Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and since we are celebrating a wide variety of holidays from around the world this year, we are having a turkey dinner this evening. We were supposed to celebrate Sukkoth last week, but when I realized that a thanksgiving type menu is also what is typically served for that holiday, I decided we'd just wait until Canadian Thanksgiving. I did serve cranberry sauce last week on the day we learned about Sukkoth which greatly pleased Nadia and Oliver. Paul would probably have been fine with three Thanksgiving dinners (the third being when we celebrate the US holiday next month) as turkey is one of his favorite foods to eat. I have a turkey breast in the oven, made ricotta mashed potatoes (bought yellow potatoes for the first time as that's what the recipe called for), made a pumpkin two layer cheesecake, will be making stuffing in a little bit, and I'll serve more cranberry sauce. Oliver and I would have liked it if the menu also included sweet potatoes. I didn't use that much pumpkin for the cheesecake so I'm going to make pumpkin cookies later this week. Speaking of international recipes, yesterday I made Tortilla Espanola and two days ago I made

a flourless chocolate cake. Paul ate leftover split pea and ham soup as he wouldn't touch the Tortilla Espanola since it contained a little bit of onion and red pepper. The kids would have liked it better if I had omitted those two ingredients. I wasn't sure if they had ever eaten red pepper before so I wanted them to at least try it once.

This morning I took Ian to the orthodontist we've visited several times over the last few years. This was to be the first appointment that cost money and the one that would lead to the treatment plan (and price) being given to me later this month. As is the norm at medical offices these days, I had to fill out a COVID questionnaire, and they took Ian's temp. I was able to check no for everything except for one item. That one asked if we had traveled out of the state within the past 14 days. I told the receptionist that we had been in Ohio and Kentucky from October 1-7. At the moment I forgot to include West Virginia, but we were in that state for less than 24 hours. She looked up the latest guidelines from the state of Pennsylvania. The list of "bad" states was updated three days ago. Ohio and West Virginia are not on

that list, but Kentucky is. She asked if we flew or drove there. She told the doctor what I shared, and he said we had to reschedule the appointment. Paul had already suggested I cancel the appointment since we would have to pay $250 to receive an estimate for the treatment plan, but I hadn't done so. Driving there and then being told we had to reschedule was the final straw. In reality Ian spends far more time "quarantined" that kids who go to school. There are some weeks he interacts with people outside our home only once in the week - at church on Sunday morning and everyone is required to wear a face mask in his Sunday School class, have their temperatures taken, etc. 

I didn't reschedule the appointment on the spot because I decided to make more phone calls first. I called four more orthodontists this afternoon. The first two charge even more for the first appointment that results in the treatment plan and estimate. Thankfully the third and fourth offices I called also do the first appointment for free. I received one (free) estimate on September 29. I also asked three of the four offices I called today whether they

include headgears in their treatment plans. I wasn't happy that the first treatment plan included Ian wearing a headgear for at least 22 hours a day. Two of the three said they don't use headgears at all. The third said that they sometimes use headgears but never require a patient to wear a headgear outside of the home. The next two appointments are scheduled for October 19 and November 2. I'm hoping that we end up choosing one of those two orthodontists. Nadia is very happy that it's against the COVID rules to bring other children to an appointment. She likes getting paid to babysit Oliver when I take Ian to an appointment. (In the picture above she is holding one of Babe Ruth's bats)

Home sweet home

 

Flight 93 Memorial

All of the kids favorite activities during our "field trip" took place during the first five days. In hindsight we could have just come straight home from Louisville. We encountered plenty of COVID bumps during the last few days of our trip - 3 of the last 4 mornings we weren't offered a breakfast at the hotel and many of the places we had planned to visit weren't open. We almost went miniature golfing in Morgantown, West Virginia on Wednesday afternoon. If we had done that, we would have had more time at Fort Necessity and some of the other National Parks we visited on Thursday, which would have been greatly appreciated. We opted not to go miniature golfing because we thought we'd have time to visit Fort Roberdeau on Thursday, but we ended up feeling we wouldn't have quite enough time to spend there. I'm thinking we'll attempt to visit there again probably during the 2023-24 school year. We weren't rushed at the Flight 93 site, but had we known we were going to skip Fort Roberdeau, we could have spent more time at Johnstown Flood and/or Alleghany Portage as those sites were open until 5pm. We had planned to have dinner at Cracker Barrel, but because we ended our sight seeing earlier than expected, we had dinner at home on Thursday. In the original plans, we were going to have dinner twice at Cracker Barrel during our trip, but both times the plans were changed. The first time it was because the wait was too long. I'm sure we'll use the gift cards eventually. Nadia ended up only missing one theatre rehearsal as she was able to participate on Thursday night after we had dinner. I was busy that night with unpacking, cleaning the fish tank, and putting new Junior Ranger badges on the banners in the kids' bedrooms. The kids earned seven badges during the trip. They have each earned around 70 badges so far even though many visits I had planned to national parks were cancelled this year.

Alleghany Portage Railroad NHS

Paul went back to work yesterday morning. Usually he doesn't go to work on Sundays, but due to our trip he did go to work the Sunday before we left and is going to work again tomorrow. The kids had two days of school last week and just one this week. The past couple of years Nadia and Ian did many writing assignments from the IEW curriculum. We will use that curriculum again in the future, but this year I've decided to not use such an intense approach for that subject. Yesterday was actually the first time I gave Nadia and Ian a writing assignment during this school year. They did research on planning a vacation somewhere in North America. I will have them do that for most of the continents throughout the year. I said they could write it as an informative essay, persuasive essay, or as a story. I got books from the library about Hawaii (Ian's choice) and St. Lucia (Nadia's choice), and they took notes yesterday. Being back at home also means playing with friends in the neighborhood again. In the past kids from the neighborhood used to play both inside and outside our house. Yesterday was the first time in 7 months that any of the kids in the neighborhood played inside our house. Oliver spends far more time playing outside with kids in the neighborhood than his siblings, but all three of them played outside yesterday and today.

Johnstown Flood National Memorial

The main reason I am glad we are back at home is because I can sleep in my own bed. I slept very well on Thursday night. Sadly my allergies kept be awake starting at 3:30am this morning. I think mowing the lawn yesterday is what did me in. There are several factors that need to be in place for me to have a good night's sleep including the temperature of the room (which is a challenge when you're depending on an air conditioner in the room), how dark it is, how quiet it is, and if my back likes the mattress or not. The first two hotels we stayed the mattress was fine for my back, but one of those hotels was in downtown Cincinnati, and the noises from the vehicles driving by kept me awake. The mattresses were a problem in all of the other hotels - particularly the three nights in Kentucky. I took my first vacation apart from my family in 2000 when I went to Florida with my friend Charlene, and from 2001 to the present I've been taking vacations with Paul (and the kids since 2008). Over the past 20 years my top four vacations were to St. Lucia (2001), England/France (2002), Mexico (also 2002), and Aruba (2006). If I chose my four least favorite vacations over the past twenty years I'd pick: Grand Cayman because it rained almost the whole time (2012), a Western Caribbean cruise (2011) partially because the weather wasn't great and primarily because I got almost no sleep due to Ian, Sandusky, Ohio (2016) because I was physically ill and also emotionally grieving the loss of my mom = I was in zero mood for a vacation of any kind, and this trip we just took. The weather was lovely, and I was healthy. However, we had to wear masks a lot (I'm NOT a fan of wearing a mask), many things were closed or only partially open due to COVID, I didn't get enough sleep, I did a lot of driving (which is exhausting) because Paul can read in the car and I can't so he was reading novels on the Kindle while I did most of the driving, and also it was traumatic when the fawn ran into our van. I wish I could delete that image from my brain. I think it would be hard for a vacation to be considered one of the top vacations during a pandemic. It's just not an ideal time to travel, but it did mean that Paul got some time off for leisure for the first time this year, and we were able to see and do some of the things we hoped to on this trip.

Margie got very good news yesterday from her MRI and pathology report. First, the cancer is the best type to have in terms of being slow growing, and secondly the MRI showed that it hasn't spread anywhere else. PTL!!! I think this means that Margie will only need a surgery and not chemo or radiation (aside from possibly one radiation treatment during the surgery). This is a big answer to prayer!!! My mom's sister had uterine cancer quite a few years ago, and she just had a hysterectomy - no radiation or chemo. She was several years older than my mom, and she's still alive. Detecting cancer early is definitely a huge factor. My mom's wasn't detected until it was already stage four. Her quality of life was not good during her entire 6 1/2 month battle with cancer. I'm very thankful to hear that it seems Margie's battle with cancer will likely be very different than my mom's was. Speaking of health concerns, Paul's mom had two heart catheterizations last week. They discovered the problems during the first one, and then they took time to decide how to proceed. As she is not a candidate for open heart surgery, they opted to do another heart catheterization to place a stent the next day. Thankfully she was discharged from the hospital last week. Although they couldn't address all of the problems they found, we are hoping this procedure will help her feel stronger. 

Tower of Voices - Flight 93 (huge windchime!)

Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia

We spent Monday primarily in Louisville. We could see evidence of the riots and protests, but thankfully we didn't witness any of it first hand. We started our day at the Kentucky Derby Museum which included a tour of Churchill Downs. I had contemplated a tour that started at 7:30 that morning which would have enabled us to watch the horses practicing for about an hour. I hadn't bought tickets for it because #1 it would have cost $95 for all of us to attend and #2 I didn't think they would want to get up that early. If I could go back in time, I would have splurged. Paul didn't think he'd enjoy the Kentucky Derby Museum, but he did. Our second stop was to walk across the Big Four Bridge to Indiana. We watched a free presentation on making coconut fish candy (a hard candy that is very popular in that region) at Schimpff's Confectionery. The family owned candy business was opened in 1891, and the first owner's great grandson and his wife are the current owners. We bought the kids some candy before we walked back over the bridge. The kids played at a playground on the Kentucky side of the bridge before we toured the Louisville Slugger Factory. In the museum they let you hold the bat of famous baseball players. They had one bat from each team. Since we're not really baseball fans, we were indecisive as to which bats to hold. All three kids had their picture taken holding Babe Ruth's bat, and Ian also had his picture taken holding Dick Allen's bat. We picked him since he played for the Phillies. Since I was wearing a Steelers t-shirt I think the man expected us to pick the Pirates player's bat. 

The Kentucky Science Center was across the street from the Slugger Factory. It amazes me that some science museums are still closed due to COVID-19, some that we have visited have only about 1/2 of their exhibits open due to COVID-19, and then the Kentucky Science Center had almost every exhibit open. Some of the museums we have visited have given us each a stylus to use so that we wouldn't be touching any screens. The Underground Freedom Railroad Museum had installed foot pedals throughout the museum to use instead of touching a screen. However at the Kentucky Science Center, the kids were allowed to touch with their hands just as they did prior to COVID-19. It was a nice science museum, and thanks to our ASTC membership, we got in for free. We spent almost 3 hours there before driving to Red Robin for dinner. We used a reward we had earned - one free adult meal. Because we hadn't been able to try some ice cream at Graeter's as planned the previous day, we stopped at one after Red Robin. It was an expensive dessert that is to be certain. Paul didn't try anything new. He had his usual vanilla milkshake, but the kids and I each tried a flavor we hadn't had before. Graeter's has been in business since 1870. It was expensive ice cream, but it was only the second restaurant we've bought anything at this vacation that we didn't pay for with a gift card. We also bought some cookies and drinks at McD's earlier in the trip without a gift card.

Tuesday was the day that I had to completely reconfigure because the original plans had been to tour the Toyota factory and spend most of the day at the Kentucky Horse Park. Toyota isn't giving tours right now due to COVID, and the horse park isn't open on Mondays or Tuesdays right now due to COVID. We thought that we'd get breakfast at Dunkin on the way to the Shaker Village since the hotel we stayed at near Louisville didn't offer any breakfast due to COVID, but we didn't actually pass any Dunkin Donuts restaurants. I ate two blueberry muffins from a previous hotel, and Paul and the kids each ate a breakfast sandwich from Wendy's. None of them were fond of what they ate. I knew the Shaker Village experience wouldn't be the same as usual due to COVID, but still I was rather disappointed. Yesterday was definitely not the highlight of our vacation. We weren't able to tour the bison ranch as planned and the Shaker Village was disappointing. We did enjoy our 30 minute tour of the Boone Creek Creamery. Because of COVID we weren't allowed in the Hobbit Cave (where the cheese is aged) or taste any free samples, but because the tour was free, we did buy three different artisan cheeses as a way of saying thank you for the tour. Paul is looking forward to trying the one that has beef jerky in it. 

We drove more yesterday than we had for a few days. I had picked two movies for them to watch during the vacation through Disney+. They watched Secretariat on Sunday in preparation for our trip to Churchill Downs, and yesterday they watched Ruby Bridges. We listened to the newest Vanderbeekers book, will finish a biography of Thomas Edison tomorrow morning, and we're also part way through another Andrew Clements book. 

Last night we had dinner at a Texas Roadhouse in West Virginia. We ate at an outside table to avoid waiting for a table inside. Nadia wasn't happy about that because she got some bug bites on her ankles. One of her ankles is pretty swollen today from the bites. When we checked into our hotel Nadia was thrilled because the room I had paid for had THREE queen size beds in it. It was a very large room. Nadia had slept on an air mattress every other night of the trip so she got one of the queen beds to herself. Unfortunately the air mattress has a leak so it hasn't been the most comfortable thing to sleep on. She chose to be the one on the floor though. I had volunteered to share a bed with her, and Paul could have shared a bed with one of the boys. It feels odd to be walking into a hotel room with an air mattress, sheet, and sleeping bag, but when you have five people in your family, it seems the way to go as finding a room with three queen size beds is like finding a needle in a haystack. Nadia had picked which bed she wanted, but Paul thought we should have that one. I wish we had let Nadia have it because the mattress on it was the same quality as a sofa bed mattress even though it wasn't a sofa bed. The other two beds had much nicer mattresses. Sleeping at night is hard for me in hotels because my back is particular. The first two hotels we stayed in this vacation had the best mattresses so far. The last three nights were painful for me. Every time I am in a hotel and struggle to sleep there are moments when I think I never want to go on vacation again, but enough time passes that I forget how uncomfortable it can be for me to sleep elsewhere. The hotel in West Virginia did give us a free "to go" breakfast. Paul didn't like much of what they offered. I think his breakfast was primarily peanuts we brought from Texas Roadhouse last night. Several of us ate a leftover roll from last night with our breakfast this morning. 

I had chosen to stay at that hotel because I thought we'd spend time at the Clay Center in Charleston before heading back to Pennsylvania. Like the Cincinnati Museum Center, it houses a few museums, and we could get into all of them for free with our ASTC membership. However a few days ago they decreased how many days they are open each week. I only discovered this yesterday. Thankfully after booking the hotel I had added one more thing to do in the area before going to the Clay Center - touring a family owned salt works company. I also discovered last night that the national park we planned to visit today also had reduced what days they are open each week. So last night I had to reconfigure what we were going to do today and tomorrow because all that was left on the schedule for today was a 30 minute tour at JQ Dickinson. Let me tell you one must be VERY, VERY flexible if you dare to go on vacation during COVID-19. The salt works tour was very interesting. Since the tour was free, we felt obligated to buy something. They had let us try some samples of different salts and also different caramels that they make. The caramel was out of this world so we bought a jar. It cost far more than I'd ever normally pay for a jar of caramel, but it is very delicious and in my mind was a way of saying thank you for the free tour.

Every other day on this trip our lunch has consisted of food I brought from home - crackers, PB&J sandwiches, fruit, and granola bars. I had received an email from Panera saying if we spent $50 paying with a certain type of payment that we'd get the $50 back. So I decided we'd have lunch at Panera today. It was delicious! We also stopped at Dorsey's Knob Park in Morgantown, WV so the kids could play on the playground, and we could also take in the pretty views. I was hoping the leaves would be turning, but our trip was a little too early for that. Since we were unable to visit Friendship Hill NHS as planned, we visited Fort Necessity instead. Unfortunately we got off schedule through the course of the day for a variety of reasons, and we had a little less than one hour at the park rather than the two I had planned. Two would have been much better. It was VERY challenging to complete the junior ranger badges in 55 minutes, but they did it. Paul would like to go back there sometime since our visit was so rushed. This battlefield was at the very start of the French and Indian War. 

We had dinner at Subway and then checked in at our hotel. The kids were thrilled when I told them that this hotel has an OPEN pool!!! The jacuzzi was closed, they aren't offering any food in place of the breakfast buffet they usually offer, but the indoor pool was open. I'm confident we won't have trouble going to a Dunkin Donut tomorrow on our way to the Flight 93 memorial. This is our last night at a hotel as we are driving home tomorrow evening. We thought we'd be able to swim four of the seven nights, but we were actually able to swim one night. The water temperature was about 65 degrees according to Paul. I had put on my bathing suit, but when he told me that I turned around and went back to our room. I expected the kids would swim for an hour, but they only lasted 40 minutes given the water temperature. We thought we'd be eating a free breakfast at the hotel all seven mornings, but three of the mornings the hotel didn't provide any food. Of all the places we visited, only two took issue with the kids wearing face shields. Presuming all goes as planned tomorrow (which is certainly not a guarantee), the kids will have earned 7 Junior Ranger badges on this trip. So far the kids and Paul say that their most favorite parts of the trip have included: Air Force Museum (Paul's #1 and the boys have it in their top three), Ark, Creation Museum, IMAX movie, Kentucky Science Center, and Schrimpff's Confectionery. The first day of our trip was the day that involved the most driving. I'm glad we're already in western Pennsylvania, which means we won't be driving nearly as much tomorrow as we did on October 1. I'm thankful we've had safety on the road thus far. A fawn did collide with our vehicle a few days ago, but thankfully I don't think our van was damaged. If anything was damaged, it was the mirror on the driver's side of the vehicle. Paul and I both try our best to dodge all animals when driving, but we weren't able to this time. We appreciated the cheaper gas prices in Ohio and Kentucky. We had to pay a lot more for a tank of gas this evening since we reentered Pennsylvania. Our van has almost 150,000 miles on it, and I'm thankful that it hasn't given us any mechanical problems thus far. Here's to hoping that I get more sleep tonight and that we'll have a good day together tomorrow - the last day of our family vacation for 2020. I took a LOT of pictures over the past 10 days. I'm planning to work on a photo book once we're back home as Shutterfly is having another unlimited pages special this weekend. 

Dogs, Kangaroos, and The Ark

Yesterday morning our first stop was one of the playgrounds on the riverfront. Paul, Ian, and Nadia headed there first while Oliver and I walked across the Purple People Bridge that links Ohio and Kentucky. It's not every day that you can walk from one state to another, but we did it two days in a row as all five of us walked from Kentucky to Indiana today! Our next stop was the Cincinnati Museum Center. Prior to COVID, I thought we'd spend time at the Children's Museum and the Museum of Natural History and Science. Since the Children's Museum was completely closed and about half of the Museum of Natural History and Science was closed, I decided that we would also visit the Cincinnati History Museum and see an IMAX movie. We were able to get into the museums for free thanks to our ASTC membership. We usually only see a planetarium show if it doesn't involve an extra charge, and we almost never see an IMAX movie because that always costs extra money. I remember taking the kids to an IMAX movie at the science museum in Baltimore several years ago with their cousins because we went during a homeschool event and it wasn't expensive to see the movie. Paul

couldn't recollect ever having seen an IMAX movie before, and the kids didn't remember the other time they went. I remember enjoying seeing IMAX movies when we were on vacation when I was growing up so I decided to splurge yesterday in light of the fact that half of the science museum wasn't open and the children's museum was completely closed. Our choices were a movie about Apollo 11 or one about the "superpowers" of dogs such as their ability to search and rescue. Paul voted for the one about Apollo 11, but all three kids picked the dog one, so that is what we saw. Nadia wanted to do some extra things that cost $ at the Air Force Museum, but I said no because we didn't even have time to see everything that we could see for free, but in this instance I decided to splurge. The kids really enjoyed the movie. It cost $39 for 5 tickets, which is certainly the most we've ever paid to see a movie, and the movie was less than an hour long, but although it might have cost more than I am usually to spend to see a movie, I think it was worth it. I had read that Graeter's Ice Cream was something visitors should try, and I had planned on us having some

ice cream at the Cincinnati Museum Center around 1pm since we'd be having dinner later than usual, but only one restaurant was reopened there post COVID, and it wasn't the ice cream place. 

We ate lunch in the van while I drove to the Ark, which is about 45 minutes from Cincinnati. I had originally planned for us to visit the Ark and Creation Museum in the fall of 2021, but I changed those plans when I saw that kids ages 10 and under could attend both sites for free in 2020. We saved $100 by going this year. Both places offer things that cost extra such as zip lining or a planetarium show, but I hadn't planned to add on any extras. We stuck to that plan at the Creation Museum, but Nadia really, really wanted to do the virtual reality at The Ark. It cost $15 for a ten minute show, which seemed really overpriced to me, but I paid for her to do it while the boys played on the playground. In addition to walking through the ark (which is naturally the primary attraction), we also visited the petting zoo. Ian and I were each able to pet a kangaroo when we walked through the kangaroo walkabout. 

Yesterday was the first time we experienced rain during our trip, and ironically it rained while we were inside the Ark. The temperature also dropped a lot while we were in the Ark. I had left my jacket in the van, but Paul graciously loaned me his hoodie. We attempted to have dinner at Cracker Barrel, but when we were told the wait would be about 1 hour, we decided to go through the drive-thru at Dunkin Donut instead because #1 it was already 6:00 and #2 we still had a 90 minute drive to our hotel south of Louisville. Would you believe they were completely out of all donuts?!? I wasn't as shocked that they were out of everything bagels as that happens fairly often, but no donuts at a place that has donut in its name? When I checked into the motel I learned that #1 their indoor pool was closed due to COVID (we have lost all hope of actually using the bathing suits we packed in our suitcase) and #2 they aren't giving anything out to replace the breakfast buffet that has been suspended due to COVID. I'm hoping our last two hotels will at least do the "grab and go" type breakfast that the first two hotels did on this trip. The last hotel was rather generous in what they gave

out so we still had leftovers. We ate those this morning. Tomorrow we're planning on stopping at Dunkin on our way to the Shaker Village. Needless to ay I wish I had booked our stay elsewhere because this location involved extra driving, and we didn't get the free breakfast or indoor pool that I thought would be worth the extra driving. This is why I don't want to plan any more vacations until the pandemic is over. But all in all things have gone fairly smoothly all things considered. So far only two sites haven't permitted the kids to wear face shields - the Air Force Museum in Dayton and the Cincinnati Museum Center both insisted on masks not shields. It was rather chilly this morning when we toured Churchill Downs. We had a lot of fogging of glasses and face shields. Well everyone is in bed except for me so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to write about our adventures in Louisville today. The mattress in this hotel is really awful for my back. Here's to hoping I get more sleep tonight than I did last night. 

Snakes, Strings, and Freedom

The first 3 days of our trip we spent most of our time in Ohio. However, we crossed the border into Kentucky to have dinner on Friday night, and we crossed the border into KY twice yesterday. First, we came over in the morning to spend some time at the Creation Museum, and then after we visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, we returned to KY for dinner. We first attempted to eat dinner at a Texas Roadhouse, but when I was told our wait for a table would be 2+ hours, we decided to go elsewhere. We went to an Applebee's instead, where the wait was about 20 minutes. Because we didn't start eating our food until 6:30, we didn't have time to return to the riverfront playgrounds in Cincinnati like the kids wanted last night. We are planning to return there this morning. The kids did play for more than an hour at the playground at the Creation Museum yesterday. I think the best parts of the Creation Museum were the Snakes Alive show, 4D movie, and the 45 minute concert by the Foto Sisters. They both sang and took turns playing the piano. One also played the cello, and the other played the violin. Because the music was either

sacred (hymns) or classical, I think Paul and I enjoyed the concert more than the kids did. Very little was modified at the Creation Museum due to COVID, but half of the National Underground Railroad museum is temporarily closed due to COVID. We spent more than 5 hours at the Creation Museum, including the time we spent in the parking lot eating our lunches in the van. We spent about 90 minutes at the Underground Railroad museum. 

I told the kids they could each spend $15 on the trip. Yesterday Oliver spent $5 of his money on a flavored ice drink yesterday at the Creation Museum, and Nadia spent all of her money on a stuffed animal at the Creation Museum (koala pictured above). We wore our masks or shields inside both museums. Everyone was wearing masks inside the Underground Railroad museum, but I'd say only about half of the guests were wearing a face covering inside the Creation Museum even though the site was asking everyone to wear them. Almost all of the employees were wearing a face covering. Today is the fourth day of our eight day trip. By tonight our trip will be half way done.

Wrights, Taft, and Art

 

Our first stop yesterday morning was the Dayton Aviation NHP. We spent about one hour in the museum during which time the kids earned a junior ranger badge, and then a ranger gave us a 30 minute tour of the Wright Cycle Company building. We *thought* the bikes we owned were "ordinary" bikes, but actually they are "safety" bikes. None of us were interested in riding what is truly an "ordinary" bike! Paul drove from Dayton to Cincinnati so that I could make some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while we drove. I brought two loaves of bread, a jar of marmalade, jar of grape jelly, and a jar of peanut butter from home. We ate our lunch and listened to more of a biography about Thomas Edison while we drove. 

Our second stop was the home of President Taft. The house was open, but the rangers weren't giving guided tours. The kids earned another Junior Ranger badge at that site. There were two park rangers there - one named Jeanette (my sister's middle name) and the other's name was Ruth! I chatted with her about how rare it is to meet someone with the name of Ruth from our generation. Almost every time I've met

another Ruth, she's been from a generation older than me. 

Our third stop was the Cincinnati Art Museum. I had gotten (free) tickets for 3:00. On Thursday we were running behind schedule, but yesterday we actually were ahead of schedule as we showed up at the museum at 2:00. Thankfully that wasn't a problem. Our first stop was the hands-on room where the kids were able to do an art project. Then we walked around the museum. The only other art museum the kids have been in prior to this was the Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY, which is a very small art museum. We had planned to visit a large art museum in Chicago this past April, but that trip was cancelled. I was impressed with how many hands-on stations they had throughout the Cincinnati Art Museum, but they had all of them closed due to COVID. Although I don't think my kids would naturally get excited about visiting an art museum, I think they all had a fine time. I was thinking of Susie (my niece who is an excellent artist) and also of my brother Maurice when we were in the ancient art part of the museum. Both of them would have loved to visit this museum with us. 

We've been eating the "grab and go" breakfasts that the hotels are providing, eating food I brought from home for our lunches, and using gift cards for dinner. Last night we had dinner at IHOP. I highly recommend the pumpkin spice pancakes!!! All of the sites we visited the past two days were free; there was one exhibit at the art museum that required a paid ticket, but we skipped that exhibit. The museums we're visiting today are definitely NOT free to visit. Aside from paying for gas for the van and one hotel room per night, our only other cost the past two days was the $5 parking we paid while we spent 2.5 hours enjoying the playgrounds and such along the Ohio River after dinner last night. The kids enjoyed it so much we're planning to return again after dinner at Texas Roadhouse tonight. 

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.