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June
2005 Journal
Summer
is here! Finally...but will we ever get some normal
temperatures? Geez, it's either raining and cold or
stinkin' hot out!
Busy month...going to Florida to visit Uncle Mark, building a
swing set for me, summer camp starts at FunCare and some
visits from friends with a possible visit to Hershey Park
too! Whew!
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FLORIDA
or BUST!
June
10-19, 2005 |
We are going to
visit Uncle Mark in Florida! YAY! Mommy's work closes
for a week in the summer so staff can take a much needed vacation
and Daddy was able to manage the time off too....so where better to
go than Florida to visit a much missed friend?!
This year we decided to save some money and drive down.
~Friday, June 10th ~
Departure time was right on target....out the door and in the car by
1:15! Get about 30 miles from the house and Daddy remembers
that he forgot something! Ugh.....departure time now...roughly
2:45! Now are we going to hit DC traffic at rush hour? I
was happy as a clam in my new car seat (big boy booster) and all set
to watch a movie or two...or the same one over and over again!
Daddy surprised me by letting me watch the SpiderMan for
grown-ups! (Don't tell the FCC). We did get into some
traffic around DC when I HAD TO GO TO THE POTTY! Daddy managed
to pull off rather quickly (thank goodness) so I could go. Was
quite humorous as I like to sit in there and sing a few tunes, talk
to myself and check everything out around me. After a few
minutes and Daddy harping at me to get a move on...we were back in
the car and on our way. Mommy had all kinds of things in the
car for me, coloring books, cars, My First Leap Pad toy (new
surprise game added!) and of course candy and snacks. We made
pretty good time, considering our setback in the beginning.
Daddy drove for about 11 hours ( I had fallen asleep after we
stopped for dinner at the Cracker Barrel) and we got a hotel room
for the night, somewhere in South Carolina. Zzzzzz.....
~Saturday, June 11th ~
I didn't even wake up until Mommy woke me to dress me. We got
moving and went to McDonald's for breakfast...yummy pancakes and
orange juice! We were in the car and on the road again by
8:30. I slept most of this trip. We pulled up to Uncle Mark's
around 2:30 so it took us about 6 hours to get to there. A total of
17 hours, not too bad considering us stopping and all.
He was waiting for us in the driveway! I was very excited to
see him! First words out of my mouth after "Hi Uncle
Mark!", were...."Let's go to the beach!"
So...after we went out for lunch and another episode of me in the
potty...singing loud enough for other customers in the restaurant to
be entertained...we were off to the beach! I wasn't afraid of
the waves at all this time...I ran straight into them. I was
playing with Uncle Mark and not paying attention when one knocked me
right off my feet! I was done after that...no more convincing
me into that crazy ocean. I just had fun playing with my sand
toys and new boat.
~Sunday, June 12th~
We all slept in today but when we finally got up and moving, we
enjoyed a nice breakfast out and then went to the inlet to try out
Mark's new wave runner. Oh boy, was that fun. Daddy went
for a ride first and he didn't think I would like it...but I
did! I rode around with Mommy and Daddy...sometimes even
telling Uncle Mark to go faster! We also met some of Mark's
really good friends, Dave and Rosa. He met them through
geocaching and they are pretty nice. Dave hooked up a huge
tube to the back of his wave runner and Uncle Mark took me out on
that. We bounced all over the place! He was really
careful to hold on to me, so I wouldn't fall out. Mommy said
she trusted Uncle Mark out there with me more than
herself. We spent almost the whole day here....I really
had a nice time on the "boat" and playing along the shore.
We went out for a nice dinner and then did a little geocaching
before calling it a day.
~Monday, June 13th~
We played at the beach all day today. Uncle Mark took his
raft. He thought I would like it but I still was remembering
the wave incident from Saturday. I did try it once and it
tossed me right off. He and Daddy had a fun time on it
though. I stayed back and gather shells and build some sand
castles with Mommy. It was pretty hot on the beach today so
before we went home, we decided to go to the pool. It
had been a long time since I was in a pool and it took some time for
me to get comfortable. Mommy coaxed me out with her and we
reviewed some of my skills I had learned last year. I
remembered how to hold my breath when going under the water...but I
still really don't like it. I would much rather hang out on
the steps!
~Tuesday, June 14th~
We went for a ride today to Sebastian's Inlet. There was a
museum there that Uncle Mark wanted to visit. It was pretty
neat. In the 1700's a fleet of ships were shipwrecked during a
hurricane and some of the survivors made camp here. A lot of
sunken "treasure" has since then been
recovered.
We did some more geocaching out in the Florida wilderness. We
hiked down this one path (actually, one of the same ones we did last
year). We got so far down the trail when it got pretty
wet. Mommy decided to stay back because she wasn't wearing the
proper footwear. I trudged on with Daddy and Uncle Mark...we
practically got eaten alive with mosquitoes! Mommy lost count
on me after 20! We were successful in finding the cache
though!
When we got home, Dave had called Uncle Mark and we decided to take
the wave runners out again. Daddy, Uncle Mark and Dave did
some knee boarding while Mommy and me hung back and played on the
shoreline. We found a huge horseshoe crab shell. It was
so cool. We tried to bring it back with us but it fell off of
the wave runner and back into the water....bummer. It would
have made a nice souvenir of our trip and an awesome show and tell
for school!
~Wednesday, June 15th~
Today, we went to the Kennedy Space Center. I got my picture
taken with an astronaut...even though I protested it. I didn't
like the looks of him AT ALL! Mommy said that she has a
similar family pic of her grandmother holding her with Santa
Claus. I don't know why she would be afraid of him...at least
he brings you toys! Anyway, after that ordeal, we had a good
time exploring the center. We went to a really big movie that
was all about space and also so this cool 3-D movie. I kept
trying to grab the stuff but I just couldn't get it. We went
on a bus tour too, saw the Vehicle Assembly Building, the launch
pads (one that the Discovery was loaded on) and the Apollo/Saturn V
Building. That rocket was HUGE! I got some cool souvenirs
here and then it was time to go. We were going to visit with
the Teschendorf's....we still had yet to meet Amber.
We only visited for a little while, as she wasn't feeling so
great. Probably an ear infection....poor kid. I had a
good time playing with all her toys and visiting. We didn't
get to swim in their pool this year, as it was raining pretty bad
out.
~Thursday, June 16th~
Mommy and Daddy got up early today and went and did some geocaching
before it got too hot. They had 3 of Uncle Mark's hides left
to do. They managed to find all of them, spot a few dozen
turtles and an alligator...all inside a local public park!
When they got home we all went and spent the day at the pool.
I did a pretty good job in the water today. We went home and
got showers because Uncle Mark was having some people over...all
fellow geocachers. I was excited because Dave was there and he
plays with me. We played cars and colored a picture
together. Everyone had a nice time visiting.
~Friday, June 17th~
Our last full day here and we spent most of it at the beach.
Mommy and me built a really cool house for my Teen Titans
guys. We even made them swimming pools and furniture from
seashells. Daddy and Uncle Mark brought us lunch to
eat.
We got home and cleaned up and went out for Cold Stone ice
cream. Oh my...if you've never been to one of
those...go. It was so yummy. Anyway, we stopped at a
playground for a couple hours and then it was time to head
home.
~Saturday, June 18th~
Well....Daddy and Uncle Mark were out night caching last night and
they didn't get home until after 3! I guess they decided to
take Daddy's car on this dirt raod that had some pretty bad ruts in
it. Well...I guess it was muddier than Daddy thought and the
car went off and into them.....sitting up from the ground enough
that all four tires were just spinning like crazy! They tried
and tried to get themselves out and luckily some guy came down in
his pickup truck at 2 in the morning and helped to pull them
out. Doing this really damaged the "cow catcher" on
the front of the Pathfinder, but everything else seems to be
okay. I'm glad they are okay and that they were able to get some
help! They are still wondering why someone else was back there
driving around at 2am, in a pick-up and not wearing any
shoes??? Oh well.
We went to the pool today until it started to storm. So, it
was back to the house to get cleaned up and packed up for the drive
back to PA. :(
We went out for dinner with Uncle Mark and we were on the road by
5:30. Daddy drove until 2 in the morning when we finally found
a hotel room for the night.
~Sunday, June 19th~
Well....we got moving around 9ish this morning and got home around
2:30. So, it only took us about 14 hours to get home.
That is not bad. We were lucky and did not hit any DC or beach
traffic on the way home.
ALL IN ALL: It was a great relaxing vacation. I was an
excellent traveler, never complained once (in the car). Our
vacation tally (this is our running joke and Uncle Mark is included
in the "stats"): 3 lost pairs of sunglasses, 1
lost/stolen kneeboard, 1 dropped camera ("forcing" us to
purchase a new one); 1 washed AND dried cell phone (oops,
Daddy...Mommy was sorry. Funny, it still worked!); well over
40 mosquitoes bites combined; 1 almost wrecked but definitely bent
up "cow catcher".
AND WE WOULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!
***Thank you
Uncle Mark (Lisa too) for letting us stay with you for the
week. We had a really nice time and hope to come again next
year. That time in the Spring when it's not SO HOT!! ***
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Happy
Father's Day!
June
19, 2005 |
We were traveling
on the road for Father's Day but I still gave Daddy a card and a
special "greatest Dad" hat. Daddy ended up
getting a new cell phone as part of his gift too. It takes
pictures and I think that is pretty cool. I especially like
the sound it makes when it does it.
Anyway, I love you Daddy because you are so great to me. I
love playing cars and trains, Superheroes and watching movies with
you.
I hope Pap-Pap and Pa-Pa both had a special day too....I LOVE YOU
ALL!
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"My"
Playground!
June
25-26, 2005 |
Aunt Susan and
Uncle Allen came to our house this weekend. They bought me a swing set/fort/picnic
area for my birthday...and this was the weekend for building
it! Daddy helped too and so did I whenever I could. I
did a pretty good job of staying out of the way. Plus, it was
so stinkin' hot that I spent most of the time playing around in my
pool. All the grown-ups were jealous of me.
They worked really hard and into the next morning. It took a
total of about 15 hours for them to complete it.....and it is
AWESOME!!!
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Hershey Park
June
26, 2005 |
Besides my
awesome swing set being built....my friend, Sam came to visit.
He brought his Mommy, Daddy, sister Sarah and his Aunt Megan with
him too! They stayed at our house on Saturday night and we all
went to Hershey Park today. I wasn't as happy to be there as
Mommy had hoped...it was just too hot. When I did finally get
on a ride and it was my favorite...I wanted to ride it over and over
again! Our favorites were the cars that go around in circles,
they have horns to beep. and the Monster Trucks. Don't tell
Mommy, but I think the heat made her a little crabby too!
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