Our Safari Park Adventure

Today we took a family road trip. The weather has been HOT, so we decided to head for the cooler air of the Blue Ridge mountains, a mere 3 hour drive from our home. I found out about the Safari Park on the blog of my friend, Kim, who has since taken her blog private. She and her family live MUCH closer to the park, but I would never had known it existed if not for Kim.

I'm not much for road trips... I'm a nervous passenger ("backseat driver", if you insist on being technical!). James usually grabs the kids and goes - leaving me behind in blissful silence. But, I had a stern talking with myself and decided to tough it out. I'm so glad I did!



We had a ball! The drive through the safari park is slow and very entertaining. We took Josie out of her car seat so she could easily feed the animals. She was very excited by the prospect of being up close and personal with the animals, but the reality was quite different! She would scream, "I want to feed the zebra!" So, we would stop and Maddie would help her put her feed bucket out the window to attract the animals. Once an animal approached the car, Josie would squeal with delight and get as far AWAY from the window as possible! "You do it, Maddie!" All the while, she was laughing and literally jumping for joy on the backseat!





Josie was really great at finding the animals we saw in the guide handed out by the park. I was amazed that she was able to find them so quickly and accurately!!





Here are a few of the animals we saw on the safari drive:









After we finished driving through the safari, we headed to the petting zoo and giraffe feeding station which was included in the $12.00 adult admission price. Here, we saw much more exotic animals...just not as close as the ones on the drive.



















When we finally decided to head home, the girls were just great at keeping themselves occupied and entertained. They had a few Hershey kisses and used the wrappers to give themselves some 'grillz'. The girls say, "Peace out, Dog!"

California Girls

Here's a slideshow of photos that James has sent me over the past 3 days. He and the girls are having a wonderful time in California, but I can't wait for them to get home!!!

Let the Spoiling Begin!!!

James' parents arrived from California yesterday afternoon. Josie has been asking me every morning when she wakes up, "Are GungGung and MaMa coming today?" Well, they're finally here!

Today, James and Josie took them to Monticello. It is EXTREMELY hot and humid here, so everyone returned home a bit spent. Here are the photos from their outing.









Tomorrow we are having a cookout with our neighbors to celebrate Maddie's 8th grade graduation. Looking at the forecast, however, makes me think that while we will cook-out - we will eat-in. It's supposed to be 90+ degrees with very high humidity. The heat index is expected to be 105 degrees. Already I can't wait to get to Alaska!!!

Mother/Daughter, Father/Daughter

We've been making plans. BIG plans! This past September it was decided that it had been WAY too long since I had seen my childhood friend, Sue. Sue and I grew up together in Philadelphia. Right across the street from each other since I was about 4. My family moved to Maryland when I was 14, but we always kept in touch. We've managed a few visits in the passing years, but we wanted a REAL visit. So, I am packing up my oldest daughter and heading to Alaska. Sue and her husband, Steve, have retired in Alaska. Steve's last post in the Army was at Fort Wainwright - they both fell in love with Alaska and now it is their home.



Sue will meet Maddie and I in Anchorage on June 24th and we'll hit the road for an Alaskan adventure. We will spend 1 night in Anchorage, 2 nights in Seward, I night in Wasilla, 1 night in Denali and then finish up at Sue's house in the Fairbanks area. Sue made us brochures detailing our activities for the week, and Maddie and I are just so excited! Sue is a photographer, so I'm sure we will visit the most scenic areas of Alaska.




While we are away, Josie will be staying with her Grandmom & PopPop at the beach. James will be working during the week, but he will be at my parents house on the weekends while we are gone. I'm a bit sad at leaving Josie behind, but it's a great opportunity for Maddie and I to have some real Mother/Daughter time before she heads off to high school. Our lives have been so busy since Josie's arrival - and I have loved every minute of it. At the same time, I am longing for some adult time with my dear friend and having her meet Maddie for the first time... Yes, it's been THAT long since Sue and I have visited!

Today marks the end of Josie's piano lessons, which she has enjoyed since January. It's a special class for 3 & 4 year olds that she attends every Saturday morning with her Dad. James is a musician (violin) so it's only natural that the two of them spend that time together. They also share the time with our friend, Ed and his grandson, Joey. It gives Ed & James a chance to catch up on our social schedules, as all plans are made by Marty and I and communicated via the husbands!

Weekend Getaway

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to visit our dear friends, Nick & Mary in Marshfield, Mass. Can you believe I forgot my camera?! What was I thinking? Anyway, all the photos are compliments of Mary - and I'm sure you can tell by the photo above that Josie is Aunt Mary's favorite subject!

We arrived on time Friday afternoon - no delays at the airport! Once in Marshfield we relaxed and caught up on all the news. We enjoyed dinner at Haddads, a local seafood restaurant. It was delicious. I remembered that they had excellent clam chowder from our visit last August - so I didn't even need to see a menu!

Saturday, we visited Plymouth and saw the Mayflower II and strolled around town. It was a bit chilly, so we stocked up on sweatshirts.




We returned home in time to visit with Nick's parents who were also visiting from Virginia. Mary's Mom & Dad arrrived later in the afternoon. It was wonderful to see them again - we hadn't seen them since Nick & Mary's wedding in '01.

On Saturday evening we enjoyed a Pops concert at Marshfield High School. Nick & Mary's son, Ryan, was playing saxophone.

Josie didn't last long at the concert. She doesn't like loud sounds, so James covered her ears and rocked her to sleep!


After the concert, we ended the evening watching a Red Sox game and having some birthday cake... It was Nick's Mom's birthday.

Sunday was a beautiful day. After waking early, we enjoyed a huge breakfast prepared by Mary and then followed it up with Bloody Mary's on the deck overlooking the ocean. It was warm and sunny. I honestly didn't want the day to end.


Bathing Beauties!

Good News and Bad News

First I thought I would get the 'morning cuteness' out of the way. Here's Josie modeling Mom's shades early this morning. She's a movie star!



Here's Josie calling Casey in from the yard. She insists on playing her 'flute' when Casey won't come in. She goes out on the deck and blows that darn thing until the dog makes her way up the steps and into the house!


In case you're wondering....no shots of Maddie because she has taken to sleeping late (10 or 11) in the mornings! By that time, my day is already half over! She has become a creature of the night!

And, now for the GOOD NEWS!!

The lost bag was found and delivered to our house last night.
Everything was still in it!
The beautiful bowl I picked out in Turkey survived unharmed:



And the BAD NEWS:

The plates I bought in Turkey did not survive:




I know many of you are thinking "What the heck were those things doing in your luggage?" Well, we didn't really have an option - travelling with 3 kids and having to take the train from the ship back to Rome left us with 'not enough hands'. We had intended to have the items shipped, but to ship them from Turkey would have cost more (actually 2x) the amount of the actual items. We were stuck.

It took just about a month to get the bag back. Considering that James has flown over 2 million miles with American Airlines, and this was our first lost bag - well, let's just say that we're thankful to have even gotten the bag back. The bag never actually left Rome...the handle that had the baggage ticket with flight information on it broke, thus there was no routing information for the baggage handlers to follow. It was our luggage tags - 3 of them - that got the bag returned.

Whirlwind Weekend Trip

This past weekend, while I was participating in a local scrapbooking event, James. Maddie and Josie took to the open road. On Friday night they travelled to Maryland to visit with Aunt Claudine. On Saturday morning they headed out to Reading, PA. We used to live in Reading. It was the home that I loved the most and a place where I was truly happy. Part of the reason why we all loved Reading was because we had great neighbors. Our neighbors right next door were Dr. Nick and Mrs. Barbara. Barb and I shared so many wonderful times - talking on our back deck and pulling weeds in our gardens. Barb and I shared many happy events in each others lives and she gave me some of the best parenting advice I've ever received. Both she and Dr. Nick hold a special place in our hearts.


So, it was truly a great day when Barb got to meet Josie. We haven't been up for a visit since before Josie joined our family. As is the case nowadays, we only get to share our joy via blog or email. Barb got to see first hand what a lovely, bright girl our Josie is. She also got to see what a beautiful young lady our Maddie is growing into. Maddie was thrilled to see Mrs. Barbara and Josie seemed to be equally enamoured! Alas, the visit was too short - Barb was headed off to visit her twin granddaughters and our clan was headed to a meeting with one of Maddie's friends at the Mall.

From Reading, the gang headed down to Philadelphia to visit with my sister Sue. Josie got to play with her cousin Liam, who she just adores, while Maddie and Zack caught up with each other. Josie had a great time playing with Uncle Greg's hat and getting to know Chauncy, their Airedale Terrier.

They stayed in Philly for a few hours and then hit the road again. They ended up back at Aunt Claudine's house in Maryland where they shared a nice dinner of Mexican food. I was thrilled to see them when they returned on Sunday. Both the girls were exhausted, so I guess James did a great job of keeping them occupied and interested. On Monday, both the girls awoke with colds so I guess there's always a price to be paid for having fun.

Both girls are on the mend and getting back to their daily routines. Which is great, because having two whining kids at home is not my idea of a good time ;-)