The Trip that Almost Didn't Happen, Day 1

When I left off on Wednesday, I had just ensured we would actually go on our family vacation.  I spent a couple days prior panicking a bit because hotel prices jumped and our low-budget three days away were no longer looking very low-budget.  It just didn't seem worth it or wise to spend that much money on a trip like that.  I don't mind going to a not-very-exciting destination if the price point is proportionate.  The kids are young still, and as long as we leave home, stay in a hotel, and do a couple fun things, they're on board.  We used the same theory last year with Syracuse, and it was fine.  So this year we went in the other direction and decided to more fully explore a city where Craig has spent considerable time but which has since become a pass-through for us--Erie, PA.  He did his undergrad at Mercyhurst College (now University) in Erie, and worked there for a time, too, before he came to Rochester.  But clearly he wasn't doing kid-focused things back then, and a lot has changed anyway, so it seemed like a fun idea.  But the hotel prices went sky-high compared to what I first priced out, and for what we thought was reasonable for the location.  This was all last minute as it was because of how things worked out at work, but right when I was ready to book, the prices shot up.  When I actually found a couple good rates, I tried to book the room and suddenly the room type wasn't available at that price.  Tuesday night I had almost given up hope and we started talking about things we could do at home during a staycation.  It didn't have the same zip, though, so I vowed to try one more time in the morning in hopes something would open up.  When I walked downstairs on Wednesday (which I took off, too), I silently prayed that God would open something up for us at a price we could live with.  I really wanted us to make some good memories and get a change of scenery, but I didn't want to spend foolishly.  I panicked even more when the best option I found the night before ($250 total for two nights at a Days Inn) was no longer available.  In a last ditch effort I went on Hotwire.  I had given up on Priceline because you can't pick your room type (meaning we might not get two beds), but Hotwire gave that option.  Of course, they don't tell you which hotel it is, so that's always nervewracking.  Suddenly I had two deals in front of me, both in the $70-80 dollar range.  One had all the amenities I wanted (free parking, internet and breakfast).  The other didn't have breakfast, but it did have a 100% recommendation rate.  The first one was only about 55%, and they gave a hint that the last person that took that deal got a certain hotel where I knew the reviews weren't great.  I figured we couldn't argue with the 100% recommendation, and since the general location was fine and breakfast on our own was doable, I took the deal.  And when it popped up that we'd be at a Hilton Garden Inn in the heart of the busiest commercial area off the Thruway, I was thrilled!  I saved us over $80, which made the trip cost more in line with what it should be.  Whew.

I spent the second half of Wednesday preparing and packing, and we left close to on time Thursday morning.  Getting out the door was a struggle, and aside from Carter asking, "Almost there?" in the first 10 minutes, the trip went fine.  Our lunch stop at Burger King scored Scooby-Doo toys, which thrilled the boys, and as a whole the trip was pretty painless.  Our first stop in Erie was Waldameer Park, a small-ish amusement park.  I figured it was a great option coming off the success of the previous Friday's trip to Fantasy Island.  In fact, when I asked Jacob which part of the trip he was looking most forward to, this was it.  Only...when Jacob got up on Thursday he started complaining about his leg hurting.  We've gotten a lot of sore leg stories, enough that we took him to the doctor for it back in the spring.  But he was really complaining about it, and even believably limping.  He seemed to indicate at one point that he remembered pulling it a bit playing lacrosse with Craig a day or two before, but then he didn't seem so sure.  When we got to the park he was complaining on the entire walk from the car and we knew it might be a long day.  When we got to the gate, I had to chat with him again because I needed to make sure he'd ride enough rides to make his admission worth it.  See, Waldameer actually has free admission.  You either pay $27 to get an unlimited pass, or you buy points (basically $1 each) that you can use for rides that range between 1.5 and 4.5 points.  Jacob said he'd ride enough, so he and I got full passes, and Craig and Carter were going to ride from points, since Craig is not a ride fan and Carter's rides were pretty cheap.

We walked in and this was our first view...

Pretty fountain, sky ride, and Music Express to the left

The lovely view was quickly spoiled by what happened next.  Music Express was a near replica of Jacob's second-favorite Fantasy Island ride, Rock and Roll, so I eagerly tried to get him to go on it with me.  He refused.  He said it was faster than the Fantasy Island one and insisted the one at Fantasy Island almost made him sick.  I highly doubt that since he seemed to love it and talked about it non-stop for a couple days, but no amount of convincing worked, and we were forced to move on.  I was very unhappy and very concerned about the rest of the day.

Our first ride was a Carter favorite, the carousel...

After that I managed to get Jacob to go on the Comet, a small wooden coaster.  I figured it was a great next step, as the hills were small but it was a different style of coaster than Jacob had been on previously.  He was very confident going on, based on what he knew about the hill heights, though I warned him that wooden coasters feel a little different.  Well...he didn't love it.  It was pretty fast and there was lots of air time on the hills.  He survived and seemed OK at first, but eventually insisted it made him feel sick.  UGH.  I don't know why things were so different this time, if it was the leg, or a bad day with his "difficult personality", or Craig's presence, which usually means that Jacob only wants to hang out with him.  Sometimes I think he projects Craig's ride issues onto himself, and I have no doubt he was turning himself into a head case.  I was so angry because we'd spent the extra money on his pass, and now he was being a total party pooper.  He didn't even want to go on the kiddie rides with Carter this time. 

Carter, on the other hand, was loving his rides.  He went on this cute, old-school bumpy pony ride...

He rode on a vehicle ride that I'm pretty sure was identical to one I used to ride as a kid at a local restaurant (Page's, for you WNY folks), with the annoying buzzer button horns, an assortment of vehicles with glittery paint jobs, and the giant rainbow umbrella top.  Then he wanted to ride the teacups with me, since he loved those at Fantasy Island, too!  I took this picture from our cup, looking up at the first hill of the big roller coaster that was next on my agenda...

Carter LOVED the teacups again, giggling like a madman for most of the ride!

We didn't ride the swings, but I just loved this shot...from the colors to the motion, it just captured amusement park life to me...

Next I rode that big wooden coaster, the Ravine Flyer.  It had a really fantastic layout, but holy cow was it fast and rather rough.  It went through a tunnel over the adjacent road twice, and had some really fun twists and turns, but a couple of them hurt my head a little.  Bummer, but I'm happy I rode it.  The top of the hill definitely had the best view in town, a perfect view of the entire Presque Isle peninsula.

Next we headed over to this dark walk-through attraction, Pirate's Cove.  Jacob and Craig went through it first, and Jacob liked it so much that I had to go through it with him again.  It was a typical old-style fun house-haunted house hybrid--cheesy pirate/skeleton/ghost themed window displays, blacklit glow paint, crooked and moving floors, dark and narrow twisting hallways, etc.  I have no idea why he liked it so much, but like the antique cars the week before, this was the one he spent the rest of the visit begging to go back to.

After that, I went on a smallish drop tower alone.  I love them, even though a complete freefall never fails to terrify me for a second or two.  After that, I tried a second time to convince Jacob to go on the log flume with Craig.  He refused the first time but finally decided to try it.  I panicked a little as they waited in line, thinking that Jacob might hate me for pushing him.  Carter and I waited for their boat to pass and snuck in a selfie...

I caught the boys as they passed by, then ran around to try to capture the end of the ride...

When I saw their boat going up the big hill, I worried because Jacob was already tucking his head.  I figured the first hill traumatized him.  He looked pretty scared coming down the big hill (even more so when I saw the automated photo!), but you know what?  He loved it!  I was very relieved!

A little wet, but smiling big!

I then rode the Ali Baba, a magic carpet themed ride that reminded me of the Rainbow ride I used to admire at Maple Leaf Village (yep--another one).  I could have ridden a similar one last week, but I wasn't sure my stomach was up to it that day.  This time it was, and it was fine...maybe even a little boring.  Too controlled of a descent, maybe?  After that we grabbed a dinnertime snack and headed over to the ferris wheel.  Craig's willingness to ride convinced Jacob to do it, even though he swore them off after Fantasy Island.  The view from the top was not as good as the roller coaster, but you can sort of see the peninsula (how it hooks to the far right) if you look closely.

Carter loved it again!

We did another round of kiddie rides, first the boats...

...and then the Big Rigs.  I could ride the Big Rigs, too, but then Carter picked an inside spot that I couldn't fit in.  And by the time I tried to climb in the back of his truck, another kid took one of the seats.  Awkward.  There wasn't even a window to where Carter was sitting, so I periodically yelled around the corner to him while sitting next to someone else's kid.  The kids around me honked their horns and I was just sort of stuck there.  At least the track was pretty (nice landscaping and a tunnel), but still...weird.

Things were winding down as our points were dwindling and everyone was getting tired.  I had to give up my wish to ride the spinning wild mouse coaster (slightly different style than last week's, though similar to one I rode at Seabreeze here in Rochester a number of years ago) since the line was long, and Jacob and I hopped into a long-ish line at the Whacky Shack...

This was another classic dark ride, this time in a little cart.  Again, lots of cheesy props, blacklight effects, and fun twists and turns.  It was a fun little ride and Jacob liked it.  We probably would have gone on it again had the line not been so long.  Jacob and Craig did one more run through Pirate's Cove, and then we started working our way toward the front of the park.  Carter and I took one last ride on the carousel to use up the rest of our points while Craig and Jacob played a game of air hockey in the arcade.

 

Our original plan was to stop at Dairy Queen on the way to the hotel to grab Dilly Bars as a late snack, but our GPS is apparently wrong or outdated and the one we were trying to get to didn't seem to exist.  We were all tired and it was getting close to bedtime, so instead of seeking out another one or trying to find another gluten-free option, we opted to just check into the hotel and figure something out.  The hotel was very nice, a great value for what we paid.  We settled into our room, the boys ate peanut butter sandwiches, and we started the process of getting the kids into bed, which is never fun in a hotel room.  Carter was crazy, running around the room like a maniac despite such a long day with minimal napping.  The end of the day was pretty frustrating, but we all settled into bed before 10pm, hoping for a better day in the morning. 

 

Next up, the zoo and baseball!

Getting Our History On!

Craig has always been a history buff.  He loves historical war movies, he loves digging up random facts about that stuff on the internet, and if he had time I'm sure he'd read a bunch of books, too.  When he and Jacob went on a trip to Gettysburg with Craig's family four years ago (I had to stay home and work), Jacob got in on the fun, too.  He loves playing with little Civil War toy soldiers and random army guys that Craig has let him use.  Last year when we went to our awesome concert night out at Artpark, we passed signs for Old Fort Niagara, and it sort of reminded us that we have a cool historical site very close to home.  At that point it was on our radar that we wanted to visit, and this summer I made it a point to find a weekend where we could do it.  And this past weekend was one of the few open ones on the list, and when I had the realization about how our schedule for the weekend was working out, it was a perfect fit. 

So, Saturday morning, bright and early, we headed out to Old Fort Niagara.  We wanted to beat the bad weather that was supposed to be coming, and hopefully avoid the hottest parts of the day.  Craig figures he hadn't been there since 1979, and my last trip was a school field trip when I was probably 8 or 9.  Of course, history doesn't change much, so I guess it's not a big deal, right?

I was pretty impressed with the site, partly because it was so old and yet so well maintained, and partly because it was so pretty.  They've done work to the site over the years, but they've maintained the integrity of the buildings and restored them to what they looked like back in the 1800s when it was an active fort.  It's rare to find buildings this old anywhere in our area, and to see them in such good shape was wonderful.  We wanted to take the full guided tour, but we knew Carter would never make it so we opted to just walk around and try to make a couple scheduled events. 

On the way in, the boys wanted to check out the first of many cannons we encountered during the day...

On the walk from the welcome center to the fort itself, we came across these two re-enacter folks.  It was sort of odd to see them hanging out in character at a very real looking camp site.

The view of the fort from outside the walls...

This entry point was striking.  It looks like once upon a time there may have been a moat under this, with a functioning drawbridge.  The mechanisms inside to move the bridge were quite elaborate.

Once inside, there were lots of people in costume, and aside from the tourists, so many things looked so authentic.  The French Castle (the oldest building in the area) is in the background.

The boys posing with yet another cannon...

There was one "escape point" through the walls near the back of the fort, and this is it.

There were two lookout towers with cannons on the premises, both with distinctive architecture that includes a Chinese style roof.  The views were amazing.  This is looking out with Lake Ontario to the right, a memorial in the foreground, and the French Castle in the background.

Here's one of the cannons in a tower.  They were covered in bird poop.  Given the wind that was blowing in up there, I can't quite imagine hanging out there in the winter!

From the edge of the lake side of the fort, you could see Toronto pretty clearly.  The CN Tower is off to the left.

This is the well inside the French Castle, which isn't really a castle but was a fort in disguise.  The French built it in traditional French trading post style to appease the Native Americans that didn't want a fort here.  But if you look at the top floor, there were plenty of spots for cannons!  This is the well on the ground floor that is supposedly haunted by a ghost.  That ghost story was one of the things I remembered from my tour back in grade school!

One of the rooms in the castle was set up with a group eating dinner to live violin music.  The beds are on the right. 

The chapel on the second floor was set up by the Jesuits.  Apparently it's the oldest church space in Western New York.

This was the quarters for one of the high ranking officers.  The bed was really short and I educated Jacob on what the chamber pot was used for.  Haha!

Just Carter sitting on a stump looking cute while we were waiting for Jacob to come back from the bathroom!

One of the events we wanted to see was the kid recruitment!  Luckily parents could be recruited, too, which gave Jacob the courage to participate.  Originally he and Craig were supporting one side, but they decided to be traitors and join the British...which was a smart move since they won the battle!

As they walked across the battlefield, everyone yelled "Traitors!"

Here they are in the midst of the battle, on the far left.

And after the battle...

Next up was a cannon demonstration.  It was loud, but pretty cool!  I got video of this one, too, so hopefully I can get that uploaded soon.

This is the powder magazine.  Scary to think of the power of all of those barrels filled with gun powder!  But the lighting in here was really cool!

It was a really beautiful day...not too hot, a nice breeze, blue skies...though the weather got a little sketchy later, which is why we did this early!

Here's the view from the other tower.  This one looks at the entry gate and more cannons.  You can see how elaborate the system of earthen berms are around the fort.

On the way back out there was a visitors center.  I took this crazy picture of a stuffed beaver.  I just thought it was funny.

Hard to describe how big this flag is, but it's huge!  Those windows are two stories high.  The flag is a restored version of the flag that was captured from the fort by the British, I believe.

This lighthouse was out near the parking lot.  It was so pretty.  Apparently it was in use until the 1990s. 

As a whole it was a pretty good visit.  The boys were a little crazy at times, but we managed and it was neat to see so much history.  We had a couple tired boys on the drive back to grab lunch and stop at the outlet mall to find new Nikes for Carter (gotta love the family discount).  In the end, Sunday ended up being a bit of a crazy day because Carter was short on naps and Jacob decided to be extra difficult on Sunday morning.  Church was extremely frustrating for multiple reasons, and I felt pretty defeated by the end.  Jacob lost a lot of privileges and Carter won himself an early bedtime.  It was nice to get home, though.  Of course, we're back off on a new adventure tomorrow.  That adventure almost didn't happen because hotel prices shot up, but a miracle this morning (literally an answer to prayer) made it possible again.  Lots of packing to do today, but it should be a fun few days ahead, even though I know that hotels with kids are always difficult and naptime will once again be in short supply.  But those other memories are precious...right?

Fantasy Island, Indeed...

Last week after I got back from my conference, I started looking at the rest of our summer.  I needed to plan vacation time from work right away, because suddenly things were getting busy again.  We also get a couple free Fridays off during the summer, and I needed to get those planned, too.  I realized that this weekend might provide a perfect opportunity to kill a couple birds with one stone.  My mom had mentioned that she wanted to take the kids to Fantasy Island, a fun amusement park I hadn't been to in probably 20 years.  I figured that if I took off Friday, we could fit that in.  In addition, Craig had to go to Canada twice this weekend, so I figured he could meet us at my parents' on the way back from his first visit Friday night, and we could stay all day Saturday so he'd be closer to drive back to Canada on Sunday.  On Saturday we could go to Old Fort Niagara, where Craig had wanted to take Jacob for a while.  In the end the plan worked very well, though by the end of the weekend the busy few days took their toll and the boys were a bit on the crazy side, but I'll get to that later.  Let's start with our fun Friday!

Now, if you know me, you may know that I used to be an amusement park fanatic.  I took two amusement park trips with college friends in the couple years after college, and I made every effort to hit up parks when I traveled.  Craig, however, is not much of a ride fan, and once we had kids it got even more pointless to go.  It had been years since I was at a park other than Disney, and obviously those rides are a little different than standard park fare, so I didn't really get to test out Jacob too much when we were there.  I was interested to see how this trip would go, particularly now that Carter could ride a little, as well.

We got to the park around when it opened, and we started easy with the kiddie rides.  They were pretty basic, cars in circles and such...and it seemed to start out okay with two excited kids.  Both boys hopped in the same truck...and then Carter started crying.  If you look in the picture below, you can see Jacob through the windows of the blue truck, and Carter sticking his head out the side window crying.  UGH.

We had the same result on the boats, though he seemed to come around a little bit during the teacups.  In the meantime, I walked over to a small, very easy roller coaster with Jacob.  I pleaded with him to go on it with me.  He was very hesitant about riding real rides.  In fact, all week when we talked about this trip, he grumbled about it.  I told him that he had no idea if the rides would bother him, that he's never really had issues with rides, and that Daddy's issues with them don't mean he will have issues.  Well, by some miracle (OK, a bribe for a slushie), I convinced him to go on the ride.  I could sense his nerves as it got going, and when we hit the small hill in the middle (not the beginning) I watched the terror in his face.  But then he sort of laughed, and I realized he might actually be liking it!  The coaster did two circuits, and when the last one ended, he said, "That was fun, let's do it again!"  Of course, in true Jacob fashion he immediately retracted it, but the seed was planted!

We moved on to the carousel, which we knew Carter would probably enjoy more.  Jacob picked a horse decorated with Canadian designs...

...and the smile returned to Carter's face!

We took a little walk through another section of the park to track down Jacob's slushie, and in the meantime my mom and I snuck in a ride on the biggest coaster in the park, the Silver Comet, a good-sized wooden coaster that was a new addition since my last time there.  The coaster was pretty fun--fast, lots of airtime--but we had a near disaster!  No glasses were allowed on the ride, and my mom didn't leave her glasses in the cubbies because she was afraid she'd forget them.  I told her a trick I used to use in my coaster days, to wrap the arms of my sunglasses around my bra, right in my cleavage.  Sounds weird, I know, but lots of crazy coasters later, I've never lost any.  Well....somewhere in the middle of the ride they disappeared!  We never saw them fly out but they were nowhere to be found.  Definitely a bummer feeling at the end of the ride!  Fortunately, a few steps off the coaster and they fell out from wherever they had somehow wedged themselves where my mom couldn't feel them!  Disaster averted!

We walked back and watched the Western shootout show, pretty much the same goofy thing they've been doing since I was a kid (and probably since my parents were kids).  The show was super cheesy, but it's a classic!

Preparing to draw with kid volunteers

The ending remained the same, with the villain falling off the roof onto the same obvious crash pad.  Oh, and they still give out the same flimsy metal deputy badges!

After the show we walked down to the far end of the park, where Jacob's main target was...the antique cars.  He's hovering around 49 inches tall, and the minimum to drive is 50.  I was hopeful his shoes and hat would put him over the top, as it was the one thing that changed his attitude about the trip in general, and sure enough, he got to take the wheel!

I will say that I'm thankful we have another nine years before he can get his license, but we got through just fine.  Multitasking the gas pedal and the steering wheel was a challenge, but he had a blast and kept wanting to go back for more!

It took a massive effort, however, to get him on the ferris wheel.  He's convinced he's afraid of heights, and he was close to having a total meltdown.  Still, we got him on...and while he did fine, he didn't want to go on again!  Carter, on the other hand, loved it!

From the top we had a lovely view of Niagara Falls...

Once upon a time, there were only a handful of items in that skyline--a couple hotels and three observation towers.  Now it looks like a major city.

And a view of the park...

See that crazy swing that's super high above the ground?  My mom and I went on that later!

While Carter and I waited through Jacob's second trip on the antique cars, I snapped a picture of the roller coaster my mom and I went on earlier...

And here's Jacob giving Grandma and Grandpa a ride!

And here's a picture I took from the top of those crazy swings!  Don't worry, my camera and I were both secure!

See that pinkish-purple coaster to the left?  It's called the Crazy Mouse.  Remember that one for later...

We grabbed a little lunch and checked out the water park, which I would have loved to hang out in for a while since it was so hot!  But Jacob wasn't really interested, and the logistics were admittedly a bit tough with Carter, so we headed back out to some other rides.  We passed by this one below and out of the blue Jacob said he wanted to ride it.  I could hardly believe my ears!  I used to love spinny rides like this but wasn't sure my body was still up to it since I've had moments where spinning Carter or swinging on a playground swing threw me off a bit.  Still, I knew I had to do it for him.  As we were waiting, Carter nearly fell asleep sitting up in his stroller, so we reclined him and he took a nice long nap.  YAY!  So, anyway, the spinny ride...

My mom came on with us and she was a bit nervous, too.  We actually did fine, though forward was better than backward for us ladies!  And Jacob?  He LOVED it.  He's still talking about it days later.  Never saw that one coming.  After that, my mom and I rode this crazy ride with a spinning circle on a half pipe.  We were fine after that one, too, but I think we were both relieved when it was over!  Jacob was still asking to go on the antique cars (again) so we wandered back that way and he and I took another ride. 

Once we were done, I was pondering going on the Crazy Mouse roller coaster while we were there.  It's a newer wild mouse-style coaster, very similar to Primeval Whirl at Animal Kingdom at Disney.  My mom decided to come along, and as we were just about to head off to the line, Jacob decided he was coming, too!  I was very excited, though with each new thing, I was also nervous that he'd hit his breaking point and suddenly swear off everything again.  But the coaster looked pretty manageable, aside from the one big drop.  But you know, he did great!  I think he bumped his head a couple times because of the sudden stops and changes in direction, but he was a trooper and really seemed to like it!  Yay!  (Insert image of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons here, doing the plotting thing with his hands..."My plan for cultivating a roller coaster buddy is going splendidly!")

We eventually started heading back to the front of the park, stopping at the bumper cars.  They are not my favorite ride at all, but Jacob was interested so I reluctantly got on with him.  Whiplash is not really fun, so I'm not sure why bumper cars ever got popular, but off we went.  This one was a little disorganized since I'm more used to versions with a center island that keeps traffic moving in one direction, and this one was just a free-for-all, but we did our fair share of bumping and Jacob enjoyed it.  I did slam my knee pretty hard on the wheel with one hit, but as a whole we we fine. 

I snuck in one more ride on the Silver Comet, and by then the focus was on the giant slide (the kind you see at a lot of fairs and festivals).  As I was waiting there, I decided I needed to take an opportunity to ride a ride that had intrigued me since I was a little kid.  See, we used to go to a park in Niagara Falls (where Casino Niagara is now) called Maple Leaf Village.  We'd go to the Canadian side of the Falls once a summer or so, and walk up Clifton Hill, walk through Maple Leaf Village, and check out the tourist traps in the adjacent mall.  Sometimes we'd get to pick a ride to go on in the park, and at that age I generally went on kiddie rides.  Still, I recall being fascinated by the Gravitron, this UFO-shaped ride.  I had heard a little bit about what it did, but since all the action was hidden inside, I still didn't fully understand it. At the same time, Fantasy Island had a ride called "Devil's Hole", named after a hiking spot near Niagara Falls.  In that one, riders stood in a circle against the wall.  The circle started to spin, and eventually riders were stuck to the wall and the floor dropped out.  There was an observation deck, so I watched this happen a few times, fascinated.  From what I had heard, the Gravitron employed a similar tactic, but for whatever reason I never got to go on one.  I only saw them in a couple places after that--generally either pay-as-you-go places or when I was with a group of unwilling co-riders--so I never got to ride it.  However, Fantasy Island had a Gravitron-type ride appropriately named Devil's Hole, so I decided this had to be the day!  I'm not sure it lived up to 30 years of expectations, but it was an experience! 

I joined everyone back at the giant slide and took a ride with Carter on my lap, racing Jacob (I won!).  By then the weather was starting to look iffy, so we made our way back to the kiddie rides for one last hurrah.  The boys rode the train one more time (you can see Grandma, who somehow wedged herself into the tiny engine, since Carter wanted to ride there)...

We had a much happier ride on the truck ride from earlier...(and yes, I thought it was strangely sweet that Jacob kept riding with Carter)...

Jacob and I did another ride on the kiddie coaster while Carter rode on a bird, and the boys skipped around to a couple other rides after that.  Carter eventually wanted to go on this hot air balloon ride, and I volunteered to take him.  The cars moved up and around, plus they had the little spinning wheel (like the teacups) in the middle of each car to make you spin more.  When that ride got going, Carter's giggles were priceless!  I was laughing at him laughing!  I caught the end of it on video but haven't had a chance to upload it yet.  Hopefully I will have another post with some videos from the weekend and any fun pictures my parents happened to catch, but for now, just enjoy this shot...

The rain drizzled as we walked out of the park, but our day wasn't over.  We were off to my parents' church, where there was a free carnival!  Both kids napped a bit on the way there, not surprisingly!  We grabbed some dinner and fun snacks there, and the boys played a bunch of games to earn tickets for prizes.  Here's Jacob desperately trying to master a five-pin bowling game...

...and here is Carter's strange ring toss technique.  It's hard to see, but his arm is cocked way back even though he's right there!  Silly boy.

We had a very long but very fun day!  I ended up a little sunburned despite sunscreen, but as a whole we came out of it tired but generally unscathed and full of smiles!  It was just the start of a fun two days, and next up was Old Fort Niagara!

The Shortcut I Just Can't Apologize For

There are lots of things we do as parents that we're not really proud of.  I mean, generally nothing that's going to damage our kids, but stuff that we'd be less likely to admit to in a room full of parents.  But there are little things we do to maintain our sanity, enjoy a little lazy time, or whatever. 

I probably give my kids breakfast for dinner more than I'd like.  I put on Paw Patrol or Team Umizoomi more than I should just so I can have a few minutes with quiet kids (well, one at least).  We've probably all snuck out of our almost-sleeping kid's room before they're totally asleep, just because getting back into bed five minutes sooner sounds so much better.  We pretend to be sleeping just in case it fools the kids into leaving us alone.  The list could go on.  But there is one parenting shortcut that I refuse to feel bad about.

The rotisserie chicken.

I try not to get them more than every couple weeks, but sometimes that is a tough battle to fight.  After all, what's not to like?  They're cheap, they're versatile, they're relatively healthy (once the skin is off), and everyone in our house likes them.  I spend $5 and get at least two meals out of one chicken.  Usually we'll have the chicken with a potato and a vegetable one night, and then I'll use whatever else I pulled off the bones for something else.  Sometimes I put the pieces in gravy and serve them over mashed potatoes.  Other times I've done chicken tacos or chicken wraps.  Sometimes I do Buffalo chicken salads.  A couple times I've used the chicken in a casserole that called for cooked chicken.  One of these days I'm going to try a Buffalo chicken pizza, though I have to perfect sauce that's not too hot for the kids.  The possibilities are endless!  Oh, and if you're my mom, you stick the rest of those chicken bones in a pot and make some chicken noodle soup, too! 

Usually I just get one at Wegmans, because I usually happen to be shopping when it hits me that I have nothing planned for dinner.  They've always been good, and we've had no issues with Jacob even though they don't 100% guarantee that there's no cross-contamination.  At this point, with as good as it's been, it's a small risk I'm willing to take.  Beware if you have a baby, though, since Wegmans uses honey in their brine now!

Last night, however, I had to quickly run into BJ's to buy diapers on my way home.  On the drive there I realized (yet again) that I had no plan for dinner (sorry, it's been a crazy week).  So, on a whim, I ran to the back of the store and was thrilled to see that they had some.  Not only that, they were bigger for the same price AND they were labeled as gluten-free!  Score! 

It works out perfectly because tonight we need a quick dinner, and the leftovers will come in so handy for that.  I feel like it provides the ease of take-out with the price tag of eating in.  Less than three bucks per meal for meat?  Not bad!  I know there are probably downsides to consider (I'm sure someone would love to share with me how the brines are full of sugar and the chickens may be abused), but it would take a lot to overshadow the ease of these chickens.  Still, I know I need to control myself.  Did you see the KFC commercial a while back where everything in the family's house was made out of the plastic containers the chickens usually come in?  They had planters, and toys, and I think someone in a robot costume.  I don't think we'll get to that point, because I don't want my easy dinner option to wear out its welcome, either.  Carter's been pickier lately and Jacob goes in and out of phases (right now he hates almost everything I make...yay), so my options are limited enough!  But since I lost some of my go-to last-minute dinner options when we had to go gluten-free, the chickens have been a lifesaver, and I'm pretty sure they're way better than any other processed option I'd have otherwise turned to. 

Anyway, this is not an advertisement for chickens or anything like that, but just an admission and joyful revelation that not all dinners have to be perfectly home cooked, nor does everything that you buy ready-to-eat have to be crazy expensive.  It's OK to take a shortcut sometimes, and I just wanted to share that this is one of my favorites!  (And perhaps I should take this as a sign that my life needs more excitement...)

Still Tired...and Still Thinking...

We had a busy weekend.  Two parties in two days, actually, which pretty much meant I didn't get a lot of recovery time from a crazy week.  The parties were great--one for the end of Jacob's baseball season and the other a big surprise party for our daycare's former director--but lots of sun and heat and food didn't really help my cause.  But at least we had fun! 

I'm still thinking back on the week I had last week.  I feel so lucky to have been able to go on that trip, and I'm grateful for the people I met and the experiences I had.  Going back to the college life after 15 years away was pretty crazy, even if it wasn't exactly college life.  But I do think that my comparisons to my college orientation were fair, and I could add summer camp to that, as well.  Over the course of the week it definitely began to remind me of the week I spent at camp when I was 13.  The only difference there, really, was that I had a couple friends going in so I wasn't completely on my own.  But the week of a certain schedule, wise leaders, fun activities, and a handful of inside jokes was definitely reminiscent of that time.  And the sadness upon departure when you know you won't see these new friends anymore was very similar, even in this age of social media.  I mean, I am Facebook friends with a couple of the people I met, but the rest I just connected with on Linkedin.  I don't really spend a lot of time there, nor do I expect that I will have much contact with them there since our jobs are very different.  But it was fun while it lasted.

Another recurring comparison to my previous life experience was going to retreats in college.  We'd go off to a camp for a weekend, spend two days immersed in the Bible and our faith, and come back to school bursting at the seams with joy and excitement about all we learned.  The challenge, of course, was channeling that passion into changing our daily lives once we were back to the grind.  It was hard, no doubt.  Similarly, I'm coming back to work with a newfound understanding and appreciation of this industry, as well as some ideas for ways to improve our programs.  Some of the suggestions are far bigger than my position or even my immediate department, but some are small tweaks we can consider making to our work that might make a difference, too.  The tough part is communicating it without sounding like a) the naive newbie; or b) the over-eager change-pusher who doesn't know what she's talking about and makes everyone else's job harder in the process.  I've put together a simple powerpoint of the points that stood out to me, and hopefully I'll get a chance to share it.  Everyone's been too busy since I got back to sit down and chat, unfortunately.  Talk about a buzz kill.

I definitely had a couple moments at the conference of "Here we go again," when I found out I was in a different set of dorms than the majority of the attendees.  It was like my orientation without a roommate all over again.  I was concerned about getting back to my dorm alone after night activities, because even though the town seemed very safe, you just never know.  It's just easier to coordinate activities--dinner, paddleboarding, etc.--when everyone is in the same place.  Ultimately, I did discover a few friends in my dorm, which made things a lot easier.  The main difference from orientation, though, was the complete sense of relief I felt during alone time.  Well, not complete.  I did worry that I was supposed to be there networking and meeting people, and I worried about what I might be missing if I was alone.  And I wondered if something was wrong with me because I was alone, but then I looked around and realized that not everyone was grouped up.  But by the end of the second day I found myself craving alone time because the learning and social aspects of the conference were intense.  I took detours to sessions so I could walk alone on campus and snap pictures, and I reveled in the hour or so alone in my room at night.  On the last full day I even decided to eat lunch alone.  There were people I could have joined, but I was worried about joining up with the same people repeatedly. so I sat in a corner and ate with my iPod Touch in hand.  About 10 minutes in I was joined by one of my group buddies (the 60+ data guy) and that was just fine, too! 

Still, it really struck me how I live in a little bubble right now.  Even though I just started a job a little over three months ago, I feel like my circle of friends and acquaintances has remained fairly steady, and it's hard to remember that there are wonderful, amazing people out there and we should pursue the chance to learn so much from them.  I don't get out much, I admit, partly by design and partly because I just can't, and I think sometimes that limits me more than I'd like.

I had a conversation on day 3 with the group I bonded with most about the most adventurous things we've ever done.  I didn't really have an answer.  Does spending a week traveling to amusement parks and riding a ton of roller coasters count?  They considered going through childbirth twice a valid entry, but it really did make me wonder where I went wrong.  I mean, I value my life (particularly as a parent) so things like skydiving and mountain climbing seem a little out of my wheelhouse, but I just haven't really had the opportunity to do crazy stuff.  I really enjoyed the stand-up paddleboarding, and it was a good reminder that I need to take a chance and seize opportunities like that, even if they scare me a little.  I'm noticing hesitance on Jacob's part lately to do things like that, too.  He didn't want to get in the pool at his baseball picnic until most kids were out, and he was making excuses for not wanting to go on his spray park field trip this week or on an amusement park trip we're planning for later this week (don't worry, Grandma, he'll deal!).  I am trying to get to the root of his hesitance, if he's nervous about something or truly thinks he won't enjoy it, but I hate to see those qualities showing up in my seven-year-old who has yet to really live.  And on the flip side, how do you cultivate that willingness without it swinging the other way and making him a little too eager to try whatever new (potentially stupid) thing comes his way?

One of the unfortunate consequences of the trip was that I gained four pounds!  I do think some of that was water weight, because I drank a TON of water when I was there.  The water bottle they provided was at least 20 oz., probably more, and I'm pretty sure I refilled mine half a dozen times a day (though it probably wasn't always completely empty).  But it was a lot of water.  Still, I know some of it was eating...a lot.  We were eating at an all-you-care-to-eat dining hall, which was new for me, and on top of that we had big dinners and lots of snacks between sessions.  We usually had two morning snacks and two afternoon snacks, ranging from sweet breads and pastries to cookies, brownies, make-your-own trail mix, soft pretzels, and cotton candy!  There was always fruit, too.  I didn't always take something, but it was always tempting.  My meals in the dining halls weren't as bad as they could have been, but I had some form of eggs most mornings (in a sandwich, with bacon, with yogurt) and my lunches ranged from pizza to a vegan taco to a panini, sometimes with salad on the side.  But I pretty much always got a warm cookie!  We had two very nice dinners put on by the conference, and then my two dinners on my own both happened to be giant burgers.  It was not on purpose, but just worked out that way.  I think that put me over the top!  I can't even imagine how much worse it would have been if I drank more than one night of the four!  A couple pounds came off pretty quickly, but my urgency to hit the gym is definitely up!

Back at home, the boys did fine.  I did have to reload the dishwasher and do some extra picking up, but for the most part the house remained intact and the boys seemed happy.  I could tell Carter was happy to see me, but he's definitely been a Daddy's boy since I got back.  In fact, Craig can barely get a moment alone between the two of them!  I definitely missed them but appreciated my time away.  I FaceTimed once and called a couple other times, and when the kids were around it was chaos on the other end!  I thought it was cool that Jacob wanted me to show them my room when we FaceTimed.  I know it was hard for Craig, particularly dinner time, but it was hard for me to feel too bad since he'll be gone for 10 days in another couple months!

I mostly just love going on trips like that to remember that there are so many places to see and so many hidden jewels.  When else would I have the chance to drive through ski country and stay at a historic Ivy League campus?  It doesn't have to be fancy or exotic to be cool.  It's looking like this year's family vacation is going to be about as exciting as last year's, as we're continuing on the cheap, close, and yet unexplored track we were on last year.  Stay tuned.  But we will have fun, I'm sure, and at this point the kids don't really care where we go as long as we do something new.  I guess I'm up for another adventure...as soon as I get a little more sleep!