Day Out with Thomas!

Sunday after church, we all headed off to Strasburg, PA (about 1 1/2 hours west of us) for a little family getaway and to enjoy "A Day Out with Thomas"! Caleb (and Ellie) had such a blast last year ... he still talks about it ... that we decided to go this year as well. Only a few short years until they are on to bigger and older things! sniff.

Anyways, we had a lovely time! We stayed the night at the Red Caboose Motel - all the rooms are old train cars - situated on a farm right across from the Railroad Station. We had a blast exploring our train-room! Inside was a double bed and a bunkbed with a futon underneath. And yes ... a very small bathroom. :-) But it was surprisingly comfy!


We watched the Amish drive by in their buggies ("Why are they called buggies?" "Ummm, 'cuz they are."). We saw the farm animals - they particularly liked the "blond pony" - played on the nice wooden swing set, climbed the "tower" (a silo with 72 stairs winding up for a view of the countryside ... jelly-legs!), and then, my favorite, we joined other guests at dusk and watched "Monsters Inc." on the side of the barn, all wrapped up together in a blanket, with popcorn (just our family in the blanket - not the other guests ... perhaps I should clarify ...). It was a lovely night and I didn't even get a single bug bite! God is good.

Monday we ate breakfast in the Caboose Train car (chocolate chip pancakes - YUM!) and headed over to the Train Station. We had tickets to ride Thomas at 11:15, and the kids were SOOOOOO excited!


Here's a video from on the train ... Caleb was so intent on looking around he couldn't even comment about the train ride. :-)



We played with train tables (of course) and did a few other train "rides" as well ...

... the little train Cagney (they were pretty excited to go through the tunnel)


... the Cranky Cars (the kids sat and propelled the car by bicycling with their hands)


... and the push car (Aaron and I did the work while the kids held on ... what a workout!).


We had a lot of fun, and the kids were tuckered out during the ride home. Caleb picked out a replica of one of the diesel trains for his train table ... and he is treasuring it! He still treasures the Express Coaches that he picked out at last year's Day Out with Thomas. It's neat to see him look at the picture of the REAL train #90, and then squeal about his little wooden train #90.

Ahhhhhh ... the joy of trains. I wish I would've thought of a wierd little talking train years ago ... I'd be rich.

~JG

An Adventure in Life ...

Today we had a play date at the Please Touch Museum in Philly with Caleb's bestest-estest friend Isaac and his mommy (and my friend) Jackie. Was Caleb EVER excited! I told him we would be leaving about when the little clock hand reached the 12 (for those who do not wish to think - that is noon). At 10am, he ran up to me and told me excitedly, "Mommy, the big hand is at the 12 - we can go to the museum now!!!! C'mon, let's go!" and I had to break it to him that the LITTLE hand had to reac the 12, not the big hand. He sighed and said, "OK. I'll be patient." Oh, my little boy!

Well, time did pass, we ate lunch and we left. I was so prepared with changes of clothes, fruit snacks, hand sanitizer (never forgetting the fateful Thanksgiving incident of the puking bug probably picked up from the PTM - yuck), trains (for the train table there - a favorite), directions from the PTM's home page, cell phone (often forgotten at home), camera (fully charged), books for the car ... I was SUPER MOM! So, I haven't actually driven to the PTM, but I've been passenger many a time, so I thought I had it nailed. I even debriefed Aaron before leaving, and knew to stay in the left lanes, as the exit from 676 to 76 was a left exit ... fool proof, right? Oh no ... hence the title "Adventure in Life".

The PTM's directions never mention a direction on 676 ... there was no "676E" or "676W" to 76. Nope. Just "take 676 to 76". Ahhhh, trusting fool that I was. Apparently, there are 2 directions you can take. And there is not much time to decide which way to go. I had no time to process and analyze whether going east or west would get me to my desired location before I had to choose, so I choose ... and of course, choose incorrectly. I made the mistake of muttering "Stupid signs", which got Caleb to asking "Why did you say stupid signs, mommy?" so I tried to nonchalantly explain that I had made a mistake and would have to turn around ... somewhere ... and it wasn't a big deal and it would be a little adventure! As I'm driving, I'm thinking, "This does not look right. I took the wrong way! ARGHHH! How do I turn around? I'm downtown Philly - there is no way to turn around! It's all one-ways and wierd round-a-bout paths to get to main roads ... ARGHHH ... oh no ... I'm on the Ben Franklin Bridge driving across the river into New Jersey! Sigh. There is definitely no u-turn now ..." And as I'm thinking all this, Caleb is saying, "Mommy, where are we? You made a mistake, mommy? How do we turn around? How do we turn around, mommy? Are we still going to the museum? Can we turn around and go to the museum? ... Let's just turn around and go to the museum."

So, we cross the Ben Franklin Bridge and enter Camden, NJ - not a place I'd like to drive around lost in - so I pull over and call Aaron (thank God for cell phones!). I say, "Hi honey. I have a question for you. Say ... someone happened to be in Camden instead of at the Please Touch Museum ... how would that someone happen to turn around, go back over the Ben Franklin Bridge and find her way to the museum?" He laughed, then empathized (like a very thoughtful husband), and then became my knight in shining armor (from afar) as he went online to google maps and directed me street by street back over the bridge (a rather round-a-bout but not impossible path) and to 676 (the correct direction). What a man!!!

And somewhere in there, while trying to escape NJ, Caleb pipes up, "It's OK mommy! If we drive over that bridge again, we won't have to call daddy because we'll know how to turn around!" And I immediately smiled (as I looked for 9th street to turn right on), because that is so true. If we make a mistake (I hope I am not the only one who makes these), we can make a choice to learn from it. And then we move on with life. And hopefully not make the mistake again! I know now that if I accidentally drive over the Ben Franklin Bridge and need to turn around, I can take the Water front exit, take a right on 9th street, take a left after the bridge-thingy (also follow the teeeeeny green signs pointing for the BFB) and then another left leading to the toll ways. I also learned that it is a $4 and 20 minute mistake (although I could whittle down the minutes next time). And I also learned that my kids learn how to deal with mistakes by watching me deal with my mistakes.

So, we DID make it, had a great time and made it back home without ANY wrong turns. YES.

~JG

Caleb's Graduation

Caleb had his preschool "Graduation" last night. Each class sang a song and recited a bible verse, then received their "diploma". It was really very cute - gotta love it when kids sing. However, the paparazzi were a bit much!!! I'm all for parents taking pictures ... I mean, I was one of them ... but when you are standing in the center aisle, smiling at your child singing, forgetting that there are hundreds of parents behind you who just might want to see their child too ... sigh. But people were very patient and (outwardly) calm. That was good.

Ellie did very well sitting with us (and Grandpa Marvin, Grandma Betty and Grandma Darlene) in the pew. Graduation is only for the preschool classes, so she won't qualify until next year. The funniest moment (for me) was during a lull part of the "ceremonies". The classes were switching out or something, so we were all waiting patiently through the switching ... when Ellie YELLS out, "HI CALEB!!!" And Caleb, on stage with his class, smiles, jumps up and down, waves and YELLS back, "HI ELLIE!" That was pretty cute.

We all went out for ICE CREAM afterwards! Hurrah! Caleb was soooooooooo excited for everything - singing, "graduating", getting ice cream, grandparents ... I haven't seen him that excited in a LONG time! He just couldn't contain himself!

Here's a video of Caleb and his class singing a song. Enjoy!



And here are a few pictures ...

Look at us women! We all match! GO TEAM!

"Hi everyone!"

Ellie traced our hands while we waited.

Caleb wanted to give Ellie a BIG hug afterwards! Ahhhh ... they DO love each other!

The most important part of the entire evening ... ice cream!

~JG

Highlights from my trip

I am back from a wonderful time in IA/MN, and life is returning to normal ... whatever "normal" is. HA!

Some highlights of my trip ...

Seeing my cousin Aubrey graduate high school ...



Seeing my wonderful Grandma Jeanie ...


Spending time with my best friend Karina and helping to take care of her two precious new babies, Calvin and Lucia (6 weeks old) ...


I forgot how much those first few months revolve around the feeding/changing/sleeping schedule! It was just a few years ago, yet it seems like a lifetime. I always rolled my eyes when I heard people say, "My, how time does fly." And now I find myself saying the exact same thing ... because it's TRUE! However, taking care of TWO itty-bitty babies is a bit different than taking care of ONE itty-bitty baby! But we got our rhythm down ... changing, getting the bottles ready, feeding, holding, swaddling ... and repeat. I am SO glad I got to be there with her! We had a fantastic time, and I will truly treasure that time together! I thank God that He put us together way back in middle school. Could I have predicted, as a little gangly, clueless 12 year old, that Karina and I would be still giggling away and buying matching shoes some ** years later? (Years have been deleted to protect ... well ... me.)


Here is a digital scrapbook page I made of Karina, Damian, Calvin and Lucia. As you can tell, we had lots of fun and there was lots of laughter! Damian is such a goof, and such a good husband and daddy. And he's really tired right now ... for some strange reason!


When I returned home, Aaron and the kids were waiting up for me ... and I received the most lovely return reception! Caleb and Ellie ran into my arms crying "MOMMY!" And Caleb stayed there for about 5 minutes, just hugging me and sighing "mommy" over and over. Ellie quickly turned to Grandma and Grandpa and had to show them things, but she was very glad to see me as well. YES! It's almost worth it being gone to receive such a welcome home! And Aaron was glad to have his teammate back. He did an amazing job being single daddy for the week ... but there is a reason God meant the family to consist of two parents.

Well, I had fun, but as Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."

~JG