there is a vote to start August 8th. Ugh. Just when it is starting to get really warm the kids go back to school. Today was the first day of school. Jenna is in 5th grade and ruling the elementary school! Sarah is in 2nd grade and Matthew is in pre-K. He will go to kindergarten next year. This year the 5th graders get lockers and Jenna is sharing a locker with Grace. She is ecstatic!

Jenna: 5th grade, Sarah: 2nd grade, Matthew: pre-K

Jenna and Mrs. Soroka

Sarah and Mrs. Robek

Matthew and Mrs. Brady

I'm sure it will be a good year.

• Our book club is reading the Magician by Lev Grossman. I really like this book but am doing a good job not reading ahead.... we will see how long this lasts.
• While on the trip I finished Changeless and Blameless by Gail Carriger. These are fun novels. I also finished Graceling by Kristen Cashore. I loved this book but Joy said the sequel is not worth reading so I won't. I like to follow good advice since sequels (ie insurgent, allegiant) can burn you.

Sacramento and I've crossed the threshold to old age now

We left rainy Ohio to fly to sunny Sacramento last week. It was beautiful with temperatures above 100°F (HOT!) but definitely sunny and nice. We tried to bring some of our rain to CA since they are having a drought but that didn't work out so well (darn TSA!).

The kids at the Everest VBS at St. Joan Of Arc. I love the huge cut out of the Pope in the background

 Matthew's favorite part of the plane ride was turning on and off the reading lights. This was the longest plane ride we took the kids on. Both ways we had a layover. They did great though!

Turning off the lights

 We were in Sacramento from June 29th to July 4th. It was a fabulous trip! All of us plus Joel and Megan squished into Dave, Becca, and Charlotte's house. We had a blast!

Monday: We arrived late and the kids went to bed. Of course we stayed up and played a game!

Tuesday: In the morning we drove to the Jelly Belly factory and went on the tour. At different points on the tour you can try jelly beans at each stage of development.We had quite a bit of sugar that day. Of course we had to buy some jelly beans after the tour. Jenna was in heaven since there were individual jelly beans of the Harry Potter flavors. She also bought several boxes of Harry Potter Jelly beans and chocolate frogs. Sarah bought sparkly Elsa jelly beans and Matthew just got some regular jelly beans. For lunch we went to In-and-Out burger. Yum!

After lunch we swam in Dave and Becca's pool. I love their pool! The water is nice and warm and we really enjoyed having the pool to ourselves. It led to some rather interesting acrobatics in the water. This video captures Joel doing a somersault off of a rock into the pool. It is a little grainy but hopefully you can see the graceful way Joel glides into the water......
Tuesday night we played Madeira. It is a fun game with the added bonus that David let us take it home with us!

Joel and Sarah. Not sure what face David is making

 Wednesday: We drove to San Francisco for the day. Erik, me, Joel,and Megan all bought tickets for the bay cruise. This boat cruised around the bay and Alcatraz. We even went under the Golden Gate Bridge. The cruise was incredibly windy and chilly. I brought sweaters but I think I actually needed a fleece! Dave and Becca took all the kids to the Exploratorium. It is a science center the kids really loved. Before the cruise we went to lunch at a rather fancy restaurant. Not somewhere we generally take our three munchkins. They lunch was beautiful including the kids meals. They ate every bite too!

We walked all around San Francisco looking for the entrance to the trolley cars. Just walking around the city was fun. Unfortunately we didn't get to ride them since Dave and Becca had all the kids and the Exploratorium closed early. The line was really long to ride the trolley cars. So we left the city, and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge then walked on it for a short way. The kids were exhausted by the time we got home. We still played games that night though.

lunch at Butterfly cafe in San Francisco

Bay cruise! Just a tad windy

Golden Gate Bridge

Thursday: We went to Old Sacramento Thursday morning and the train museum. It really was a nice museum with several trains including one that simulated the movement of an actual train. Jenna and Matthew went through that train with Jenna declaring it was like the Hogwarts Express! Megan, Jenna and I all wore our Harry Potter t-shirts so we could match.
For lunch we went to Dim Sum. This is something I really love! In fact, I requested that we could go to this restaurant. The kids seemed to really like it especially Sarah. There were several shrimp dishes and she loves shrimp.

We went swimming in the afternoon in the pool. Then had make your own pizzas for dinner. Delicious! Dave and Becca surprised me with a tiramisu cake for my birthday. Another surprise!!! What a treat! Obviously we still played games in the evening.

Matching Marauder's map shirts

Matthew in the engineer's seat

I was surprised by Dave and Becca with a tiramisu cake for my birthday!

 Friday: David, Joel, and Erik went golfing early Friday morning. Apparently they did well even though Erik hasn't golfed in about 10 years. After that, Joel and Megan had to leave since they were driving all the way back to Minnesota. It was a long road trip but they did some sightseeing and had a good time. Friday evening Charlotte had her birthday party. Becca's family was there and we had chow mein and barbecued chicken. The chow main noodles are not supposed to be cut. This is to ensure long life. Luckily my kids have no manners and are not opposed to shoving long noodles in their faces rather than eat them delicately.

Charlotte had a great third birthday with lots of wonderful gifts and family with her. An amazing gift came from Becca's father. He created a carousel out of an erector set that lights up and moves. It was beautiful craftsmanship. I was so impressed!

While we had a wonderful trip, we did have one snag in the trip. We found out Sarah and Jenna had lice. Yuck! I ran out to rite aid and bought a comb and nix creme rinse. I gave Sarah 3 treatments and Jenna two treatments. We also combed through both girls hair every day for a few days to ensure there were no more nits. My that was a nightmare! I felt terrible for bringing lice to Dave and Becca's house.  I can't imagine we will be invited back!

I've taken up a new hobby of creating signs out of re-purposed wood. We had some old plywood and pallet boards that I have created a few signs with. I gave one to Becca and Megan as gifts. I have several more I'll be giving as gifts too. It's been a fun project.

Megan and her sign

Becca and her sign

Happy Birthday Charlotte

Carousel

Saturday: We flew back Saturday exhausted yet blessed to see our family for such a great trip!

Sunday was my actual 40th birthday. This was a birthday full of great surprises and I loved it. Even though I've crossed the threshold into old age, it's been a great birthday. Hey - where's my cane!

On Sunday I washed everything, everything, EVERYTHING in the house with hot water and vacuumed all the carpet. If there is any more lice, I'm getting it!  While I was doing that, Erik made me lasagna (my favorite food) for dinner and a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting for dessert. The lasagna and cake were divine!!

Erik bought me a Henrietta Hen egg cooker. It makes hard boiled eggs in only 7 minutes. And they are perfectly cooked!! This shows he loves me since he hates unitaskers and the Henrietta hen is certainly a unitasker. He also bought me an induction cooktop so I can use it for canning. My electric stove top takes a long time to heat up but the induction cooktop is much faster. I canned 26 jars of jam in 4 hours with it!

Then on Monday Jen took me out to the Cheesecake Factory. That is my favorite restaurant but I haven't been there in years. This really was a fantastic birthday!  I'm so thankful for my friends and family who made this birthday wonderful.

My 40 cake!

My gifts

Great job cooktop!

Besides the lice, this was a perfect trip to Sacramento. Hopefully we will be invited back or we will have to crash their house!