Day Six - Heading Home

As much as it usually stinks to come home from vacation, I was pretty relieved on Thursday morning.  It had been a long week.  While we certainly had fun and saw a lot, there were a lot of elements of the trip that I was happy to leave behind--or at least deal with on our own turf.  Jacob had been quite difficult at times, we had some bad timing and frustrating moments, and everything was just starting to feel so darn expensive.  Routine can get old, but it can also be a lifesaver sometimes.

Anyway, we pushed through one more morning of hotel life, ate our continental breakfast (Jacob loved his Raisin Bran, muffin, and juice!), and packed up to leave.  Our first stop was a couple hours away, a little bit past Philly.  We visited the McDonoughs, who you may remember from numerous other occasions when we've gotten the boys together, either at our house or at Colin's grandparents' house on the other side of Rochester.  We finally had made our way down to them!  It was extra exciting because they just added a little girl, Kelly, to their family the day before Jacob's birthday!  In addition, we hadn't had a chance to visit in over a year, so the boys were considerably older and chattier this time around and we were looking forward to seeing them play together.

We really had a great time and I wish it could have been longer!  The boys played together very nicely, though with the usual kid accusations of toy stealing and deficient turn-taking.  But it all stayed very pleasant and we had a nice time catching up.  The boys talked a mile a minute about anything and everything, which was the biggest change from our last visit, when Jacob was just starting to talk.  They played trains, golf, swords (foam, of course), drew with chalk, and hid away in the laundry room.  And, of course, I got to hold Kelly for quite a while!  It's so amazing to hold a tiny baby.  I picked her up and it felt like picking up air!  So light, and yet she's somewhere around 8 lbs.  I guess that shows you what happens when you're picking up 30+ pounds all the time!  She was so sweet and hardly cried, and I marveled at her tiny feet (seriously--at birth they were a good half inch smaller than her big brother's were!)...so fun :)  We had a couple moderately successful attempts at getting a picture of the boys together...

And then I opted for easier subjects... :)

We stayed for lunch and then headed out, though we hated to leave so soon.  We'll hopefully have another visit to look forward to at some point soon, when they all get up the courage to make the long trip north to visit the grandparents!  Can't wait! 

After that we headed back to the baseball stadium in Allentown.  Craig had bought a shirt at the game and it turned out it didn't fit him, so since it was on our general path home, we stopped in so he could exchange it.  While we were there, we broke down and got a couple of the stuffed versions of the Pork Racers.  The plan was to give one to Jacob now and keep the other for a special occasion, but so far we haven't taken one back because he's been enjoying racing them against his pierogy guys :)  Here's the display, though, so you can see them...

We got the two on the right--one ham, one bacon.  The hot dog will have to wait.

After that, we got into the longest driving streak of the trip.  We did take one gas/snack break, and another bathroom break (me, not Jacob--though he did pee out of his pull-up twice that day, and maybe even a third time once we got home--we had so many incidents like that on this trip, they all tend to blur now), but the path from Allentown to Syracuse was a long one.  Along the way I happened to check Facebook and saw a post by my aunt saying that my grandma wasn't doing well and she was flying home the next day...so I called my mom to check in.  That's when I found out she was going downhill pretty quickly, having stopped eating and hardly responding at all.  It was sad to hear, even though she'd been ready to go for a long time.  I was relieved she made it through our trip, though, if only because I wanted to enjoy the week off and I didn't want to deal with trying to get refunds on hotels or anything else.  The trip was a significant time and money investment and I would have hated to see it go to waste.  Selfish, perhaps, but no doubt it would have been a tough situation had it come to that.

Knowing that the drive home would be long, I arranged for us to meet my college roommate, Mary, for dinner just outside of Syracuse.  It was really a perfect stopping point, and it was SO great to see her.  We marveled over the fact that it had been so long (since last fall) since we had seen each other.  Even though we don't see each other that often and would certainly like to more, we've got one of those friendships that just seems to pick up easily when we finally do get together.  I still thank God that he put us together our freshman year (15 years ago!!) because we really were a fantastic match and it made the transition to college so much easier to have a roommate that not only didn't drive me nuts, but was a pleasure to live with. 

Jacob fell asleep shortly before our arrival in Syracuse and woke up shortly before we arrived at the restaurant.  I don't know if it was the oddly timed nap, a burst of energy, or a whole lot of craziness pent up after a day in the car, but holy cow was he a pain in the neck at dinner.  He wouldn't let go of me, initially, and then didn't want to sit, was a little crazy while we were waiting for our food (long story, but it has to do with Ketchup Man, a tactic we relied on a lot on this trip--but Jacob's really getting into it and it's hard to dissuade him now when he gets a little overzealous), and then would hardly eat.  Eventually he chilled a little and had some cute moments, but it made for a bit of a disjointed meal.  Still, it was well worth the stop to chat with Mary, and the rest of the trip home was pretty uneventful. 

It felt so good to get home, but that feeling was shortlived as we had to get Jacob in bed and start unpacking.  So much to do after so many days away!  We ended up having a pretty laid back Friday, my grandma passed away early Saturday morning, and Craig headed out on a roadtrip Saturday afternoon.  Jacob and I didn't do much for the 24 hours that followed.  We played, went to church, ate...and that was about it.  I did some reorganizing during Saturday's nap, and vacuumed out my ridiculously dirty car during Sunday's nap.  Sunday evening we went to a memorial hockey game for our friend and former Amerk, Craig Charron, who died last October from stomach cancer.  We went to a similar event last year while Sharky was still alive, after which we went to a postgame reception and got to meet the Miracle on Ice hero, Mike Eruzione.  This year Craig didn't have to work it since he's no longer with the Amerks, but he did do some prep work for it early on.  The good news is that we got to watch it as a family.  Craig did take advantage of his connections and got down to the locker room, where he asked former Sabres' goalie Martin Biron (who he knows from his time with the Amerks) to sign one of Jacob's mini goalie sticks.  He did, but then grabbed his stick from the game and signed it directly to Jacob!  When Craig came up the steps with that stick, my jaw hit the ground.  So awesome.  What a great guy.

Monday it was back to reality, but we were quickly off again to head to NT for all of the funeral activities for my Grandma.  Two more days off and a continuation of our crazy schedule lately.  Should be an interesting challenge to get back to normal one of these days.

I still have some lingering thoughts on our trip, but I guess I'll save those for another day... 

Day Five - Jersey Shore

The weather had been forecasted to be pretty crappy on Wednesday so anything we could do was a bonus. We wandered out in the morning to a humid and cloudy day, but no rain.  We walked down to the Korean War Memorial on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.  We had seen it the night before but wanted to get a look in the daylight.  Turns out Jacob was fascinated by it.  It was pretty striking.

In the background is a waterfall with soldiers carrying a wounded soldier.  in the foreground is a soldier holding dog tags.

This was on the other side of the wall to the left of the previous picture (the names of New Jersey's Korean War victims was on that wall).  Another waterfall on this side, and another sculpture of a male and female soldier carrying a wounded soldier.

We wandered up a block to see some other angles of the casinos.  Here's the front of Caesar's...

And here's a co-mingling of Caesar's, Bally's, and the Wild Wild West Casino...

Back up on the boardwalk, we got a daylight view of Boardwalk Hall, a landmark and the original home of the Miss America pageant, as well as other sporting events.

We also checked our the Pier Shops at Caesar's, and pondered grabbing lunch.  However, it was hot and Jacob wasn't hungry so we decided to go back to our room and regroup.  Well, we got a little sleepy and all ended up taking a two-hour nap.  We slept through lunch and figured we'd grab a snack somewhere along the way to the aquarium.  We only ended up passing by one place right at the beginning, so we had to settle for a snack from the vending machine at the aquarium. 

When we got there, Jacob ran right up to this diving tank outside, and willingly smiled without us asking.  Where was that the rest of the trip?!

Once inside, Jacob enjoyed the touch tank with small sharks in it...

We saw a bunch of animals...fish, rays, reptiles, jellyfish, tropical fish, and more.  There was also a touch tank with stingrays, and one was apparently trying to escape.  Here he is trying to climb the wall...his entire snout (?) is out of the water!

Out on an observation deck, Jacob checked out a captain's wheel...

And refused to pose for a picture with the pirate...

But then he wanted a picture with the diver guy after checking out a collection of diving helmets upstairs...

After a short time at the aquarium (it wasn't that big), we decided to head to one of the casinos in the marina district to find a place to eat dinner.  Well, the family-friendly place we were looking for via the GPS was no longer there...so we hopped back in the car to visit the Borgata, the fanciest casino in town, because they had a fast food-filled food court.  However, when we got to the elevators in the parking ramp, there was a sign that no children under 18 that weren't registered guests were allowed in the building.  Seriously?!  So we piled back in the car, frustrated and hungry. 

We decided to head back to the boardwalk and try The Rainforest Cafe.  Once we got there, we discovered there was a two-hour wait!  Johnny Rockets wasn't much better, and we couldn't really do any of the outdoor stands because it was still drizzly--ok to walk in, but not eat in.  Dejected and starving, we decided to head back to our room and just order pizza.  Domino's, no less.  On the way, we stopped in the visitor's center and snapped this picture:

We ate our pizza and watched one of Jacob's movies.  I was pretty bummed about the way the whole day had gone.  We finished off the evening with another walk on the boardwalk, mostly in light rain, but we still got to check out Steel Pier, the Trump-owned amusement area.  No rides this time as the weather was bad, but at least we could say we'd been there.  We headed back and Jacob was wide awake...and he stayed that way for a while again.  Ugh.  So much for going out with a bang.

The next day we were heading back, but we still had a couple fun stops on the agenda...

Day Four - Jersey Shore

Tuesday pretty much saved the whole trip for me.  Up until that point it had been full of things that didn't work out right and frustrating moments with Jacob.  I decided Tuesday had to be a BIG day for us because the weather was looking sketchy for Wednesday and I wanted to fit in as much of the good outside stuff as we possibly could.  Our first order of business was checking out of the hotel and getting on the road to the shore.  It was about an hour or so there, and it was a relatively easy trip.  I booked a room in Atlantic City, which wasn't really my first choice.  I really wanted to stay in Ocean City, where I had stayed nine years ago with my two best friends.  It's a lovely little town, very family friendly and perfectly pleasant.  However, hotel rates there are ridiculous.  It made more sense to stay in Atlantic City for over $100 cheaper and make the half hour drive to Ocean City when we wanted to visit.  I managed to get a hotel less than a block from the beach.  It was just a Days Inn and it paled in comparison to all of the casinos on the boardwalk, but it got the job done.  We even had a bigger room with a couch.  It wasn't fancy, but it had free internet, free breakfast, and a good location.  Just like in Philly, we parked in the lot for free and went off to kill time until check-in. 

We grabbed our sand toys and walked to the beach.  The heat was once again pretty awful, but the beach access was free (unlike Ocean City where it's $5/person) so we splurged on an umbrella rental to make the time more tolerable.  We had a very nice time there, mostly just playing in the sand.  I dipped my feet in the ocean a few times, and once got as deep as the top of my legs, but it was a bit chilly.  I did get Jacob to walk in a little on a run to fill our buckets with water, but I think he was a little thrown off by the waves. 

As usual, even sand play had a bit of a Jacob slant to it.  We used our turret-like sand molds to create "bowling pins", then used a lacrosse ball to bowl them down...

It took a while, but we eventually got Jacob to change into his bathing suit, and he even convinced us to stay on the beach a little longer.  He did get to play a little beach lacrosse, too.  But mostly it was digging and molding and pouring water.

 After we tired of the beach, we tried to figure out lunch.  Jacob conked out in his stroller before he could eat his corndog, but he got in a good nap while we waited to check in, and woke up unhappy once we got in the room.  However, once he calmed down he inhaled his food and we got ready to head out to Ocean City.

It was an amazing drive out there, as the GPS took us on a route through all the seaside towns and past some of the most gorgeous beach houses ever.  A-MAZING.  We're talking millions of dollars.  Once we got there and parked, Ocean City was as lovely as I remembered it.  The boardwalk was pleasant and full of great food, little shops, and fun amusements. 

We wandered up and down the boardwalk and stopped at Gillian's Wonderland Pier to let Jacob have his first ever ride.  He picked out a car ride that was a crack-the-whip type ride.  I rode with him just in case it freaked him out. 

He ended up loving it!  After the first whip, I looked at him to make sure he was okay, and all I saw was a big smile!  Craig got video but I'm not sure if I will be able to upload it.  Maybe later :)  Still, he did great!  There's hope for roller coaster riding yet!

After we grabbed a sweaty but delicious dinner at one of my favorite spots, Mack and Manco's Pizza, we carefully selected a site for a long-awaited game of mini golf.  There were a ton to choose from, but we picked one with a cool nautical theme.  There was a big boat (there were holes on the boat) and a giant shark!  The best part about it was that most holes had a potential hole-in-one option, making it the perfect course for Jacob.  He had a blast!

Once again, he beat us on a hole or two, and even got a couple holes-in-one in a row (never fear, at one point I had three!).  Here he is after one of them...

Notice the soccer ball golf ball!

Craig pulled out the win after I choked on the last couple holes, but the best part was on the 19th hole (yes, 19th), where you had to putt the ball on a 3 or 4 inch wide straightaway.  If it went in the hole at the end, a giant shark rose up out of the water in a cage.  Craig did it!  Very cool.

Our last stop in Ocean City was Shiver's, a candy shop that specializes in salt water taffy.  They have so many flavors and you can see right where they make it in the back of the shop.  On the way in, Jacob got his picture with Mr. Taffy...

After we bought a small assortment of taffy, we headed back to Atlantic City.  Since we'd had such trouble getting Jacob to sleep, we decided to go for a late-night walk on the boardwalk.  I figured that the stroller ride motion might do him in, and we'd get the benefit of seeing the boardwalk before the rain came in the next day.  We walked up and down the main section of the boardwalk, from Boardwalk Hall down to somewhere around the Resorts Hotel...maybe a mile at most?  It was a nice night and there was plenty to see.  Let's just say that both the boardwalk contents and the clientele in Atlantic City aren't nearly as idyllic as Ocean City.  While Ocean City has its share of cheesy stores, Atlantic City specializes in them and adds numerous massage parlors to the mix.  Yuck.  Ocean City is full of mid-to-upper class families, and Atlantic City has a little of everything.  But it was still fun to walk and see the casino lights.  And miracle of all miracles, Jacob fell asleep and stayed asleep when we transferred him into his bed.  Heavenly.

I went to bed that night feeling content that we'd seen all we needed to see before the rain would come in.  Anything the next day would be a bonus...

Day Three - Philadelphia

Monday we woke up, ate some granola bars (yes, there's a reason I usually get hotels with free breakfast--there was nothing around ours!), and got ready for a day at the zoo...once again in miserable heat.  We actually ended up heading first to Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, to check out their store.  Craig grew up liking the Eagles (and the Bills, of course), and enjoyed browsing their store.  The stadium was impressive, even if we only got to see a tiny fraction of it. 

The zoo is the first zoo in the U.S., and it definitely had some older elements that made it charming, in much the same way as at the Buffalo Zoo--stone structures, etc.  One of the first things we saw was a bat that climbed up the side of the cage--creepy but fascinating.

Elsewhere in the same building were some interesting monkeys I had never seen before--Douc Langur monkeys.  They're sort of cool and unique-looking. 

Little did we know that we'd get to meet a talking one later.  The zoo did a collaboration with the Jim Henson folks to create a bunch of puppets based on extinct or endangered animals that were featured in a short movie and puppet performances at stations around the zoo.  They were really cute, and one of them was "The Douc" (pronounced like "Duke"), whose show we happened to catch.  Jacob sat on the floor with all of the other kids, and we couldn't help but giggle as he gave in to peer pressure and raised his hands as The Douc and the zoo worker asked questions like, "Who has a cell phone?" and "Who recycles?"  So cute.  Jacob loved him and Craig could do a pretty good version of his voice, which made Jacob laugh all week.

Here's a cute shot from outside the reptile building.  Shortly before this shot, a peacock jumped up on a wall just a few feet from Jacob.  They freely roamed the zoo and we happened to see a bunch of them after that.   

And here's Jacob showing some love to the giant stuffed gorilla in one of the shops...

Shortly after that, we saw some real gorillas.  They had a bunch of them, and one was in a perfect spot for a great picture...

The highlight of Jacob's day may have been playing in this little fountain near the polar bears.  He really got into it and had a wet shirt and shorts for the rest of the day...which probably wasn't such a bad thing since it was so stinkin' hot. 

We saw a ton of great animals--giraffes, rhinos, zebras, hippos (underwater), tons of monkeys, strange reptiles (ever seen an alligator snapping turtle?  Freakish.), penguins and more.  We also saw a bizarre series of violent bronze animal sculptures and some lovely fountains.  It wasn't a bad day, but the heat was starting to get to us. 

Jacob fell asleep on a lengthy drive through the city back to the hotel.  We wanted to go back into the city for dinner and sightseeing, but things just didn't work out.  There just wasn't a solid plan that would work out--and on this trip, if we didn't have a plan, it got messed up--so we ended up just going to a restaurant in the baseball stadium for dinner.  We were going to walk there, but second-guessed it when we walked back out of the hotel into a stiff wind and dark clouds.  The thunder and lightning sealed the deal, and we managed to drive there and park the car just in time to make it into the restaurant and watch a hardcore thunderstorm blow in.  Wind, crazy lightning, hard rain...all with Lincoln Financial Field as the backdrop.  We also happened upon some sort of Temple University booster party, which was sort of funny to see and scared us a bit thinking the whole restaurant would be closed to outside business.  Thank goodness it wasn't.  Jacob was a bit difficult at this dinner, as well, but other than a scrape on his arm from falling face-first out of his chair right in the front of the waitress, we made it through unscathed.  Oh, and we managed a dry day all day as well, other than a bit of an accident on the way home from the zoo when he fell asleep.  But while he was awake, he was dry.  On the way back to the car we tried to get a picture of Jacob with one of the cool statues outside the stadium, but I rushed it a bit because there was still lightning in the area.  Because everything was backlit, that picture didn't turn out great, but I do like this one...

Here's a view of the post-storm aftermath from our room.  That's the baseball stadium in the distance.

I was disappointed that we didn't get to go into the city, but things just didn't work out.  We tried to get Jacob to sleep extra early that night, turning off the lights before 9pm and hoping we could turn them back on after he fell asleep.  But he fought it for two hours and the lights never came back on.  So, for the third night in a row, he went to bed late and I didn't get the good post-bedtime laptop time I had been craving--hence the lack of blogs during our trip.  Ugh.  Instead I was always the one up early and getting computer time then--but even then it was merely catching up on email, blog reading, and Facebook

We Interrupt this Vacation...

...to remember a wonderful woman.  My Grandma Ellman passed away this morning after a long downward descent.  From a short term perspective, it's a blessing.  She was in pain and had lost her quality of life, so the thought of her in heaven, reunited with my grandpa (who passed away over 30 years ago), and healed of all her earthly suffering, is a great one.  She lived a long, full life with four children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

The only sadness I can feel at this point is that her descent from an active social life to sleeping her days away was a sad period...and the worst of it was all in the last year or so.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that she was active and sharp.  She went from the queen of senior bus trips to a series of injuries and illnesses that kept her mostly homebound.  Those years were difficult for all involved, for many reasons.  And it was all downhill from there, culminating in her move to a senior apartment last year and then a series of visits to rehab.  The worst and most recent illness was shingles.  She needed increasing care as time went on, and the last couple times we went to visit her, it was apparent that her time was limited.  Or at least, it left us hoping her time was limited, as that was no way to live.  She had more or less turned into one of those people that we used to pity when we went Christmas caroling at the nursing home.  It was a sad end for a strong woman and had to be a huge shot to her pride--to go from a proud, active woman to someone who could do so little for herself. 

To me my grandma was always a strong woman that lost her husband far too young.  She spent so many years solo.  She had family and lots of friends, obviously, but to not have a spouse for all those years had to be at least a little lonely sometimes.  On the other hand, she certainly embraced that single life.  Perhaps she spent so many years as a wife and mother that she was ready to embark on some adventures on her own.  She went on numerous cruises and exotic trips, and countless senior bus trips.  She enjoyed dinners out and loved shopping...as her large Beanie Baby collection and abundant knicknacks will attest.  Going through the things in her house has been quite the process for my mom and her siblings, and there have been a handful of things that I've been honored to bring to my house--namely the high wooden chair Jacob uses at our kitchen table and a few toys that were the most memorable for me from the many hours I spent playing there. 

I also remember meals at Perkins, Burger King, and even Ponderosa, which now as an adult boggles my mind a little bit considering how particular Grandma could be about her food.  We didn't always go out, though, as she made some delicious food herself.  I remember some great dinners that she made, and she was always a great food contributor to family picnics.  I also recall many a New Year's Day ham at her house and nearly every Christmas evening in her living room.  When I was younger she always made sure to bring back a souvenir from her trips, and once in a while she'd even spoil us a bit with a small something at the toy store when we were out at the mall. 

I have fond memories of her old house, the house my mom grew up in.  The family spent many weekends in her backyard swimming in the pool, and spending time there on my own (probably on golf days) was probably a key factor in teaching me to be gentle around nice things.  Probably around 20 years ago she moved across the street from us to a small ranch.  It was a perfect house for her, ideal for providing her help, and the site of many memories as well.  One time my parents were on vacation and I was staying there.  The Sabres were on the verge of winning their first playoff series in 10 years.  My grandma went to bed and the game went to overtime.  The Sabres won, and I was so excited that I quietly ran through her house (it was one big circle) trying to work off my excited energy so I wouldn't scream.  I accidentally woke her up anyway.  Oops...but she was cool about it. 

She wasn't really a get-on-the-floor-and-play-with-you sort of grandma, but that never really bothered me.  I knew she loved me and she probably did a great job of pretending to be interested in whatever I was doing.  She appreciated quiet and neatness, so as long as the grandchild toy mess was cleaned up in the end, she was fine.  She was a no-nonsense sort of woman, and I knew it even when I was young.  It actually became a bit of a sticking point in recent years as she had major issues with my cousin's gay lifestyle.  She was certainly entitled to her opinion, but it was unfortunate that the family was a bit fractured in the last years of her life...if only because everyone missed out on time all together.

These last few years certainly weren't representative of the grandmother I knew for so many years, but I feel so lucky to have had her as long as we did.  And really, mentally she was pretty darn good up until recently.  Knowing it was that recent makes this a bit of a tough pill to swallow, but knowing how much her quality of life had deteriorated, I'm so happy that she didn't have to live like that any longer than she did.  My heart breaks for my mom, aunt and uncles, and this whole process has given me a bit of insight into what lies ahead with my own parents (and in-laws, for that matter).  I can't even go there right now, but needless to say, there's no good way for this stuff to happen...ever.  Too sudden and it's shockingly painful for those left behind, but if it's too drawn out, it's hard to watch and even harder for the one suffering. 

But for now I simply need to do two things...appreciate what I have now and look back fondly on the good times.  And so, I will leave you with this...

Jacob and his great-grandma on his first birthday (sadly, the only picture I seem to have of them together)

Rest in peace, Grandma, and may you regain in heaven all you lost on earth.  Thank you for all you've done and all your love over the years.  You will be missed.

Day Two - Philadelphia

The good news was that Jacob slept in on Sunday. The bad news is that it meant he wasn't in the mood to take a nap on the way to Philly. It was only an hour drive, so once we were up and out, we headed to Burger King for breakfast.  Jacob loved his first Burger King crown...

The ride to Philly was busy but we made it to our hotel just fine.  It was located just a block or so from the stadium and we were able to park there for free and walk to the game.  It was insanely hot and just getting into the stadium left us sweaty!  We posed for a couple fan photos on our way in, then started wandering around to check out food options and see how we'd be spending our afternoon once the heat made our seats unbearable.  Along the way we made a detour for this:

And then we had another detour off to a shady corner to hydrate...

We finally got to our seats, and what a view...notice the city in the background...

After about an inning or so, we retreated to the concourse.  We did some shopping and snapped a picture with this guy...

The Philly Phanatic...a statue of him, anyway.

We had to walk a ways back to our seats, during which Jacob conked out.  It was so hot, so who could blame him?  Craig and I got some lunch and headed back to the seats to wait for Jacob to wake up. 

Out like a light...we each took a turn holding him, which left us even sweatier.  Luckily, by then we were half covered by shade.

Once Jacob woke up, he got some lunch and we eventually wandered off to do more shopping (Jacob picked a small stuffed Phanatic and a shiny red baseball) and grab a cold snack.  We spent the last couple innings in a shady courtyard letting Jacob throw and catch and bat.  We left before the 10th inning to head back to the hotel and get checked in.  We were all pretty wiped out, so imagine our annoyance when we walked into our room and there was no pull-out couch.  As you might recall, I booked this room with a king size bed and a pull-out couch.  Although apparently all the king rooms have that feature, ours did not.  So we got switched to a room with two queens, which was just fine with us. 

Although we had planned on potentially venturing out to the city, we were pretty beat.  And by the time we looked into our dinner options, we ended up just going down the road to a place Craig had been before, Chickie & Pete's, which specializes in "crabfries", skinny crinkle cut fries with a creamy crab dip.  Dinner was a challenge as usual, and we couldn't get back to the hotel fast enough.  We had another long night trying to get Jacob down.  I snuggled with him for quite a while before he went down.  Good thing we finally got some sleep, because we had a busy day coming up at the zoo...

We're back...

It's been a crazy week, but we're home.  I was really hoping to blog while we were gone, but Jacob's bedtime routine wasn't conducive to evening computer time.  A lot of Jacob's preferences weren't quite in line with ours on this trip, but I'll get into that more later. 

Our plan was to get on the road by about 10 or 11 on Saturday.  I packed like a maniac Friday night, and felt pretty confident by bedtime that we'd be in good shape for the morning.  As usual, there were a few cranky little things that took longer than would be ideal.  We also decided to grab lunch before we left and we needed to get gas.  It felt like it was going to take forever to actually get going, but we finally did--a little behind schedule, but within an acceptable timeframe.  The drive down was actually pretty simple.  We decided to take my car (equipped with four new tires), so I drove.  The weather was perfect, the roads were a little busy but tolerable, and I fell in love with our GPS, which directed us nicely. 

We stopped after three hours, to visit my oldest friend, Heather, and her husband Peter, in Binghamton.  It was a good stopping point, and we had a fun couple hours there.  Jacob played in the huge dollhouse that Heather and I spent so many hours playing in (her dad built it!), and then we walked down to the park and Jacob decided he'd rather play on the baseball field than on the playground (shocking!).  We discovered on the way down that the baseball game we were planning on going to that night was earlier than we thought, so we had to cut the visit a bit short.  Unfortunately Jacob did not want to leave, so it was probably the first of many battles we had over the course of the trip.  Still, it was a fun visit while it lasted!

We drove two more hours down to Allentown and were fortunate to get general admission tickets to the sold out game between the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and the Buffalo Bisons.  I guess if we go there again we'll know to order ahead.  Those tickets got us into the park, which was most important, and fortunately it was a great stadium for standing room--there was plenty to do and great places to stand and watch.  We ate some dinner then visited the Kids' Zone, where Jacob got to throw and hit balls.  He also got to putt at a separate attraction, and try his hand at a speed pitch (he threw a perfect strike but didn't register on the radar gun).  We met both mascots, and eventually settled in to watch the game from a spot in the middle of the outfield.  The park was absolutely beautiful, and once the insane heat subsided, it was a beautiful night.  Here's some of the highlights: 

Big baseball bat outside the box office...Jacob spent the rest of the night trying to convince us to buy him yet another mini bat.

View from the third baseline toward the scoreboard

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The first of many of these sorts of photo ops on the trip...and probably the most successful.

A scoreboard shot of the "Pork Race".  There are hot dog races, sausage races, pierogies, and dead presidents, but the IronPigs use pork--a hot dog, a slab of bacon, and a piece of bone-in ham.  The shot above is just before the hot dog tripped the ham, causing the ham to fall flat on its face and allowing the bacon to win.

 

Jacob and me with FeFe the mascot (get it?  Fe is the symbol for iron on the periodic table)

All of us with Ferrous the mascot.  They did this awesome thing and announced when the mascots were available in the autograph booth.  And they took pictures for free :)

Looking over the field at the end of the night.  See those streaks in the sky?  It really looked like that and I have no idea why.

It ended up being a long game and a late night.  It took a bit to get to our hotel, and Jacob fell asleep on the way.  By the time we got there he had peed through his pull-up (the first of many potty incidents on this trip), and it took a bit to get him back down.  Craig had to cuddle up with him, and even then he probably didn't go down for good until 11:30 or so.  Good thing we weren't in a huge rush the next morning!