Summer Vacation

We were off to Washington D.C. this summer for our vacation.  We usually head up to Iron Mountain, Michigan for some fishing and relaxing - but this year we decided to go a bit more educational while the kids still have interest, and take a week for history, museums and fun!

Our first destination was Columbus, Ohio - not for the historical value, but Bryan had the opportunity to visit his office's branch there...it was on the way.  While Bryan worked, the kids and I visited COSI, a dynamic, hands-on science museum.  The kids had a blast!

We left Columbus and headed straight for GETTYSBURG, PA.  What a wonderful, history filled experience.  We stayed at the Battlefield Bed & Breakfast - which was AMAZING!  We 

stayed in the First Texas Infantry Room - woke up to a wonderful history lesson, taught by a man who even dressed in garb of the civil war era.  Our breakfast was delicious!  We then went out with the Innkeeper to shoot off a Musket - and we ALL did it!!  Wow.  We then went on our battlefield tour...we decided to tour in our car with an audio CD.  It was a long day, but breathtaking.  The history in Gettysburg is eerily present...I could almost feel the soldiers walking through the battlefields.  The kids loved it too - their favorite was Devil's Den and climbing the rocks (see our new photo to the right).

After Columbus, we spent a day in Harrisburg, PA (again so Bryan could work) - the kids and I relaxed at the pool and caught a movie, Wall-E.  A nice rest before D.C.

We stayed at the home of Matt, Amy, Jack and Emma Simpson in Chevy Chase, MD - we are so grateful to have friends who opened their home to us - even though they weren't even there!!!  Matt and Amy came home after we had been there for a few days and we were able to visit and enjoy each others company!!  We wish we lived closer - great friends!!  Chevy Chase is just outside of D.C., near Bethesda, MD - where we had the BEST blue crabs - YUM-O!!!

Our first full day in the Washington area we spent at Mt. Vernon, Virginia - home of George and Martha Washington.  Garrett was able to earn 2 Cub Scout badges and 

pins doing a couple of activities while we were there.  He earned the Mt. Vernon Surveyor's Badge and the Historical Tour Badge.  The Surveyor's Badge was so cool!!!  The 3 of us, equipped with a 'surveyor's kit - supplied by Mt. Vernon', went to the southside of the mansion and we surveyed a plot - with instructions given by Mt. Vernon.  George Washington was an avid surveyor - so what better place to earn this badge???  Garrett's measurements (length of each side, degree of angle (the azimuth) and drawing of plot) - were close to perfect!!  Way to go G!  The historical tour badge was earned by looking at each outbuilding (a huge property) and listening to a background (given by tour guide, mom) and answering questions.  It was interesting that as I was reading at each site, other tourists were listening intently b/c there were no other guides explaining the buildings - I felt like a genuine tour guide for a day!!

More from our vacation in a future post!!

Summer 2008

So this summer has been BUSY!!!  

Garrett loves soccer and the summer had a great kick-off with a fantastic soccer team...he did great!!  In addition to a fantastic team, we have gained 

new friends!  We were lucky to have such a great coach with 1st hand knowledge of the game.  Coach Lobo is from Brazil and he plays soccer twice a week now...his wife, Veronica is from Chile and is a wonderful friend for me...their kids - Sofia (10), Vi (9), and Martina (2) are so much fun to hang out with...our kids love going to the Lobo's house and having sleepovers!!

Following soccer - our next event would have been Garrett's first Camping Experience...Camp Akela.  Bryan and Garrett went to Northern Wisconsin with his Boy Scout Den from St. Charles...he had the opportunity to camp with his den from Carmel - but he decided to go to Wisconsin.  His Den Leader in STC, is a die hard Scout - and Garrett's first camp-out was a blast!  He earned several badges and pins and is well prepared for future camping excursions.  Bryan had a great time too - including making a 'Leave Behind' with all of the boys for the dining hall - it was punched leather and had each of the boys' names on it.  Who would have thought he never made 

it to Eagle Scout...but Garrett is on his way!

Now for some activities for Georgia...SWIM SWIM SWIM!!!  Georgia joined the neighborhood swim team...Brookshire North Swim Club - this neighborhood team is a part of a neighborhood conference - with actual meets...she was not the strongest stroke swimmer when we started the team, but quickly understood the technique for strokes and folks, we have ourselves a SWIMMER!!  Georgia was strong in freestyle, breaststroke and yes, butterfly!!  Her collection of ribbons from the meets include several blues, reds, whites and yellows - she of course is most proud of her blue ribbons...we are proud of all of them!  Other than daily asking to go to the pool, Georgia has been keeping it kinda low key this summer.  She is saving her energy for fall soccer and ice skating lessons ~ we'll see how that goes!  (pictures of swim meets to follow).

Click here for more pics of Garrett's camping and soccer.

MORE TO COME!!!

Please accept my apologies for not posting any blogs in quite some time!!! With the new puppy and all of the activities the kids are involved in, we have been SOOOO busy!!!  Although those reasons are also good reasons to blog!!!  So, for the next few days I'm going to "REWIND" and blog our summer!!!  Be patient...but we should be up to date soon!!!

It's a....GIRL!!!!!

Close your mouth...no babies coming outta my belly...it's a PUPPY!!!!

She is ADORABLE!!  We are having troubles with her name though...here is the issue:  She came with the name Remy (like the rat in Ratatouille the movie) - and I think it sounds like a boy's name and one of our neighbors has a dog named Remy (who for the record is a male dog) - and did I say, it is a name of a RAT in a movie!?  So instead, my vote is Emmy - just drop the R and it is totally a girl name - and she still responds to it (actually I think she responds better to it than the R word) - it actually is usually Emmy Sue or Emmy Lou or Emmalemmadingdong...but seriously we need to have agree on a name for this puppy!!

So its puppy central at our house - blockades from room to room

 - floor cleaner for those puppy accidents - and chew toys b/c we know she likes to eat and chew on ANYTHING!! She likes to play with Stella but Stella isn't so sure of her yet - a bit jealous, especially in those moments where she actually takes Stella's Frisbee right out of her mouth!!

She's soft and sweet and pretty calm...for a puppy.  100% lab - her mom's name is Sally and her dad is John - they live in St. Charles, IL and we were lucky enough to get her - she is one of 9 puppies from this final litter of Miss Sally.  Of her nine, 6 were DONATED to be trained to be service dogs - 2 others were adopted by families in Illinois and then we got Emmy errr Remy.

We were lucky to have our niece Maddie with us this past weekend - she was so helpful with the new puppy - she needs one of her own!  She watched her so carefully during our garage sale - even when Emmy needed a nap!!!

Come visit!