Spring Break - rv/baseball style

So last month (ok, in April) we went on Spring Break. We took the RV and went on an adventure to see 3 major league ballparks. (when we got the RV we decided we wanted to try and bring the kids to see every MLB ballpark before K graduated from high school). Weft on a very rainy Saturday and headed to Cleveland. The game on Sunday was thankfully not rained out. It was a beautiful, albeit windy and kinda cold, day. And the Indians won. Big Man LOVED all the mascots - especially the racing hot dogs. We also took the kids to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Other than some ok local pizza, that was it for Cleveland.

On Monday we drove to Columbus, dropped off the RV with some friends we would be staying with, and headed for Cincinnati for a Reds game. Only 30 hours later, and what a change. The weather was GORGEOUS - sunny and in the high 70s. We had fun at the game, although the Reds played TERRIBLY. We did like the park - and got to enjoy some Cincinnati Chili, as well as the best hot dog I have ever had - called a "Beef and Swiss". If you ever get to the Reds park (which site right on the river), get one of these. You will not regret it!



We spent the next few days in Columbus. What a fun city! We visited the Columbus Zoo (of Jack Hannah fame), which is amazing. They have polar bears and grizzly bears and lots of cool animals. These bears were fighting inches from us! (several inches thick of plexiglass, but still!) It was very cool. We also went to Spaghetti Warehouse, which was B's favorite, and to Graeter's for some AWESOME ice cream (banana cream pie!). We spent a whole day at COSI, and could have been there for several days. K road a high-wire unicycle, and did the awesome Adventure in to the Valley of the Unknown (a cool scavenger hunt mystery). The other two loved the Oceans exhibit, KidSpace, and the Space exhibit. Very impressive museum!

Rest of the trip in a few days!................

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Fulfilling a life long dream, DH and I finally went to the Baseball Hall of Fame. And it was amazing. There are SOOOOO many artifacts! We could have been there for 6-8 hours easy, but the kids took it happily for about 2 1/2. The museum is great in that is includes a scavenger hunt for kids that keeps them engaged!

We particularly like the multi-media movie presentation, the individual team "lockers" (see Nats above), and many of the fantastic displays like the All American Girls League, baseball in movies, and specific milestones in baseball history. Would have loved to spend more time watching all many short interviews and taped stories. Just means we need to go back again! If you are a baseball fan at all, I highly recommend it!!!

Loving the Foliage! (and apparently beer)

2 weeks ago we went on an RV vacation - this time to New York, specifically Cooperstown. The leaves were in FULL color and just GORGEOUS!

Here in the DC area, we had a bit of a drought, so the leaves are not that great. But up North a few hours - spectacular!

We had a great Fall weekend of not just leaf-peeping, but apple loving too! K especially liked cider press, as she is learning about simple machines in school. We went to several apple mills and enjoyed cider slushies, a cider float (cider, vanilla ice cream and ginger ale!) and lots of cider donuts!!



We also went to 2 local breweries, which had root beer for the kids. Naturally, when Big Man had to tell about his weekend at school he said he went to Yogi Bear Town (it was a jellystone campground) and to breweries. Nevermind the Baseball Hall of Fame, Howe Caverns, Herkimer Diamond Mine, etc. He posts on the weekend summary at PreSchool for a week that we took him to breweries. Gotta love it.

We Did It!

Last week we went on our first RV trip as a family and....had a blast!!! We rented a Class-C travel trailer. For those not "in the know", that is the kind of RV you drive that looks like a truck in the front. We decided to go not too far away, so we planned for campgrounds just a few hours away.

We picked up the RV on Saturday and had the day to pack it, as we couldn't get in the campground we wanted until Sunday. Which actually worked out great, in that the kids had a chance to get accustomed to the RV and we could spend some time getting everything in there.

We woke up on Sunday and jumped in the RV. The kids were very excited for the drive, and we made our first stop at Luray Caverns. I hadn't been there since I was a kid, and the rest of the family had never been there. Despite it being the busiest day of the year, we had a great time. They have an audio tour for both adults and kids, which is a nice touch. I would highly recommend visiting it if you are in the area. The tour is about 1 hour and does involve a bit of walking (about 1 1/4 miles), but is really intersting and just cool to look at.


Then we hit the first campground - Jellystone Camping at Luray. This place was amazing - like a resort more than anything. It had 2 pools, a huge water slide, laser tag, miniature golf, paddle boats, and a jumping pillow. It also had many activities - like you were on a cruise ship. And the setting was beautiful!


It was really so much fun. The kids were amazed at every little thing. Jiffy pop on the grill (we can't have it on our ceramic cooktop), breadsticks on - sticks, pizzas on the grill, etc. The kids did tie-dye, candy bar bingo, and we made a bunch of friendship bracelets.

And campground people were really nice. Friendly, helpful, etc. It felt like a community.

On Thursday I'll post more about our adventures at stop #2 - Williamsburg KOA.

And the question everyone is asking - how did DH feel about it, and is he sold on getting one of our very own????

RVs...here we come

This weekend is step #2 of convincing DH we need an RV. Step #1 was to talk about it, and then bring it up at every opportunity (such as pointing out RVs every single time we see one, work it into many conversations (we should get that movie on DVD - yeah! It would be great to watch in our RV), an so on). Step #2, go to an RV Show. This will let DH see all these new fancy high-end RVs that we can never afford, but will get him to like the idea in preparation of buying our own used lower-end RV. hee hee.

My MIL (who grew up in a family with LOTS of RVs) is coming. That should help! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

(fyi - posted while we are still on vacation! back wed!)