On Scott’s Birthday he was stuck at working for the whole day. We had to postpone our planned camping trip to Locust Lake. Scott loves camping there because of all of the childhood memories he has tied to it. I like that it’s a fairly small lake that the kids can easily hike around. We were so happy to be able to make the trip this weekend to make up for this disappointing Birthday weekend.

We reserved the same sight as last year since all of the electric sites were again already booked. We like this site though because there is a playground up a small trail in sight of our campsite. The kids can run around there and play while we prepared meals, set up the site, started the campfire, or just read and took a nap (ok…only Scott took a nap, and I was a bit envious). There was a bathroom and a shower house both a very short distance from our site. We also had the stream and trails nearby. This year the playgrounds had all been changed. They pulled out all of the old wooden equipment, climbing structures, seesaws, and tire swings. The playground next to us now only had a big jungle gym which you’ll see in the pictures. I thought for sure the kids would eventually get bored of this. Boy was I wrong! Dakota was trying to skip hiking, meals, and even ice cream to stay on that jungle gym even when it was getting a bit dark outside. He barely even played with his cars which are pretty much his favorite toys. Needless to say, the campground worked out very nicely yet again this year!

On Saturday, Destiny and I took a bike ride around the lake a few times. We also visited the nearest K-mart to get some much needed items such as tarps (expecting rain), a new air mattress for Scott and I (discovered the old ones had leaks the first night), and a light (can’t believe we left without that one). The new air mattress, OK…airbed, was great for the rest of the stay. When we returned we put those tarps up to be prepared for the coming thunderstorms expected for Sunday. Then before dinner, all of us, including Destiny’s new friend Gavin, took a hike through the woods beside the stream. We made up corn on the cob which turned out delicious, hamburgers, and salad for dinner. After dinner we took the kids to the campfire safety presentation. The show began a little slow and boring, but once they started showing the kids the equipment, the kids perked up. Dakota had the hugest smile when Smokey the Bear showed up. They were excited to get close to him and shake his paw. Finally, we visited the camp store for an ice cream treat before heading back to the campsite to get ready for bed.

On Sunday we started the day with a thunderstorm, but I’m so glad we decided to stick it out despite the weather. We headed out for a hike during which we found numerous newts that the kids just had to pick up. By the time we reached the campstore, the weather had cleared up for awhile. We rented two canoes and raced around the lake. Derek and Destiny are actually getting pretty decent at rowing now. Dakota tires out quickly still. There was splashing, boats bumping, pushing, and teasing, but in the end Destiny, Dakota, and I beat Scott and Derek to the dam. They beat us to the fishing dock though. Destiny about took Dakota’s and my heads off when she attempted to steer us under the fishing dock. We had to lay down to save ourselves. LOL! We walked back to the campsite in time for lunch. Then the kids played on the playground more while Scott napped and I read. Another thunderstorm visited us. I had the kids put on their swim gear, water shoes and jackets. It was quite chilly, but we didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity for some puddle stomping and crayfishing. So we braved the end of the thunderstorm for another hike to splash in the the puddles, trudge through the mud, and wade through the stream. We caught several crayfish, and then the kids released them before heading back to make a late dinner. We had to visit the campstore for some more ice cream again, and then took showers and headed to bed.

Before bed Scott had struck up a conversation with the campground host. He told Scott that the night before “Big Mama” had raided a cooler at a campsite in our loop stilling some chicken cutlets. Apparently she is a mother black bear traveling with two cubs, and she only wants the coolers–no trash. We normally keep a clean campsite, so I wasn’t worried about our cooler. We put it in the van before it gets dark. However, the campground tends to clear out on a Sunday night because most campers leave Sunday. There was no one camping beside us, so the dark seemed darker. Every sound was “Big Mama” if you know what I mean. When Derek woke me up at 4 AM due to a bad dream and my bladder was screaming at me. I refused to go out and take the chance that I met her and her cubs face-to-face. I sadly waited it out until the first signs of daylight barely sleeping. The kids and the thunderstorms kept me from getting back to sleep after that. We had to pack up during the morning thunderstorms, but at least we had the tarps to keep us from getting completely soaked.

We picked up some Chinese take-out on the way home, and then Scott was kind enough to let me take a nap. He was so sweet unpacking the van, getting the laundry going, and even running to the store for some things. Thanks Scott! A camping trip at Locust Lake is always a fun time, but I have to say, I’m never disappointed to see my soft, warm bed when I get back home again.

The library’s Summer Reading Program came to an end last week with a picnic and performance by Steven Courtney. We had never seen him perform, but have heard so many positive things about his shows. Despite our busy week with the two separate camps going on, I decided that we needed to make it to this event. Besides, it saved me from having to make dinner that night. The picnic began with hotdogs, a snack, and a beverage. I ate before going, so I could just worry about taking care of the kids. Next they sang Happy Birthday to Mrs. Pollouck celebrating her 90th Birthday. She was the generous woman who donated the money for the Fredrickson Children’s Library. After getting cake, Derek with absolutely no prompting from anyone went over to talk to her. She was busy talking to others that had stopped by, so he came over to the blanket looking a little disappointed. I told him to put his cake down and go ahead over and try again. He wanted to personally wish her a Happy Birthday and tell her thank you. I just thought that was so sweet. He is just becoming so thoughtful and aware of bigger things around him. It’s hard to believe that he’s the same kid that with no guilt would bully around Dakota just because he was bigger than him only 3 years ago. They change so fast!

The concert itself was wonderful! Steven Courtney did such a nice job reading the kids and catering to them in his songs and imagination activities. They danced, sang, cheered, and snuggled (during the slow, loving songs). At the end we just had to buy two CDs and Mr. Courtney signed both of them for the boys. Destiny spent most of the time there with friends from her Swim & Gym class. She also had a great time at the concert! What a fabulous reward for all of their hard work reading this summer! They keep having me play the pirate song almost every time we’re in the van, so I know they appreciated the concert.

PA Cyber offered an camp covering just about all of the Arts through their ArtReach program. This was a week long camp for Destiny’s age group and was held at the Strands Capitol Theater in York, PA from 9-12 Monday through Friday last week. The camp included ballet, jazz, writing, vocal, and art classes. I loved hearing Destiny go on about the writing part of the class because this is usually not her favorite task. However, at this camp she thoroughly enjoyed the group writing projects.

For the observation day, we watched the kids perform their jazz dance to one of the High School Musical songs. Destiny had to be the most enthusiastic one there! She just couldn’t contain herself because she was having so much fun! She cracked me up in the writing and vocal part when the kids were sharing character descriptions they had made up. The little girl before her had a fairly normal sounding character, and then Destiny proceeds to tell us about a one-legged cow, that lives in the gross, drippy, sewers and eats other cows. The girl definitely has a sense of humor! She also was the only one who voted for the pig to become bacon at the end of the kids’ “Lost Piggy Blues” song. What can I say? She loves bacon! Instead the kids voted for the piggy to be found with babies in the dishwasher. Still a fun and silly song that turned out great! Her mask that she made in the art class was also very elaborate and decorative! That girl definitely has a creative streak in her and thinks outside the box. This camp was truly worth the drive to York and the parking fees!

Destiny and Derek trained so hard for the Harrisburg Mile beginning in May and ending the week before the race in July. They have both definitely built up their endurance. Destiny’s fastest time for the mile this year was during as trial run on a beautiful summer morning. Unfortunately on race day it was a hot evening, and she was sick. Still she beat last year’s time and ran a very nice race! This year I challenged her to build more strength and endurance. She built up to running 30 minutes for our endurance days. She did start to burn out towards the end of the training, but I’m so proud of her for getting tough and sticking with it.

Derek trained for the Half-pint Half Mile event, and I ran that with him. He ran pretty consistently the whole season. Even though his times stayed about the same, I know that he gained more endurance and strength through all of those practices. Now he can run numerous hills and keep running a couple miles without stopping. That’s great considering that at the beginning, just running two flat laps around the track non-stop was a challenge for him. He ran great at the race, but he was definitely overwhelmed and distracted by all of the people, mascots, and other racers running with him. I’m glad I ran with him because I know it helped him to focus a little and kept him from being too nervous. Next year if he decides to do the race, he’ll have to do the mile. I’m curious if he’ll want to do that. Once the race ended, we didn’t stick around long because the kids were a little grumpy due to being sick.

While Destiny was attending the Gifford Pinchot DiscoverE camp in July, I took Dakota and Derek geocaching the first day. We successfully found the caches with the first one actually being the same as the one Destiny and I had found the day before. It allowed an exchange of little toys, so I knew they’d enjoy that one. The second cache was well hidden. I had no problem figuring out the general location, but it took Dakota to actually find the cache. Sometimes it pays to be small and curious. The second camp day, I took just Derek since Dakota was at his Craft Camp. Derek and I took a 4 mile hike from the camp to the dam and back. He has such a high endurance and didn’t complain once about being tired or hot. What a champ! The last day of the camp, I took the boys canoing. It was quite easy canoing out toward the dam, but I definitely had to work much harder to get back to the dock on time against the wind. That was quite a workout! The boys also had me take pictures of a butterfly and a bee and posed for some other fun shots around the recreation area and in the canoe. They definitely aren’t shy in front of the camera.

While Destiny had her ArtReach camp this past week with PA Cyber at the Strand Capitol Theater in York, the boys and I visited Richard Nixon County Park. We hiked numerous trails and found a couple of geocaches. We only had trouble with one of them, but we were happy to find the second that day to lift our spirits back up. They love those caches with toys to exchange. Even if they start to get tired, once they get to select a new toy, their energy levels go right back up. There’s nothing like a little positive incentive! We basically hiked for about 2 hours each day Monday through Thursday. On Thursday though we checked out Rocky Ridge County Park. We had a neat hike there and found some toads which the boys couldn’t wait to pick up, but we didn’t find the geocache. That was a nice hike though shared with friends also awaiting a sister at the ArtReach camp. There were so many more trails at that park that would be fun to explore on another day. That Friday was an observation day at Destiny’s camp, so we didn’t hike or geocache that day.

It has been so nice to get in all of this hiking this year! I know it was something I had hoped to do last year, but we just didn’t seem to find the time. The trails have been so beautiful, and we have managed to get some great pictures of nature along the way. I hope the kids remember all of these fun times!

Destiny and Omar went to the Thursday nature camps at Gifford Pinchot. They had 3 hours each of the 3 days and some different things from the younger camps. The first day they tried out some orienteering with GPS units. The second day they spent exploring the water. Destiny loved checking out the water critters, but she wasn’t too thrilled about the prospect of water snakes. She just tried not to think about it too much. The last day they did the disc golf course. They also completed different craft and nature projects on each day. As you might expect, my animal and nature loving daughter had a blast at this camp. She really got along well with the other kids and made some new friends.

Dakota elected to do the Craft Camp for his one special camp this summer without his sister or brother. The camp was for one week, Monday through Friday, from 9-12. This was a huge step for him, since he has never taken a class before without them or me there for that matter. We talked about what he should do if he needed help with anything, and he handled the experience wonderfully! I was so proud of him! He made some great projects including a clay basket with a bunch of little trinkets inside, a painting, and a tie die shirt among other things. He even made some new friends all by himself! I could see that this really boosted his self-confidence, so I plan to have him do some more things on his own down the road. His loved the projects!

What’s better in the summer than time in spent in the great outdoors? The boys have been attending a nature camp at Gifford Pinchot State Park, and even better, to me at least, the camp is free! They only have one session, but progress has been made toward resolving some bug phobias that seem to arise annually after the spring flowers come into bloom. The first day the kids learned about bugs and had to catch some insects to learn more about them. Dakota was fine with catching and insect, but he declared that he still wants nothing to do with SPIDERS! On their second day they learned about birds and especially owls. They even dissected an owl pill. I agree that this is very neat, but I still don’t know how I feel about them bringing me the bones in a little plastic bag to take home. Come to think of it, I’m not sure where that is right now, but I remember last seeing the bones in the bathroom where Dakota and Derek insisted they needed to be washed better. I’m sure they will turn up when and where I’m least expecting. EEK! Tomorrow will be their last day, and then the camp for Destiny’s age group will start.

While the boys were in camp, Destiny and I spent some quality time together. The first day we rented a canoe for about an hour. The weather was beautiful that day! Destiny is actually getting quite good at rowing. I wonder how long until I can just sit in the boat reading a book while she takes us on a tour of the lake. The second day we played disc golf. This took a lot longer than we had expected. We kept on landing in poison ivy–ugh! Yet we really just had an awesome time teasing each other and joking around. I’m so glad we played together! I think we needed that time! Tomorrow we’ll go geocaching while the boys and Leyla are in their camp. I plan to do the same things with the boys while she’s at camp in the coming weeks.

These have been a great way to get some quality time with the kids, sneak in some education, and even give me a 2nd workout for the day (beyond the normal morning running practice at 7AM). I’ll be posting some pictures soon.

We didn’t get much rest before the start of our other summer activities. On Tuesdays, as part of the summer reading programs, our local library hosts numerous events that are just fun for young kids. Last week they had and comedy/magic show, and this week they had a juggler show. All of this is free courtesy of donations made to library. The kids have loved both shows so far, and there are more to come as the summer continues. They definitely get crowded though with some local summer camps coming in this year. I don’t remember seeing them last year. We just get there extra early to be sure we can get on line making sure the kids have good seats (and that I get a grown-up chair instead of the floor ).

Today’s show was performed by the Give & Take Jugglers from Philadelphia. They did such a great job keeping the kids engaged and involved. They were comical and entertaining with some great tricks! Derek was excited to help with a small part of the show where he cleaned up the juggling blocks, but they kept falling down again–quite silly. Destiny spun a ball on her finger, and I got to throw one of the balls in for him to juggle while he was on a unicycle. Dakota was disappointed to not have been picked, but he missed a perfect opportunity to help while he was too busy crying. The sad thing is that he expects to get picked as a volunteer somehow even when he stops raising his hand–geesh. We had a good chat after the show, and he cheered up about the whole thing. Overall, the kids and I really had a blast.

In addition to those programs, the kids are participating in the summer reading club and are so excited to be on the red team like our neighbors. They have been encouraged to keep their team in the lead each time we visit the library. They also love the prizes as they turn in their logs each week in hopes of winning other cool prizes through the raffle. They receive tickets for every two books that they read. What a great incentive! Derek is especially reading quickly and has even begun reading some younger chapter books like the Arthur series. I’m so impressed by all of the kids and how much this is improving their reading skills!

We’re looking forward to next week’s show at the library put on by the Maryland Science Center. For now the kids saw that the green team as caught up to them, so they have some serious reading to do!

We decided to just wake up to the sunlight today instead of an alarm clock. Dakota was quite sad to see me up an showered before he woke up. He wanted to snuggle for awhile, so I climbed back in while Scott took a shower. The kids and I just goofed around instead of trying to hurry out the door. As a result, we missed the continental breakfast, but I think they just needed some close time after all of the driving. We just ate snacks from our bin of food.

We decided to begin the day at the St. Louis Arch. We’ve all seen pictures of this architectural marvel, but standing right next to it was still a very neat experience. Of course, we took a ridiculous amount of pictures. Then we went to the museum and other arch attractions located underground below the arch. First we went up in the tram. This was a strange and a little bit of a nerve racking experience. The tram cars are these tiny little round pods that sit five people in each. Dakota wasn’t too thrilled about the small closed space, but I think having us in there helped him cope. The motion of the tram was a bit strange since it had to be able to go up an over unlike an elevator. I think it felt like a mix of a ferris wheel, an elevator, and a ski lift. At the top there was a small hallway with window areas to lean over and look out. All the kids enjoyed looking down at the Mississippi River and the city. The river was a bit flooded here, but they had cement flood walls to protect most things leaving it barely effected by the rising water. Dakota and I were very happy to go back down after peering out the windows. It was very crowded in that small hallway at the top. The ride down was much faster than the ride up.

After the tram ride back down we wandered through the Westward Expansion Museum and saw a Big Screened Lewis and Clark movie. The museum had these robotic characters from the past that moved and talked. What a great way to get the kids attention! They even were able to see inside one of them because it was being worked on–very cool! The movie about the journey of Lewis and Clark was interesting. I think I most appreciated how much emphasis they put on all of the people that helped them. Most of the time we hear about expedition leaders and the other members of the team are left out of the story telling. I’ve heard some of this story before, but I was amazed at how much work it must have taken to travel so far pushing boats up river and then climbing across the Rocky Mountains. Even the kids were drawn into the movie. That film made us appreciate making our cross country trip in a minivan with environmental controls, cushioned seats, entertainment, and paved roads. LOL!

After purchasing a few treats in the General Store, we went in search of the highly recommended City Museum. We sure were glad we did! What an amazing place! It was beyond anything I could have conjured. The place was gigantic and was obviously designed by a very imaginative group of people with child spirits and a huge artistic flare. Basically they converted a huge, unused building into a child’s dream. I don’t know if my descriptions will do it the justice it deserves, but I can tell you that we will totally go back just for this one city attraction. There were these amazing tunnels and climbing structures on a massive scale everywhere for the kids to explore, and the parents can even climb through many parts with them. They had these decorated paint rollers on all of the railings and even going down one of the slides that the kids (and grown-ups) could just run their hands across to spin them on the way up or down the stairs and slide–a big kid appeal detail I know I wouldn’t have thought up. I’m pretty sure everyone was unique, and I’m sure there were hundreds of them. The kids loved going down the big slide and making the rollers spin on the way down.

Another unique room was the indoor “skateless” skate park. That’s right! It had all of the features you might expect to see at your local skate park, but the kids could run, climb, and swing through the ramps and everything. All three of the kids were running up walls that I would have never believed they could get up without a ladder. Dakota really liked the bowl where the faster he ran the higher he could get on the wall. Derek and Destiny loved making a run up the big ramps and pulling themselves up, so they could slide back down again. The kids had falls and bumps, but not one of them got upset while having so much fun. What great exercise, too!

Then we went to see the mini-circus just next door to the skate park. I don’t think Scott and I were expecting much given the size of the ring, but we were definitely amazed. Apparently the building has an area for a circus school, and this was a youth circus group. They were amusing and had us holding our breath at points. To give you an idea, in one of their acts they took this very small kids and were swinging him like a jump rope as the other kids did leaps and flips over him. I don’t know how his mom can watch! Hopefully we’ll have some of the videos up to give you a peek at least. I became so caught up in the show that I stopped taking pictures and video. Derek, Dakota, and Destiny were amazed by the youth circus, but I just hope they don’t try any of those things at home.

Next we explored the 7 floors of tunnels and pathways in the dark caves and the forest area beside it. Dakota wasn’t willing to go into anything that he couldn’t see the opening. He was afraid to get stuck or lost. I gave Derek and Destiny my cell phone in case of an emergency in the forest area as they climbed in the tunnels high above the floor. Dakota explored the caves hesitantly with Scott. However, due to the darkness, he didn’t want to stay in there for very long. He also didn’t want to go through any of the tunnels there. Destiny and Derek did though, and in this area parents had to stay near the kids. That was understandable considering how dark it was and how small some of those tunnels were. Guess who went through with them–me! the huge spiral slide descent after our climb to the top was a blast! One of the tunnels had a tight spot that made even me anxious for a few seconds until I saw the opening. I’d love to check that place out with less people there. I was worried about going down a tunnel and having someone coming the opposite directions with no way for me to turn around. What a cool place and I’m positive we didn’t even see half of the tunnels!

In the forest area they had hollowed out logs as tunnels in parts and even a log with no ladder that you climbed up the inside up finding your own foot holes. Dakota loved the tree house in this area. They had a big kettle that would dump water into the caves every so often like a wash after a heavy rain. There was a big aquarium with turtles and barracudas. Kids were literally popping out of the woodwork. There were tunnels here that I definitely wasn’t comfortable going into, but Derek really wanted to explore everything. I felt bad telling him no because Destiny and Dakota were not willing to go with him. I think if we go back in a few years, he’d be old enough for me to feel comfortable letting him find out where those under ground tunnels go–not yet though! How would I get him out if he panicked in there? Ugh!

With hesitation we decided to go ahead and have some dinner at the museum. Normally eating out at a place like this means high priced, low quality food. We were pleasantly surprised by our brick oven pizza, family sized pizza made right there–delicious! That was definitely a much needed refueling break.

Finally we went outside to check out the huge climbing structure including bridges, metal jungle gym like pathways, and cage like tunnels connecting to old airplanes, towers, and more tree house type buildings. There were more gigantic slides to go down as a reward of braving the climbs. Destiny’s fear of heights took over, and she declined from climbing through the air planes with us. Apparently Dakota and Derek have no issue with the heights–poor me. Again, they had to have a parent nearby, so I decided to be a good sport and climb through with them. I really enjoyed this part. However as I walked across an airplane wing several stories above the ground, I couldn’t help but wonder, “How many people can this thing support before it snaps?” Eek!

After some crying due to pure exhaustion, we finally left the City Museum vowing to return in a few years. Our 12 hour drive lay ahead of us with an hour that would be lost to the time change. Scott drove until dark from about 6:30-10:30 PM. Then we tucked the kids into their car seats (No, really we did), and then I drove from about 10:30 PM until nearly 5:30 AM keeping myself charged with Red Bull, music, and spicy chips. Scott dozed in and out jumping every time I changed lanes or hit a pot hole, so it wasn’t very good quality sleep. I stopped at the visitors center in Pennsylvania where we switched drivers again. I definitely needed a break and couldn’t endure any more Red bull at this point. Scott made it about 2 hours before I had to nudge him to open his eyes. Needless to say, I was a bit too nervous to go to sleep myself after that. We stopped at the next rest stop on the turnpike. This last two hours was going to take some time to do safely. After a stretch break he was alert again for another hour by which time the kids had begun to wake up. Destiny and I decided to start counting down the miles on the GPS. This made me feel excited to be getting closer to home, and it kept me wide awake. Scott pulled to the side of the turnpike for our last driver switch, and I drove the final hour back to the house singing at each mile. We arrived safely home about about 9 AM, unpacked the van, left the kids free access to the snack bin, and went to bed for a several hours.

We should both sleep well tonight, but my sister is coming into town around 10:30 PM. Thankfully, I gave her a key to let herself in should we not be able to wait up. Overall, I think this was a great trip. We explored so many places as a family that I’m sure the kids will remember for a very long time, and the kids really handled the large amount of driving so well! We already have ideas for future trips!

NOTE: Apparently we didn’t have enough space for the videos and pictures on our websites, so we have deleted the videos off of Scott’s blog. He may make them available another way down the road, but for now I’ve deleted those links. The pictures should all be working fine now though now in my gallery!

Pictures Day 14
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Site (The Arch)
The City Museum Site