Niagra Falls, Philedelphia, and Ohio

Elyse at Independance Hall in the signing room
Liberty Bell
Conservatory at Longwood
Paul in the Children's Garden
Elyse at Niagra Falls
Maid of the Mist

My sister, Katie, is doing a summer internship in Philedelphia with a whole level of a house all to herself. Since she's out there alone for almost two months, we decided to visit her for a few days, and then my parents joined the band wagon and met us there. It's the longest drive we've done with Luke (eleven and a half hours) and I'm surprised at how well all the kids did. It helped to break up the trip. We stopped at Niagra Falls almost halfway there and wandered around for about three hours. I've seen them about six times and this was the first time we rode the Maid of the Mist. Very fun. In Philedelphi we visited a gorgeos garden call Longwood Gardens, we saw Independance Hall where the Declaration of Independance was signed, saw the liberty bell, Franklin's grave and foundations of his house, and the outside of the Betsy Ross house, and the oldest residential street in the U.S. We also took a driving tour of Valley Forge and ironically had a fabulous picnic where our long ago ancestors nearly starved. We broke the return trip home by stopping at Matt's brothers place is Columbus, OH. We played with cousins for a couple days, had some picnics and short hikes, and went to a splash park. Whew. Now all I want to do is stay inside my house for a week and do nothing. And while I love visiting family, there is nothing like coming home to my own bed. Fun trip, though. I don't think I would ever have thought to go to Philedelphia for fun without my sister there. But I actually found myself getting choked up at a few of the historic sites. The older I get, the easier it is for me to get sentimental.

A Paul funny

I have to write this down somewhere before I forget it. Matt took Luke and Paul to the home improvement store to get some supplies for the house. The checkout lines were rather long and they only had two things, so the nice young lady(in her twenties) at the service counter waved them over to her desk. As she rang up their two items, Paul says hi and the lady says hi back. Then Paul asks, "What's your phone number?" The lady looks at him strangely. "Why do you ask?" Paul: "Oh, my dad wants it." This is where Matt starts to panic and can't think of anything to say to bail himself out. No, I would never ask for your phone number...Uh, I didn't tell him to say that...He quickly signed for the items, grabbed both boys, and nearly ran out of the store. Matt to Paul: "Why did you tell her I wanted her phone number?" Paul: "In case you have a problem with the stuff you bought, you can call her, and she will fix it." The innocent mind of a five year old. Matt doesn't want to show his face again around there for a while.

Popcorn Popping

Here is Luke's current favorite song.

Pics of camping trip

Pig Races
We drive by this sign on our way to the campsite and it always cracks me up. Hmm...where should I go today? To school? Or the drag strip? Choices, choices.
Petting zoo


miniature golfing
Luke liked to hit the ball once with his club(which he wielded more lake a baseball bat), and then would pick up the ball and drop it in the hole.
I didn't actually take any pics of the campsite. I must have been too preoccupied with swatting mosquitos!

Camping Over the 4th

This year we decided to camp over the 4th of July weekend. About once a year we like to camp at Hoffmaster State Park on the west side of the state, about half way up the coastline. It's got big lots and a private beach that has a creek running through it that little kids can play in(and it's way warmer than the big lake). Driving over we hit a massive storm front that hit so hard we could barely see the road. The campground was near flooded, but fortunately our in-laws were all ready there with their pop-up camper and we spent the night with them. It rained nearly all night--and I should know, I was awake up past 2AM with terrible pains from bad food at a local restaurant and insomnia. Despite the fact that the lake was too cold to swim in thanks to the unusually cold spring we've had, and the swarms of mosquitos that attacked us whenever we were stationairy, we had a really fun time. We played on the beach for four days, went to a local summer fair where we went to a petting zoo and fed yaks, llamas, goats, sheeps, and even a zedonk (yes, that would be half zebra have donkey. Imagine a donkey head and zebra legs on one animal). There was also an african gazelle that looked suspiciously like a Michigan fawn. Hmmm...They also had pig races, which the kids thought was cool, but I thought was very very long. And we saw fireworks over the bay. We even floated a river on tubes. It was only about 2-4 feet deep and VERY cold. I had Luke on my lap in a lifejacket and Matt had Paul. And we rounded things out with our annual family miniature golf outing at Craig's Cruisors and ice cream at the Whippi Dip. My sister in law, Katie, is home for the summer and she came along with her parents. That girl is a kick in the pants. Katie makes everything funnier. So even though at times our fourth of July vacation seemed bumpy, Aunt Katie made everything hilarious. She was fun to watch with Luke. She freaks out over sticky fingers and slime, but she really is great with the kids. She'd feed Luke, tote him around, and play with him in the car. We couldn't have done without her! I'll post some pics once I find the camera.

Rejected and Still Kicking

I received my ninth rejection yesterday on my last book, but if you count the publishing houses that only contact you if they're interested (and they've had at least six months), then I'm up to twelve. BUT...I did get my second personalized rejection after my summer vacation: "Very well written," writes the editor from Wendy Lamb Books, "but the story isn't right for me." Tell me about it. No one likes the story. And it is pretty juvenile even for YA fiction. I find I'm getting hardened to rejection. They use to bum me out for a couple of days and now I pop them in my drawer and figure I'll wall paper a bathroom with all my rejection letters someday. I'm now working on a bizarre retelling of Cinderella that takes place in a land that mirrors Yellowstone National Park and where wishes don't come true the way the wishers think they will. I've used the story to apply for a works in progress grant from my writing organization. Winners are announced on Labor Day. I'm crossing my fingers for at least a letter of merit. With the help of my crit group, the story is coming a long a lot better than the last one. I'm expecting another rejection this week. Man, sometimes these people will drag rejections out FOREVER!!!

Chunky Monkey Crayons

One of my blogger friends from my ward posted this craft recipe on her web site. The kids and I tried it out yesterday and had lots of fun. Thanks, Angie! It kept the kids occupied for over an hour peeling paper, watching it cool, and then coloring on my giant note paper pad. Great summer activity to do when it's too hot to play outside and the kids say their "bored"--again. My kids especially liked mixing colors together. We have yellow and blue swirl; red, white, and blue; yellow and purple, orange and red, etc.

This comes straight from Angie's website:

If you are like our family you probably have some crayons that are short, stubby, paper gone or in shreds. Perfect crayons don’t last long...I have the perfect solution for all of those left over and unwanted stubby crayons. Here’s my version of how to make a new Recycled Chunky Crayon! We call them Chunky Monkey Crayons. Spray your muffin tin with vegetable spray and pour some crayons into each spot. The more or less you put depends on what size you want for each chunky crayon. You can also group the crayons into colors that are fun together, red and blue for purple, pink tones for girls, or blue tones for boysGet out your old crayons. Take off the paper (if it is still on) and break them up into smaller pieces (kids love to help with this.)Place the muffin tin full of crayons into a preheated oven of 275 degrees F. I used a large muffin tin. Watch them carefully, they will melt fast. Bake them for about 7-8 minutes. When they looked melted enough, carefully and slowly remove them from the oven. You can stir them with a toothpick for a swirly look, or leave them as is. Let them cool completely (can be placed in the freezer to speed up process once the tin is not so hot.) Once cooled, the crayons can be popped out of the muffin tin, tap the back to help this process. Then get the paper out and your ready to color.