Six Flags over Texas

Nowadays Six Flags has 24 amusement parks across the USA. Today we went to their first one. When I was a child, I visited this particular Six Flags. The one we went to in San Antonio didn't exist at that time. It was at this Six Flags that my bubble was burst as to my ability with playing games at amusement parks. I didn't realize I wasn't actually winning the prizes at West View Park. When I asked my dad to play a game at Six Flags, he explained that he had paid for our admission to the park, and that only covered the rides. I assured him that I was very good at winning prizes in these games. He replied that I had been given prizes in Pittsburgh because I was related to the owner of the amusement park. Since that day, I've never been tempted to pay money to play a game at an amusement park, ha ha! My kids have never played a game at an amusement park. They've been to six different Six Flags parks. I think their favorite is the one in New Jersey. They've been to a total of 32 different amusement parks so far. I am hoping to take them to Kings Island in Ohio at some point in the future, but other than that I don't have any plans to take them to new amusement parks in the coming years. I'm thinking we will probably only go to Knoebels next year. 

The park opened at 10:30 and closed at 6:00. We were there at the opening but left before it closed. A few of the big rides (including roller coasters) were closed today. The lines in general weren't long, but the kids did make use of their flash passes. Their favorite rides were the New Texas Giant and Mr. Freeze roller coasters. Some of the rides (such as the flume) were much better at the Six Flags we were at two days ago. I rode three rides with the kids, and Paul rode one of them with us. We had *very* little driving time today as we drove for about 20 minutes from the hotel in Dallas to Six Flags and then drove less than 15 minutes total from Six Flags to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings to Walmart for some more groceries and finally to the Comfort Suites. In contrast, tomorrow will be the day of our trip that involves the most driving time. We'll be spending 4-5 hours in Fort Worth before we drive to Carlsbad, New Mexico. We're stopping for pizza along the way. We will have a little more time in Texas on Saturday afternoon at Guadalupe Mountains National Park. 

Dallas

Yesterday we spent 6+ hours at Six Flags Fiesta in San Antonio. There weren't many guests there that day who traveled there via a personal vehicle. The vast majority came in a school bus. We had never purchased a flash pass before at a Six Flags. Paul referred to them as "insurance" to make sure the kids could ride all of the roller coasters. The park wasn't crowded. Some lines had a 45-minute wait without the flash pass, so the flash pass definitely was helpful but wasn't essential. Nadia had the flash pass on her phone, and she was the one who used it for herself and her brothers. I was going to use one of the flash passes for the white-water rapids ride, but after I got fairly wet riding the flume with Oliver, I decided I didn't need to get wet again. I knew that Ian and Nadia wouldn't go on the white-water rapids of their own initiative. Paul didn't ride any rides, and I only rode the flume. We had only purchased three flash passes so I couldn't ride a roller coaster with them if they were using the flash pass. It was very hot (high of 98 degrees). Many of the food service stations were closed, and the ones that were open almost always had very long lines. We had prepaid for a package that included two drinks, two snacks, and two meals. Paul had a Coke, and the boys shared a Powerade. Nadia and I just had (free) water all day to drink. Oliver, Ian, and Nadia shared a meal that consisted of a pulled pork sandwich and macaroni and cheese. Ian and Nadia shared a vanilla milkshake (snack). Paul had a slice of pizza and would have eaten the bag of Doritos chips that came with his pizza if they hadn't been stale. Paul and I shared some garlic knots (snack).  Ian's favorite ride was the Iron Rattler and Oliver's favorites were the flume and the Wonder Woman single rail roller coaster. Ian left his glasses at the one roller coaster, so the last part of the day was spent going to various places around the park trying to find his glasses. Thankfully, I was able to locate them. Considering Paul didn't ride any rides, and I only rode one ride, I wish more theme parks operated like Knoebels and allow non riders to enter the park for free. We only plan to go to three amusement parks this summer. We've already been to two of them - Knoebels and Six Flags Fiesta. Tomorrow will be our third and presumably last for 2025 - Six Flags over Texas, which I went to when I was a child. 

After we left the park yesterday, we drove to Culver's for dinner/ice cream. Due to traffic and a stop for gas, our trip took a little longer than anticipated, but we arrived at an Embassy Suites in Dallas around 10:15pm. The one downside of this hotel chain is they always charge for parking, but the upside is the breakfast is amazing (including made to order omelets). When choosing which hotel and which room, I usually make the decision on my own. In this case I had discussed options with Paul because this one was a little pricier than we are usually willing to pay for a night. The reason we opted to splurge a little is because this suite contains two bathrooms and what is in essence three rooms. Paul and I have a king size bed, the boys are in a room with two double beds (they typically share a bed when we're on vacation), and Nadia as usual gets the sofa, but the living room area has a door she can close. There are also sinks outside of the bathrooms. Typically, the five of us are sharing one toilet and one shower when we're on vacation. 

Our first stay at an Embassy was in February 2024 when at the last minute (due to snow) we realized we needed to drive to Baltimore the night before our flight. We also stayed at one in Virginia last year in May. Both of those times we weren't at the hotel during the "happy hour." We also were too late last night, but tonight we finally saw firsthand what it entails. At this hotel they provided drinks (adults could have two free alcoholic drinks but we passed on those), pretzels, Fritos, goldfish crackers, cheese, crackers, pineapple, and some fresh veggies and dip. In other words, they provide snacks and drinks (some members of our family had some soda) but not hot food like Drury does. What Embassy offers doesn't replace dinner in my opinion. We had already eaten dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was our fifth time dining at one of those restaurants as a family (once per year starting in 2021). I had a coupon for one free slice of cheesecake and a gift card to pay for the rest of the meal and tip. Nadia likes it if we go to one once a year, but I don't think we'll go to one next year given where we plan to be on vacation in 2026. 

Today we were in Dallas, Texas. I lived in a suburb of Dallas for 2.5 years while my dad was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary. He also was a pastor in Cleburne for most of that time. Neither Paul or I enjoy driving in cities, and we've been in several cities over the last week - New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. We'll be leaving Dallas tomorrow morning, and I think we won't be in a large city again until we're in Phoenix at the end of our trip. None of us are a fan of the traffic! As we live in a rural area, we are not accustomed to dealing with traffic. Today we visited three sites in Dallas - the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the Sixth Floor Museum, and the Dallas Arboretum. Our hotel is less than 4 miles from the first museum. We parked near the museum until it was time to drive to the arboretum. We walked between the Perot Museum, Subway (where we had lunch), and the Sixth Floor Museum. When the kids were young, we went to SO many children's museums and science museums, especially if we could get in for free with an ASTC membership. The kids first outgrew the children's museums and then also lost interest in science museums, so we've gone to very few of those in the last few years. I wouldn't be surprised if the one we went to today was our last one as I don't think we'll visit any in Hawaii or the places we plan to go in 2026. I used to get a membership that only gave us ASTC reciprocity, but the last couple of years I joined a different museum that gave us AZA and ASTC reciprocity. I will probably let that membership expire this summer. Thankfully, we visited the science museum today for free aside from paying for parking. It was a good science/ natural history museum. We were there a little less than 2 hours. Ross Perot's children donated 50 million dollars toward the construction of this museum. As a side note, Paul voted for Perot in 1992. My grandpa tried to convince me to vote for Perot in 1992, but I voted for the other candidate who didn't win that election.

Our second stop was the museum where Oswald shot JFK. Paul and I aren't 100% convinced he acted alone, but given the significance seemed like a worthwhile place to visit. We had to pay full price there and also at the Dallas Arboretum. I wouldn't recommend the Dallas Arboretum given the cost, especially if you've already been to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. After dinner, the kids went swimming in the indoor pool at our hotel. 

San Antonio

Alamo

Yesterday morning after a delicious breakfast at the Drury (which is now our favorite hotel chain), we drove to Mission San Jose, which is one of four missions run by the NPS. The kids each earned a junior ranger badge, and we had a one hour guided tour with a park ranger. Next, we parked in the Riverwalk portion of San Antonio. I always seem to forget how expensive parking is in big cities. We had lunch at Casa Rio beside the river before we toured the Alamo. Nadia and I shared a meal, and I ordered four sopapillas for dessert for the kids and me. I have fond memories of eating those in Texas when I was a child. I had paid for audio guides for each of us. We ended our time with a 30-minute narrated cruise along the river. We ended our afternoon at our hotel. Oliver and Ian swam for a little bit. 

Mission San Jose 

We weren't able to take advantage of the full kickback menu last night because the traffic out of the city meant our trip to Bracken Cave was going to take longer than anticipated. Everyone except for me did get a hotdog. Oliver had some popcorn, and Paul and the boys got some free soda before we left. Since we had eaten a substantial lunch, we just had a small meal for dinner. We supplemented what we got from the Drury with some food we had in the van. If we had been able to stay until 5:30, we could have had meatballs, mashed potatoes, vegetables, etc. We were told to arrive between 6:00-6:30 at Bracken Cave. We walked around the site a bit. During the Civil War they used guano from the cave to make gun powder. There was a talk at 7:00. The bats started exiting the cave around 8:22. It takes about three hours for all 20 million pregnant bats to emerge from the cave. It was an incredible experience! There are about 2 million bats (males and menopausal females) that hang out under a bridge in Austin, Texas. When my brother was working on his master's degree there, we talked about those bats as well as the ones at Bracken Cave. Seeing these bats had been on my bucket list. I am so very grateful I was able to witness this experience. I had to fight back tears. I felt like crying just because it was such an amazing experience and also because I was thinking about my brother, who passed away six years ago. We recorded videos of the bats on my phone, Nadia's phone, and Paul's phone, and I attempted to take some photos with my camera. At Carlsbad Cavern they don't allow you to take photos or videos when you're in the bat viewing area. I am thankful they don't have those rules at this location.

Aside from the morning we flew out of Baltimore, the kids haven't had to get up early any day so far on this trip. Since we are spending the day at Six Flags Fiesta, we don't need to leave our hotel until after 10:00 am, which is later than usual. After our experience with very long lines at Canada's Wonderland last year, I opted to buy flash passes for the kids so that hopefully they can ride all of the roller coasters today. Since the food is very expensive in most amusement parks, I bought a pass for Paul and me that includes one drink, snack, and meal. We're planning to share the food and drinks with the kids for our lunch and stop at Culver's for dinner after we leave the park. We'll be driving to Dallas this evening. I lived in a suburb of Dallas for 2.5 years when I was a child. We're spending two nights at an Embassy Suites hotel, which *had* been our favorite hotel chain until this stay at a Drury Plaza hotel. The Embassy Suites still has the best breakfast, but it's not much better than the breakfast at Drury. We've never arrived at the right time to take advantage of the free food/drinks during Embassy's "happy hour," but from what I've read the "kickback" at Drury is far more substantial. Tomorrow night we should be able to check out Embassy's happy hour so at least we'll know for future reference what it's like. Due to the length of the drive from San Antonio to Dallas, we won't arrive in time to visit it this evening.

Corpus Christi

We spent our second day in Texas in Corpus Christi. Our first stop was the USS Lexington, which is an aircraft carrier. Paul and Oliver spent longer on the vessel than the rest of us. Ian, Nadia, and I wanted to have more time at the Texas State Aquarium. We enjoyed a dolphin show at 11:00 and a shark talk at 11:30. We had to pay full price ($50!) for one of the kids, but the rest of us got in 50% off. At every attraction thus far, Oliver has qualified for the kids' rate, but that will come to an end in August when he turns 13. A few places have had a "teen" rate, which means Ian and Nadia's tickets have been more than Oliver's but less than an adult's ticket. Paul received a senior discount at Vermilionville. It was the first time in his life he qualified for the senior discount.

We ate PBJ sandwiches and such in the van while we drove to Padre Island. Part of the island is a National Seashore. The kids began their junior ranger booklets, but they wanted to finish them later and receive the badges by mail. We enjoyed Malaquite Beach. We would have had to pay to check bags on our flights to New Orleans because we cancelled our American Airlines credit cards. To avoid that fee we each have one small suitcase that be a carry-on. That meant we didn't bring any gear for the beach aside from bathing suits and sunscreen. Although we tried to apply the sunscreen liberally, we still managed to get some sunburn. Hopefully we'll do a better job in Hawaii in August. 

When I was reading the Dear Bob and Sue books, I learned that the Homewood Suites offered a free dinner to their guests. We've taken advantage of many free breakfasts over the years, but I had no idea a free dinner might be possible. Doing more research, I discovered that Homewood Suites has really cut back on that since the time those books were published, but I discovered that Drury hotels still offer a free meal from 5:30-7:00 pm. We had never stayed at a Drury before. For this trip I booked us to stay at a Drury for two nights in San Antonio and one night in Phoenix. Because we had a 2.5-hour drive from the beach to our hotel, we were going to be eating dinner closer to 7:00, which is very late for us. So, we stopped for small Frosties at Wendy's (used the rest of the gift card we used for lunch on the first day) to tide us over. I have to say I'm impressed with Drury! I would definitely stay at one of these again if it was available and at a reasonable price. They offer a very nice breakfast, free dinner from 5:30-7:00, up to three free alcoholic beverages per night (Paul and I passed on that last night), and free popcorn and sodas from 4-8 pm. Oliver swam the first night of our trip. The second night the pool was closed. The third night the pool was open but looked utterly disgusting so Paul wouldn't let Oliver get in. The fourth night we arrived at the hotel too late to have time to swim before bed. Even though he had been swimming at the beach that afternoon, Oliver went swimming at the Drury pool last night after taking a shower in our room to completely get the sand off. What they offer for dinner varies from night to night. I really enjoyed the chicken fajitas last night.

This region of the US has been experiencing warmer than usual temperatures. It's been in the low 90's just about every day so far. I brought an umbrella in my suitcase, but it hasn't rained at all so far. The gas prices have generally been at least 50 cents cheaper per gallon that what we were paying in Pennsylvania when we left. So far, the only place we've encountered toll roads was in Houston on Saturday. I'm not sure yet if I made the right choice when we rented the minivan. We only had to scratch one thing from our itinerary so far, which was the San Antonio the Saga light show that we planned to see at the at the San Fernando Cathedral last night. After being presented for 10 years, they are taking a break while they upgrade their equipment. 

Texas day 1

In September 2021 we spent one night in the panhandle of Texas and visited the Don Harrington Discovery Center. My definition of us "visiting" a state is that at the very least we have to have done something of interest in that state - visited a National Park site, zoo, museum, etc. Most states we've done far more than that. The two states aside from Pennsylvania that we've spent the most time are Florida and New York. Nadia and Ian have spent eight weeks in Florida. All three kids have spent at least seven weeks in New York. The states we will have spent more than seven days there by the end of August include California, Illinois, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, Massachusetts, Alaska, and Hawaii. The states where we were there for one day or less include: Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Nebraska, and Kansas. We plan to return to Montana, Minnestoa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and New York (Nadia might not be with us for all of those trips). Although there will still be sites that we haven't been to in Texas yet even after this trip (ex. Big Bend National Park), I feel like we will be hitting the majority of the top things to see and do in Texas on this trip.

After a nice breakfast, we had a short drive to Big Thicket National Preserve. We had an outstanding experience at Cypress National Preserve last year. The opposite was true yesterday. The kids got their junior ranger books and began working on them in the visitor center. Things quickly went downhill after our short drive to the Kirby Nature Trail trailhead. Suffice it to say that we didn't notice any of the carnivorous plants that the trail is known for. All we noticed were the mosquitos. Nadia in particular was eaten alive. She was bitten at least 100 times. To make matters worse we got lost more than once and turned a 2.3-mile trail into a 4.6-mile trail as we were going in circles. After receiving the badges back at the visitor center, we went to a dollar store for antihistamine (oral and topical). Lengthening that hike meant we had less time at San Jacinto Battleground, but we still had enough time for Paul to see what he wanted to see there. Next, we spent time at Space Center Houston. The highlight of our time there was a tram tour to the Mission Control Center. The Audubon Zoo doesn't participate in the AZA reciprocity, so we had to pay full price there. At Vermilionville we saved $1 each through a AAA discount. At Space Center Houston four of us got in for free through our ASTC membership, although we all had to pay for the tram tour. Today we should receive a 50% discount through AZA at the aquarium. After the Space Center we had dinner at Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen before driving three hours towards Corpus Christi. At the Space Center we crossed off some more license plates as we walked through the parking lot. We only have three states left to find - Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Wyoming.

This is taller than the Washington Monument.

Sugar and Tabasco

We started our final day in Louisiana with a 75-minute guided tour of the Laura Plantation. I had researched three different plantations when I was planning the vacation. The other two I considered were Whitney and Oak Alley. Laura Plantation isn't the flashiest one, but the tour guide was excellent, and we learned about the Creole culture as well as sugar plantations. We ate lunch in the car while we drove about two hours to Avery Island for a self-guided tour of the Tabasco factory. It's our only industrial tour for this two- week vacation. We wanted to make sure we had enough time at Vermilionville, which closes at 4:00 pm. In hindsight, we could have spent more time on Avery Island. Vermilionville wasn't anything to write home about. It was the cheapest of our three experiences today.  I had hoped to visit the Acadian Cultural Center (run by the NPS) that is right next to Vermilionville, but these days it's only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 

We had dinner at Bon Temps Grill in Lafayette. It was definitely our most expensive meal so far, but it was the only time we spent money on food today as we had a free breakfast at Holiday Inn and made our lunches. Oliver and Ian had kids' meals. Ian (as always) had chicken nuggets. Oliver had shrimp. Nadia and I had salads, and Paul had a bacon cheeseburger. We were served a little bit of complimentary garlic bread at the beginning of the meal. Nadia wanted Oliver to order something with alligator so that she could try a bite of it. Due to an accident, the drive to our hotel in Texas took more than the 2 hours it was *supposed* to take, and then we showed up at the wrong Holiday Inn at first as it turns out there are more than one in this city. OOPS! Thankfully the "right" one was only a ten-minute drive from the "wrong" one. Hopefully I won't make that mistake again. I also was reminded during our time in New Orleans that I need to remember to research parking options when planning to spend time in a city. Since we live in a very rural area, it's something I don't naturally think about unless I know we're going to a really big city like NYC. The hotel gave out free popcorn and cookies. We'll be in Texas for the next week. Some days will involve a fair amount of driving, and other days we won't have to drive much. It's a big state! Speaking of states, we restarted the license plate game at the beginning of the year, and we only have six states left to find - Arkansas, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Considering we are planning to be in Hawaii in August, I am hopeful we can find all 50 this year since we've already spotted some of the other ones that have been hard to find in the past such as New Mexico and North Dakota. 

Swamp, battlefield, and WWII

Last year one of my favorite experiences was our time in Big Cypress and the Everglades in Florida. Yesterday we were in a similar ecosystem although in this case it was a true swamp (which isn't true of the ones in Florida). On Wednesday we began our time in Louisiana at the airport which is on the west side of New Orleans. We traveled east to go to the zoo and then farther east to the French Quarter. The farthest east that we will be on this two-week trip was in Slidell, Louisiana. We spent the first night at a Comfort Inn in Slidell. Oliver enjoyed swimming in the outdoor pool. Yesterday morning we took a two-hour boat trip on the Pearl River (Honey Island Swamp). We saw many alligators also spotted racoons, turtles, little blue herons, great blue herons, anhingas, prothonotary warblers, one diamondback water snake, and crawfish. Oliver enjoyed holding a small lizard. 

We bought some food for lunch at McDonald's with a gift card and drove to the Chalmette Battlefield. There were two battlefields Paul asked me to add to the itinerary, and this was one of them. It was the site of the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. Even though it was 90 degrees outside, Nadia and Ian decided to take a long walk together while Paul explored the battlefield. Many times, Paul wishes that we could have spent far more time at a battlefield, but even though we were only there for about one hour, he saw everything he wanted to see this time except for the fact the Visitor Center was closed due to the air conditioning system not working. Our final stop of the day also had Paul's name written all over it - the National WWII Museum which is H U G E (284,000 sq ft). We spent 2.5 hours walking through the exhibits and then about 45 minutes watching the movie Beyond All Boundaries. The 4D movie was VERY, VERY well done. The USS Tang submarine experience was also unique.

After the museum, we drove to Parkway Bakery and Tavern which has been in business since 1911. We ate another iconic New Orleans food - po'boys. I forgot to mention yesterday that the hot dogs we had on Wednesday night had the best hot dog buns any of us have ever had before. For our sandwiches yesterday Paul picked one that contained roast beef, gravy, and potatoes inside. Oliver had catfish, I had smoked pit ham, Nadia had roasted turkey, and Ian had spicy sausage. After dinner we drove west of New Orleans to spend the night at a Holiday Inn in La Place. Oliver put on his bathing suit only to find out the outdoor pool doesn't open for the season until Memorial Day weekend, even though it was 90 degrees outside. Before we checked into the hotel, we stopped at a Walmart for some groceries, sunscreen, and Band-Aids. We got ice cream novelties that the kids ate last night and food for our lunches for the next few days (bread, peanut butter, jelly, etc.). Today will be our last day in Louisiana as we will be beginning our time in Texas this evening. 

State #49

On Monday I began the final preparations for our vacation which included packing our suitcases, giving a garage door opener to a neighbor who will be caring for our guinea pig, mowing the lawn, and giving Oliver and Paul haircuts. Nadia worked on Tuesday morning. After lunch an old crown fell off one of my molars. I called the dentist and explained that I was leaving on a two-week vacation. I was thrilled when they said they could cement it back on if I got there within twenty minutes. I loaded up the kids and the dog and went to the dentist. I am so very thankful they were able to repair it for me before we left on our trip. After the dentist appointment, I dropped Milo off at the Seiberts, got a dozen glazed donuts at Weis market, and then dropped the kids off at MCS for their final choir rehearsal. After we ate dinner, we loaded up the van and then drove to MCS for the spring concert and art show. All the middle and high school boys were supposed to wear long sleeve black shirts, black pants, and black shoes. Some wore ties. Oliver had a tie (and no belt for his pants). Ian had a belt but no tie. Nadia wore one of my black dresses with a black cardigan that helped disguise the fact that the dress was too big for her. Pop Pop also attended the concert. We left directly from the concert to drive to Maryland. Yvonne and her family are also on vacation this week so the house was empty aside from their two cats. I gave the cats food and fresh water and cleaned out their litter box. We tried to get to bed as quickly as possible as we didn't arrive at their house until 11:00pm. 

I had booked a flight that left BWI at 9:00am, but American Airlines changed the departure to 6:30am, which meant we had to be out the door around 4:40am to allow time to drive to BWI, go through TSA, and get to our gate before they began boarding. We could have left my sister's house at 5:00, but we figured it was a case of better safe than sorry. Although we had to sit on the runway for a while with the engine turned off before we took off, our flight arrived in Charlotte on time. Paul, Ian, and Nadia sat together, and then Oliver and I sat across the aisle from them. Our third seat was empty. We landed in Charlotte a little before 8:00 am and hustled as quickly as we could to get from the D terminal to the C terminal. We *thought* we had very little time in between our two flights. Due to a mechanical problem that needed to be fixed, we actually had a lot of time in between the two flights. Eventually we were able to board our flight. Nadia and Ian sat together across from Paul, Oliver, and me in the hopes that there would be one empty seat again on that side, but the flight was full, and a woman had the window seat on that side. On both flights we were served a drink and Biscoff cookies. I had purchased 12 donuts for $5 on Tuesday at the grocery store as I knew that it would be expensive to buy food at the airport for breakfast. We didn't eat all the donuts, but $1 per person for breakfast is very affordable. Proof that the kids are growing up, After we arrived in New Orleans, we took a shuttle to the rental cars. I had booked the rental car through Priceline and had paid for their rental insurance because it's a lot cheaper than Dollar's. We declined the fuel charge, which just means we need to make sure we return the van with a full tank of gas. I did end up opting to pay for the tolls. We have an EZ pass, but those aren't accepted in this area of the country. I'm not sure if I made the right choice or not. They said many places only have electronic tolls and we could end up having to pay a lot of fees.

After we got our black minivan, Paul drove us to Wendy's for lunch and then to the Audubon Zoo. It is rated as one of the best zoos. We aren't sure why it's considered above average. I contemplated also going to a zoo in Houston and Dallas. The only other zoo that is in our itinerary is the one in Fort Worth. We also could have visited multiple aquariums. There is one here in New Orleans, for example. I chose the one in Corpus Christi, Texas. There also is an Insectarium here in New Orleans, but that also didn't make the cut. I can tell you that the Wendy's we visited near the airport is definitely below average. Nadia ordered a salad, and I ordered a chili. As we went through our bag of food, we noticed we didn't have a spoon or a fork (only one knife). When Paul asked for one, they said they didn't have any. Then why in heaven's name are they selling food that you need those things to eat them?!? Oi vey! After we walked around the zoo, we drove to the French Quarter. Our first stop was the St, Louis Cathedral, which dates back to the 1700's. We made a brief stop in the National Park Visitor Center which is the visitor center for both the French Quarter (part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park) and the Jazz National Historical Park. It was very unimpressive. The kids had already earned both of those Junior Ranger badges through the mail several years ago. For the next couple of hours, we walked around the French Quarter and ate dinner. We had hot dogs at Dat Dog. Oliver had wanted to eat some alligator in Florida last year, and it didn't happen. He chose an alligator hot dog topped with crawfish etouffee and cheese. None of the rest of us were that adventurous. Our last stop before we returned to the van was Cafe Beignet. We ordered two orders of beignets to share amongst the five of us. We all enjoyed them and thought they tasted similar (even better) than a funnel cake. Many trips we have tried to spend as little as possible on meals by eating a free breakfast at the hotel, skipping lunch, and using a gift card for dinner. Sometimes we are doing that on this trip, but this trip I made more efforts for us to try different foods. 

Graduation #1

As a professor, I attended many graduation ceremonies. As a student, my last graduation was in December 2002 when I received my doctorate. Paul graduated three times after I earned my doctorate, but he didn't actually participate in any ceremonies for his BS, MS, or PhD. Jenna, Joshua, and Andrew didn't have a high school graduation ceremony due to being homeschooled. We didn't attend Susie's due to the fact they live in Chicago, and we don't plan to attend Adam's this year for the same reason. There are graduations for homeschoolers in our area, but Nadia has also said she doesn't care to participate in one. All that to say despite the fact I have 3 kids, and my sisters have 13 kids, Jenna's graduation today was the first one we've attended for a relative in quite a while. Jenna attended my graduation in 2002. She was less than a month old. Her boyfriend, Toby, also graduated this week with his BS from Liberty, but like Paul he didn't participate in a ceremony. Jenna actually completed her BS in December 2024. She's been working on her MS in Occupational Therapy since then and expects to graduate again next year. Jenna had six family members attend her graduation at Messiah University - Yvonne (her mom), Toby (her boyfriend), Paul and I, and two of her brothers (Andrew and Brendan). After the almost 2-hour outdoor ceremony concluded, we took pictures and then eventually made our way to Texas Roadhouse for a late lunch. Milo was home alone for 9 hours, so he was very glad when we returned home. 

Toby has accepted a job offer for a job in Harrisburg, and he found an apartment to live in until he and Jenna buy a townhouse that isn't far from where Jenna lives or his new job. They plan to get married in 2026 and settle down in the Camp Hill area. Normally, when there isn't massive amount of traffic due to a graduation (ha ha), it only takes us about 90 minutes to get to that area. It is nice having at least one niece live within a reasonable drive of our home. Adam is going to be starting at the University of Florida in the fall, and Joshua will be starting at Appalachian Bible College, which is in West Virginia. Next spring there will be four people graduating - Nadia from high school, Susie and Andrew with their BS degrees, and Jenna with her MS degree. Because Andrew's graduation is on the same day as the homeschool prom, I don't think we'll be driving to Ohio for that graduation. Whether we attend Jenna's graduation next year will depend on when we end up going to Europe. We will make it a priority to attend her wedding. 

Our kids didn't attend Jenna's graduation because they were in Indiana today. Yesterday morning Ed picked them up at 6:15 am on his way to church. They left the church around 7:00 to drive to IWU, which is about eight hours away without stops. Last night they completed the written and preliminary individual portions of the competition. Ten of the kids from our church (including Nadia and Ian) qualified to be in the individual finals (meaning no one from another church did). The teams from North Rome didn't attend this quiz. I expect some of their quizzers (Ruth and Julia at the minimum) to qualify for individual finals in June. As for the writtens, Nadia finished in 9th place, and Ian finished in 10th place. In the team competition, Ian's team (Ben, Ian, and Isaiah) finished in 3rd place, and Nadia's team (Nadia, Faith, and Jill) were in 4th place. Two teams from our church were in 1st and 2nd place. It seems they drove all the way to Indiana just to compete against their own teammates although there were other teams there. For the individual finals, Ian and Nadia were in a four-way tie with Alex and Faith for 5th place. Daniel, Joey, Isaiah, and Ben were ahead of them. Oliver was on the team that won first place in the team competition (Joey, Xandir, Daniel, and Oliver) but I highly doubt Oliver had anything to do with their victory. Despite the fact he probably didn't help them one iota, he received 1/4 of what their team received in cash for having won the team competition. I think the winnings should have just been split between the other three boys, but that's not how it works. So ironically, the child of mine who did the least studying by far is the one who received a cash prize. However, we are not allowing him to compete in the competition next month due to the paltry effort he has put forth in studying Luke this year. Hopefully he will put a lot more effort in studying 1 & 2 Corinthians over the next 13 months. 

Graduation ceremonies are frankly pretty boring, but it was a pleasure to spend some time with my sister and some of her kids. Here are some other things I'm thankful for right now:

1. Our second year of having a co-op meet at our house came to an end on Tuesday. The kids usually eat lunch at our house, but on that day Ben and I drove the kids to the park in our town for a picnic lunch and a game of Wiffle ball. 

2. On Wednesday I had a conversation with my dad and one of my cousins as the three of us are joint trustees for a trust that uses money Grandpa set aside to pay for his great grandchildren's college education. When he was alive, he paid all twelve of his grandchildren to go to college. Now his money is being used to pay for my cousins' kids, my nieces/nephews, and my own kids to go to college. On our side of the family those monies have only gone toward Susie, Jenna, and Andrew so far, but Yvonne recently asked if there was a way money could be used from the fund to pay for college tuition bills incurred through dual enrollment (when they are still in high school). Yvonne and Joe paid for the first 30 or so credits of Andrew's college degree while he was in high school, and Paul and I have already paid for Nadia's first 34 credits. Through our discussion we decided that from now on the fund can pay for dual enrollment courses as long as the student realizes they will still be limited to the maximum we will pay altogether for each student's degree. So, the process was already begun for Nadia's upcoming tuition bill to paid by the trust, for which I am very grateful! Thank you, Grandpa!! 

3. I'm grateful the kids can participate in the Bible quizzing program at our church. They meet for 90 minutes every Wednesday. I'm thankful they had a safe trip out to Indiana yesterday and am praying the last few hours of their trip home will go smoothly. The Bible quizzing team has been the place where they have developed most of their closest friendships.

4. Yesterday after I took Paul's car for its annual inspection, I met Cheri for lunch at Panera. We had planned to walk, but it was cold and rainy, so I had my favorite salad for the first time this year. 

5. As tomorrow is Mother's Day, I'm very thankful for the mom God gave me. I still miss her very much. I also miss my mother-in-law. I am very grateful God gave me three children. I love being their mother. I also feel like a "dog mom" so I have to say I'm also thankful for Milo. I longed for decades for the day I'd become a mom. I had zero desire to ever have a dog, but I'm very glad Milo is part of our family. 

First prom

Two weekends ago, we had one special event on the calendar - going down to Lancaster to see Noah at Sight and Sound. We saw the same musical in 2013, but given our three kids were 10 months, 3.5, and 5 years old at that time, they don't exactly remember that performance. We had planned to tour an Amish home and school, but those plans were scratched once we realized that we'd be dog sitting Cooper that day as we didn't want to be away from home for more than eight hours. Cheri and Pop Pop joined us for Noah and a meal at IHOP. They recently announced that they are doing a brand-new show next year - Joshua. I also recently read about a new Broadway musical that is debuting in London later this year about Paddington! I had planned to try to get tickets to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang next year in May, but now I'm also hoping we might be able to see the Paddington musical. Ian still regularly eats orange marmalade which I introduced to the kids when I read the Paddington books aloud to them many years ago. 

This weekend our schedule was much more hectic. On Friday morning I picked up Cheri and Nathaniel and then drove to Ricketts Glen State Park for a homeschool program on vernal pools. After the program we ate lunch with the Schrecks and then went on a short hike. Friday night the kids from the co-op that meets in our home put on a 30-minute play about Robin Hood at our church. The kids had a dress rehearsal, the parents/grandparents/siblings watched a performance, and then we ate a meal together. Ben had to fill in for Julianna for the part of Friar Tuck. Nathaniel did a wonderful job playing the Sheriff of Nottingham. Nadia (who was Maid Marion) was primarily insulting him throughout the play because he was trying to force her to marry him. Lydia did a great job portraying the part of Robin Hood. There were about 50 people gathered together for the performance (guests plus the actors). I had the kids vote last week on what play we should do next fall, and I think they've chosen Peter Pan.

Nadia worked a morning shift (7:30-12:00) on Saturday morning. I picked up her corsage before I picked her up from work. In the afternoon six of the seven kids met at Faith's house to do their hair, eat a little, and then I took pictures of all seven of them at a pretty spot near their home. I was so very grateful the weather cooperated as the forecast wasn't very good. I have barely used my camera in 2025, but I definitely used it this past weekend! Nadia wore a necklace, earrings, and bracelet that had all been my mom's. I had signed Paul and the boys up for a father/son burger burn at our church that took place on Saturday evening, but those plans were cancelled as Paul wasn't feeling well. Dave Seibert drove the seven kids to the prom. 

Paul stayed home on Sunday. The kids and I attended only the first service at church. Then I took six kids to Knoebels. It rained off and on. I was the only one who brought a rain jacket or an umbrella (I brought both). I shared my jacket with Ian. The upside of the rain was that attendance was very low which meant almost all the rides had a short line or no line at all. Oliver and Xandir rode the Impulse for the very first time in their lives, and they ended up riding it eight times over the course of the day! James joined them for six of those times. The park was open until 6:00, but we left at about 5:15 to get some pizza at OIP before going home. Thankfully the rain didn't interfere with the kids' ability to ride the rides. 

Here are some things I'm giving thanks for.

1. Everything went smoothly with watching Cooper. Ben picked him up on April 27. Next week we'll be dropping Milo off at their house before we leave on vacation.

2. Nadia has been helping me a lot in the kitchen lately with cooking and baking.

3. It took a while, but we finally found someone who can watch Milo while we're attending the Bible quizzing national competition in Indiana in June. Although I'm very thankful Nadia can work at a kennel, we're also very glad we don't need to board Milo in a kennel.

4. On April 28 I celebrated my 49th spiritual birthday. I'm eternally grateful for salvation through Jesus Christ! Tab took me out to lunch that day to celebrate my physical birthday. I thought it was special that the day that worked best for her ended up being my spiritual birthday. It was lovely to be able to chat with her for a couple of hours.  I am also grateful for the gift my dad gave me for my spiritual birthday. 

5. On Wednesdays I usually drop the kids off at 1:15, and Paul usually picks them up at 8:00. Last Wednesday I walked around the church property while the kids had art/chorus so I could take Nadia shopping at the thrift store before bringing the kids back to church for Bible quizzing/youth group. I got Paul some polo shirts and Nadia some shorts and jeans. We also used a gift card to get pizza from Pizza Hut, which is Nadia's favorite place to get pizza (and not a place we go very often). 

6. I'm thankful that Nadia enjoyed going to the prom with some of her friends, that the performance of Robin Hood went well, that the rain didn't interfere with our time at Knoebels yesterday afternoon, and that we were able to go to Ricketts Glen State Park. I'm also thankful for the pictures I was able to take on Saturday evening. I took a LOT of pictures to share with the other families. 

7. The kids are doing a good job with completing their work so that May 8 can be our last day of school for this year. Ian has the most work left to do of the three, but I think he can do it if he works hard these last few days. 

8. Most of the time the van driver's side door opens. Sometimes I have to climb in or out by way of the passenger side, but this can lead to a dead battery because the van doesn't totally shut off until the driver's door opens. The first week of June it's supposed to be repaired. When I don't have many riders I need to transport, I have been opting to drive Paul's car. 

9. Tomorrow will be our last day of co-op for this school year. We're planning to take the kids to the playground instead of playing board games after we've done chemistry, personal finance, and book groups. Isaiah will be graduating, but two new girls plan to join our co-op next fall, so it looks like we'll have 16 kids in our co-op for the fall session. Right now, we have 5 middle schoolers and 10 high schoolers in the co-op. I think next fall we'll have 6 middle schoolers and 10 high schoolers. This session we've had 8 boys and 7 girls, and I think next session we'll have 9 girls and 7 boys in our group. As much as the kids enjoy having their friends come over each Tuesday, I am looking forward to having a break for four months before the fall session begins.