Florida, Here We Come!

Filling much of June with as many activities and outings as I could handle with a lot of lazy in days in the mix, the kids were counting the days till our annual trip to Florida to visit my family.  During prayers in the evening the kids would always pray for "a good trip to Florida".

Joe & I were also ready for vacation.  Joe just finished a few weeks of football camps and I, of course, just wanted a change of pace - looking forward to seeing family and being all together.

Packing was on my mind a lot in the month of June.  In my blog readings, I always see tips for packing and traveling and it makes me think that I have to have it down to an art by the time I'm done with it all.  Somehow, I always feel I've done an inadequate job - but thinking about it now, I don't think I forgot anything or could have done better.  Well, perhaps I could have packed less clothes since we had a washer/dryer available to us when needed. 

We ended up leaving on a Sunday morning after an early Mass.  The trip was going smoothly until Joe was getting a little tired and asked me to drive while he napped a little bit.  We were probably somewhere in South Carolina at the time when I took over and once I started driving, the dark clouds started coming in and the wind started picking up.  It looked like it was going to be a doozy!  The rain started pouring down, the cars started slowing down until the hail started to pound the glass.  I thought the windows were going to crack!  Cars started hiding under the overpasses.  Joe's nap didn't last long at all - I was driving all of 15 minutes when he told me to pull over so he could start driving again.  Joe drove through all the torrential weather that came at us until we had driven out of it.  It was pretty exciting and at the same time a bit scary.

We had planned on making the drive down to Tampa in two days.  We decided to stop for the evening somewhere in Georgia (I think).  We got a hotel room, but didn't even unload the car and went straight to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse!  It was such a nice dinner!  The kids ate well and behaved and just being out of the car and being together was fun.  As we left the restaurant we could see another storm had started.  What looked like rain blowing in an angle was really dirt flying at an angle.  There was a major dust storm outside and my kids were just frozen in one spot on the way to car because they couldn't open their eyes.  Carrying them to the car and closing the door to watch another storm come we noticed the power had just went out in the restaurant.  Those poor people eating in the dark!  The storm was just as fierce as the prior one, perhaps more wind this time!  Our hotel lost power and so we decided to just get our refund and go somewhere else.  We decided to just keep driving to Tampa - we'd get there around 2 am.  With Joe behind the wheel, the kids and I asleep and many cans of diet Mountain Dew later, we arrived...safely.

We had plans to go visit the Aquarium and the Children's Museum in Tampa, they were right near each other!

We had done it before, but I think I only had Anne at the time and she was about 3 years old or so? 

After the aquarium, we hit Tampa's new Children's Museum.  Joy met up with us at this point, she works nearby.  There was such a long line around the block since it was Target Tuesday or something like that where admission was only $2!  The line wasn't slow moving so we decided to stay.  They were giving out Chipotle coupons to people in line (I just remembered them as I am writing this and better use them soon) perhaps, they felt bad for the long line and the heat!

Here's Bernadette patiently waiting in the heat in her stroller.  It was very crowded inside, but the kids still had fun nonetheless!

After a couple of hours of counting my kids and finding them all in the midst of crowds, we left the building and headed to the park area near the Bay.  They were having a Fitness day of some sort where there were a bunch of outdoor toys to play with.  There were also those water fountains kids could play in to cool off in!

I sat in a puddle of water taking these pictures - ick.

Out near the railings is where you could see Tampa Bay - Joe & Patrick saw dolphin!

The kids had a lot of fun!  We went back to Joy's house to wash up, enjoyed a taco night dinner and time to relax and hang out.

The next day was the 4th of July.  We started the day out at the Lowry Park Zoo. 

Prior to the trip, I took the kids to the mall and told them they would need sunglasses for the trip since it's just so sunny in Florida.  They had so many to choose from - this is what they chose.  I love Patrick's aviator glasses and Bernadettes pink sparkly ones!  Eddie is so into green these days I'm not surprised with his choice.  What a cute group!  However, during the course of the visit to the zoo, the glasses slowly all ended up in the stroller.  Hmph.

We really enjoyed Tampa's zoo.  We always enjoy ourselves and the kids already know so much about animals.  I love it when the kids get to experience and touch the animals up close!

There was a little train ride that was free to ride.  I didn't really think about it too much since my kids are older, but had to remember that Bernadette and Eddie would still have a lot of fun on them so we all went on it.

I don't think you're ever too old.  We're a happy bunch, aren't we?

Choo, choo!

I don't remember if this owl was at the aquarium or the zoo?

This was probably the best part of the zoo, besides the fresh, large lemonade my sister bought me by surprise (YUM!).  Those giraffes are so much larger face to face, so gentle at the same time.  That tounge is impressive!  It's just like an elephant's trunk - it acts like a hand.  It curls up and can grab food with it and return it to it's mouth!

I love Eddie's expression here.  I wonder what the giraffe was thinking?

It was a fun day!  We ended up getting a quick dinner at home after the zoo and then headed off to Idlewild Baptist Church's Fireworks.  The rain was questionable, but it didn't get in the way at all.  I don't think I ever remember a rained out 4th of July in my life.  This place had over 50 food trucks serving food, tons of bouncy inflateable rides (long lines, only did one but it was fun!), live music and a car show full of antique cars.  I didn't bother taking pictures of this because the lighting was just too dark and filming made more sense, but it was really a neat evening!

The next day we were off to get ready for our trip down to Ave Maria, FL where my parents are.  I'll post more later about that part of the trip!

Summer "Things To Do"

I do not have my kids signed up for anything this Summer so they will be home with me.  I found some lists online as to things kids can do while they are home.  We've only done some of them so far. 

One project the kids picked out was called Hot Rocks.  You find some nice large smooth rocks and heat them in the oven for fifteen minutes to get really hot so when they come out you can use crayons to melt designs on them.  I wish this project lasted a little bit longer.

I actually thought we could take a walk to Rock Creek Park and find our favorite rock beach (where we love to throw rocks into the creek) and find those large round smooth rocks and bring them home.  Instead, they found these flat smooth rocks that have been hanging out on my back porch ever since we moved in here.  I used them to keep my table cloth (in picture) down when it gets windy.  It didn't matter - it still worked. 

I put them in the oven for fifteen minutes on 350.  I used wax paper on cookie sheets for the kids to make their mess, I mean to do their work on.  Careful, it's hot!  The kids tore the paper off some crayons while waiting for the rocks.  Once done, they got to work.

It was rather neat to see the crayons melt so easily.  The pictures I saw online had some simple designs on them, but the kids seem to just have so much fun melting all the colors onto the rock and making swirly designs.  I think we'll need more rocks next time.

They all seemed marble like.

So they dried rather quickly and now adorn my back porch table.

We did this the day after Father's Day.  I had another quick project in mind for the afternoon that I was definitely excited about.  I had been reading a magazine and came across this recipe for a cake in a cup, ready in five minutes in the microwave.  I don't know about you, but that just sounded so yummy and a really neat idea.  The picture in the magazine looked so luscious!  They used really elegant mugs with just a bit of the cake showing, topped with fluffy whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  I had also heard of this recipe before but never had the chance to do it.  So, I looked online to see what people had to say about it.  I was thinking of making it for a dessert after Father's day dinner, but we were to full after dinner to think about eating dessert.  Reading the comments just make you confused sometimes, because you get half the people saying it was the best recipe ever and the other half saying it was disgusting.  Hmph...just had to try it for myself and I knew the kids would have fun with it.

There were two recipes.  One that was circulating the Internet and the one I found in my magazine.  I thought I would try the one I found online.  I had Anne helping me.

It looks yummy, right?  It tasted pretty good in this form.  I used a wide mug because I read the heat distributes better this way.  It made sense to me.

I also read that 3 minutes was all it really took to nuke in the microwave.  We had it set for five and checked it after 3 minutes.

Honestly, it didn't look so good to me.  I took the spoon and took a bite.  Immediately, it felt spongy and dry. 

It kind of felt like packing popcorn.  It tasted rather the same to me, too.  YUCK.  It was edible, but why even make this recipe if it doesn't satisfy like it's supposed to?  I'd rather wait 20 minutes for a box recipe.

My boys came running to the back porch and devoured the cake in the cup and thought it was the best thing ever.  These are the kids that don't even eat their birthday cake on their birthdays!  My kids don't like cake - look at them. 

Gone in seconds.

So, I had to try the recipe I found in the magazine.  This recipe was a lot different.  It had butter, the other didn't.  Butter makes everything better.  I tried it, why not?  So, Anne and I went for it!

Ohhhh, it looked better.  Did it taste better?  Let's ask Anne....

Same result - Yuck.  This time (and this is my fault) too much salt.  For some reason I was thinking salt enhances the sweet.  I also used kosher salt.  Either way, it was basically the same old thing.  We concluded that cake in the cup is really not worth your time or calories. 

If you are looking for a similar cute chocolate dessert in minutes - stick to the molten lava cakes in ramekins.  They are definitely a fun yummy chocolate dessert.

Adventure Aquarium

Soon after summer vacation started we had planned on going to Joe's 15th reunion at Villanova.  After attending the afternoon event we drove by some of Joe's old haunts and had lunch at the King of Prussia Mall!  That mall is something - huge!

We stayed overnight at a hotel (my kids love staying in hotels) so that we could go to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ the next day.  This is after hitting the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul for Mass in Philly.  It was a beautiful church.

Unfortunately, our FONZ membership didn't get us a discount at this aquarium.  My kids love animals and we've been to so many aquariums and zoos that we couldn't pass this up.

There is a view of Philly from across the bridge.

This aquarium had a lot of cool sharks, petting stations for various animals like sting ray, sharks (the small harmless kind) and starfish and some shellfish.  You could even swim with the sharks if you were 13 years or older.  I'm not sure how that worked, but I didn't see any volunteers!  I wish I had better pictures, but I got a lot of blurry shots.

The start of my kids' fascination with animals was with Happy the hippo at our National Zoo here in DC.  My kids were his biggest fan and it was a sad day in DC when they moved Happy to Milwaukee.  No more hippo.  My kids have moved on to sharks and alligators, but always hold a special place for Happy.

Adventure Aquarium had hippos.  We didn't know what to expect, but they had the best place to exhibit their two hippos.  It was wide and open and had a play area, a large indoor pool filled with colorful fish and toys for the hippos to splash around and swim in.  They had a lot of birds of all types flying around the exhibit, too.  If you kept on walking around the corner, you'd see a dark room with a window that showed you underwater - for when the hippos came and swam by.  And that is exactly what these hippos did.  My kids were face to face with two hippos and were in hippo heaven!  It wasn't crowded, as what we're used to, so it was definitely the highlight of the visit.

I think the size alone of one of these creatures is just amazing.  A picture really doesn't show that. 

It was a good weekend trip!  A lot to see.

A Family Walk

Summer vacation is now here for the kids.  We've had great cool weather to start off the Summer, but unfortunately today is back to what I remember Summer being - hot and humid.

So during this great weather, we had decided to take a family walk through Rock Creek Park (RCP)towards St. John's (Joe's work) and hang out there for a little bit while Joe did his thing and then walk back home.

These are pretty aren't they?  I have a Hydrangea bush in my yard and it isn't this pretty.  It looks rather sick.  I was just recently told they are one type of bush that is easy to maintain.  This just tells me and you that I do not have a green thumb, whatsoever.  Something is wrong with my bush.

There are so many deer around that we always search for them when we go through the RCP.  This is a picture of the kids just watching a deer eating.  It didn't look too frightened and didn't run away. 

Joe got me that triple stroller so I couldn't give him any excuses as to why I didn't go jogging.  It's a work out just pushing it around.  And it turns out that he's behind the triple jogger more than I am.  Nowadays, we have Anne riding her bike, me with a single jogger and Joe with the triple jogger when we go through RCP on a family jog.  We get the most interesting comments from passerbyers when they see that triple jogger.

So we made it to SJC to do whatever it was Joe had to do.  The kids were having fun with all the markers and started to draw.  Eddie made himself at home, with his black sharpie, clipboard and paper and went right to work at Joe's desk.  I thought it was just so cute.

I do not have any specific plans for the kids this Summer.  I will not be sending any of my kids to camp of any kind.  I have them all to myself.  I will have to be creative as to how to keep them busy and occupied.  Yikes.  So far they have been enjoying spending down time at home and just being lazy.  We do have a two week vacation in Florida coming up and then a short trip to Pittsburgh at the end of July.  Then football season starts.

I hope all of you are having a great Summer.





Kindergarten Graduate

Patrick on his way to Kindergarten Graduation!

Patrick celebrating after graduation.

Here's to my 1st grader!  Yeh, Little Guy!

Birthday Request

This past Memorial weekend we celebrated, not only our fallen soldiers, but my daughter's 9th birthday.  She wanted to repeat what we did last year on her birthday which was a fun day at Ocean City, MD.

A few months ago while I was bringing my other kids to their well-visit at our Pediatrician's office, I had made an appointment for Anne.  They asked what the nature of the appointment was going to be and I responded with, "Her...." little pause "...9th well-visit appointment?"  Never have I been phased by the change in age of my kids, but for some reason 9 years old seems so much more mature that 8.  For the first time, I got that "Where did the time go?" feeling, however I tried to shoo shoo that away because I don't like to dwell there. 

We woke up really early on Sunday morning and left the house at 5:30 am to make it on time to 8:30 Mass.  It was a really nice drive over with no traffic!  The weather was going to be perfect!  After Mass we looked for a place to play miniature golf.  We wanted to find a different place this year.  We chose some medieval place to play 27 holes!  Once we were in the parking lot we all got changed in the car into our beach gear and began to slather, I mean spray on the sunscreen.

Joe is pretty thorough with the sunscreen.  He gets the top of their heads and has them close their eyes to spray it all over their faces. 

He looks like he's ready to play mini-golf, but he opted to just watch us play.

Bernadette wanted to play but she made do with running through all the courses and playing with the rocks.

Yeesh, I need a pedicure!  I learned to not bring your purse while playing, to make sure everyone goes to the bathroom before playing AND to get a pedicure before going to the beach. 

I am sure that Joe won with the best score, however I am not sure if it was me or Anne who came in second place.  I was too busy escorting kids to the bathroom, taking pictures, being patient with those who were a litty grouchy and finding bandaids for skinned knee.  Otherwise, I think I would have come in first - having my game on and all ;-P

We searched and searched for parking.  Finally, found a place not too far away.  We gathered our stuff and started walking.

Garbage bag full of beach toys, classy!

Beautiful day!  The beach a little crowded for my taste, but there was plenty of room for my kids to do their thing!

After a few hours at the beach we packed up our stuff and left to walk the boardwalk and to find some dinner!

Oh Yum!  And after pizza there was ice cream!

They all wanted cones!  I insisted Bernadette get a cup instead because of how messy ice cream can be.  We had two cookie dough, one vanilla and one strawberry (Eddie calls it pink ice cream). 

Didn't I say messy?  They just weren't eating it fast enough.  I wasn't worried about it at all - I had good ol' diaper wipes to save the day!  Otherwise, I would be cringing and trying to convince them to throw the ice cream away already!

We walked back to the car after a great full day of fun, sun(burn) and sand!  You'd think the kids would have konked out on the way home but they were entertaining themselves for most of the ride home!

I'm very thankful for such a good day with the family and that Anne had a memorable birthday.