Rhode Island

Yesterday we spent our time in Boston, Salem, and Cambridge before driving to spend the night in Providence. Our first stop was the New England Aquarium which was something I added to our itinerary when I had to eliminate two other National Park sites. It definitely isn't one of the biggest aquariums that we have visited, but the kids enjoyed it. The highlight was watching the penguins being fed. We also felt some sharks and sting rays in a touch tank, watched some seals and sea lions, and witnessed Myrtle, a sea turtle, being fed lettuce. The last time we saw an IMAX movie was at a science museum on our vacation in October 2020, so we decided to splurge and see one at the aquarium. We watched a 20-minute movie about predators. We were the only five people in the theater! Unfortunately, we made a mistake and parked in a parking garage in Boston. It turns out if you stay more than an hour, the charge is $43! Ouch! 

We walked a little over a mile from the Aquarium to Boston Common where we were meeting our Freedom Trail tour guide. I remember following the red line on the sidewalk with my family when we were on vacation when I was a child. Our tour guide spent more time in a Burying Ground than I would have expected and didn't include stops at some sites I did think would be included such as Paul Revere's House and the Old North Church. We could have taken a freedom trail tour with a park ranger, but the park sites in Boston are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays at the moment. So, we paid for a tour with another organization. Our tour guide did a very good job during our 90-minute tour. After our tour was over, we walked back to the parking garage. There was a lot of traffic in both Boston and Salem, so it took us longer than expected to drive to see a play about the witch trial of Sarah Bishop. It was also very hard to find parking in Salem. Paul ended up dropping the four of us off, and he missed the production due to how long it took him to find parking and then walk back to the venue. There are many things to do in Salem, but we chose not to spend more time there in favor of other options elsewhere. Our fourth stop on Monday was at Longfellow's House in Cambridge, which was also used as George Washington's headquarters for several months. This was the only place where the kids earned a Junior Ranger badge yesterday. We saw quite a few wild turkeys in Cambridge. Thankfully the parking in Salem and Cambridge was MUCH cheaper than in Boston. 

From Cambridge we drove to a Cheesecake Factory. Last September we ate at one for the first time as a family, and I think yesterday's dinner might be the last time we eat at a Cheesecake Factory. Nadia and I ordered an appetizer as our meal (to save $), and the boys ordered off the kids' menu. Paul's meal cost twice as much as an appetizer. We also got two slices of cheesecake that we shared among the five of us. We realized that the gift cards weren't going to cover the entire meal plus tip, but then it turned out that one of the gift cards the credit card company sent us didn't actually have any value which meant we spent even more on our credit card for the meal than we had anticipated. The food was tasty, but I just don't think it's worth it to spend that much on one meal.

After dinner we drove to Providence, Rhode Island. The kids have technically been to Rhode Island before as we spent time in the Providence Children’s Museum on our way home from Cape Cod in September 2016. Six years later we spent a bit more time in the state. We had planned to stop at a place that had go karts and bumper boats before going to the hotel, but everyone (except Oliver) just wanted to go straight to the hotel. The kids have never gone go-karting or been in a bumper boat. We will have let them try those experiences some time, but it won't be in 2022. The Hyatt we stayed in near the airport in Providence was very nice. It had an indoor pool and an outstanding breakfast. I took Oliver to the pool. He swam for an hour. The other two preferred to have screen time in the room with Paul. 

This morning our first stop was the Roger Williams Zoo. Our schedule today was rather flexible, so we spent almost three hours at the zoo. Oliver used $12 of his money to ride a Zip rider. We got in for 50% off because of our AZA membership. We saw a rather active sloth (which is a rare thing in our experience), the kids petted goats, sheep, and armadillos, and saw a wide variety of other animals. Oliver wasn't too thrilled when a tamarin peed on him. Oops! In general, most of the animals were pretty active while we were at the zoo. Our second stop was the Roger Williams National Park site. The visitor center is closed Monday through Wednesday so we couldn't get our passports stamped. I am planning on mailing in the kids' Junior Ranger pages so they should still receive their badges eventually. Thankfully the parking was free at all the places we visited in Rhode Island today.

We then drove for over an hour (included two large bridges) to get to Newport. We toured Breakers, which was a summer home for the Vanderbilts. There are many mansions in Newport that can be toured. We only toured one. Financially, it would have been better to pay a grand total of $3 more for a family membership for the year, but since we don't plan to return and didn't want to visit more than one mansion today, we didn't go that route. After we toured the mansion, we walked along a portion of the Cliff Walk, which is 3.5 miles long. We had pizza for dinner, which thankfully was NOT overpriced like the one we ate at in Philadelphia was. Over the last eight days we purchased dessert three times, first we had ice cream at Ben and Jerry's in Vermont, the second time was the two slices of cheesecake, and the third time was when we stopped at an ice cream place on our drive from Newport, Rhode Island to the Econo Lodge where we are staying this evening in Connecticut. My caramel apple sundae was delicious! I have been trying to be careful about how many calories I have eaten each day. I am very curious to see what the scale will say when I weigh myself on Thursday morning at home. Unfortunately, we will be only receiving a grab and go breakfast tomorrow. On our trip so far, we've had the full range of no breakfast (once), continental breakfast, grab and go breakfast (once), and hot breakfasts. Four of the mornings we had an above average hot breakfast. We had to put more air in the one tire again today, but other than that everything has gone smoothly with the vehicle, and the weather only altered our plans twice (eliminated miniature golfing the first night and the whale cruise in Maine last week). We spent one night in Vermont, two nights in Maine, three nights near Boston, one night in Rhode Island, and tonight we're spending one night in Connecticut. We plan to sleep in our own beds tomorrow night. We're coming home, Milo, Jenna, and Buttercup! 

Boston

The first time the kids were in Boston was in September 2016 when we stayed in Cape Cod for a week on a vacation with Paul's parents. The two things we did in Boston on that trip were the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum and the Museum of Science. Yesterday morning after another delicious breakfast at the hotel (the best breakfast I've ever seen at a hotel), we listened to our pastor's sermon on the lukewarm church in Laodicea as we drove into Boston. Our first top was a visit to the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) and Bunker Hill. We attended a program that Paul really enjoyed about the battle of Bunker Hill, and then the five of us climbed the 294 steps up the monument. We went in a visitor center, museum, and also the USS Cassin before leaving that area. The kids each earned two Junior Ranger badges as prior to coming here they had completed the Boston African American book, so they also received those badges. We then drove to Quincy to have a guided tour of the three homes that comprise the Adams National Historical Park. We learned more about John Adams, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, and other members of their family during the two-hour tour. In preparation for this trip we had listened to a biography about John Adams. We also watched the movie at the visitor's center, and the kids each earned another badge. This park was the 89th National Park that the kids have earned a Junior Ranger badge at in person. They have earned around 150 badges each, but the rest were earned online or through the mail. Although including this park in our trip meant I had to eliminate two others because of the fact that many parks are no longer open seven days a week, I think I made the right call in this instance.

We had dinner at Red Robin, which is the only restaurant where Nadia still orders from the children's menu.  The Red Robin was located in a large mall in Braintree; in our area, malls are pretty empty and a thing of the past, but we've noticed more than one mall on this trip that still looks to be thriving. After we ate, we drove back into Boston to walk through the Boston Lights: A Lantern Experience at the Franklin Park Zoo before driving to our hotel. Nadia has slept on either an air mattress or a sofa bed every night so far on this trip, but last night at a Comfort Inn our suite had three queen beds. Her bed was actually in a separate room. We will be spending today in Boston and Salem and then driving to Providence. We have had to add more air to one tire twice over the last few days. Hopefully that tire won't give us any major grief before we can properly address the situation back at home. We haven't heard anything from our neighbors, so we assume no news is good news regarding our three pets.  We miss them and look forward to being reunited with them on Wednesday!

Acadia, Lowell, and Minute Man National Parks

Thankfully, the weather was much nicer on Friday during our second day in Maine. We needed to wear winter coats for part of the day for the first time in months, but it didn't rain at all. We spent about seven hours in Acadia National Park. It was the first time in Oliver's life that he spent the night on an island as our motel was in Bar Harbor which is also on Mount Desert Island. After we got the Junior Ranger booklets from the Visitor Center, we first went to Sand Beach and then walked to Thunder Hole. That site is best to visit at high tide, which wasn't possible for us as we were asleep during the first high tide and eating dinner in Augusta during the second high tide of the day. Our next stop was Jordan Pond. I thought that Acadia wouldn't be overcrowded since it was September. Well, it took a very long time to find a parking spot anywhere near Jordan Pond. It honestly felt like a miracle that we finally got a spot. We weren't able to try a popover from the restaurant there due to really long lines, but we were able to hike the 3.2-mile trail around the pond. Some parts of the trail were easy to walk - walking on boards or a pretty smooth trail. Other parts of the trail were far more challenging - scrambling over rocks, etc. After that hike, we drove to Cadillac Mountain as I had a reservation to go up the mountain at 2pm. The views from the top of the mountain were breathtaking. We hiked short trail around the summit. We probably would have spent more time up there, but it was VERY windy up there. After we came back down the mountain, we returned to the Visitor Center to get the kids' Junior Ranger badges. According to my phone, I took over 20,000 steps that day. We then drove to Massachusetts. We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Augusta on the way. Oliver and I both ordered a sweet potato, Ian had chicken nuggets and applesauce, Nadia had a salad and pulled pork, and Paul had a steak dinner. We all enjoyed the complimentary rolls. 

I used credit card points for our two-night stay at Hampton Inn. The breakfast was excellent. On Saturday morning we didn't leave until about 9:40am to head to Lowell National Historical Park. Nadia was hoping to sleep in, but she couldn't because the five of us share a room. I usually am up before 6am, but I am quiet until at least 7am. The boys are not quiet once they get up. The kids earned a badge at Lowell, and we rode a trolley and also a boat ride in the canal during a 90-minute tour. Because of COVID, our boat wasn't able to go through the lock because no one is manning the lockhouse. Our second stop was at Minute Man National Historical Park, which was one Paul was particularly looking forward to visiting. First, we took a guided tour at the site of the North Bridge Battlefield in Concord. Then we attended a program at the other visitor center in Lexington. This site had an extremely easy way to earn a Junior Ranger badge. Our last stop was at Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House where we had a guided tour. Nadia had requested that we include that stop in our trip. I certainly didn't object as she was one of my most favorite authors when I was in fifth grade. Of all the places we've visited on trips in May through the present, it was the first place where we were required to wear face masks. We then attempted to have dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, which would have been a first for us, but the restaurant was SO understaffed that we were waiting for a long time in the lobby (along with many other people) and during that time an employee never came to put anyone's name on a waiting list. There were many, many empty tables in the restaurant, but they were so short staffed that they weren't seating anyone at the tables. We opted to have dinner at Subway instead. Now that we have a gift card for Buffalo Wild Wings, we'll definitely have to go there at some point in the future. It was nice not to spend much time in the van today. We'll be doing more sightseeing in and around Boston tomorrow and Monday. 

Hurricane Fiona

Originally, we were planning to go to Florida in September. Because of how often hurricanes pass come near Florida in September, I decided we should go in May instead. We experienced almost no rain during our two-week trip in May. I didn't expect a hurricane to be a factor in a trip to New England in September. I was wrong. This morning as we were eating a continental breakfast at our motel, I received an email from the cruise company stating that today's whale watching cruise had been cancelled. This four-hour cruise was to be the main activity of our day. The kids were on one other whale watch cruise in September 2016 in Massachusetts. Sitting at breakfast I tried to make new plans for our day. Even though it was raining, we still walked the one-mile Marginal Way Walk along the coast in Ogunquit as that was the reason that we stayed in that town last night. I'm sure it would have been more beautiful if it wasn't a rainy, dreary day, but it was still pretty, and we got some exercise. Rainboots would have been greatly appreciated. We did make use of three rain ponchos and two umbrellas.

After we finished our coastal walk, we drove to Portland where we toured the Portland Observatory that was built in 1807 and is the last surviving maritime signal station in the United States. Next, we toured the boyhood home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I had looked for places to visit in Portland, Augusta, Bangor, etc. but hadn't found many options because some required reservations be made more than a day in advance, others were not open on Thursdays, some had recently become permanently closed, etc. This day definitely didn't go as planned. We were all really looking forward the whale/dolphin watching cruise, but we tried to make the best of a very rainy day. On our drive from Portland to Bar Harbor, we stopped to have dinner at a Denny's in Augusta. The weather is supposed to be much nicer tomorrow while we explore Acadia National Park. I'm hoping we have a great day because adding this destination into our itinerary definitely added to the number of miles we are driving on this trip. My earlier itinerary for this trip didn't include Acadia, but then I decided that if we were driving to the southern part of Maine, we should make the extra effort to visit what is considered to be one of the top ten National Parks in the United States. We were spoiled in that the weather didn't really interfere with our plans during our 3+ week vacation last fall or our 2-week trip in May. The weather has been a much bigger factor on other trips such as our trip to Grand Caymen in May 2012. I am going to attempt to include another whale watching cruise in one of our future vacations (probably when we visit the Northwest or Hawaii). As of today, we are down to nine states left to visit! Hopefully by this time next year we'll be down to our last three (Hawaii, Alaska, and Louisiana). 

Vermont

Yesterday morning we ate a continental breakfast at our hotel and then drove about twenty minutes to a farm which is a family business that produces primarily maple syrup and cheese. Paul and the kids tasted various free samples of cheese and syrup. We didn't buy any cheese due to the length of time it would be out of a refrigerator while we are traveling, but we bought some syrup for two of our neighbors who are caring for our pets in our absence. Our second stop was at the only National Park site in Vermont- the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. I had purchased tickets for a guided tour at 10:00 which lasted a little over an hour. We also walked a one-mile loop trail after our tour. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge. 

Our third stop was supposed to be a tour of Ben and Jerry's factory at 1:30pm, but I screwed up. As I was driving north, I saw a sign for Waterbury and thought to myself that I thought that was the town where the factory was located. I really wish I had asked Paul to quickly look that up while I was driving, but I didn't. I had entered the wrong address into the GPS. We were headed to a little Ben and Jerry's ice cream store about 35 minutes farther north than the factory. They allow you to reschedule or cancel your tour up to 30 minutes before your tour time, but since we didn't figure out that we were in the wrong place until about 5 minutes before our tour, it meant I wasted the money we paid for our five tickets. The wrong address was located in Burlington, and I remembered that when we had planned to be in this area in 2020 (trip was cancelled due to you know what) I had planned for us to visit the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center located on the waterfront of Lake Champlain in Burlington and also Lake Champlain Chocolates. The chocolate factory had moved over the last 2 years, but we were able to visit the science museum. They would allow a maximum of four people in for free with our ASTC membership, so we only paid for one child. We spent about an hour there. The kids each fed a baby newt. Oliver, true to form, made a friend with whom he played for most of the time we were there. I was thankful that we didn't drive to Burlington in vain. 

Our fourth stop was a 3:30 tour of the Vermont Teddy Bear factory. We also purchased four stuffed animals there. I bought an owl for Karyss (a ten-year-old who is helping with Milo while we're away) and an elephant for Oliver (which will be put away until Christmas). Ian bought himself a penguin, and Nadia bought herself a sloth. We had planned to eat dinner at a Denny's near the teddy bear factory, but we changed our plans in light of my error. We were going to be driving by Waterbury on our way to Maine, so we stopped at Ben and Jerry's and the Cider Mill in Waterbury prior to getting dinner at McDonald's. We weren't able to join a tour at Ben and Jerry's as the tickets were all sold out for the day, but we walked through their Flavor Graveyard and also bought some ice cream. We arrived at the Cider Mill only ten minutes before it closed so we didn't have time for a tour, but we did get free cups of cider and also purchased six apple cider donuts for $4.00 that we plan to have for breakfast tomorrow morning as the hotel we are staying at tonight near Acadia doesn't provide a free breakfast.

When I book our hotels, I usually search on Priceline and Hotels.com when we're not using credit card points. I try to find the cheapest place that has free breakfast and two beds plus a sofa bed as long as it doesn't have completely abysmal ratings. In Philadelphia we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. They had a really nice breakfast. Nadia had to sleep on an air mattress that night as I couldn't find anything that included a sofa bed at a reasonable price. The same was true for the first night of this trip in Vermont when we stayed at a Super 8. It was definitely not the nicest motel. Last night we stayed at Ogunquit Tides in Maine. Nadia did have a sofa bed and the room was much nicer than the one at the Super 8. They had an indoor pool, but it closed at 9pm so we weren't able to swim as we arrived around 9:30pm. Some of the hotels I booked for this trip have outdoor pools, but that won't be helpful in September in New England. Hopefully the kids will be able to swim in the indoor pool at the hotel in Providence, Rhode Island next week. Today and tomorrow, we will be in Maine. Then we plan to spend three days in Massachusetts, one day in Rhode Island, and the day we drive home we plan to do two things in Connecticut. The weather looks good for Acadia National Park tomorrow, but I think we're going to have a lot of rain today.

New York and New Hampshire

Home of Martin van Buren

On Sunday we went to church, I mowed the lawn, Paul took Oliver and Milo to a corn maze, we started packing, and we did the chores we usually do on Saturday. Last week we had 3.5 days of school because of the roller-skating party on Monday and our trip to Philadelphia on Friday. This week we only had one day of school - Monday. I also took the van for an appointment to get the oil changed and tires rotated. Nadia and Ian had their choir rehearsals, and the boys went to Ninjastics.

On Tuesday morning we left our home at 5:30am and drove four hours straight to Kinderhook, New York to tour the home of Martin van Buren. Because we left so early, I got donuts on Monday night so we could eat breakfast in the van while we drove. Our tour guide was excellent. I was very impressed with how much of the furniture, wallpaper, etc. in the home was original considering it's almost 200 years old. We all learned more about the life of this former President. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge. We typically purchase a magnet at places like this, but as was the case at the Battleship New Jersey last week, that wasn't possible at this site. At this site they weren't selling anything because of COVID. We then drove 2.75 hours to Saint Gaudens, which is the only National Park site in New Hampshire, and it's also the only National Park about a sculptor. We weren't there at the right time to participate in a guided tour or program, but we were able to watch a movie, walk around the site, and walk through his house. I passed on a short hike because the ground was wet. I didn't want to risk a fall. The kids earned another Junior Ranger badge. We had dinner at Applebee's and planned to go miniature golfing afterward, but it was raining. The park was located very close to the Connecticut River, which is the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. After dinner we crossed over the river again to spend the night in Vermont. We are spending the day in Vermont today and driving to Maine this evening. By tomorrow our list of states we haven't visited yet will be down to nine as New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine were three Paul and the kids hadn't been to yet. 

Two weeks ago, Ian came down sick. He ended up having the mildest case. Nadia came down sick the next day, and she still has a cough. Oliver didn't catch the bug from them until last Wednesday. Thankfully, Paul and I have managed to stay healthy. Although we weren't ever required to wear masks in Philadelphia, we had Oliver wear one a fair amount of the time because he's not always good about covering his cough with his elbow. None of the kids have had a fever or any other symptoms that would point to it being COVID. I'm hoping that Nadia and Oliver will return to full health as soon as possible. 

City of Brotherly Love

The last time I was in Philadelphia was March 2019 when Wendy and I cleaned out Maurice's apartment a few days after we were stunned with the news that he had passed away suddenly. The last time my kids were in Philadelphia was November 2019 when we spent the day with Maurice not knowing at the time that it would be the last time the four of us would see him here on earth. In 2020 I had made plans for us to attend an educational program on the Battleship New Jersey, but it was cancelled. I've also had it in the back of my mind for a few years to come to Philadelphia on a Constitution Day so that we could attend the National Constitution Center for free and also visit two small National Park sites in the city that are only open on the weekend. Earlier this year we couldn't have come to Philadelphia because of the vaccine mandates that were in place. I assumed that it would be an emotional experience for me to return. I knew I wasn't ready to visit the Penn Museum yet, although I wish we had gone there in November 2018 with Maurice. The only time I cried during our two days in Philly was when we walked past the Museum of the American Revolution as that was one of the places we toured with Maurice. 

We left our house a little after 7am on Friday. Our first stop was the National Constitution Center. We then walked to Betsy Ross's House and the Fireman's Hall Museum. The first and third stops were free. They had a variety of programs going on at the Constitution Center including birthday cake. We attended one show titled Freedom Rising. We walked between those three sites, but then we got in our van and drove to the Eastern State Penitentiary. Thankfully they had free (parallel) parking around the site as we had already paid $24 to use a parking garage in the morning. At Betsy Ross's house I paid $2 extra per person so that we could have an audio tour. At the penitentiary, the audio tour was automatically included. I had considered arranging it so we could attend a guided tour, but the tours are only offered on Saturdays and Sundays. In the end I chose to sign up for a guided tour at the Battleship New Jersey on Saturday instead because they don't have an audio tour there. I think this was the right call as it turned out there were some shorter guided tours called "hands-on history" at the penitentiary. We participated in two of them. 

I had selected a pizza place for dinner that night. We ended up driving toward the Franklin Institute and randomly picked another pizza place. This was a mistake! I had researched the price of the pizza at the place I had chosen ahead of time. We sat down at Pizzaria Vetri without asking to see the menu. The pizza was the type we were accustomed to eating in Europe, which was a first for the kids. The downside was that it was much smaller and a lot more expensive. Normally sharing a large pizza is the cheapest way for the five of us to eat dinner at a restaurant if we don't use a gift card. That wasn't true at this place. We then walked to Franklin Institute for the Harry Potter Exhibition. This stop was the kids' favorite. We walked to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We saw the statue of Rocky outside the museum, but we never made it in the museum because the employees were on strike. I was very, very disappointed. On Fridays the museum is open later than usual, and admission is by donation during that time. I had made a donation online the previous day as they are utilizing timed admission. The museum was still open, but we would have had to cross the picket line to enter the museum. This probably means the kids will never visit that art museum unless they visit as adults in the future. Paul and I were unable to visit the British Museum in 2002 because they were on strike the day we attempted to go there. We're hoping to visit the British Museum for the first time in 2025.

When we spent one night in Philadelphia in the spring of 2018, we utilized the (paid) parking at the hotel and hoofed it around the city. This time our paid parking at the hotel was only used for our night at the hotel. We paid $97 just for parking over the two days and that was with utilizing parking on the street some of the time (which cost from $1.50 to $2.50 per hour). This is just one of MANY reasons Paul and I have zero desire to ever live in a city. We're also not big fans of the traffic. 

For quite a while the plan had been to spend time at the Franklin Institute on Saturday morning as we can go there for free with our ASTC membership. A couple of days before we left, we decided to visit the Philadelphia Zoo instead. It was the very first zoo in the United States. We had taken Ian and Nadia there when they were very young. Oliver had never been. Because of our zoo membership we got in for 50% off. The kids would have liked to feed the giraffes again, but since we had paid for that experience at another zoo last month, we didn't do that again. The kids really enjoyed the primates who were swinging all over the place. Having a tiger walk over our heads was also a unique experience. At the zoos we visited in June and August the petting zoo portion was closed due to COVID, but it was open at this zoo. Although they also would have enjoyed the Franklin Institute, I'm glad we chose the zoo as it was the kids' second favorite experience from our getaway. We would have spent more than 2 hours at the zoo, but we had to drive to Camden for our guided tour of the Battleship New Jersey. After that we visited two small National Park sites. The first one was about Thaddeus Kosciusko. The first task was to learn how to say his name! That is the smallest site of all the 400+ National Park sites. The kids earned two Junior Ranger badges - one there and another at Edgar Allen Poe's home. We used a gift card for dinner at TGI Fridays. I don't plan on getting gift cards for that restaurant again any time soon because first of all the prices were rather steep and secondly the music was VERY loud (headache inspiring!). After dinner we drove home, which made Milo very happy. 

I am thankful that Paul was able to take those days off of work to join us and that we were able to spend two days in Philly. I don't anticipate us returning there for the foreseeable future unless we go with the group from our church that ministers to the homeless/drug addicts near Kensington Place a few times a year. The next day at church the sermon was on Revelation 3:7-13 which is about the church of Philadelphia (in what is now Turkey). A couple of days before we went on the trip, we had been talking about the meanings of some of the different Greek words for "love" in history. I know Maurice is much better off where he is now, but I miss him very much! 

18 years later

The last time Paul and I went on a date to see a movie at the theater was in 2004. It's not something we did very often while we were dating or in the early years of marriage. I think the two we saw in the theater together that Paul liked the best were The Perfect Storm and A Beautiful Mind. Generally, we have been content to wait until a movie comes out on DVD, and that has been even more true since we became parents in 2008. Saturday night Paul and I went to see Lifemark because I had received two free tickets through K-LOVE. It was our third date in 2022 after going a few years without any dates! Sam's Club is very close to the theater, so we picked up a few things there before the movie. In hindsight, we could have spent more time at Sam's Club because the previews lasted a full 31 minutes before the movie started. Oi vey! That didn't exactly inspire us to choose seeing movies at the theater over waiting for them to come out on DVD. The movie was excellent. I reflected on the years we tried to adopt and also the experiences of some of my friends who have adopted. The next movie I was contemplating seeing was I heard the Bells, which has been made by Sight and Sound and will be shown in December, but maybe we will return to our pattern of typically waiting to see movies on DVD. Now that Oliver is ten, we aren't paying his siblings to babysit him. There have been three "firsts" in the last month in regard to the kids being left alone. The three of them ate lunch once together at home alone when I went out to lunch with Tab last month, they ate dinner together at home alone once last month when I was at a meeting at church, and Saturday night was the first time that Oliver went to bed when we weren't home and no one else was babysitting. We certainly don't feel comfortable leaving them home alone for extended periods of time yet. We left as quickly as possible after the movie was done. 

Speaking of Oliver being ten, he's now old enough to volunteer with Compassion. Ian and Nadia have volunteered with me on more than one occasion. Next month all five of us are signed up to volunteer with Compassion at a concert featuring Casting Crowns, Anne Wilson, and Cain in Hershey. It will be the first time either Paul or Oliver have volunteered with Compassion. 

Speaking of dates, Nadia had her first date for 2022. She went bowling with Paul yesterday afternoon. They bowled four games. Oliver wanted to have his third (and final) date of the year yesterday, but the weather didn't cooperate. He has requested going to a corn maze for his last date. Technically Nadia's first date was split over two days. Last Sunday evening Paul took her out for pizza and then to a bowling alley, but the bowling alley wasn't open. Our new tradition is for the kids to each get three dates a year with one of their parents. Nadia has two left for 2022, and Ian should have one more. 

Nadia took this photo of her guinea pig, Peppa.

It's been 2.5 weeks since I wrote a gratitude list so here are some things that I am thankful for today.

1. Nadia enjoyed having Macey over for a sleepover at the end of August.

2. Two sixth grade girls joined the Bible quizzing team. One of them lives across the street from us so we will be taking turns driving the kids to their practice at 4:30 on Wednesdays. 

3. We enjoyed having a family from our church over for dinner on August 28. They go to our church, but I met them in 2020 when Nadia and their daughter, Natalie, were in a play together. One of my goals for the year has been to have 12 different families/couples over for dinner this year (not counting our relatives). We've had seven over so far.

4. Nadia and Ian had their first rehearsals with the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale on August 29. Their second was tonight because they had last Monday off due to Labor Day. 

5. I am enjoying doing my grocery shopping on Monday evenings at Aldi (and sometimes Walmart) while the kids are in Ninjastics and/or choir rehearsals. 

6. We had a tour of a creamery that is housed in a building that is almost 200 years old. The ice cream is made from milk from their cows. It was SO delicious! We hope to go there again at some point in the future as the peanut butter Oreo ice cream was amazing! 

7. On August 31 Oliver and I were able to help serve food to people who were coming to our church for a food bank distribution.

8. The kids and I participated in a three-hour program at a state park on September 2nd. I was very grateful that I didn't injure myself on the hike. 

9. We enjoyed spending a couple of hours at Panera with the Kinleys. I had invited them to have a meal at our home, but he is highly allergic to guinea pigs, so they treated us to a meal instead. 

10. The boys enjoyed seeing the new Pinocchio movie on Disney+. 

11. Paul loved that they talked about Coolidge (one of his favorite Presidents) on the latest episode of the Tuttle Twins that we watch together as a family whenever new episodes come out on YouTube. 

12. Milo had diarrhea in Nadia's bed once last week. Unfortunately, it happened again in Ian's bed the next night. Yuck! Considering I didn't want to start washing bedding on a daily basis, we had him sleep in his crate the next night. It happened in his crate the third night, but thankfully that was the end of it. After he had a night without any issues in his crate, we resumed having him sleep with the kids. That was the first time in the last 21 months that had ever happened, and hopefully it won't happen again! 

13. Nadia and Ian also came down with a bug last week. Last week Paul was going in to work VERY early (as in leaving our home at 12:30am) so he was also coming home much earlier than usual which was very helpful as I didn't want to leave Ian alone at home if he wasn't feeling well. Ian for the first time in his life managed to throw up in the right place. I wasn't happy that he was vomiting, but I was very, very grateful I didn't have to clean it up. Whew. Nadia came down since on Thursday. I had already cancelled Thursday's field trip, and because the kids were sick, we opted not to go to our church's quarterly Friday evening worship service. Thankfully, Paul, Oliver, and I have escaped this bug. 

14. Nadia, Oliver, and I attended a monarch butterfly class last Wednesday morning. We brought home a monarch egg, and it hatched this past weekend! I also took them to the thrift store to get Nadia some more jeans. Most things are 50% off at that store on Wednesdays. 

15. My Bible study began on Wednesday night. I can already tell that this is a better fit for me than the group I was in on Wednesday nights last spring. 

16. Paul and I enjoyed the movie Lifemark. We'll get it on DVD from the library in the future so the kids can watch it. 

17. Nadia enjoyed bowling with Paul yesterday afternoon. 

18. Paul and I enjoy our Sunday School class. Yesterday I was one of the two people signed up to bring snacks for our class. I made a strawberry pretzel Jell-O salad, German apple cake, and German peach kuchen. It seems like I made the correct amount of food as there was only a tiny bit left of each at the end of class. 

19. The kids enjoyed skating at the homeschool party at the roller-skating rink today. Oliver won the four corners game and received a free popcorn from the snack bar as his prize. Oliver also enjoyed the cookies that they had at the orthodontist office this afternoon. 

20. I've lost 18 pounds since I started dieting on June 1. I'd like to lose five more, but clothes that haven't fit for a year or more are fitting again, which is a great feeling. I've been faithfully walking with Milo for at least three miles a day rain or shine. 

21. Although we weren't able to be there in person, we were able to see a video of my niece, Susie, giving her testimony and being baptized at their church in Chicago on Sunday. 

22. We have no plans to go anywhere tomorrow. I am very thankful for that because today was a hectic day with the roller skating, errands, orthodontist, mowing the lawn, choir rehearsals, Ninjastics, etc. 

23. Our neighbors have agreed to watch Milo this Friday/Saturday while we're in Philadelphia and also for our nine-day trip to New England later this month. So thankful!!!

Flexibility

 

Last year the summer recap video I made was for May through August. Because I already made a video about the vacation we took in May, I decided to only include June through August in this summer's video. The next video I'm planning to make will be about our nine-day trip to New England later this month. Starting in 2020, a lot of flexibility has been needed in regard to vacations. Although it hasn't been as obviously related to COVID this year as it was in 2020 and 2021, flexibility is still necessary. For our trip in May it was because of things like construction (lighthouse in Saint Augustine and the Billy Graham Library) and the fact that some national park sites in Virginia went from being open seven days a week to only being open five days a week. I'm not sure why more and more National Parks are making that change in 2022. Maybe it's due to a lack of staff? Whatever the reason, I had to do a lot of work revising our vacation plans for this upcoming trip a few weeks ago once I found out that some parks had reduced the number of days that they are open over the past few months. For example, we thought our first stop would be Hyde Park, but two of the three National Park sites there are now closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and our trip is starting on a Tuesday. There were some others in and around Boston that we had to eliminate from our plans because they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I decided to still visit one in Rhode Island even though the Visitor Center will be closed the day we will be there because it's closed Monday through Wednesday. One downside to the revised plan is that we have to leave at 5:30am the day we leave. Our teenager isn't happy about that! But in general, we will do less driving on this trip and will typically be departing our lodgings around 8:30am.

I have to wait until next Tuesday to book our tickets to tour Ben and Jerry's, but otherwise I think I am done planning our next trip. There are so, so, so many choices involved in planning a vacation. There are many places I considered including but didn't in the end. The current plans include eleven National Park sites (three are focused on either nature/art and the other eight are historical), one miniature golf course, one farm, four factory tours (PEZ, teddy bears, cider, and ice cream), one whale cruise, two zoos (one is a lantern tour at night), four historical sites/museums that aren't affiliated with the NPS, one aquarium, one IMAX movie, one play about the Salem witch trials, two cliff walks along the coast (ME and RI), and one visit to a place where the kids can experience bumper boats and/or go-karts for the first time in their lives. I have gift cards for seven of the eight dinners. We plan to get pizza (without a gift card) in Newport, RI on the eighth night and hopefully have dinner at our church on the ninth day, which is the day we come back home. We *should* have a free breakfast seven of the eight mornings, and I plan to pack snacks for our lunches although we might splurge for popovers at the Jordan Pond House when we are at Acadia. Many museums, zoos, aquariums, etc. now required that timed tickets be purchased ahead of time. Even though I'm a planner by nature, I'm not accustomed to being that specific as to predicting exactly what time we will do something, but that is the way things are in 2022. 

Speaking of flexibility, I've also made a lot of changes to the lesson plans for this week. First, I thought we were going on an all-day field trip on Thursday. Then I thought we were going on two half-day field trips, but today's field trip was cancelled because of the weather. The woman hosting the monarch butterfly class tomorrow said it will be held rain or shine. Although the drought wasn't good for the farmers/gardeners, it did mean plans weren't cancelled due to rain the last few months. In contrast, we've gotten quite a bit of rain the last few days. I'm thankful for the opportunities to take the kids on field trips and vacations! 

P.S. Photo credit to Nadia for the photos in this post. She took them at Longwood Gardens in June.

Drought

(Some of the kids who participated in the program today)

Today I took the kids to a three-hour program on waterfalls and hydrogeology at Ricketts Glen State Park. Oliver was concerned because the program was advertised to be for grades 7-12, but thankfully other families also brought younger siblings, so he definitely wasn't the youngest child present. We've been there several times over the past five years, but it looked very different today because of the drought we've experienced this summer. In general, I feel like I'm "back to normal" following my ankle surgery, but on today's hike I was reminded that I haven't fully overcome my fear of falling that I've had for almost a year. I'm hoping as more time passes, I will also rebound back to normal in that regard as well. According to my log, today was our sixteenth day of school for 2022-23, but as far as days when we do math, science, history, etc., yesterday was our seventh day. I anticipate that at least 35 of the 180 days of school will be field trip days like today. The kids each read independently, we listened to audiobooks, and they watched World Watch news, but that was all I required because of the field trip. Ian also finished a biology experiment that he didn't complete earlier in the week. Although we saw very little water coming over the waterfalls and the stream beds were dry at the state park, Oliver got to enjoy being in water this evening as our neighbors who have a heated outdoor pool invited Oliver and some other kids in the neighborhood over for a pool party. 

Our first field trips of the school year have been seeing A Midnight Summer's Dream, visiting the National Canal Museum (and riding in a canal boat pulled by two mules), visiting the Lehigh Valley Zoo, attending the Roasting Ears of Corn Festival at the Museum of Indian Culture, touring the Old Mill Creamery, and attending the program at Ricketts Glen State Park. We had never been to Old Mill Creamery, but I imagine we will return again in the future! Their ice cream is amazing! They make it from the milk that comes from the cows right on their property. Nadia liked the teaberry flavor she tried, but in general the consensus was that Peanut Butter Oreo was amazing!! Our first day of "school" was last Wednesday, which meant we only had three days of school last week. This week we only did a few subjects at home on Tuesday because of the 10:00am tour at the creamery, which is housed in a building that is almost 200 years old, and we didn't do any subjects aside from reading today because of our time at Ricketts Glen. I think between August 24 (our first day of school) and November 4 we will not have any five-day weeks of school because of field trip days. Originally, the field trip I had planned for next week was to spend 5 hours at Christian Aid Ministries in Ephrata on Thursday, but my friend, Cheri, won't be able to join us after all so I think we'll try to go there next spring instead. However, I've signed us up for two other field trips next week, a tour of a dairy on Tuesday and a Monarch butterfly class on Wednesday. I'm very thankful that the field trip opportunities are plentiful again this year for the first time since 2019! In light of the many field trips that we are taking this month (including an eight-day vacation to New England), we are going to do schoolwork on Monday even though it's Labor Day. I told the kids they still got a three-day weekend since we didn't do schoolwork today. We don't have anything special planned for tomorrow. On Sunday we are having lunch at Panera with a missionary couple after church and Paul is taking Nadia on a bowling date later in the day. Monday will just be a typical school day for us, and Paul plans to go to work that day. 

Nadia took this picture of her friend, Macey, last weekend

Last weekend Nadia had a friend over for a sleepover on Saturday night, and we took her to church with us on Sunday morning. Another family from our church came over for dinner on Sunday evening. Nadia and Ian had their first choir rehearsals for the season on Monday night, and the boys had their second Ninjastics class. On Wednesday afternoon Oliver and I helped out for a couple of hours at our church's food pantry distribution, and I had a Zoom meeting last night as I am now on a leadership committee of Experience Missions. I feel like our school year has gotten off to a good start. Nadia and Ian both earned a 100% on their first test in Biology yesterday! Ian is also off to a great start with Algebra I.