Traveling Together - Cooperstown

On Sunday we drove about 20 minutes to the nearest Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meeting house. As I've said before, it is amazing how much the Church is the same everywhere. The rest of Sunday was spent quietly at the condo. We played mini golf and corn hole, watched National Treasure in their 30-seat theater, and played games in the arcade. Then a quick dip in the pool and my sweetie made us a nice dinner. 

Monday was a different story. We got up early so that we could get on the road. It was two and a half hours to Cooperstown and we were hoping to time it so we could see a ballgame. 

When we finally got there, it was mid-morning and we drove through town just looking around before we parked in the Doubleday lot. The kids were excited about the batting cages right next door, so the first thing we did (after wiping away Curly's tears) was get set up to do some hitting. I have never been in a batting cage before and it was SO much fun! 

The experience cheered up Curly considerably, so we took the opportunity to first, buy him a Cooperstown hat, and second, to make our way straight to the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

We thought we would run in to a lot more families doing just we were were doing in between their games, but it was pretty quiet in town. 

The museum was even more amazing than I had imagined. Nearly every famous baseball player I have ever heard of was represented somewhere in the massive halls. 

When we were finally finished paying homage to the finest game ever played, we headed back out to the streets of Cooperstown. The kids had seen several places they wanted to visit and we were all ready for some lunch. 

One of our favorite places was the Cooperstown Bat Company, but Curly preferred the baseball cards in huge packs. They were much more affordable. When we were finished with our window shopping, we drove out to the Cooperstown Dreams Park to see if we could catch a bit of a game. It would have completed our experience. Sadly, we began to understand why there weren't very many people in town. This was supposed to be the last week of the season, the week our Blue Sox were supposed to play, but there were no teams; no games. Apparently, COVID hurt more than just our team.

All we got to see was the Cooperstown (broken) Dreams Park. 

Traveling Together - South Lee

We arrived in South Lee, MA about 4:30 pm. It was just enough time for us to get some groceries, get unpacked and get settled. The kids were anxious to explore the property, but all we had time for was a quick swim before bed.

We got up bright and early on Saturday. It was my sweetie's birthday and he wanted to go to the Farmer's Market in South Lee. 

It was a nice little drive that ended with more of a boutique than a true Farmer's Market, but we took it in stride and we visited several of the booths, purchasing baked goods, vegetables, and fresh honey. It was mostly fun visiting with the locals.

After we left the market, we decided to walk down main street, just to see what we could see. There were plenty of small shops to explore, but we finally decided on the leather shop.

We bought my sweetie and the girls some very stylish hats. My sweetie was runnin the day (since it was his birthday) and he found a little train museum for us to visit.

We had the opportunity to ride their train about 100 yards and back... then we rode it again... 

The guide knew SO much about trains, but it was hard to hear him through his double mask.

Our little area in the Berkshires is the same place Norman Rockwell did some of his famous paintings, like the soda shop.

We decided that would be a great place to eat lunch. The food was good, but the atmosphere was better.

Back in our condo, we had the kids get caught up on homework before heading back to the activities. Then my sweetie cooked us an amazing dinner, trout, ravioli, and a little squash we bought at the Farmer's Market.

We finished the day with a chocolate bomb cake. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!!

Traveling Together - Connecticut

Friday morning dawned bright and early and we were SO tired!!

We managed to get up in time for the free breakfast (Embassy Suites does a great job!) and then we checked out. My sweetie walked over to the Hertz place and picked up our rental car while we brought down the bags. Within minutes we were on the road.

We could have headed straight down I-90, but I had heard that the road construction was causing long delays, so I mapped us a fun little detour that dropped us down into Connecticut for the day. Since Saturday is my sweetie's birthday, I wanted to take him to a science museum and Hartford had one that is listed as "amazing!" on the internet. We were not disappointed.

The kids always love the hands-on exhibits the most. 

My favorite was this one although Curly kept accusing me of falling asleep...

My sweetie loves anything engineering in nature, so the Motion floor was his favorite. 

He even beat Curly on the motion bikes, but it's possible that Curly let him win. 

After more than 3 hours in the museum, we decided it was time to hit the road. 

We were still an hour and a half outside of our condo site. We grabbed some fried chicken at Chester's and then we were off.

More tomorrow...

Traveling Together - Flight Delayed

We have been looking forward to this trip for months. Curly was supposed to play baseball at Cooperstown this week, but when his team pulled out because a few of the parents refused to get Covid vaccines, we were left with some reservations that couldn't be canceled. So we decided to go anyway.

Curly and Baby Doll had never been on an airplane before and they were excited (and nervous!) to fly. I was in my car, ready to check them both out of school on Thursday for our 5:10 flight when we got an email informing us the flight was delayed by a couple of hours. I decided to pick up the kids anyway.

When we finally got to the airport, the flight was delayed again until 7:30, which was good because my sweetie accidentally left his phone at the house and we had to wait for Drama Queen and Sport to run it out to the airport for us. It was the perfect time to grab a bite at Cafe Rio.

It seemed like we waited forever, but they finally got us all loaded into the plane. Instead of just before midnight, we were due to arrive closer to 2:00 AM.

The flight was uneventful until I got a horrible cramp in the back of my leg. I stood up to try to walk it off, but the only place to go was the restroom. When that didn't work, I asked the flight attendant if she had any answers. We tried a couple of things that didn't work and then she opened a can of Bloody Mary mix and poured the entire thing into a cup.

I chugged it down (it was awful!) and finally the cramp became more tolerable. I guess the potassium in the tomato juice did the trick.

Other than my sweetie leaving his wallet on the plane, everything else was smooth. The shuttle picked us up, dropped us at the hotel and we fell into an exhausted sleep.

More tomorrow...

Wordless Wednesday - New Glasses

He Got the Call!!

Sport has been SO worried about getting his mission call, but then, it came...

And he read it out loud...

So excited for him. He leaves Oct 4...

That is SO fast!

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down...

After the football game on Saturday, we convinced my sweetie that it might be fun to run up to Lagoon for a couple of hours. The kids wanted to ride some of the crazy rides and my sweetie and I were thinking we might just sit and watch. Or maybe just sit... it was a long week...

We got there about 6:00 pm and headed for the bumper cars. It was a ride that all four of us (Curly and Baby Doll) like to ride. The lines were longer than we expected, but we still got in on the second round. My sweetie was feeling a little queasy when we got off the ride, so we sent the kids to ride a coaster and then the sky ride. After that they could join us on the other side of the park. 

By the time we met them, the winds were coming up, so we decided to walk over to Pioneer Village and maybe grab a bite to eat. My sweetie grabbed a picnic table under a little canopy while we ordered some food.

While we were waiting for our roasted corn on the cob, the winds blew the container with all the little salt and pepper packets all over the ground. That's when it began. 

The rains started and we ran over to the picnic table. About 20 feet away, a tree cracked and came down. Then another one. People started running; men were checking to make sure no one was injured. We quickly wolfed down the rest of our food and headed out into the pounding rain. 

By the time we got to the car, we were all drenched. Then it was almost 30 minutes in the parking lot before we could get out on the road and then drive 40 mph most of the way home. 

That was quite an investment for literally 2 rides at Lagoon, but what an adventure!!

First Day of Football

Curly had his first real football game today against Mt. Ridge. It's kind of funny, they are a relatively new school, but gone are the days of rivalry with Alta and Riverton. Mt. Ridge is now the team that dominates. Well, except for Bingham. We lost 31 - 18.

I have to confess that I didn't get any pics at the game. I did take this amazing one afterward as we were getting ready to leave. Curly played Center and he did a great job. He only had one bad snap the entire game, and it was for a punt which they had not practiced yet. 

Beauty and The Beast came along with their two boys. Those little guys sure love football! Right before this pic, Curly finished the team chat and each boy ran to him for a big hug. Wish I would have had my camera out then. 

The other thing that went on this weekend was a birthday party for Curly. I didn't take any pics for that either. We had 20 teenage boys in the church gym playing dodgeball. Scout and I were the referees and the boys were well-behaved (while trying to kill each other with squishy nerf-type balls), but it was just not one of those times when I wanted to drop my whistle and pick up my camera, you know?

It sure was fun to see the football team out of uniform though. With helmets on, I never get to see their faces. They appeared to love dodgeball almost as much as football.

Blast from the Past: Baby Pictures

Dog Walker found some old pics for me that I wanted to share. Just a little reminder that I need to get more of my old ones scanned in.

Baby Baby Doll (that sounds weird!)

Baby Scout

Baby Curly

Aren't they cuties?

First Day of School, part 2

Sort of shamed my sweetie, I guess (sorry!), because he sent me a text this morning.

He did get me a back-to-school pic. Can you believe my cute boy? He has gotten so tall! Less than an inch and he will be taller than me.

Happy 8th grade, Curly!

Wordless Wednesday

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for my two youngest kids (since Scout started yesterday). Baby Doll is in 5th grade. I seriously can't believe how fast she is growing up!

Curly just started 8th grade and I'm not sure how he managed to sneak away this morning without a picture.

Here's one from yesterday at Lagoon.

We are just getting so old.