Vacation Tally

Sunny Beach Days: 7

Sunburns: 1---Learned my lesson on day 2. That 2.5 mile walk on the beach can outlast your SPF!

Books Read: 3.5. 

     Philippa Gregory's A Constant Princess about Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragorn

     Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl---not finished yet.

     Orphan Train.

     The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up

Knitting Projects Completed:  1 Honey Cowl finally completed while knitting in the car. I knit only about 5 rows while actually at the beach. Books took precedence!

Household Renovations Completed:  1---Gorgeous new engineered hardwoods installed throughout the main floor. 

Bathrooms still need to be completed.

Summer Days

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...
Beautiful blue sky and sun, for now.  Afternoon thunderstorms in the usual forecast.  We've had so much rain in the past year it's crazy.

We had some heavy rain at the beach, too, but it didn't dampen our fun!

I am thinking...
About all. the. things. on my to-do list.  It seems like the middle of the summer by the calendar, but we are rapidly winding up our summer already!  Tom has Jamboree, then Meg has camp, and then we have to get our acts together!  Tom starts school the first week of August (I know!), and then the next 2 start the next week---the 13th?  But they have orientation on the 10th which is a half-day.  I have a lot of pap.......Oh, never mind.  Trust me.  Long list.  :-(

I am thankful...
For a safe and fun trip to the beach last week with most of the extended family.  Lots of cousins and aunts and uncles.  We had lots of fun and togetherness, long walks on the beach, food, playing in the pool and in the ocean, crazy hair dying with coffee and kool-aid....it was great!

Currituck Sound

From the school table...
Double-checking the booklists this week and finishing the ordering.  Plus, I'll be ordering some books for the hybrid school.

In the kitchen...
I need to go to the store, but meals need to be simple and smaller-than-usual since TMax is away at the Boy Scout Jamboree.

I am wearing...
White denim capris, coral v-neck.  Looks awesome with my tan!  ;-)

What I’m doing with fiber...
I'm spinning some lovely espresso-colored recycled fiber from KnitPicks, which I'm almost finished with.  Then I have to figure out what to knit with it!  I also have an ombre tote on the "hook" that I'm crocheting in the car.  Since the long car ride is over, I'm not going to be making much progress anymore---unless I can get the rest of my work done and find a new series to watch on the tv!

I am going...
To run a bunch of errands today.  Get as much done as I can while I'm out!

I am reading...
The Catechism.  I picked it up again, and I figured I need to read 12 paragraphs per day to finish by the end of the Year of Faith.  (Trying really, really hard to start my days with prayer and spiritual reading instead of blogs and news.)

Meridon by Philippa Gregory.  I found it at the beach house in their "library".  I couldn't find the first book in the trilogy, so I figured I'd read the last one to see how it ends.  Lol.  I didn't finish, though, and now I'm waiting to check out the audio book on Overdrive.  The wait is killing me because I was really enjoying it.  I'll have to get the first two books, also!  I've never read any of her stuff... have you?

I am hoping and praying...
For a safe trip to the Jamboree, lots of fun while he's there, and a safe trip home!

Putting on the Jambo neckerchief

I am looking forward to...
Checking things off my list.

I am hearing on my ipod...
The usual podcasts....and I'm really thrilled that the short-lived "video-only" version of Catholic Weekend is over.  I do spend a lot of time at my computer, but I don't spend it watching video, and I dislike having video on while I try to read or work----then I can't give either one the appropriate attention.

Around the house...
I was very happy that we came home to a clean house (patting myself on the back), but there is a little clutter from the trip that needs to be picked up.  Plus, I noticed that Tom left for Jambo with his room a disaster!  I think I'll have to clean that up----even with the door closed, I know it's there!  And he would probably prefer not to come home to that mess, himself.

Also, the painters are supposed to come this week to pain the exterior!  Yay!  I can't wait for it to be done!

One of my favorite things...
Home.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Summer camp paperwork
Background check paperwork
Ordering my schoobooks
Ordering the school's schoolbooks
Buying school shoes
Returning school shoes (different pair)
Buying school supplies
Buying school pants
Chorus rehearsal for church "Theater" production
+ the usual

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Hosted by The Simple Woman's Daybook

American Heritage Girls Go Camping!

 A few of our girls

Little Princess and I had a beautiful camping trip with the American Heritage Girls this weekend!  One of the most beautiful aspects of the trip was that the campground was not too far away---only an hour out in Friday afternoon traffic and 45 minutes home.

She was a trooper and hung around to help me pitch the tent while her friends were running around playing.  I'm glad we got there while the sun was shining and we were able to do it in the daylight.  Setting up camp after dark is no fun.  Been there; done that.

It was COLD Friday, but we stayed warm, prepared as we were with hats, gloves, and coats.  We also brought a little ceramic heater to warm the inside of the tent before bed.  I'm pretty sure you couldn't safely leave it on all night, and we didn't.  A little warm-up before we crashed was enough---we were actually too hot.  I was careful to keep all body parts under the top sleeping bag (there were several!) lest they freeze, and I had to monitor LP to keep her covered as she tends to roll all over the place.  But we stayed warm and awoke to a gorgeous Saturday!

After a nice warm breakfast, cleanup, and so forth, we packed up to go for a little 3.5 mile hike.  I can't think of the last time I went on a hike this time of year.  As there were no leaves on the trees, we were able to enjoy the sunlight the whole time.  It was a peaceful, glorious walk with friends through the majesty of God's creation. 

I could have walked through those woods all day long!  But we had crafts to do!  The girls had collected pinecones and things to make wreaths out of, so we went back to camp for that activity.

The weather forecast was for rain overnight and Sunday, so I decided that the prudent thing to do was to decamp since we're both still recovering from pneumonia and near-pneumonia.  I simply could not wrap my mind around waking up cold and wet and having to pack up the sleeping bags and strike the tent by myself, all while listening to a wet, whiny, and cold 7 year-old!  I know we both would have been miserable and more sick, so even thought she wasn't happy about it, we (I) did break camp.  We stayed, however, for dinner, s'mores, and songs around the campfire until the fire was almost gone and everyone was about ready for bed.

I felt so vindicated in my decision when I woke up Sunday morning, toasty under my down comforter, and heard the steady downpour of rain!

After Mass and a quick lunch I had to go to a CPR certification class which took all day.  It was a busy weekend for me, but a very good one!

One of the nicest things about the camping trip was that our group took the time to pray together.  Since AHG is a Christ-centered scouting organization, it was not awkward at all.  In fact, it was lovely to pray with our sisters in Christ before meals and before everyone departed to their tents or homes Saturday night.

Philly---Day 5

I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting for the last day of sightseeing on our trip!  

We made it to Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love, after spending the night in Amish country.  I had wanted to stop somewhere and look at quilts and whatnot, but we didn't get the chance. The only Amish we saw were leaving Burger King to get into their minivan.

I don't get that.

Anyway...we arrived in Philly in good time in the morning and found a parking garage, which was quite exciting, what with people exiting through the entrance and valet parking in the garage.  We had to grab our belongings and get the 8 of us out the car in a heartbeat.  And then out of the garage.

What mother likes herding her children through a parking garage where there is only room for cars, not people, and the cars are driving on whichever side of the street they care to?

Not this one.

Off to the visitor's center where we picked up our tickets for the Independence Hall, because we had learned our lesson at the Washington Monument and decided to fork over the $1.50 per ticket to order them in advance.

The Little Princes and I loved sitting and talking with the costumed docents who were embroidering, or quilling, or making dolls.  One of them told us about the storytellers who were stationed all around the colonial area.  If we visited all 13 we could win a prize!  We went to 4, but we didn't have time for all of them.  We had other things on our minds---like lunch!

This guy was our favorite of the ones we saw.  He was a great storyteller and just really fun to talk to.

It's kinda sad we missed the others; I think they were the best way for the young'uns (and myself) to learn about the history.

We saw the Liberty Bell which I thought was pretty anti-climactic. I mean, I would have preferred to see it hanging in a bell tower, even if it can't be used, not a totally modern building.


Then we went over for our appointment at the "steak house" which is what LP called Independence Hall later. She must have been listening to the tour guide explain its proper name and misunderstood. It was funny, but I was really proud that she had been listening!


Now, who do you think our tour guide was?

The ghost of Benjamin Franklin, himself.

He's said he's not related, but I don't believe him. What do you think????

Yeah, me too.

After the "State House" we're all getting a little hungry and cranky, so we have another high carb snack to stave off starvation while we visit the Betsy Ross house.  That was a nice little self-guided tour, reasonably priced, and interesting.  Fun, climbing around the tiny, winding stairs in her little house.  It's hard to believe the way people used to live in such small spaces with big skirts on!

After some discussion and map reading, we decided to drive to our next destination: Philly cheesesteak heaven. Good plan---our feet were already tired and we were hungry and it turned out to be a longer drive than we expected.

We had to go to Pat's and Geno's Two different, famous, cheese steak joints that are across from each other, and that we had seen on Sandwiches You Will Like.. We had given semi-serious thought to doing a sandwich tour for our vacation, but dh's "Emmitsburg, Gettysburg, Sharpsburn" tour won out. And we swapped Sharpsburg for Philly. Whatever.

Anyway, we trekked through South Philly in search of Cheese Steaks. Up 'til now, the Philadelphians had impressed us with their brotherly love. No fewer than 3 people had stopped to ask us at various times if we needed help! We evidently looked a little more clueless than we were.

Once we got in a car on the narrow, busy streets, they lost all sense of brotherly love! We saw lots of really cute, old neighborhoods. Not quite as cute and squeezeable as Gettysburg, but nearly so. There was lots of other charm there, too. Like these cool buildings that had been covered in glass and metal:

Fortunately, we were there well between mealtimes, so Pat's and Geno's were not crowded and there was parking immediately available. I don't know what we would have done if we had to drive down the street and dh had to maneuver our mini-van into one of those tiny, curbside spaces. We might have given up and gone cheesesteakless. Philadelphians must be born with serious parallel parking genes!

The plan was to order 4 sandwiches from each store; each of us eat half of one and compare. KT was the brave soul who volunteered to dare Pat's wrath and ordered from him. He even yelled at her for ordering wrong! (They have a sign that teaches you how to order properly.) He's like the Soup Nazi.  We were so proud.

"I got those two sandwiches: steaks, wit, provolone. And I got a steak, wit-out, provolone. But I have no idea what you're sayin' about the othe' one. I don't know whatcher talkin about!" She finally got it right and we sat down to eat in 5 minutes. They were yummy, let me tell you! But then, we were hungry.

After the busboy kindly took our picture in front of their sign (I think he really wanted to stop me from taking a picture of Geno's across the street), we walked over to Geno's.

Do you know what Geno's stands for?  No, it's not the owner's name.  It stands for "Good English Needs Our Support."  Their signs don't tell you how to order a cheese steak properly, they tell you "This is America.  Order in English."  

I like these people a lot.  

They don't yell at you, either.  And they wrap your sandwiches neatly instead of just slapping them on paper and shoving them out the window at you.  Of course, I didn't try ordering in Spanish, so I can't say what might have happened.

This time we ordered our sandwiches "wit" and "whiz"---that's wit onions and cheeswhiz.  Before we got there, it sounded like the most disgusting thing ever.  I wasn't even planning to eat cheese steaks at all, but these were amazing!  We scarfed those puppies down fast and ordered another one for the road.  Sandwiches at these two places cost as much as our lunch at McDonalds (and we didn't even get fries and drinks with our cheesesteaks), but it was so much more worth it!

And, yes, amazingly enough, cheese steak sandwiches at Pat's and Geno's was the highlight of our trip!  

With full tummies, we hit road and headed south for No. Va and the grandparents house, again.

Vacation Day 4, part 2

So, yesterday when I left you we had just had a scrumptious lunch of hearty sandwiches  (and Maryland crab chowder, in my case) at The Shamrock and it was time to head dtr (down the road) to Gettysburg, which ended up being much quicker than we expected.  

Guys, if you go to one of these sites, you really should go to the other!

The areas around the visitors' center were surrounded by these happy wildflowers,

which the children wanted to frolic in,

(although Pipster looks more like a lion stalking his prey!)

even the big boys,

ummm, or NOT.

Adorable, downtown Gettysburg.  There was so much cuteness there that if it were a baby, I'd pick it up and squeeze it!

Hard to imagine these gorgeous views obscured by smoke, explosions, blood, and screams of agony.

They had this handy little tower you could climb to get a better view!

That's Little Round Top in the distance.

Hard to keep kids off stone walls when they're everywhere!

This is the site of Picket's Charge.  I think they had to make it to the 'clump of trees'.

OMG, those were some of the bravest men ever because there was no place to hide while hell rained down upon them!

No wonder this place is literally littered with monuments and memorials to different divisions.  They deserve them.  

Vacation Day 4

Are you ready to stop in and visit St. Elizabeth Ann Seton? This was just a lovely day on our trip. Probably the best day of the whole week.

We were in the beautiful countryside of Pennsylvania, which really rivals Virginia for pastoral beauty, and the weather was perfect. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just right.

This is a little shot of the visitor's center attached to the Basilica.

I think it was just recently designated a basilica when Mother Seton's remains were moved into the church a couple of years ago.



It's one of the loveliest churches I have seen in a long time. And it was built in the early 60's. Just in time, I say, to avoid the horrendous changes that occurred in church architecture.






Some children who weren't very excited about this aspect of our trip were at least inspired to stop and pray before the tabernacle.

After the basilica, we went to the stone house where Mother Seton first started her order in 1809.

Did you know they are having bicentennial activities this weekend? We just missed it! On the other hand, it was probably a good time to visit because everything was all spruced up.

There's the new memorial garden just recently installed for the 200th anniversary of the founding. You can buy a brick if you want.

Then there's the White House which was built later with more room for the sisters, and better construction, I guess. But the stone house was very charming with its basement kitchen with brick floors!

Here we have the original mausoleum donated by Mother Seton's brother.

It's surrounded by the graves of all the sisters and a couple of bishops (next to the door).

I thought it was sad to see how many graves there were and how there were several years where there was a funeral or two every month as the sisters died off. The one who gave us the mini-tour of the basilica said they used to have enough to fill it but not anymore.

Her original resting place:

At this point everyone is getting hungry and it's time to go. It's also the time when KT told Pipster to "put the street down". As we were walking back to the car he found a broken piece of asphalt on the edge of the road and picked it up. It was a large slab---about 1' x 3'---so I think it was fair to call it "the street"!


We had to turn right getting out which is the opposite direction, but KT and I had the same thought: Let's go to the Shamrock for lunch! Just the kind of different place we wanted to try instead of the same old fast food or Cracker Barrel.

I think all the kids commented on the placemats (above). They loved the kitschy decor and there were Irish goodies everywhere. Most of them for sale.

We had the hugest, yummiest sandwiches there that we had ever had. It was awesome. You simply have to stop in if you're going to Gettysburg, or St. Elizabeth Ann's Shrine, or Mount St. Marys.

~~~~~~

We're going to have to visit Gettysburg tomorrow. I know you're disappointed, but it has taken me all day to post this what with trips to get the oil changed, Joann's, Costco, piano, and Target.

Why Joann's, you say? Because my Little Princess is sick, sick, sick. She's been running a pretty good fever for 2 days now. That makes it really quiet around here! So I was able to finish the back of her quilt yesterday and I'm going to start quilting it!!!

Wonders never cease.

Vacation Day 3

After visiting with the cousins on Sunday, we decided to tour Washington, DC a little on Monday.  Having grown up there, dh and I have been countless times with family and field trips, but our kids hadn't been to very many sites.

We took the train in because parking is so difficult in DC, but we paid through the nose for that "convenience".  8 people on the metro gets a little pricey!

We went first to the Washington Monument to get tickets

Alas, they were not to be had until 7:30 pm.  And this was at 10 a.m.   We figured we'd be long gone by then and decided to skip it.

From there we walked to the Lincoln Memorial:

This picture is deceiving.  This is the WWII Memorial which stand halfway between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.  You can't even see how long the Reflecting Pool is here.

So we walked around the WWII Memorial,

Sidestepped the goose poop alongside the Reflecting Pool, and saw this adorable little family,

And finally saw him in all his majesty.

Then we had to start the long walk back in the other direction by way of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, while we ate our ice cream sandwiches to keep us happy,

With a quick stop at the WWII Memorial, again.

And then we went to the Holocaust Museum that neither dh nor I had ever been too. We still didn't see the whole thing, namely the permanent exhibit, but we went to the children's section which is a tour of a fictional Jewish boy's life. Little Princess found that "exciting." It was very well done.





We also went to the large "Propaganda" exhibit there which I found extremely interesting from a current events perspective.

Wave 'hello' to Mr. Jefferson.  We didn't stop to see him as he was too far off the beaten path!

I don't know about you, but at this point, my feet are gettin' tired and I'm a little hungry.  I'm sure the children's tummy and foot pain was much greater than mine, so we started looking for lunch.  There are tons of street vendors in this section of the Mall, but we wanted to avoid those.  We ended up at the National Air and Space Museum because they have a McDonalds.  

Come to think of it, the street vendors might have been cheaper.  Lunch at Mickey's was easily 3x what we would have spent at a normal one.  We only saw a couple of things at Air and Space and went directly across the Mall to the National Gallery of Art.

I was enjoying this:

and this:

while the little ones enjoyed this (supervised by a tired teen):

Now, there's a ciborium worthy of Our Lord!

I loved seeing the originals of some of my favorite paintings!

I think some of the kids actually saw more of the museum than I did as they kept moving at a brisk pace, while I stopped to enjoy, rest, and take pictures.  But that's fine with me.  I don't need to make them examine every painting.  They're seeing a variety of artwork and getting exposed to it.  They'll slow down and look closely when something grabs their attention.

The walk back to the metro station went through this sculpture garden.  Some of these I remember from my youth, especially the typewriter eraser.

Wonder who did that one? 

He cracks me up sometimes!

Okay, I don't know about you, but we're exhausted and heading back to the Metro, even if it is rush hour and we have to pay $2 more per person for the trip.  We're TIRED!

Join us tomorrow for a tour of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Gettysburg!