First ladies and airplanes!

Yesterday morning we left our home around 7:45 to begin our eight day trip. You know you're a homeschooling family when your children refer to the vacation as a field trip. For many days Oliver had been asking me the same two questions. #1 How many days until our field trip? and #2 Is Daddy going with us? Today is technically Paul's first day off of work because yesterday he left for work around 1:30am. He wasn't there long because he was back home around 6:00am. I assumed the first place we'd drive was Ohio, but Paul drove to work (2+ hours round trip) and I made a quick trip to the grocery store because a sale on ground beef began yesterday morning at our local store. I arrived at the store at 7:01 (right after it opened) as I we were aiming to leave our house at 7:30. Originally we planned to visit Hopewell Culture NHP and a science museum in Columbus on our way to Dayton, Ohio. Both of those are still closed due to COVID. I had taken my students on a field trip to the science museum in Columbus in 1992. As we drove yesterday I pointed out when we passed Clearfield, which is where I lived for the first 5 years of my life as well as the places in Ohio I remembered from when I

lived here (1990-1992). We drove about 4.5 hours before we arrived at the First Ladies NHS in Canton, which originally I had planned to visit in April on our way to Chicago. The site wasn't completely open, but we were able to visit the Education Center, which meant the kids were able to earn a Junior Ranger badge. They've earned some through the mail or online, but this was the first one they earned in 2020 in person. Wow. Prior to COVID, I had planned for them to earn far more in person in 2020.  The kids each received a wooden badge plus a patch. Each patch was unique. They were given Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, and Pat Nixon. We spent about one hour at the site. Paul isn't a fan of the NFL right now. Otherwise, we might have visited the Football Hall of Fame. I thought the kids would earn three more Junior Ranger badges in Dayton, but I believe they'll just be earning one because the other two sites are still closed. At this point I think the kids will earn eight Junior Ranger badges on this trip.

After we left Canton, we drove to Dayton. Our first stop was dinner at Red Robin, which is one of the

kids' favorite restaurants. Nadia thinks they make the *best* macaroni and cheese, and she loves that she can request free refills of the macaroni and cheese plus the side dish and drink. On the first Thursday of the month the National Museum of the USAF stays open until 8pm. I had originally planned the dates for this trip because of a special event that would have taken place there had it not been for COVID. The event was cancelled, but the museum was still open until 8pm, which was helpful for us in light of the fact we live 7+ hours from Dayton. I had thought we'd arrive there around 5pm, but it was almost 6pm by the time we entered. The kids prefer face shields to masks, and up until yesterday that had never been a problem, but at the Air Force museum they only accepted masks. The place is HUGE. Paul and the boys really enjoyed our two hours there. Paul saw many airplanes he had never seen before. Two hours was absolutely not enough time to see everything. No pictures were allowed to be taken at the First Ladies NHS, but I did take a few at the Air Force Museum. 

After the museum closed, I drove to our hotel. When picking hotels I look for ones that have rooms with two queen beds. That eliminates quite a few options. I also always want a free breakfast. I try to get one with an indoor pool, and I also take into account the price and the hotel's rating. This hotel has an indoor pool, but we learned last night it is closed due to COVID. We packed our swim suits, but I'm not certain we'll actually use them. This hotel usually has a breakfast buffet. Due to COVID, they are giving out breakfast packs instead. The pack included a small yogurt, granola bar, and a muffin. Paul didn't like anything in the pack. The rest of us ate at least some of what was in our pack. Oliver and Ian ate the most. We shall see how the other hotels will handle the "free breakfast" in light of COVID-19. In light of all the driving we did yesterday, I think we are ALL thankful our longest drive today should only be one hour - when we drive to Cincinnati.