And He's Off...

...to middle school! A little nervous and a bit excited, Jacob mounted his bike this morning and was off to Oak Run Middle School. He left the house promptly at 8:00 for the mile long ride through our neighborhood and over the new bridge to the school. I'm sure he was there by the time I started writing this blog.

I don't know how this happened. I'm sure it wasn't that long ago that I was putting him on the bus that took him to Red Hill Elementary for his second day of kindergarten. Where did the time go???

Feasting at 41

Yep, I'm 41... I know, I'm shocked too!! This year I suggested to Jim that we have my birthday dinner at The Melting Pot (thank you Stephanie for the tip!). I figured he'd have to work all day and it would be a yummy night out. Little did I know that my whole day would be around food.
I know, scary picture!


Jim unexpectedly came home from work early and gifted me with a "bouquet" of fruit from Edible Arrangements...it was yummy! After a game of mini-golf on a hellishly hot day in the sun, we went for a late lunch at P.F. Changs. Being that it was late in the day we shared appetizers...chicken lettuce wraps, crispy green beans and steamed pork dumplings...yummo! After a little shopping and driving around (which I found out later was to kill time since we were close to our finally destination), we arrived at The Melting Pot.


For starters...

The nearly 2 1/2 hour feast began with a our choice of the traditional Swiss cheese fondue served with an assortment of breads, veggies and crispy apples. Our second course was a choice of salad...I went with my favorite, Caprese salad and Jim and Jacob both had Caesar.


Tasty second course...


For the main entree we chose the Fondue Fusion, which was an incredible selection of seasoned meats including lobster tail, shrimp, filet mignon, chicken, and pork and included mushrooms and fresh veggies. All of which we cooked in the Mojo Style (a Caribbean- seasoned bouillon with garlic and citrus. It was such a delicious combination!


Cooking away...


Our fourth and most sinful course was the chocolate fondue. We went with the Yin & Yang...a half dark chocolate and half white chocolate served with strawberries, bananas, cheese cake, marshmallows (that was interesting), brownies, pound cake and rice krispies treats!!!!


Perfect finish...


We all over indulged, but it was such a wonderful feast that restraint was impossible!

Weekend Getaway...

Feeling the end of summer closing in on us, we decided to get out of town for a couple of days last weekend (8/7-8/9) and take a mini-vacation to Houston. We drove down Friday night and stopped at one of our favorite places for wings (Wild Wing Cafe, which we had in SC, but not in our part of TX). Jacob has a "rule" that when we are on vacation, we can't eat in places that we have locally.

Saturday morning after a breakfast of Kolaches and Jamba Juice, we headed to Space Center Houston. This truly was a day for "the boys". I mean really, could there be a nerdier place than NASA?

I'm not sure who knew more about the things we were looking at, but I think Jim may have had a slight edge.

Of course, what could be better than the whole family touching a piece of the moon?

After leaving the Space Center, we headed to Kemah Boardwalk on Galveston Bay. It was a busy and steamy Saturday night at the boardwalk, but we had a great time riding the rides and had an awesome dinner at Landry's Seafood.

Before dinner, we talked Jacob into getting on the Boardwalk Bullet and he over came his fear and then rode a second time!! It was fun and fast for a wooden coaster! By the end of the day we were all exhausted.

yes, the boys are somewhere on there!

We all slept in on Sunday and woke up to rain; however, it played right into our plans of visiting the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

What a great place!! We even purchased a family membership, so we can visit again and again. While there we had the pleasure of seeing a special exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors from China. It was amazing. Learning the history of why they were built, how they were found and seeing the detail of the pieces...it was just incredible!

We couldn't take pictures of the real exhibit, so this is a replica.

We fit in so much fun, in such a short period of time that it felt like we were gone much longer. Texas is proving to be a great state for weekend getaways!

Tenderfoot No More

We missed the family reunion this year to allow Jacob the opportunity to attend his first Boy Scout summer camp at Bear Creek. Tuesday night, Jacob was awarded his Second Class rank in scouting. This is the second step on the path to becoming an Eagle Scout, which right now is his goal. He worked hard in the 100 plus degree Texas heat and he made good use of his time by also earning his first three Boy Scout merit badges...Swimming, Fishing and Leatherworks. From what we understand, camp also gave him a jump start on his next rank, First Class. We are so proud of him! He came back from camp this year exhausted and dirty, but also with his head held a little higher and a clear difference in maturity. Oh yes, and he had campfire stories to tell!

Meet Spike

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Spike is a resident of our backyard. We discovered he is a Texas Spiny Lizard. We don't know if he has any friends and we don't know if he is a he, but we usually see him perched on the tree. One day Jacob and the lawn mower had him scurrying across the yard. Spike is quite photogenic and he seems to enjoy the buffet.

Hershey...PA Trip Part Two

Each year when we visit PA we go to either Knoebels Amusement Park or Hershey Park. This year, much to Jacob's dismay, it was Hershey Park! Jim was very excited, since it's his favorite amusement park, but Jacob was leery. Two years ago when we were there, Jacob had some not so great experiences on his first roller coasters. This time around we told him he didn't HAVE to go on anything if he really didn't want to (yeah, right.)

We are very fortunate that our niece Stacey works for Milton Hershey Schools and has access to free passes. These passes include parking, admission and discounts on food while in the park!!! The amount of money saved is unbelievable. Normally, we stay with Stacey, Tim and Sydney when we are there, since they only live about 2 miles from the park and they are great hosts. However, this year Sydney came home with a fever the day we arrived and Tim wasn't feeling well either. We decided rather than risk the flu, it would be prudent to stay in a hotel that was a short mile from the park. We were all bummed about Sydney being sick which, by the way, we blame on her Grandfather, my brother Pat.

When you first enter the park, you measure yourself to see what rides you are tall enough to ride. This year, Jacob was a Twizzlers!!...just like his vertically challenged cousin, Stacey.
We don't have very many pictures of the rest of our day...we were busy having fun!!! Our nephew Adam joined us and Jim had a great time riding the bigger/scarier roller coasters with him (Fahrenheit and Storm Runner), while Jacob and I did ones more his speed. Even though the weather was great, there wasn't a crowd (my guess is because of the economy and the high cost of admission.) However, it made the day all the more fun because the lines were short! Jacob easily rode the Trailer Blazer a dozen times and sometimes didn't have to leave his seat in between. I did get to ride on the Great Bear with Adam and Jim, while Jacob patiently waited. It was awesome! We also managed to coax Jacob into riding the Coal Cracker. He was so nervous, but also so funny. He started yelling even before we went down the drop and the three of us laughed so hard! When we stopped to see the picture, he wasn't even visible since he ducked down behind me. Of course, we then told him we had to ride one more time to get a good picture. He didn't want to, but we all got back in line and we got a good pic.The three of us are yelling for fun...Jacob's yelling out of terror!! In the end, he was fine and said it wasn't that bad.

Now, the thing about riding the Coal Cracker is that you can see the Sooper Dooper Looper. You see, Jacob loves roller coasters...that is in theory. He plays Roller Coaster Tycoon and loves looking up different coasters online to study how they were made and how fast they go. Jacob's fear of coasters is that first drop and the drop-in-the-stomach feeling...he doesn't like it (yet.) So, we had him compare the slope of one drop to the other and the Sooper Dooper Looper wasn't as steep (even though it goes right into a loop.) Yep, we headed that way next. Jacob had talked about going on it in the month leading up to our trip, but when we got to the park he sang a different tune. At first, Jim and Adam went on while Jacob and I watched. Then Adam and I went. When we got off the ride I told him how fun it was and told him he would like it. He still said no...that is until I bribed him. Yes, I offered him not only $5, but also a Sooper Dooper Looper T-shirt!! He agreed. Thankfully, the queue line was empty and we were able to proceed directly to the boarding platform and a train was ready for us. He did resist a little and he chose to sit next to Mom (Jim and Adam sat right in front of us.) As the tears rolled out from behind his sunglasses, I gave him words of encouragement and told him to yell all he wanted. He did! He also closed his eyes. After going through the loop and out the other side he said "Is it over?" I said yes and he turned his tear streaked little face to me and said with shock "That was it?!?" We just laughed!! As soon as we got off the ride, I paid my debt. He got an "I survived the Sooper Dooper Looper" t-shirt and his money. As Jim and Adam made their way to ride the Comet (there was no way we'd talk Jacob into that one this year.), I did manage to talk him into riding the "loop" again. He was scared, but he kept his eyes open and yelled more with excitement! I was so proud of him.

After a couple more rides and the cousins decided to try out the Boardwalk. It's Hershey's water park section. The water was a little chilly for Jim and I, so we sat out, took some pictures and rode a roller coaster while the "kids" splashed. They both had a blast!!

After the Boardwalk section closed for the night, we headed back to the roller coasters. A few turns on Trail Blazer and then guess who wanted to try out the Sooper Dooper Looper at night?! Again, he was nervous for that first ride, but afterwards he ran out the exit and right back in line...thankfully Adam ran after him! He rode six more times before we had to leave the park!! It was a great day!

Don't blink...Jacob and I are the third ones back.

Pilgrimage to PA Highlights

We recently returned from our yearly trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania... a.k.a. the land of hoagies, Middlesworth BBQ chips and Eder's Teaberry ice cream. Our trip started off in Lancaster at lunch with our nephew Adam and his future wife Deanna during a downpour that we haven't seen the likes of in a very long time. I don't have pictures, because the camera was in the car and getting it was not an option, the rain was coming down by the bucket fulls. After finishing lunch, the skies cleared and Adam joined us in Lititz to tour the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery.
Jacob got a lesson in how to twist pretzels. Unfortunately, the bakery is no longer allowed to bake the pretzels for consumption like they had in the past (big government stepped in and put a stop to a long standing tradition.)However, he still earned his Official Pretzel Twister certificate! When we left Texas, the weather was unseasonably hot with temperatures over 100 degrees for a couple of weeks; however, in Pennsylvania it was unseasonably chilly and rainy with temperatures in the low 70's. A bit of a climate change! Not to be deterred, on our second day Jacob was in the pool first thing. The water was way too cold for normal people, so Uncle Danny joined him.

Day three started off with a bang! Uncle Danny and Jacob went to the cabin to shoot the .22 rifle. I'm not sure why, but this is something Jacob wanted to do when we got to PA and he wanted to see the Crooked Shot (family hunting cabin.)

Uncle Danny soon found out that Jacob was quite a shot.
Later that afternoon, we visited with Nana, Jacob's 91 year young great-grandmother. Jacob adores Nana! Jacob spent that night with Gram and got spoiled, while Jim and I went out for wings with Danny, Shelly, our niece Danielle and her friends Kevin, Megan and Wendy. We were also joined by Jim's brother Eric and our niece Caitlyn. It was our 15th PA wedding anniversary and what started out as a night of chowing on 9 dozen wings and having a few beers, turned into a night of laughter and way too much drinking in downtown Williamsport. Thankfully Eric is not a drinker and he volunteered to be our DD. I'm not sure who had more fun, the drinkers or the driver. We were all laughing so much that Shelly and I both had sore faces!

The morning of day four was a little slow for all of us. As for Jim, well, let's just say he didn't bounce back quite as quickly as the rest of us. By the time I went to get Jacob at Gram's, we were all back to normal and thought a dip in the pool was in order. The weather had other plans for us; however, Jacob didn't let the cloudy skies get in the way of his having fun in the pool. Yes, the rain was pouring down, but as Jacob said, he was already wet!
Once again the skies cleared and several family members gathered at Harold and Angie's river lot. It had been years since we'd been there and a good time was had. The kids especially loved the sparklers and ground fireworks. Unfortunately, in PA we couldn't get the cool fireworks like we had in South Carolina (no mortars, bottle rockets etc.)

Day five we had a 4th of July cookout with Danny and Shelly. We all got way too much sun, but we had a great time! Our nephew DJ and his family stopped by and the boys had a blast in the pool!

After a full day in the sun and water, we had one tired boy...After we all took naps, we ventured to downtown Williamsport to watch the fireworks. What an interesting crowd of people we came across. We ran into DJ and his family and Jacob loved being with his cousins Maddox and Jaxon.

On Sunday, Jacob went with Gram and Pappy Max to the Country Club for a birthday party for even more cousins. Once again he was swimming...I don't know where he got the energy! Later that afternoon we got together at Christopher's (Jim's youngest brother) for a cookout. Our niece Gianna seemed to be quite taken with Jacob. She is so adorable!!

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Last but not least, it was time to leave Williamsport, but not before stopping for the best ice cream in town...
Jim and I both had the Teaberry and Jacob got Peanut Butter...yummy! Those are "baby" cones!!

It was a good trip, even if the weather wasn't always on our side. Jacob loved spending extra time with his Uncle Danny. Jim and I have come to the realization that it's hard to fit everything and everyone in when both sides of the family live in the same town. Ah, but we did our best! Now off to Hershey...