Skoniecznys Hit Kentucky

It's always fun to get visitors in Kentucky, but it was a special treat to get Mike, Kristen, Ella, Ethan, and Eli Skonieczny all to our own for 5 days on our home turf.  This family means a lot to us and we wanted to ensure that their trip was memorable, especially because it was well off of the usual route they take driving from Connecticut to the upper peninsula of Michigan.  The first full day here we signed up for a horse farm tour and it did not disappoint.  Not only did it highlight some beautiful horses, but also the beautiful scenery all around Lexington.

The next stop was the University of Kentucky so that we could try and convince at least one of the three younger Skoniecznys how great it would be to go to college right around the corner from us.  We'll have to wait and see if it works, but we showed them some great flowers and some of the cool new buildings on campus.

No trip to Lexington is complete without a visit to Keeneland.  Unfortunately, since it wasn't April or October we couldn't take in any races.  But they still train the horses in the morning, and John went with Kristen and Ella to get the full experience.  It's always amazing to see the power of the horses up close.  Meanwhile, the boys in the family stayed in bed so they were rested for the next phase of the trip, a visit to Mammoth Cave National Park.

The plan was to camp at Mammoth for two nights, and we lucked out with some great July weather after dealing with some rain in Lexington.  After setting up camp for the first night we went for a hike to get a good look at the park above ground.  Although it wasn't a difficult hike, it was just nice to be in the midst of nature.  And for Mike and John, it was another dream come true to have their families hanging out and having fun with each other.

Within minutes of their initial arrival in Lexington, all five kids, ranging in age from 7 to 14, got along like they have been living next door to each for years.  Callie and Reese certainly looked forward to spending time with all of the kids, and they all managed to have fun on the hike their parents made them go on.

Eli is more than willing to explore and push boundaries, which meant that Reese was extremely intrigued by him and willing to follow where he led. We are happy to report that this stopped when Eli used the family axe to make kindling.  Both Reese and Callie apparently need to develop a greater comfort level with sharp tools - or not, either way is fine with us.

Camp life is always fun, and especially fun when the people you camp with have all of the necessary tools. We had a delicious meal that included hot dogs, sausages, baked beans, corn on the cob, and roasted potatoes.  We are not sure if the food was extra good or if we were just extra hungry.  Regardless, it was a great night that ended with all of us playing pictionary until we realized we probably needed to abide by the campground quiet time rules.

The next day we took one of the long cave tours.  We have numerous pictures of that tour, but just about all of them are too dark to make out the incredible sights we saw.  Instead here is a far better picture of the whole crew right outside the entrance to the main cave.  Good looking bunch, if we say so ourselves. After one more night under the stars the Skoniecznys headed north to Michigan and we headed east to Lexington.  It was another great memory for all of us.

Floats, floats, and more floats

We have known the Johnsons for over eight years, and this was our third annual lake boat trip.  This year took us to Taylorsville Lake, and while it was not the sunniest of days, it was still a great one.

Talk about a keeper of a picture.  These five kids are full of energy and love any opportunity to get together.  And the more action the better.  That is especially true for the crazy man in the middle, Emerson, who is now four years old.

On this trip we got to use a special birthday gift that Seth had just received. We received a lot of compliments from other boaters about this great American eagle float.  We weren't sure whether to be proud or embarrassed, but we embraced it all.  And by the end of the day, all of the love had put a couple of holes in the float, so the bird ended the day not flying so high.

The highlight of all of our boating trips has been the tubing - it's not extremely fast, but it is fast enough to bring smiles to the kids' faces. And it is just slow enough that they can try out their daring acrobatic tricks without risking their lives.

Of course a day on the lake is not just about a need for speed.  Sometimes you just need to float around in a big pineapple and pretend you are in a tropical paradise, and not on a lake where you might see a dead raccoon floating by at the end of the day.  (Oh, Kentucky, you never fail to surprise)

It isn't easy living the lake life, and on the trip home John only had the radio to keep him company.  We had a great time, and we hope to keep the tradition alive in the summers to come.

A Week in Montreat

After many years being told that we would love to go, John and the girls joined a group from First Presbyterian Church for a week at the Montreat Camp and Conference Center in North Carolina.  It is officially a Music and Worship Conference that members of our church attend every year.  We rent a big lodge and work in teams to make meals in and around the activities of the conference. Sarah couldn't go, so John drove down with Callie and Reese, along with Vivie Ann and Murphy.  They were all looking forward to the week ahead.

Montreat is located in North Carolina about twenty miles outside of Asheville,  It is a beautiful area, and as soon as John and the girls arrived the Abrahams had to show them all the place had to offer.  The first stop was the creek for some rock hopping.

Reese attended day camp while the three older girls went to classes that included various choir rehearsals, among other things. And when John had to leave mid-week for a work trip, Vivie Ann's mom joined the fun. By the time that John got back the girls had matching sweatshirts and smiles. The week was treating them well, and Miss Jessica was treating them even better.

One Montreat tradition is a sunrise hike to the top of one of the mountains close by. The girls were ready for the experience despite the early wake up call, and it was well worth it. The top brought some fantastic views of the valley around us.

And here we are with all of the First Pres folks who woke up with us to make the climb.  It is a very good group of people, and it was a fun week.  The girls certainly enjoyed it more than they expected, and we may very well back again.

Everglades and Ranger Reese

Phase two of our vacation embraced our National Park tradition.  Everglades National Park in 2018 marks fourth straight summer visiting national parks.  As you can imagine it was hot and humid, but we kicked things off with a boat tour of the 10,000 islands off of Everglades City.  We also saw the damage from Hurricane Irma a year earlier that the area was still recovering from.

A nice thing about visiting the Everglades in the summer is that it is their slow season, which means we got a lot of hands on attention.  At one visitor's center we arrived just as it was time to take down the American flag, so Reese had the honor of helping fold the flag.  It was pretty cool, and the ranger was very good to us.

Home base for most of our Everglades adventure was the Lemon Tree Inn in Naples. We decided not to camp out in the Everglades for many good reasons and this place was a perfect alternative.  We had a pool, were walking distance from downtown Naples, and free breakfast.

We were also within walking distance of the ocean, though to be fair, it was not a short walk, especially in the heat and humidity.  The girls made sure we were aware of all of these factors on a consistent basis.  Because our 10,000 island boat tour did not yield any manatee sightings, we were pretty sure that ship had sailed.  However, while standing on this very pier pictured here, John and Reese had a magical manatee experience.  It made John's day and Reese didn't want to stop talking about it.  They tried to text Sarah and Callie to come back, but the cows of the sea move pretty fast in the water, so they missed it.

After a couple of nights in Naples we made our way to Homestead on the other side of the park, and that journey brought an unexpected highlight.  We had forgotten to return our room key before leaving the Lemon Tree Inn, but a phone call provided us with the information that we could simply mail it back.  Lo and behold we just happened to be right near the smallest operating post office in the country.  To say Sarah was excited by the fact that we actually got to use the services of this establishment is an understatement.  John was just mad that he had forgotten to return the room key.

This cross park excursion opened up a couple of quick side hikes, all with the potential to see gators. Our walks in Big Cypress National Preserve did not yield any gator sightings, but we did see some amazing trees and air plants.  The landscape, the trees, and the plants were so unusual that you can see why they are part of a preserved environment.  It's a very different national park experience than Yosemite or Grand Tetons, that's for sure.

At the Shark Valley Visitor's Center we rented two adult bikes, got the girls' bikes off the car, and headed down the bike path for a 45 minute bike ride.  We would have done the full loop but closing time was around the corner and a big thunderstorm loomed in the distance.  However, we still got to check out some incredible birds and even a few alligators along the way.  It's a bit strange when you become accustomed to riding your bike with your family on a path while alligators relax just a few feet away in the water.

All of this activity meant we had earned a treat, and luckily Sarah found the perfect place and led us to it.  In the middle of nowhere southern Florida is a place called Roberts that is known for good produce, amazing milk shakes, and a unique animal kingdom.  The shakes were good, the animal kingdom was a little strange, and we were soon on our way.

After we spent the night in Homestead we entered the Everglades at the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center.  Once again, it was a slow time and we arrived just as it opened.  We met Ranger Daniel as he opened the center and we even got to help him raise the American flag.  Callie and Reese had been completing their Junior Ranger Activity Book which meant they received their third badge of the trip.  Daniel was fantastic, and we soon learned he was going to be leading the very walk we were planning on doing later that morning.  We just needed to get ready.

Reese was going to be readier than most because she had spotted the perfect gift, Halloween costume, and ranger walk outfit in the gift shop.  And how could we not get it for her, especially once she promised that this would be her Halloween costume for sure.  Ranger Reese was all set for adventure and sight seeing.

Ranger Daniel was pretty smitten with his assistant ranger and we had a great hike with him through the boardwalks of this part of the Everglades.  He was a very cool guy - he grew up in Miami and had a passion for the national parks ever since he was a kid. And he had stayed in the Everglades in part because he was dedicated to educating people from the region about the beauty of the park. In short, we lucked out with being there while he was on duty.

We had to capture the moment by getting a family photo with the beautiful scenery in the background with our newly minted Junior Rangers.  However, the cuteness continued when Ranger Daniel asked to take a picture with Reese and asked us if we were okay with him putting it up on their website.  We are not sure if it ever happened, but either way Ranger Daniel holds a special place in our heart.

This was a road trip vacation, so once all the hikes and good times were over, we had two days worth of driving ahead of us to get back to Lexington.  Those miles on the road had exposed the girls to a new experience - the Race Trak gas station that had a frozen yogurt bar. The great thing for us is that it was free for kids, so the girls went crazy.  We put off the visit until the second to last day and it was worth the wait.  If nothing else it made the long hours in the car much more manageable.  That's one more park off of our list and we can't wait to find out which one is next.

Sanibel 2018

After a hectic and emotional vortex of soccer tryouts, we were able to get on the road and head down to Sanibel Island for an overdue family vacation.  We have been hearing about the beauty of Sanibel for years because of the Chrismans, and now we were going to experience it first hand.  Sharon and Chris generously offered the use of their condo after our initial summer plans dissolved.  Who knew plan B was going to be so great.

Since we knew we were going to Sanibel and the Chrismans have gone their quite a bit, it only made sense to get their list of recommendations for places to eat and places to go.  And Callie and Reese got their own list of must sees from Libby and Lucy Gipe.  At the top of that list was an ice cream shop called Pinnochios.  We made sure that we went there on the very first night and we were not disappointed.  Heaping scoops of tasty ice cream.

Because it had been so long since we had seen the ocean we all wanted to take full advantage of the fact that it was only 100 yards from the condo.  A typical Sanibel day included a couple of hours at the ocean followed by a dip in the condo pool, lunch, and repeat steps one and two.  Not too shabby for a vacation that came together at the last minute.

Most evenings also included a walk on the beach to check out the sunset after dinner.  We especially enjoyed checking out the lighthouse as well as the beaches on Captiva Island, just north of Sanibel.  Although it was not like the flats of Cape Cod bay, the shoreline was a fun place to walk and explore.

One night we ventured to Bubbles, a restaurant on Captiva, for dinner.  This particular establishment didn't make the Chrisman's list but came highly recommended from some other friends.  It certainly was an experience - sensory overload accompanied by large portions of food.  The adult drinks were large and tasty, so Bubbles has that going for it.  And the girls also loved the large slice of cake we took to go so that we had something sweet to eat when we were on the beach for sunset.

Sunset on Captiva was beautiful and gave us the opportunity to reenact one of our favorite pictures of John and Reese.  Reese is a little bit bigger, but the zest for life is still there in full effect.

One thing that we absolutely loved about Sanibel were the bike trails.  We could literally bike everywhere and we did.  Callie and Reese had their own bikes and we rented two for the week.  Every day we set out on those bikes to see where they would take us.  Of course on Sanibel there are some things you need to look out for, as the sign in this picture highlights.  There are gators in the area, and when you have just learned to ride your new bike, like Reese here, it can be a little intimidating.  Good thing she was focused on the trail and not the signs.  And we weren't going to tell her anything other than to keep peddling.

Callie already was an accomplished cyclist, so we didn't need to give her any pointers.  And her skills certainly came in handy when we decided to take a family ride through Ding Darling Nature Preserve.  We did the 8-mile loop, which sounds like a good idea before you remember you are in Florida in June.  Callie and Reese were troopers, though.

The Ding Darling Nature Preserve is a really cool place and provided several opportunities to walk out to vista points and check out birds and other sights.  We definitely got used to seeing a lot of really cool birds during the course of our time in Florida.  The birds were cool, but we were on the hunt for a manatee.

As part of our quest we took to the waters of Tarpon Bay.  This was not our first family kayak venture, but it was the first time we were navigating mangroves and searching for the the elusive "cow of the sea".

It was fun out on the water, but these kinds of experiences will become even more enjoyable as the girls get older and become more willing and able to pull their own weight in the double kayak.  Right now both their parents are wishing they spent more time at the YMCA so they didn't struggle so much paddling for two.

The kayaking trip went from Tarpon Bay into a mangrove trail that weaved through a variety of inlets that are only accessible at high tide.  We truly enjoyed taking our time and searching for nature, but had no luck with the manatees.  They must have been out in the open waters.

Pictured here is the classic Sanibel stance.  As we heard quite often during our week on Sanibel, it is a barrier island and because of its position the beaches are filled with tons of shells.  It is an incredible sight, and you can't help but start your collection of the "unique ones".

One morning we had an opportunity to bike down to one of the local beaches for a nature walk with one of the local naturalists from Ding Darling.  Just when we thought we knew all there was to know about the shells of Sanibel, we learned even more.

The week on Sanibel Island came to an end far too quickly.  It was just the kind of vacation we needed.  But what made it all even better was that vacation wasn't over.  Sanibel was just phase one.

Heading into Summer

As we began to approach summer, we had some exciting events on the calendar.  One of those was John's trip to New York to hang out with friends he's had since elementary school.  He spent four days with Jason, Bill, and Tyler in upstate New York, going on hikes, drinking wine by a fire, and all in all celebrating nearly forty years of friendship.  He is a very lucky guy to have friends like these.

Who knows where these two will be in forty years, but at the moment they are fast friends.  Ella Hughes has become one of Reese's closest friends this past year, and we couldn't be happier about it.  They seem to have a lot of common interests, enjoy being around each other, and perhaps most important, Ella is not afraid to call out Reese when she is being sassy.  That is something that all good friends should do.  (Thanks, Lauren)

We have a lot of pictures of Reese from field day, because she was excited to have her Mom volunteer for the day.  Our older chid was not as outwardly excited, and therefore we have limited sightings of her and her friends enjoying this day.  Reese has a great stride, we will have to see if this leads to anything in the future.

One of the reasons Reese had such a great year in first grade was that she had a wonderful teacher.  Mrs. Sageser seemed to encourage Reese's thinking and confidence even as she nurtured Reese's kindness.  They were a very good fit for each other.  We continue to be very impressed with the Cassidy teachers.  Again, Callie also had a great year with her teacher, Mrs. Richardson.  However, there is no end of the year picture to document that. Her choice, not ours.

The school year ends and we know that the very next week will kick off summer in just the right way.  It is Music and Arts Camp week, and the arrival of Libby and Lucy Gipe.  These weeks always go by fast and are a flurry of activity, full of smiles and fun.  This year things were a little more intense because Callie also had tryouts for LFC, which meant she had to miss some of the evening festivities.

However, she still managed to be in the mix, and that included the full blown production of a play titled, "Maggie and the Loose Tooth."  A play based on true events, this play followed the life of Maggie (played by Lucy) as she dealt with the ups and downs of having a loose tooth.  Her father (played by Callie) and mother (played by Libby) managed their daughters emotional challenges.  Fortunately, Wanda the tooth fairy (played by Reese) saved the day and brought Maggie a prize for the dramatic event.  The play was fun, but intermission stole the show because the girls had prepared a full snack cart that the audience got to select from as part of the price of admission.

Of course the big show of the week came on Friday afternoon as all of the kids performed "Adam's Apple" at the culmination of Music and Arts Camp.  It was another wonderful show, and Callie is now at an age where she is doing some of the shows for the second time.  She only has one more year to be a part of the camp, because after that she will be a volunteer helping with the younger kids.  Crazy how time flies.

It is so much fun to see these four girls strengthen their friendship every time they get together.  They always have a lot of fun right from the get go and can't get enough of each other.  We need to find some more annual events to make sure they see each other more often.