Last weekend we took advantage of another Groupon: $35 parasailing with Destin Parasailing. By buying two for “myself” and gifting two more to Dave (per the terms of the Groupon), we were able to swing $35 parasailing for the whole family!
We were scheduled for last Saturday, but due to poor weather, we rescheduled to this past Sunday and the weather was fantastic!
You can read more details about a parasailing experience here from our trip last year, but with the kids we were really happy they enjoyed it. There was another 7-year-old on our boat and she was much more high-strung. She went up before our boys did, and she shrieked and hollered most of the time. We didn’t know if she was happy or sad about the experience. When she came back, she seemed to be giggling, but then said “It was scary!”. So I was nervous that the kids might get nervous themselves.
Jacob got home on Wednesday from a 3 week visit to New York with Dave’s parents. He had a very nice — and busy — visit. He had the chance to go with his Grampy to a classic car show in Stony Brook, he visited the Statue of Liberty in New York City, went to … Read more
As I’ve mentioned in 2008, 2009, and 2011, our family makes a trip to Pennsylvania every year for Dave’s family reunion in Lancaster County. I didn’t go in 2010 — Dave flew to PA with the boys while I did some reserve work — so I didn’t write about it. To be honest, I haven’t written much detail about the reunions themselves. I guess I just say “We’re going” and that’s about it. It’s mainly hanging out drinking some Yuengling, eating Hammond’s Pretzels, catching up with the others from Dave’s Dad’s side of the family. The folks are all wonderful and it’s especially fun to see how grown up the younger family members become year after year. This year, some of the youngest family members when I first went to a Vollmer reunion in 1994 are about to become seniors in college!!!! Wow!
We also pay a visit with several loved ones from Dave’s Mom’s side of the family. Some of them drive in from Philadelphia to Lancaster County to visit with Dave’s parents and our foursome and we’re always flattered and humbled by their efforts. Each year Jacob seems to top himself with how much he can eat: this year it was a foot-long chicken parmesan sub sandwich!
Enjoy some pictures from the first couple days of our adventures. We try to spend a day at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and the Strasburg Railroad, and this year we even adjusted our travel time so we could keep a day ahead of the Strasburg Railroad’s “Day Out With Thomas” event that is always over Father’s Day weekend. It’s usually a nightmare of toddlers and preschoolers, with families coming from as far away as Connecticut and Massachusetts for the chance to ride behind a REAL engine made up to look like Thomas (and not non-operational Thomas that’s actually pushed by another locomotive, which is what we experienced in Nebraska in 2009 — don’t get me wrong, the Fremont, Nebraska experience is the best-ever Thomas ride we’d ever had out of 5 venues and about a dozen rides!)
We took a detour on the drive northward and took in some of Skyline Drive in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park. Check out that stunning view! We only drove the southernmost 40 miles, from mileposts 105 to 65 or so.
This picture was taken minutes before we headed to our truck and started our drive home. After hooking up the lawn mower to our truck in WV, we headed back down I-81 and U.S. 29 towards my sister’s house in central North Carolina. I blew through her place — stopping overnight in each direction — … Read more
Last week was the kids’ Spring Break. The family headed up to West Virginia to visit my parents, thanks to their offer for us to take their riding lawn mower. My Dad bought it 1-2 years ago, but they don’t use it much. I guess they felt sorry for us with our larger-than-necessary lawn…which I … Read more
Jacob received several gift cards for his birthday. Unfortunately, things were so hectic after his birthday, between my two reserve tours and then Dave’s surgery, we sorta forgot about them. With Grammy and Grampy Vollmer visiting, we made a trip to Pensacola today so Jacob could visit Toys R Us and spend his gift card. … Read more
My military spouse blogger friend at Wife of a Sailor has published a thorough list of military promotions for Veteran’s Day. This list had circulated among currently-serving servicemembers’ e-mail accounts this past week. Check out the list here! You’ll see that many businesses actually offer their promotions year round (such as Anheuser-Busch theme parks, Lowe’s, … Read more
This past weekend our family headed to the Spanish Trail Scout Reservation near Defuniak Springs and had a weekend campout. The scout council here calls it “Cub Scout Family Camp” and it’s a great weekend. Three weekends in October were made available expressly for Cub Scout-friendly activities. Any Cub Scout families could register for any … Read more
Photo by Fotomom. While Maryann AKA Fotomom was here visiting last week she took a really sweet picture of Howie in our kitchen. After she got home this week, she took some time to dress up the picture and wrote a lovely blog post about him and how she made the great picture! Photographers have … Read more
Hey — is this lady really juggling for you? In my blog post draft this is animated! Today I’m doing a “reset” of sorts. As great a time as we had at Disneyworld, on our road trip, and hosting our North Carolina friends showing off the sights of the Florida Panhandle, I realized we were “on … Read more
