It’s been awhile since the last blog, so
I’ll start with June 3rd, since this was a fun, albeit, work, day. June
is employee appreciation month, so each week they encourage us to participate in something special. Wednesday was “Nerd Day.” I dressed as nerdy as I could, but
sadly, I was one of only a few folks who dressed up. Ah well… I got lots of compliments
and it was fun.
Thursday night, we took Ashy to the vet
because of his labored breathing. It seems that he can not do anything strenuous
without heaving his sides for air. He doesn’t seem to be in pain, just not able
to breath easily. I was worried he might have heartworms (since I’d missed a
dose) but that was negative. The vet took x-rays which showed nothing unusual. She suspected, from the description of his symptoms and by the way he was breathing
in the office, that he probably has Laryngeal Paralysis. She’d need to lightly
sedate him to be sure, but wanted to try him on an antibiotic first. Surgery
IS an option, but an expensive and risky one so we’ll opt to just keep him comfortable.
He’s fine if he doesn’t move a lot or get stressed. The vet even said
it was okay to take him on vacation, but just to keep him low key.
Friday was Liam and Jaxson's last
day at Miss Loida's Daycare. They'd been there for 2 years. We have no complaints and the boys really felt comfortable
in her care. They are starting a new daycare, Creative Beginnings, becuase it is in our school district, and offers
a more school-like setting which we feel will be beneficial for Jax especially.
Friday night, Russ and Liam went to a football
Town Hall meeting. Our Raiders
League has bought out another local league, so the meeting was all about how they were going to merge the two. It was informative, but there are still questions unanswered. It
looks like Russ will be coaching, but nothing’s confirmed just yet. Fingers crossed.
Saturday was a whirlwind of a day
getting the house clean, and our bags packed for vacation. We have had a chalet
booked in the Shenandoah Mountains
since January. The place is called Hot Tub Heaven. It is just a bit North of Front Royal. We were drawn to the
place because it was in the mountains, had a hot tub, had enough room for us and the boys, was close to some fun things to
do, and was pet friendly WITH a fenced yard so we could take all the dogs.
I love coming home to a clean house, so
I worked hard to get things straightened up. Russ, too, helped with the lawn
mowing, and kept the kids occupied while I folded laundry, dusted, etc. Unfortunately,
Russ had caught a cold, so I left him to the couch so he’d get better and not be sick all through vacation.
Sunday, the day of vacation departure,
finally came. Our check in wasn’t until 3:00pm and our trip was less than 3 hours,
so we didn’t need to leave until noon. This was great, since it gave me time
to finish up a few things, and get us ALL – three dogs included – loaded into the van.
CLICK TO SEE OUR VACATION SLIDE SHOW!
The trip was an easy one, and it
was nice that it didn’t take to long. It was so nice to get into the mountains. Russ and I both are true Ridgerunners, so seeing those mountains around us was like
crawling underneath a cozy blanket. We meandered our way up Blue Mountain along the Freezland Highway (a semi-paved path, really) past the BEAUTIFUL Fox Meadow Winery, and
finally to our destination - HOT TUB HEAVEN #3! Russ helped me unload the van quickly, so he and Liam could head down
into Front Royal to get us groceries in time to make dinner.
While Russ and Liam headed down the mountain,
Jax and I began setting up house. I put up a couple dog crates, put our clothes
in drawers, looked through the album collection and put some Steely Dan on the record player.
I made sure the little fence yard was secure, and then just took a few moments to relax on the couch while Jax played
with Star Wars guys on the coffee table.
Russ and Liam arrived about an hour
and a half later. He still wasn’t feeling all that great, so I let him take a
rest while I unloaded and put groceries away. We decided it’d be easiest just
to make a quick Hamburger/Hot Dog dinner. So, I set to making patties, and boiling
water for corn on the cob. Liam even insisted they get a watermelon, so I sliced
up some of that as well. After a break, Russ got the charcoal grill going, and
we threw on the meat. We had a lovely dinner outside on the deck, and just soaked
in the sights and sounds of the whispering trees, gurgling hot tub, tweeting birds, and laughing kids.
There were two bedrooms in the chalet. We decided to let the boys try sleeping together in the loft. As expected, after the 5th “Quiet Down, Up There!” Liam finally ended up on the floor, and they
both drifted off to sleep after a very exciting day. This allowed Russ and I
to spend some time to ourselves out on the deck and in the Hot Tub. We repeated
this nearly every night of our vacation.
You’d think we’d all sleep in on
Monday, but young boys just don’t know how to do that. The bright morning sun
burst through the chalet windows and forced their eyelids open much earlier than Russ and I would have liked. The dogs needed
to go out too.
It was okay though. I was eager to get breakfast going. I rummaged around for
frying pans and so forth, and was soon scrambling eggs, and making coffee. We
took our time and the boys had a great time just playing around with the Legos and Star Wars figures. When getting groceries the day before, Russ noticed a little store at the bottom of the mountain
that he thought I might like to check out. So after we’d eaten our breakfast
and soaked in the hot tub a little (Liam loved it, Jax wasn’t so sure), we ventured down the mountain to check out our surroundings.
The little store looked a lot bigger than
it really was. However, I was delighted at the selection of Vera Bradley hand
bags. I didn’t NEED another purse, but they had the pattern that I really liked,
and in some cute styles… and it WAS vacation, and it WAS on sale, so I splurged. Russ
kept the boys busy looking over some of the toys while I made my selection.
After my splurge, it wasn’t quite lunch
time, so Russ suggested we venture into Front Royal to look the town over. I
saw a few shops that I thought looked interesting, but we just drove through and headed back up the mountain to eat lunch. On the way, we diverted our route slightly and pulled into Fox Meadow Winery. I tell ya, these folks know how to pick a scenic location, that’s for sure. The view of the mountain chain was breathtaking, and all the rows of grapes below
the winery made a perfect picture. Even though the boys were with us, we figured
we’d go in for a quick tasting. We were the only ones there, but we could tell
that on featured nights, the place probably bustled with wine lovers. So, we
commenced to tasting about 8 different wines and even paired a few with interesting cheeses and even a Rice Krispee treat!
We ended up making a 6 bottle purchase, and leaving very pleased. The boys, however,
had had enough of smelling wine and meandering around the tables. They were hungry
and tired, so we were glad the rest of our trip back to the chalet was a short one.
We made some good sandwiches for lunch,
and then just spend the rest of the afternoon lounging around.
We had originally planned to visit
the local Drive-In Movie Theater that evening, but made the additional decision to go out for dinner instead of cooking in.
The Drive-In didn’t open until 8:00, so we headed into Front Royal again right around 6:00. We stopped at this Old Mill Restaurant and had a really good Home Cooked dinner. It wasn’t a fancy place, but one with lots of character, and excellent food. We left the Old Mill around 7:00 which might have been a little early, but we weren’t exactly sure where
the Drive-In was. I also had to swing by an ATM to get a little cash. It was a good thing we DID leave around that time because the Google Map we had was way off. Finally, after stopping at a gas station, and asking a local bus driver for directions, we’d discovered
that we just didn’t go up the road far enough. We still had time to spare when
we found the Drive-In, but there were cars ahead of us at the gate, so it was good to just wait a little.
The Drive-In was awesome! The boys had a great time watching Star Trek from the back of our van.
They had the little speakers you could hook on your car, but you could also tune in to a radio station, so we did both. We had lots of popcorn and treats, and it was just so fun watching the Starship Enterprise
float along the night sky. Jax didn’t make it all the way through, but Liam happily
enjoyed every minute. It was a late night, and we didn’t get back until 11:30
or so, but it was all worth it.
I was glad when I looked at the clock Tuesday
morning and saw that it was past 8:00. We all slept in and felt pretty good. Russ’s cold had pretty much diminished, so that was a blessing as well. We decided that since the weather looked pretty good, we’d head down to Luray Caverns that day. We did a pit stop at Skyline Caverns just outside of Front Royal. Russ
wanted the kids to ride on the miniature train, the Skyline Arrow but it was broke down that day. They gave us a number we
could call to check the next day. Russ and I had been to Luray Caverns years
ago, but it was new to the boys. Since we’d been there, they put in a new Hedge
Maze (like the one in The Shining) so that looked like fun too.
We got to the caves around 10:30
or so which seemed to be a good time as there weren’t many people there yet. The
only snag was when I went to use my debit card to pay for our tickets and realized it wasn’t in my wallet! So I had to use my credit card, but that didn’t bother me as much as my racing mind trying desperately
to remember where I’d left it. I concluded that I must have left it in the ATM
the night before. Luckily, ATMs usually suck them back in after a few seconds
if they aren’t retrieved, so I figured it was safe.
They added a neat feature to the cave tours
now. You got a couple of MP3 type players with headphones. When you reached a certain point along the path, you punch in a number and hear a recording about that
object. What’s more, there were two options – a regular, adult version, and a
kids version! We had to share with the kids, but Liam really enjoyed hearing
about the formations and relaying information to the rest of us. We loved hearing
the kids’ reactions to the formations. Liam said the curtains looked like bacon,
and Jax said that one of the stalagmites looked like Jabba the Hut from Star Wars. We
all had a really nice time before returning to the surface of the Earth for lunch.
We ate at the little café there,
although by that time, a bunch of middle school kids had arrived, so it made for long lines facilitated by a short staff. Still, the food was surprisingly good! After
lunch, we went into the Antique Car museum. This is always fun, and the boys had a good time choosing the ones they liked
the best. Russ and I had a good time focusing in on the variety of fancy hood
ornaments. Funny how they seldom use
those anymore, but at how they were once a major status symbol.
After the car museum, I was particularly
excited to go check out the maze. Russ was the first to admit that it was a lot more fun than he’d imagined. We got no map, but were give the goal of finding four locations. At each location, we could stamp our “passport” and redeam the passport for a discount on a T-shirt. The afternoon was hot and muggy, but the little misters they had installed throughout
felt wonderful. There were other folks in the maze as well, and it was fun to
laugh our way through with strangers. You just couldn’t help but have fun. It truly was one of the highlights of the trip.
Needless to say, we DID manage to stamp our passports and we got a couple of T-shirts.
So, after the maze, the afternoon
was waning, and we saw the skies darkening. It seemed to be a good time to head
out. Russ wanted to head down into New Market to the battlefield museum before it closed. I know he would have liked to stay longer, but museums are
difficult things to enjoy with kids. Liam and Jax did enjoy looking at the cannons
and the big diorama, but to stand still and look at paintings and maps was just a tad much for their attention spans. After a few minutes in the Gift shop, couple of books, some soldiers and a couple
of Kepies later, we went to an actual portion of the battlefield. Here’s where
we had a lot of fun. Liam had gotten a cap rifle at the Cavern’s Gift shop, and
Jax quickly found his weapon laying on the ground outside the van (stick). With
Kepies on, the Blue and the Gray charged up the hill towards the cannons. Russ
filmed them in a little movie, and it was hilarious! Boys at their best! We checked out the scenic overlook on the North fork of the Shenandoah River. The boys played soldiers
on the stonewall and took hits as the ghosts soldiers charged them. The darkening skies, and sparse raindrops told us we’d
better high-tail it back to the van.
We pulled out of the battlefield just as
we had to turn on the windshield wipers. The rainclouds burst, and soon we found
ourselves in quite a hailstorm! We planned to take Skyline Drive back to the chalet, but because of the storm we decided to take the shorter
route… or so we thought. We had to pull over a couple of times because we couldn’t
see, and in our weathered confusion missed the sign for the interstate. Thus,
we HAD to take Skyline Drive home. As we neared the entrance though, the storm started to let up a bit.
No sense turning around now, so we paid the fee, and took the scenic route. It
was a good thing we did. The mountains had a peaceful eeriness to them. Wisps of clouds still hung in the valleys and we looked down on them from the higher
altitudes. The hills rolled into and around each other, and each scenic overlook
was breathtaking even in the dreary light. We did see a turkey and a few deer,
but most of the animals had stayed under cover. It was a nice drive back despite
the weather.
Once back at the chalet, we thought
about grilling some steaks, but were so tired and wet, we settled on soup and sandwiches.
It had been a long eventful day, and with warm soup in their bellies, the boys didn’t have as much trouble falling
asleep.
After our usual evening Hot Tub routine,
Russ and I settled in to watch some old episodes of Wild Kingdom that we’d gotten through Netflix. It
was pretty neat to watch them chase the polar bears with the helicopter… (tongue in cheek).
Because we had such a busy day before,
Wednesday we really decided to just take it easy, and then go into town late in the morning.
We wanted to check out some of the shops, and we also wanted to see if the little Miniature Train was running at Skyline
Caverns. We thought we’d save the actual caverns for another visit, but were curious about the train, and knew the boys would
enjoy it. Additionally, I was eager to retrieve my debit card from the bank. I’d called them, and sure enough, they had it as I had expected. So once I got my debit card back, we went to Wal-Mart and then kids got a Star Wars character a piece and
I shopped for a couple of new swim suits at Russ’s encouragement.
We drove back into Front Royal at
lunch and found a small diner-like place called Wynn's Restaurant to grab some lunch. We all wanted something simple, so we slid into
the booth and took a gander at the abundant menu. I think Russ and the boys got
Grilled Ham and Cheese. I got a Reuben that was delicious. Then, my curiosity rewarded me when I asked for their Fudge cake.
Oh it was SO good, and I loved sharing it with the boys. Delicious chocolate
cake with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge on top – complete with a dollop of home made whipped cream, of course.
After lunch, we walked up and down
the streets, but many of the stores that I thought would be interesting… were not. The
ones that still perked my interest, were strangely closed. We ended up at a neat
little pottery shop called Hands to Create. I’d read about it online, and I’ve seen similar stores featured on TV shows. You enter the shop, pick out a piece of plain ceramic pottery, paint it, leave it
to be fired, then pick it up to enjoy. I thought this would be great fun. There were a couple other families in there, but for the most part it was reasonably
quiet. So we each picked out something to paint.
Liam picked an Indy Car, Jax a Guitar pencil holder, Russ a tankard mug, and me a coffee mug. We chose our colors and began painting. Surprisingly, this really wasn’t as messy as it sounds. We all found it to be quite relaxing. Russ and I took turns
helping the boys while still painting our own selections. We ended up spending
a couple hours in there. The only bummer was that we really should have gone
the day before as it takes three days to fire, and they wouldn’t be done until we left.
Fortunately, the lady offered to ship them to us. It’ll be a nice surprise
when we get home.
When we left the pottery place, we knew
we’d have to hurry if we were going to catch the little train at Skyline Caverns. Luckily, we arrived in time, and got our tickets. There was one other large family there, with boys near the same age as ours. The happy grandmother told us all how she took her kids (the other boys’ mothers) there when they were
little. In all honesty, the train wasn’t all that spectacular. However, through the eyes of a child it must have been pretty neat.
Russ, too, really had fun with it as we made three loops around and through the spooky tunnel. Who knows, maybe it’ll be there when we have grandkids someday!
After the train, we stopped by the
grocery because they were having Alaskan crab on sale for $3.99 a pound! We planned
a special surf and turf dinner once we headed back on top of Blue
Mountain. Again, our evening
was leisurely and pleasant.
Thursday we made no plans. We thought we might check out another winery, but didn’t commit to anything. It was our last day at the chalet, and we’d promised to have a Squirt gun fight with the boys. I also wanted to treat the dogs to a nice walk, and I know Russ wanted to start downloading some pictures. This loose plan made for a nice day. We
had a nice breakfast together, lots of time in the hot tub – where Jax finally decided it was kinda fun – a bit of playing
the Star Wars Lego game on the Wii, and the anticipated Squirt Gun fight! After
the squirt gun fight, Russ fell asleep while Liam played his Wii game. Jax and
I took the older dogs for a short walk, then returned to exchange them with Cleo for a longer walk. Nothing hurried, nothing planned, and lots of relaxing. We never did get to the other winery, but no one seemed to mind.
We were wrapping up our last dinner. Russ had grilled some chicken, and I’d fried up some green beans and made some macaroni
and cheese. We were all talking about our favorite parts of the vacation around
the dinner table and thinking about all the people we’d recommend the place to.
We got up and started clearing off
the kitchen table. Liam was kneeling at the coffee table playing with his Legos
while I was heading out the back door to the deck. All of the sudden the coffee
table just SHATTERED!! I couldn’t see that Liam did anything to have broken it,
but it must have somehow slipped off the rubber pegs holding it in, and just crashed to the floor in many many pieces. Thankfully, Liam didn’t get hurt, but he was terrified that he’d done something wrong. He begged me not to call the chalet owners, but I had to. Secretly, I hoped they wouldn’t expect us to cover the cost, but knew they very well might.
I made the call and explained the catastrophe. The owner was a bit bewildered, and was most worried about getting another table in
there before the next guests arrived the next afternoon. She told me she’d figure
things out and call me back. She was sorry to have to ask us to clean it up,
but there was no way I was going to leave it as it was. As I began sweeping it
all up and mentally calculating how much a replacement table would cost, the phone rang.
The owner first apologized for not asking how Liam was, and was understandably relieved when I told her he was shaken,
but not hurt. Then she told me that she didn’t expect us to cover the cost, and
that the table had been there a long long time. Despite the fact that she’d just
had back surgery, she was going out to purchase a new table that night. We offered
to put it together for her, but she told us her cleaning crew could handle it and that she really just wanted us to enjoy
our last night at the chalet. I was very thankful for her understanding. Believe me, with two boys and three dogs, we certainly were a risk, but I was looking
RIGHT at Liam when that table broke, and I didn’t see him do anything harsh to it.
With all the glass cleaned up, and
the dishes washed, we settled in to watch an old episode of Survivor. We’ve been
doing that with Liam as a special treat since Russ got me the season with Rupert in it for Christmas. Liam enjoys the show just as much as we do. It was pretty
late after the show was done. I got the kids up to bed, but Liam was pretty restless,
so I had him come down and sleep in our bed. Russ and I enjoyed our last night
in the hot tub. I think he and I both shed a little tear when we put the cover
back on for the last time.
We had an early check-out on Friday morning
at 10:00. I’d done most of our laundry and had already started re-packing the
day before, so it was just a matter of getting things ready to load in the van. We
didn’t bother with breakfast, figuring we’d just swing by a drive thru on the way out of town.
Loading the van was a challenge this time though because we had some leftover groceries to pack, as well as a few souvenirs. I just kept telling myself that our trip home would be short, so if the dogs were
a little uncomfortable it wouldn’t be for that long. It was a tight squeeze,
but we secured the door at 10:00 sharp. We headed back down the mountain for
the last time (although I’m betting we’ll be back) and into Front Royal. We grabbed
a quick breakfast at Burger King and headed for home.
I was actually ready to get home. It had been a WONDERFUL vacation. Russ
and I both agreed that it was everything we wanted in a family vacation (minus the shattering coffee table). We got to bond with the boys, do some unique and fun things, relax, eat some awesome meals, soak in a luxurious
hot tub, and rekindle the special relationship we have with each other.
It wasn’t a bad trip home. We did run into some traffic in a couple of spots, but still pulled into our driveway right around 1:30. It was funny… it’d been sunny all morning, but JUST as we got home, the rain started. We got the suitcases off the top of the van, and the van pulled into the garage right
before it really started to pour. Unpacking wasn’t too bad. Didn’t have to do much laundry and my house was already clean. It
was kind of weird… I wasn’t sure what to do with myself!
The boys spent most of the afternoon
trashing their toy room in the basement. They LOVE to play down there when it’s
clean, but as soon as the floor gets littered with toys, it becomes invisible.
Liam wanted to got to CiCi’s Pizza
for dinner, so we did. Of course, a simple dinner out after a great week was not complete without Jaxson running into a table
and splitting his eyebrow open. Not enough for stitches, but enough to cause
a scene. Tough kid though, he didn’t let it stand in the way of his pizza.
After dinner, I needed to get some
dog food for the pups, so we went up to Petco. Then, for some whackado reason
we felt compelled to go to Target… on, I was supposed to get shoeboxes for the boys to have a daycare. Shoeboxes led to a myriad of other things we really didn’t need, but Target has a way of doing that to
us. Ironic how in all that frivolity I forgot to get milk – something we DID
need.
Saturday morning was pretty laid back. The boys and I watched a little TV together.
Russ slept in a bit. Around noon, we got ourselves ready to go to the
JF Taylor Company Picnic. I’d heard this was a pretty big deal: moon bounces, skipjack tours, pool, pig roast, crabs, pony rides…. All out fun. We had to admit, it was fun, especially for the kids. It was
very nice of the owner of the company to share his home for such an event. I
just wish we’d coordinated a little with my co-workers so we could have socialized a bit more.
When we arrived, it seemed like everyone was going their separate ways because there was just SO much to do! I think next year will be even MORE fun!
Saturday night we had a light dinner. Russ got some crabs, and we just kept things pretty low key.
Sunday was another nice day to just
sleep in and lounge around. Russ and I couldn’t figure out why we were so tired,
but we were. I mean, we tried to take a relaxing vacation, but I guess there’s
nothing quite like relaxing at home. Later in the afternoon, my friend, Greg,
stopped by with his family and their new boxer puppy. I have to admit that the
tiny little brindle pup was pretty darn cute. Cleo was interested, but I think
she just needed a slightly larger playmate! They’ll have to come back in a couple
months.
I know we’d just had pizza on Friday
night, and I DID have pork chops thawed out, but I just seemed to have no ambition to cook.
Thus… Papa John’s it was. I swear, Papa John’s has got to be my all time
favorite pizza. I’m in love with the thin crust and spice pack. Terrible… but in a good way.
Back to work on Monday. We’ve had a super nice vacation. I know Russ and I are both
ready. Diving right in with new stress though.
Liam and Jax start at Creative Beginnings this week. Gotta have all their supplies ready.
I’ll go in a tad late on Monday, so I can accompany Russ and the boys on their first day. Liam’s excited. Jax seems happy, but I don’t think he really
gets the change yet. Both boys have always been away from us during the workdays,
so it’s not a HUGE change, but CB is a daycare CENTER, not a home day care, so there will be a lot of new things to become a part of. It’s a nice milestone for the kids, and will certainly get them both ready for “real”
school.
