NY Vacation Part I - The Road Trip

As I mentioned in a previous post, we left on vacation on a Friday evening following the girls' dance recital. The theme of the recital was We've Got The Beat. Each group performed a dance to an 80's song. (Julia's group did Walk Like An Egyptian and Kennedy's did That's What I Like About You. Other's included Material and Mickey.) They kept asking me if I had ever heard any of those songs. They couldn't quite grasp the idea that I knew ALL the songs. That those were indeed the songs that I heard on the radio when I was a kid. That I knew them, loved them, sang and danced to them BEFORE they were oldies. In fact, I did a dance to Walk Like An Egyptian in my sixth grade talent show with some of my friends. The girls did great and had a ton of fun with the camp and the show.




We left after the show and arrived in Elkhart, Indiana five hours later. 2 am their time. We crashed in the basement in a room that just happened to be empty for a few days during some rearranging. Tracy had a mattress set up for each of us and we were happy and grateful to crawl between the sheets. We had a little time in the morning to visit with Tracy and her family, as well as her brother Aaron and his family who were also visiting. It was so fun to see everybody and catch up a bit. I love that Tracy and her husband Don love to laugh and we were able to have a pleasant morning there, despite the rush to get on the road.



We arrived in Palmyra, NY at 7:30 that evening and met up with my brother Jonathan and his wife Nichelle, as well as my cousin Karen and her husband Jamie. We met up at the Hill Cumorah and let the kids run around a bit and stretch their legs. The Hill has always been a special place to visit and it was cool to be able to bring my children there. It's awe-inspiring to know that Joseph Smith conversed with the Angel Moroni there and then took from the ground the sacred record containing what we now know as The Book of Mormon. The grounds are lovely with abundant flower gardens and emerald green grass. Next summer I hope to take the kids to the Hill Cumorah Pageant.






After a lengthy pit stop we hit the road again, this time with Jonathan driving for me so I could rest. I dropped him off in Potsdam with his wife and then continued on to Mom and Dad's, arriving a little after 1 am. They were happy to have us there, but not entirely surprised because they knew someone was coming and had their suspicions it might be us. We settled into bed that night relieved to have the hard part over- at least until departure time.

I'm Back...

I'm home and trying to recover from 2 weeks of single-parenting five kids, followed by a 20 hour drive home. My father-in-law is here visiting and school starts in a few days, so don't expect much from me in the next week. But hopefully, little by little I can share some highlights from our time in NY. Here are a few pictures to get you in the mood.

One last summer fling...

At the last minute I decided to cram one more adventure into our summer- a trip to NY so the kids could spend some summer time on Grandma and Grandpa's farm. We left Friday evening after the girls' dance recital, getting on the road a little after 8 pm. Lincoln wasn't able to get away from work so we left him at home with his friends Peace and Quiet for a week or so. (Although I think they will give up and be replaced by Boredom and What On Earth Do I Do With Myself before the weekend is over.) I drove Friday night to a friend's house in Indiana. We got there at 2 am, thanks to loosing an hour when we crossed a time zone. Saturday morning we got on the road late- about 10:30- and drove to Palmyra NY, arriving about 7:30. We met my brother there and after letting the kids run around at the Hill Cumorah for a while, he drove the rest of the way to Mom and Dad's for me. We got there at a little after 1 am, surprising the folks with our arrival. I hadn't told them we were coming because i didn't want them to worry about me on the road by myself with five kids. Anyway, we're thrilled to be here and have already enjoyed a Sunday evening walk back in the pasture to meet their new horses. Check back in a week or so for details and photos. I'm officially on vacation from blogging for a while so i can focus on soaking up the joy and contentment I feel being Home.

Camping at Mirror Lake

So seriously, life has been so crazy lately I feel like I haven't had a chance to blog. So much was going on this past week it's insane. The girls had dance/cheer camp all last week and this week, the Lands End Warehouse Clearance Sale was going on most of the week starting last Wednesday, we had 2 fun couples over on Thursday for dinner, my friend Stephanie came down from Minneapolis on Friday to shop with me and then we camped with their family Friday night, and we got home just in time on Saturday to get everything ready for a church activity on Saturday evening. So once again, I feel like I don't have time to do much writing, just share some pictures. So here are some highlights from our camping trip Friday night.

Fun at The Lake

I figured it was time for some live action footage from the lake. Nothing too thrilling- just the kids frolicking in the water. Since Devon was not yet cleared for official swimming and it has been pretty hot, we went to the lake a few evenings ago to cool off. (Doesn't make sense? He doesn't get in all the way at the lake so his head doesn't get wet. At the pool he's wet head to toe.)




Here are a few photos from the evening.

Happy Seventh, Julia!

That's right. It's birthday season in the Tatro home. Today was Julia's Big Day. I can hardly believe my little Julia is 7 years old. She has always been a little corker, full of spirit and blessed with an infectious laugh. Julia loves physical contact and thrives on hugs and snuggles. We celebrated tonight with her dinner of choice- chicken nuggets, french fries and corn on the cob.




That was followed by a strawberry castle cake (admittedly not my best).





And some presents she seems to be pleased with.






Happy Birthday, my sweet, sensitive girl. You are beautiful and I love you!

More Little Projects and a New Friend...

So I've been a bit obsessed with vinyl lettering ever since last fall when I made a few signs for my home. We've been wanting a sign with our house number out front and a little more happening on the front porch so I made this:




I also wanted some color in the kids bathroom. Since we are deep in the trenches of potty training I seem to be asking these questions very frequently- Do you close the toilet? Did you flush? Did you wash? So I thought this sign would be cute:





Julia and Kennedy caught a bunch of caterpillars a while back and watched as they transformed to butterflies. They let them all go but one because she can't really fly. Her wings are either damaged or never formed quite right. So she has become Julia's dear pet, Butter. I really feel bad for her because she is so "well-loved", but I'm sure she wouldn't have lasted as long as she has if she was free.

Ecstasy...

For lunch I just ate a sandwich made with toasted bread (kicking myself for not using the last couple slices of homemade sourdough), light mayonnaise, my first garden tomato, garden lettuce, garden cucumber, bacon bits, and a slice of Wisconsin cheese with hot peppers.
Does it get any better than this?? (Yes, with the homemade bread, you fool!)
Looking forward to many more. (And I've got a good supply of sourdough starter to make more bread.)