California take two

The kids' first trip to California was in 2018. Paul's parents joined us for that trip to San Diego. That was also when we began getting our National Park passports stamped and started earning Junior Ranger badges. I think the farthest north we made it on that trip was Disneyland. On this trip we entered the state at the northwest part when we crossed the border with Oregon. We spent the first day in the Redwoods. We saw some sea lions at the harbor near our hotel in Cresent City, and then we did a hike to see some of the trees. After that we drove farther south and went higher up in the trees at Trees of Mystery through walking on nets and riding a skyride. We also drove the SUV through one tree. After driving on a scenic road through another section of the National Park, the kids turned in their Junior Ranger booklets and received their badges. We did another small hike in that part of the park before we started driving toward Redding, California. 

Lassen Volcanic National Park

The next morning, we explored Lassen Volcanic National Park for a couple of hours before we drove to Reno. After spending three days in Nevada, we drove back to California as the final portion of our vacation was in San Francisco. On our way into the city, we stopped at the Jelly Belly Factory for a tour and also had dinner at Panera Bread. My cousin, Brent, had warned us that it has become a prevalent problem for people to break into vehicles to steal things in San Francisco. When we noticed the surroundings of the Rodeway Inn, we were even more nervous. I had chosen the hotel because our room had three beds (one king and two queens) and was a reasonable price. Although I had paid for two nights at the hotel, we only ended up staying one night. We did however leave our belongings in our room there until about 7pm since we saw many signs around the city saying not to leave anything in a parked vehicle. Evidently, they don't prosecute people who break into vehicles. Never in my life have I paid for lodging for the five of us at two different hotels on the same night. Hopefully it will be the only time I do that! We viewed that as better than dealing with our belongings being stolen or the rental car windows being smashed. 

On our first full day in San Francisco, we started our morning by watching our church's 10:45 service online. Then we drove to the Oakland Zoo. We would have driven less if we could have gone there on Monday as planned, but it turned out the Zoo was closed on September 11 for maintenance. Part of the zoo was closed on the day we went, but we still were able to walk through most of the zoo. After we came back into the city, we parked our vehicle in a garage near Pier 39. We visited the San Francisco Maritime National Park (one more Junior Ranger badge for the kids), saw more sea lions, shared one chocolate milkshake from Ghirardelli Square, explored the Exploratorium (great science museum that we got into for free with our ASTC membership), and had pizza at a restaurant at Pier 39. After we got our vehicle, we picked up our luggage from the hotel we weren't fond of and then drove to where we had planned to spend the following night. The hotel we switched to was MUCH nicer although Nadia only had a sofa bed. She actually just slept on the couch. This was one VERY spacious though with a full kitchen and living room so we actually had room to blow up our air mattress for Ian so that he and Oliver didn't have to share a queen size bed. We got some ice cream at Safeway for our dessert. The kids opted not to swim in the heated pool or sit in the jacuzzi the first night we were here, but the boys did make use of them the second night. Neither hotel offered a free breakfast. The first morning in the city we ate donuts and bagels that we brought from Reno. The second morning I made a run to McDonald's for some egg McMuffins. 

On our second full day in San Francisco, we started the day at Fort Point which is very close to the Golden Gate Bridge. The previous two days we hadn't been able to see much of the bridge due to smoke from fires in northern California. Thankfully on Monday the smoke had cleared. We had gorgeous views! The weather has truly been amazing for our entire trip. The temperature was quite different today. If you travel 30 miles the temperature can be up to 50 degrees different according to the park ranger! It wasn't that big of a difference on Monday, but it was much hotter as we traveled east. The kids earned a second Junior Ranger badge at the Presidio (for the Golden Gate Bridge's 50th anniversary), a third at Rosie the Riveter, and a fourth at John Muir's home. John Muir is considered to be the father of the National Park Service. We had dinner at Golden Corral before the boys went to the pool at our hotel. 

On our last full day of the vacation, we started our morning at Muir Woods. Parking reservations are required. I had paid $9 that allowed us to enter between 8:00-8:30. This national park features redwood trees. When we were in Redwoods National Park, we were allowed to walk off the trail. At this park the trail is smoother and there are fences to keep you on the trail. Also, many of the trails were closed due to a construction project involving the stream. All that to say, of the two parks we visited that featured tall trees, we liked Redwoods better. More people come to this one due to its proximity to San Francisco. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge. Due to all of the signs warning us not to leave any belongings in a parked vehicle, we left our luggage at the hotel that morning since we could visit Muir Woods before the check-out time. Our next stop was Marin Headlands. I had printed out the Junior Ranger booklets at the hotel that morning because no park rangers are there on Tuesdays. We drove around the park and stopped at various locations. It would have been nice to walk to the lighthouse and the Nike missile site, but those two can only be visited when a park ranger is there. When we walked toward the lighthouse, we saw some harbor seals which was exciting as the other times we only saw sea lions. It was very foggy when we were driving to Muir Woods. The fog continued to lift and we were able to see the Golden Gate Bridge from a different side at Marin Headlands. Of the four days we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, the day it was the clearest was definitely on Monday. I am so thankful we had one very clear day when neither fog or smoke impaired our view. 

Our third stop was the California Academy of Sciences. Paul didn't end up using his ticket. Instead, he drove over an hour round trip to deposit our luggage at the airport we stayed in near the airport on the last night of our trip. The reason we did this was to protect our vehicle from being broken into while we were at Alcatraz. Although we've had a good visit, I really doubt I'll ever want to return to the city given the fact that they don't prosecute things like breaking into vehicles. Paul had trouble checking in because the reservation was in my name. I couldn't assist Paul while the kids and I were watching a planetarium show about coral reefs, but after that show ended, I contacted Priceline, and they were able to add his name so Paul could deposit our luggage in the room. Our ASTC membership wasn't any help at the California Academy of Sciences. It wasn't really what I would call a science museum. It was a planetarium, aquarium, and natural history museum. The rainforest area that usually features a variety of birds and butterflies was closed due to renovations. We enjoyed seeing some dinosaur fossils, gems and minerals, fish, penguins, etc. The planetarium was featuring three different shows. The one that worked best for us schedule wise was also best for Nadia since she's studying marine biology this year. 

After Paul picked us up from the California Academy of Sciences, we attempted to find parking near where the cruises to Alcatraz left. I made the same mistake I have made in the past. I didn't make a specific plan for parking. I knew of one garage where it was only $10 after 4pm. I had a coupon code for another lot, but we ended up back where we had parked two days earlier. The difference was that the previous time I had prepaid for our parking which was $25 for the day. This time we paid $10 per hour, which came to $40. Ouch. Hopefully I've learned my lesson and won't make this mistake again. We had dinner at the same pizza place where we ate on Sunday. The pizza wasn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but it was tasty and still probably the cheapest option for buying dinner for five people at Pier 39. Our last activity for the vacation was visiting Alcatraz. I chose an evening tour. They cost a bit more as they offer some additional things on that tour than they do on the daytime tours. We didn't really take advantage of those extra activities, but I did it because very little is open in the evenings. I had originally planned for us to tour Alcatraz on Saturday evening. but on Friday I discovered I had never actually purchased the tickets (oops!), and they were all sold out. Thankfully, that Friday night while I was in Reno, I was able to buy tickets for Tuesday night. Whew. Honestly, our dinner and tour of Jelly Belly would have been very rushed if we had gone on Saturday night. I think it all worked out for the best. 

During our time here on the west coast, we drove the SUV a total of 2,390 miles. The next time we plan to rent a vehicle is in February in Florida. We plan to get a minivan that time, and I know we won't drive anywhere near as many miles on that trip as we'll only be in southern Florida not driving through four different states. This morning we had breakfast at the hotel (a rare treat on this trip). Nadia slept on the air mattress last night. We aired on the side of caution and arrived at the airport much earlier than we actually needed to. Paul dropped us off and returned the SUV while the kids and I checked our three suitcases and went through TSA. I'm thankful that because I'm traveling with kids, we didn't have to go through the newer kind of screening. I like the older type of metal detectors better than the newer ones that seem like you're being x-rayed. Speaking of technology, when I was driving to our hotel last night, I encountered vehicles beside me that were self-driving (no humans in the front seats). It's strange to think that at some point in the future those might become the norm. How will we board an airplane if driver's licenses become obsolete? We had a great trip, and we're all ready to go home. We miss Milo for one thing! I'm going to pick him up tomorrow morning bright and early even though that will be a challenge given our adjustment to the three-hour time change. 

Nevada

We have spent the last three days in Nevada - our 47th state! I have a goal of visiting at least one National Park unit in every state. That didn't happen during our time in Nevada, so I hope we visit the southern part of Nevada at some point in the future as I'd love to visit Hoover Dam. The main draw for us this time in Nevada was my Aunt Janet, Ziggy, and two of my cousins. We arrived around 2pm on Wednesday as we cut our time short at Lassen Volcanic because the kids were more interested in having more time with Aunt Janet than doing another hike. We saw Janet's new home in Reno that she moved into about three months ago, which is on the same property as Brent's home. We had dinner on her outside patio. The kids had a blast playing with Ziggy after he came home from daycare. The next day we spent time at her home and also took the kids to an indoor bouldering gym in Reno. The indoor ice-skating rink didn't have any open skating sessions on Thursday. We contemplated doing that on Friday but opted to have more time at Lake Tahoe. We were going to have the kids experience go-karting for the first time in their lives, but we had to provide proof of their age which I didn't have with me and honestly couldn't even have produced if we were at home because I had to mail their birth certificates to the Department of State to get their passports. Eleven of us went out to dinner that night at Mexcal where we ate a variety of tacos and other Mexican food. Oliver tried shrimp for the first time in his life. He liked it although the particular shrimp taco was too spicy for him. I tried something new as well - an al pastor taco which contained pork and pineapples. It was delicious! Robin's youngest daughter had tres de leche cake for dessert whereas most other people at the table had a few churros. My kids definitely liked the churros! Aunt Janet had started a tradition of taking me out for Mexican food once each time we were on Long Island. It was so sweet of her to continue that tradition here in Reno! We drove a total of 53 miles around Reno that day. 

On Friday we packed food for lunch and dinner and headed off to Incline Village, which is where Vanessa and Niko live with their three cats. We ate our lunches at a picnic table near where we began our hike. We hiked part of a trail up to monkey rock, and then we cut across to another trail that took us to Hidden Beach. For Lake Tahoe the water temperature was on the warmer side (62 degrees). Oliver was the only one who wore his bathing suit. He submerged his entire body under water. Ian didn't bring his bathing suit, but he ended up getting all but his head wet. Oliver had brought a change of clothes. Ian hadn't, but his clothes mostly dried off as we hiked back to the SUV, and we threw his clothes in the dryer once we arrived back at Nessa's home. Aunt Janet, Paul, Nadia, and I only got our feet (and in some cases calves) wet.  The boys had fun climbing some large rocks around Lake Tahoe. It's certainly a beautiful lake! We visited the two deepest lakes in North American on this trip - Crater Lake and Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is much bigger than Crater Lake although Crater Lake certainly isn't tiny. We had hamburgers, hotdogs, fries, raw veggies, and ice cream sandwiches for dinner. Oliver and Niko also had some shrimp. Nessa and Niko have three indoor cats which created an allergic reaction in most of my family. I gave Ian Benadryl, and Vanessa passed out Claritin to a few others. Aunt Janet drove our SUV a total of 70 miles on Friday. 

I'm so thankful that Aunt Janet was able to move out here to Reno two years ago to be with two of her kids and also her only grandchild. We have missed not being able to spend a week with her on Long Island last year or this year. We certainly won't come out here as often as we went to Long Island as there is a lot more time and money involved in getting here, but the kids are already talking about making future plans to spend a week here. We shall see! Paul and I slept in her guest bedroom. Nadia slept on the couch in her living room. Oliver and Ian slept upstairs on two air mattresses in Brent and Janet's offices. Her home is in the flight path for the Reno airport so that took a little bit of time to get accustomed to. She also has only one bathroom, so it was at times a little challenging for six people to share one bathroom, but her new home is lovely. The first day we were here, I did two loads of laundry which was very helpful. We had packed a combination of shorts and pants for the trip but hardly had any need of wearing the shorts. The weather has been incredible during our trip. The only time we encountered a little rain was while we were in the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park. The temps have mostly been in the 60's and 70's, and we did experience the 80's a few times on our trip for at least part of a day (such as here in Reno). 

Nadia has done a little bit of work for her General Psychology class on our trip - mostly making comments on the discussion boards. So far, she has a 100% average in the course, although we know she won't be able to maintain that as we opted to have her skip posting in one of the discussion boards as it was about gender. She won't need to do much for the course while we're in San Francisco, but she'll have to get busy again once we're back at home on Thursday. She's been spending a lot of time playing Crossy Road on her Chromebook on this trip. Although we definitely prefer our minivan in general, there are some nice features in our SUV. The kids like that they can plug in devices in the middle row. I like that it has a navigation system that relies on satellite which is most helpful when there isn't any cell service. They also like that it came with Sirius XM radio. We listen to music half of the time and a story the other half of the time. We finished The Ogress and the Orphans (which is 13 hours long) and The Adventures of Hercules Beal on this trip. We also have listened to the 9th season of the Brinkman Adventures. As we drive to San Francisco today, we're going to start Nothing Else but Miracles by Kate Albus. 

Oregon

We spent two days in Oregon, which means we are now down to four states. Our first stop on Sunday morning was Multnomah Falls. I had a reservation for the parking lot, but we showed up at the free parking lot accidentally, and that lot was full. The kids and I walked halfway up the falls. We didn't go to the top since Paul was waiting in the SUV. The kids were given Columbia Gorge Junior Ranger booklets, but since the park ranger wasn't coming until 10:00 am, we will need to mail them in. Our next stop were the Japanese Garden and International Rose Test Gardens in Portland. We then took a free shuttle up to the Oregon Zoo. Our final stop for the day was the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. We paid full price for the Japanese Garden, 50% off for the zoo with our AZA membership, and got into the OMSI for free with our ASTC membership. We received our AZA and ASTC memberships through the WNC Nature Center. I had chosen a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant for dinner because it was close, but I hadn't thought to see if there was parking available. We had to pay to park in a parking garage in Portland to eat at the restaurant. Thankfully, it was only $4 because it was after 5pm on a weekend. After dinner we drove a couple of hours farther south into Oregon. Nadia slept on the floor as there wasn't room for the air mattress. We drove 245 miles on September 3.

While we had breakfast on Monday morning, I asked the woman at the front desk to print out 3 Junior Ranger booklets for Crater Lake because I realized we weren't going to be driving past a Visitor Center. I also found a coupon for the Wildlife Safari as I waited for the booklets to be printed, and that saved us $50 as we received a 50% discount for the red panda encounter that I had signed the kids up for. Our first stop was the Wildlife Safari, which was less than 15 minutes from the hotel. The red panda encounter lasted about 30 minutes. The kids fed the two red pandas some bamboo leaves. There were some animal exhibits that we visited by walking, but the majority of the park was accessible through driving. Highlights, aside from the red pandas, were two four-month-old male cheetah cubs who were adorable, watching some hippos eating very close to us as we drove through the safari, and Paul really liked one pig. Next, we drove to Crater Lake National Park. We hiked 1.1 miles (going down 700 feet) to get to the boat dock for our 2-hour tour of the lake. Naturally, it was a lot more work hiking back up that 700 feet of elevation change after our tour! The views were incredible. It was a bit chilly out on the boat, but otherwise the weather was gorgeous. We stopped for pizza near Diamond Lake and then drove 3.5 hours to Crescent City, California. Our room had three queen size beds. Breakfast wasn't included. We drove 330 miles on September 4. We checked into our hotel later than usual, but it was worth it to have fed red pandas and taken a tour of Crater Lake.

So far, my top three experiences of the trip have been Olympia National Park, Crater Lake, and Mount Rainier. The kids top four experiences include the same three as me plus the Wildlife Safari (the red pandas and cheetah cubs in particular). Although not stopping at a Visitors Center didn't prevent the kids from receiving their Junior Ranger badges, we weren't able to buy a magnet from Crater Lake. I had skipped getting one at Multnomah Falls because I thought Crater Lake was more significant. The bottom line is that we didn't get any magnets from the state of Oregon. Bummer. I can always make a magnet using one of our pictures.

Washington

 On August 29 we left our home around 11:30 to drop Milo off at the kennel. I hate to take him there, but neither of our neighbors who have watched him previously could watch him during this trip. Hopefully, he will not be too upset during our absence. After a stop at the bank, we drove towards Pittsburgh. We had dinner at a Bob Evans restaurant that was thirty miles east of the airport. On Tuesdays, kids eat for free at Bob Evans, so our $50 gift card covered all of our meals and the tip with a little bit left over! Unfortunately, we hit a lot of rush hour traffic on our drive from the restaurant to the airport, but thankfully we made it to the gate well before the time the boarding began. We didn't have to wait at all to check our three suitcases or to go through TSA. The last time we flew was in May 2018, so Oliver didn't even remember that experience. There were many empty seats on the plane. Oliver and I sat in one row, and Paul, Ian, and Nadia sat behind us. We were served a snack and a drink. 

On August 29, we drove 223 miles and flew 2,314 miles and crossed three time zones. We were taken by shuttle to our hotel. We were so exhausted that Nadia didn't even want to take the time to inflate the air mattress. A few hours later, we had breakfast, and Paul took the shuttle back to the airport to get the rental car. Although Thrifty did give us an SUV that had three rows of seats, it was much smaller than the one we thought we'd be getting. We definitely prefer our minivan! Thankfully, the cost to rent vehicles is much cheaper in Florida so we plan to rent a minivan in February.

After Paul got the SUV on August 30, we drove to Pikes Place Market. The kids enjoyed walking around the market and doing a lot of window shopping. We watched men throwing fish around and visited the gigantic gum wall. We bought a Space Needle magnet, earrings for Nadia for Christmas, a cookie for Oliver, and pizza for Ian and Nadia. Then we walked a mile to the Space Needle. Those tickets were pricy. We spent a couple of hours at the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. We had seen some of his work at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis in April. It was beautiful! 

After walking a mile back to our SUV, we drove to the Museum of Flight. Paul would have liked to have had more time to spend there. It is a VERY large museum. He wasn't able to visit the floor that focused on WWI. Oliver and Ian rode in a flight simulator. Nadia paid for Oliver's admission as an early Christmas present. In hindsight, we would have driven fewer miles if we had flipped the order of what we did that day. I had made the decision based on thinking we would leave the hotel around 8:30 am, and the Museum of Flight didn't open until 10:00. I do my best when planning vacations, but there are always things I realize afterwards that I would have done differently.

We had dinner at KFC. A little less than half of the meal was covered by a gift card Paul got at Christmas. It was cheaper to eat at Bob Evans than KFC. Paul loves KFC and we go there maybe once every two years. Nadia and I ordered from the Taco Bell portion of the menu instead of the KFC side. After we finished eating, we got in line for the Bainbridge Ferry. I was hoping that we might see some orcas although the best time to see them is from October to February. Still, it was the first time the kids experienced driving a vehicle onto a ferry, and it saved us some driving time. We only drove 47 miles on August 30. We spent the night at the Poulsbo Inn after buying some groceries. Due to our sleep deprivation the previous night, we skipped the pool and went to bed early after eating some ice cream that we got at the grocery store. Nadia did use her air mattress that night.

We spent August 31 at the Olympic National Park. We planned to start our visit at Hurricane Ridge, but a lightning strike on August 28 started a fire which led to that area being closed until September 2. To be honest, our day was full without visiting that section. It's a huge park! After getting the kids their Junior Ranger booklets in Port Angeles, we did a hike to Marymere Falls. We saw a banana slug! Our next stop was in the Hoh Rainforest where we took the Hall of Mosses trail. We had dinner in that area on the way out at the Hard Rain Cafe before visiting Ruby Beach and stopped at an ice cream place on our way to our hotel. Buying ice cream at the grocery store is DEFINITELY the cheaper way to go, even if the food prices at the grocery stores up here are much more expensive than what I'm accustomed to paying. The kids earned one of two possible Junior Ranger badges. Ruby Beach was gorgeous!  Nadia used her air mattress again. We drove 317 miles on August 31. 

On September 1 we spent the day at Mount Rainier National Park. Wendy gave me hiking boots for Christmas, and I've been getting good use out of them on this trip! As beautiful as Olympic National Park was, Mount Rainier has been my favorite place so far on this trip. We did two hikes near the Visitor Center. We saw two black tailed deer on our first hike. Nadia wishes that we skipped the last hike to Snow Lake because of the 700 feet of elevation change involved in the hike. After we left the park, we went to a pizza place in Eatonville. I scheduled us to eat a several pizza places on this trip because we like pizza and it tends to be a much cheaper option. The pizza wasn't overpriced, but they didn't have an option to get a free cup of water. We had to spend $10 plus tax to buy five drinks. Still, it was cheaper than KFC or Bob Evans. We stopped at a grocery store near our Airbnb to get a box of ice cream sandwiches for the kids and I and a candy bar for Paul. Nadia slept on a twin sized loft bed. The boys slept below her on a queen size bed. Paul and I slept on a queen-sized bed in the living room. Paul played one game of chess with Ian and another game of chess with Oliver. We drove 136 miles on September 1. 

The host of the Airbnb left us a $25 gift certificate for the cafe located under our unit. The waffles and such were $11 or more per person, but we were able to buy five breakfast sandwiches for a little less than $25, and they did provide free cups of water. Due to a landslide earlier this summer, we weren't able to visit one part of Mount St. Helens, but we still stopped at two visitor centers, the kids earned a Junior Ranger badge, we visited a lake, and we hiked the Hummocks Trail loop. Mount Rainier is certainly more beautiful, but Paul and I remember when Mount St. Helens erupted so it was something that was a high priority for Paul. Our last stop in the state of Washington was Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. I thought it closed at 5:00, but it actually closed at 4:00 so we didn't have much time to spend there. Thankfully, it's a pretty small site, and the Junior Ranger badge program was extremely easy. If we had more time, the kids could have earned a second Junior Ranger badge at the Pearson Air Museum, but it closed at 4:00. We had dinner at Red Robin. Usually, our $50 gift card covers our meal there aside from the tip, but that wasn't the case last night. We enjoyed our meal. It's the only restaurant where Nadia still orders from the kids' menu. The boys and I spent about 15 minutes in an outdoor hot tub at the Comfort Inn in Oregon where we spent the night. Our room had three queen sized beds, and I'm not talking about a sofa bed. We drove 197 miles on September 2. 

We're spending today and tomorrow in Oregon. Washington was the kids' 45th state, and Oregon is their 46th. In three days, we plan to be in Nevada, which will be their 47th state! 

Thankful Thursday

 

1. Monday was our first day of school for the 2023-24 school year and Nadia's first day of General Psychology through Grand Canyon University. Ian also had his first piano lesson with someone other than me on Monday. He is working to play Waltz of the Flowers by Tchaikovsky with Josh as a piano duet at a recital in November. I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to homeschool my three children and that we have the money to pay for Ian's piano lessons. In light of the fact that Nadia might attend Meadowbrook for her senior year of high school, it seemed wise to have Nadia start taking college classes in her sophomore year of high school. Most colleges only offer dual enrollment for juniors and seniors. A few months ago, I had narrowed it down to Boyce, Grand Canyon, or Bluefield. After we applied to Bluefield, we found out that sophomores had to have taken the ACT or SAT prior to applying. Boyce's course selection was rather small, so she submitted an application to Grand Canyon. I'm hoping she'll take five general education classes through Grand Canyon this year, take her Bible classes through Liberty next year, and take only one class (Calculus) through Liberty during her senior year.

2. I had my first Sound of Music rehearsal on Tuesday night. Tonight, those who are nuns will be rehearsing our music for three hours. I'm grateful for this opportunity and hoping I have the stamina for rehearsals that end at 9:30pm. Next year they will be doing Anastasia. We shall see if Nadia, Ian, and I audition for that one.

3. Yesterday we had an appointment at the Post Office to submit the kids' passport applications. Both parents need to be present. Between the fees to the US Department of State and the Post Office, we paid a little over $700 for five passports. Ouch! The kids' passports will only be good for five years since they are all under 16 years of age, but the other two will be good for ten years. We shall see what passport stamps we get in those books over the next 5-10 years! It's Oliver's first passport. Ian and Nadia got their first ones when they were babies, so they've been expired for many years. I'm thankful we have the money to pay for these passports and look forward to traveling to other countries with our kids in the coming years! We think the first stamps will be in February in Ecuador. 

4. We had a safe trip to Lynchburg and back on Sunday. If Nadia goes to Liberty for three years, we will be making that trip many more times in the years to come. Hopefully, we won't typically make the round trip in one day. We were in Lynchburg for 3 hours as we arrived 90 minutes before Margie's funeral, and the funeral lasted 90 minutes. We didn't get to spend much time with anyone, but the Towfighis (minus Andrew), Benners (including Drayton's parents), Lisa, Joel, Michael, Nate (and his family), and Aunt Tina were also in attendance. Becca also made a very brief appearance prior to the funeral. I'm very thankful that Margie's suffering has come to an end and that she is with her Savior.

5. Yesterday we had our third field trip of the 2023-24 school year. Our first stop was George's Furniture where we had a one-hour tour. The handmade furniture was gorgeous. None of the furniture we own compares to what we saw there. The kids really liked this one very unique "Do it all" desk. What interested me the most was the tables that had the ability to add MANY leaves and become VERY long, and there were also benches that had leaves and could be expanded. The prices were much higher, so I doubt we'll actually ever buy anything, but it was interesting to see them working and learn about the company. The primary reason we headed down to that area was to see Moses at Sight and Sound with Paul's dad. Originally, I thought we wouldn't go to Sight and Sound this year because we had seen Moses before, but I changed my mind because we saw it in 2014. 

6. It was looking like we wouldn't be able to take a boat tour of Crater Lake, and then finally in the middle of August they began to announce what dates tours would be available this summer. We have tickets for a tour on Labor Day! I recently discovered that the Oakland Zoo is going to be closed on the day we planned to go there, but thankfully I was able to modify our plans for our time in San Francisco so that we could go there on a different day. We are looking forward to our upcoming vacation and praying things will go as smoothly as possible.

7. Ian wore his retainer for a little over two years, and then it was accidentally thrown away on August 8. Thankfully, the orthodontist said it was fine for him to stop wearing a retainer. He's thrilled to have a break from that! Oliver still sees the orthodontist every month for an adjustment on his braces. While Yvonne was at our house, she adjusted Ian's eyeglasses, and they are no longer sliding down his nose!

8. Our home was built in 1999. All of the rooms that had carpet in them had an off-white Berber carpet. Over the years we've been gradually replacing that carpet. Earlier this month we replaced the carpet in Oliver's bedroom, the hallway, and the stairs. We love it! It's definitely the plushest carpet we have ever had in this home or any other that we've lived in over the last 22 years. The only area in our house that still has the Berber carpet is our master bedroom closet. The next project I think we'll do on the house will be to waterproof the basement. We had water in the basement again recently. 

9. Due to Paul selling the company, his days of driving down to Gordon to work six days a week are numbered. Because of that, I asked him if he'd like to join us in attending church on Wednesday evenings. I showed him the options for adults, and he chose The Chosen small group. The group will be watching and discussing episodes of the show on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:00 starting on September 20. This will be the first time in our 22 years of marriage that we've attended church together on Wednesday evenings. I had been in a Bible study on the book of John which hadn't quite finished, and the group was going to start a study on Romans after finishing John, but I'm excited about being in a study with my husband. 

10. On our first day of school I continued the tradition of having the kids each draw their self-portraits. Oliver showed VAST improvement over any he's done in the past, but he asked me not to post it anywhere, so I didn't include it here. Last year I also started a tradition of having the kids write their goals for the year, and we did that again on Monday. Hoping that we all make a lot of progress toward achieving our goals! 

11. Last week when the Towfighis were here I forgot to take out the recycling. It only goes out once a month, so this was a problem. When I realized it this week, I called the garbage company and thankfully they made an exception and picked up our recycling this week. I was very appreciative of their kindness! Thankfully we live less than a mile from where they keep their trucks. 

Cousin Time!

 

My kids love their cousins. All ten Towfighis plus Toby arrived at our house on Monday afternoon. Seven of them left on Tuesday morning to take Andrew to Cedarville. Joel, Micah, Wesley, and Julianna stayed with us through Friday evening. Nadia spent a lot of time with Wesley - they did puzzles, colored with crayons, colored with sidewalk chalk, played games (especially Loot Letter), etc. I think she'd make a great babysitter! We had lunch at Kids' Cafe every day, which was a blessing to me, and the kids enjoyed all the snacks they were given to take home each day (cereal, chips, rice Krispie treats, juice boxes, pretzels, etc.). One day the police officers were also distributing free backpacks and school supplies, which the kids loved receiving. Micah was very attached to his backpack for the rest of the time they were at our home. Aside from Kids' Cafe, we only had one other outing - a hike at the Milton State Park with other homeschoolers. The outing was also supposed to include tubing in the river, but we've had TOO much rain lately (including water in our basement) so the water conditions weren't safe for tubing. Oliver and Julianna were the only ones who got in the water at all. 

Margie passed away on August 10. Because the funeral is happening tomorrow in Virginia, Nadia rode to Maryland with the Towfighis on Friday evening so that she could have more time with her cousins. The Benners flew from Chicago to Virginia today, and Joe drove 6 of his kids plus Nadia to Virginia. Nadia was looking forward to spending the night with Rachel, Julianna, Susie, Grace, and Wendy in a hotel room. Jenna and Yvonne are driving from Maryland to Lynchburg tomorrow. Paul, Oliver, Ian, and I are heading to Lynchburg in the morning. It will be a new record for Oliver and me as far as time spent in the van in one day (about 12 hours total). The service is at 3pm. There is a meal for family members at 5pm, but we aren't staying for that due to how late we would get home if we did. 

11 Years Old!

 On Monday Oliver turned eleven years old! I had planned a two-day getaway in Pittsburgh for his birthday. We ended up being away for three nights. On Saturday morning I picked Nadia up from Camp Susque and Melinda and Ed picked up Ian, Oliver, and Xandir. That afternoon we began driving to the western part of Pennsylvania. Our first stop was a free Christian music festival in Brockway. The headline artists were supposed to be Katy Nichole and We are Messengers. We are Messengers backed out a couple of weeks before the event, but Consumed by Fire came in their place. We spent Sunday morning at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. We had to pay full price because they had left AZA in June. We spent the afternoon at the Bushy Run Battlefield and Fort Pitt before having dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse with Charlie and Nadine Beares. On Oliver's birthday we spent the day at Kennywood. Oliver rode one of the big rollercoasters two times. Unfortunately for Nadia and Ian, the biggest roller coaster was closed. Oliver forgot to pack his birthday t-shirt. Instead of a birthday cake, we splurged and got the kids each a large dish of Dippin' Dots. We ate dinner at Subway and then instead of driving home, we drove for four hours into Virginia so that we could spend five hours with my dad and say goodbye to Margie who passed away today. Yesterday, Xandir and Faith came over for five hours. The boys played the Nintedo Switch for a couple of those hours. All six of us played three rounds of Codenames.

Oliver received Gatorade powder from Nadia, money from Ian, Grandpa, and Pop Pop, and 8 puzzles, $11, a watch, 5 pounds of peach rings, and a bag of Fritos from Paul and me. Oliver used his money to buy a drone, a watch, a cotton candy machine, and the supplies for making cotton candy. He spent $20 more than he received, but he'll be earning money from doing Junior Ranger badges on our upcoming vacation.

Oliver had his physical today. He only received one injection because they were out of stock of Menactra. Today he weighed 72 pounds and 6 ounces (32nd percentile) and was 59.25" tall (84th percentile). His BMI was at the 5th percentile which means he's not technically underweight as they define underweight as less than the 5th percentile. Over the past year he gained 5 pounds plus 4 ounces and grew 2.5 inches. Fifth grade here we come! 

Home Alone

The Home Alone movies, which Oliver has watched umpteen times, are about a child accidentally ending up either at home alone or alone in a hotel. I'm referring to a fifty-one-year-old woman having a week alone at home. Last year while the three kids were at Camp Good News, I told myself I didn't want to do this again; so, I signed the boys up for a week of camp in June, but then the Bible quizzing competition was scheduled later than usual, which meant I had to contact the camp and move the boys' registration to the end of July into early August. The upside of all three kids being at camp at the same time was that Paul and I were able to have a date on Sunday. We hadn't been on a date since September 2022. Our first stop was Lowe's to get three things for the house. Then we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and shared a dessert at TGI Fridays because I had about $7 left on a gift card for that restaurant. Prior to coming home, we stopped at Lingle's to get Coke for Paul. We watched part of a movie together, and I asked Paul to sit on the couch with me. We finished the movie on Monday evening. On Sunday afternoon before the boys left for camp Paul did some spackling in the family room. I'm hoping he finishes the spackling and sanding either today or tomorrow because I'd like to do the painting by Friday. 

On Monday I took the van to the Honda dealership for some factory recall repairs. I was there for three hours. I also talked on the phone with Aunt Janet and Charlie Beares that day. Yesterday I met Tab for lunch as an early birthday celebration, and we also walked around Lewisburg talking for a while. I did some shopping at Walmart and the Dollar Store before lunch and picked up ice cream at Old Mill Creamery afterwards. I don't have any plans today through Friday, so I am at the point where I am REALLY missing my kids. Milo is a nice companion, but he doesn't talk! Paul and Al sold the company yesterday, which is an amazing answer to prayer. I'm looking forward to being able to go on dates with Paul more regularly in the coming years. I was hoping to take a ballroom dancing class with him this fall, but I think that will have to wait until 2024 in light of my participation in the Sound of Music. If the kids end up being at camp at the same time next summer, I shouldn't be home alone. I should have the company of my husband! When I first moved to Pennsylvania in 1996, I was frequently at home alone as I lived by myself. It's a blessing that this hasn't been the norm, especially for the last 15 years that I've been a mom. 

Many months ago, I had planned that we would spend August 6-7 in the Pittsburgh area so that we could visit the Bushy Run Battlefield on their annual battle reenactment and spend the day at Kennywood on Oliver's birthday. At one point we thought those plans might be cancelled because we'd be spending the week in Maryland, but since the Benners bought a home, they aren't traveling east next week. When I learned of a free music festival that is taking place near I-80 in the western part of the state on Saturday evening, I decided to have us leave on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning. Katy Nichole is one of Nadia's favorite artists, and she will be performing there. Originally, We are Messengers was supposed to be the headliner, but they backed out a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, Consumed by Fire is coming as well as some other groups. Sunday morning we'll visit the Pittsburgh Zoo/Aquarium and then go to the battlefield. After that we'll have dinner with Nadine and Charlie Beares before we spend the night at a Holiday Inn in Pittsburgh. On Monday, which is Oliver's birthday, we'll spend the day at Kennywood Amusement Park and then drive to Virginia. Tuesday we'll spend several hours with dad and say goodbye to Margie before we return home.