Mile hikes with the Boys

Hiked with Brennan & Belle on Saturday, then Brian & Brennan on Sunday.

 

(3.58) Family Hike

This was a fun impromptu afternoon. Brian was in a mood until he got something to eat and a lot to drink. Brenda was a good sport the whole way. Annie and I had good workouts. One really amazing thing happened, Brennan spotted a porcupine halfway up a tree. I didn't even know they climbed trees! The lean-to was occupied when we got there so we couldn't hang out that much, but it was just a day hike anyway. A good experience for all. Allison was at dance camp so we'll have to go a different time with her.

Elmira Enforcers, Friday night 12/27

It was a loss unfortunately, but a solid game. Everyone had fun and it was nice to have Mary there.

Nutcracker In Motion

It was a totally awesome experience. My family was Allison, Landon, Brennan, Lexi, Caelyn, McKenna, & Rosalee. Can't wait to do it again!

West Point

I made all the purchases & arrangements for this. Even did the grocery shopping. For my very first event, it went okay.





Drove to Camp Bullowa on Friday night. Advance party was supposed to be Matt, Paul, & Sara, but Matt had house trouble and Sara had a surprise Dr appointment so I had to get the boys out of school quickly and get on the road. Because of that, we didn't arrive before dark which made setup difficult. We never even deduced if we were in the correct camp site or not.

 The game was a blow-out and we were late arriving which meant late for tours, etc... It worked out okay, but could have been better. I fell short on the arrangements - no water supply and I didn't gather info on how to sign up for tours, where the scoutmaster activities were, etc... I could have done better.

After the 3rd quarter the scouts decided to visit the West Point Museum which was cool. But it was closing soon after we arrived - started late because some scouts were in the bathroom / food lines. After the museum we had to walk briskly back around the stadium and luckily caught a bus to take us back to our parking site. Then we were in the dark, AGAIN, trying to make dinner - frozen hamburger foil packets.

Boys were exhausted on night #2. That's why Brian is wearing his winter jacket in the second tent picture.

Cycling Merit Badge

5 Mile bike ride to start the Cycling Merit Badge. Brennan was a little unsteady at first with the big bike, but he got comfortable and made the trip. Brian did fine - I didn't see him most of the time. That night Brennan had terrible pains in his leg while Annie & I were out - Allison did a solid job taking care of him with an Epsom salt bath. It was difficult to see.

Camp Brule Camporee

One night affair. Drove down Saturday morning, set up camp, made chili, the scouts set up their catapults / trebuchets, and then there were a bunch of night-time activities, including a ropes course. Both boys did great. Brian was able to do the ropes course, but Brennan was too young & too cold. Boys slept in the half-dome tent while I stayed solo in the Lunar Solo. It got down to 25 degrees at night! It was a good time, but exhausting.

Scout Camp Week

Brennan's first ever week of camp. Brian's 3rd week (year). Great week and can't wait to return. Warm, but not too hot. Bugs weren't bad until Wednesday night. Chicken BBQ dinner on Friday was not so good I thought, but Annie was pleased. Need to bring our own plates & flatware next time because the paper plates are weak.

Brennan took FYRE, Birdwatching, Fishing, and Leatherworking. Brian went with Shotgun, Astronomy, Emergency Prep, Pioneering, and Game Design. They also both did the Frontiersman badge which required some extra effort, including a 1-hour service project where they had to use shovels to clear some ditches on the sides of a trail.

**** The troop earned the spirit stick ****

They consistently did great on their inspections, site improvements, and Happy Hour.

5 miles on the FLT w/ the Boys

Brennan griped about having to go and then he had a rash on his waist and his feet were hurting. Still made it through without a big problem, though. It was all uphill at first and I considered cancelling - but the weather was perfect and the bugs were nearly non-existent. Good start to the Hiking merit badge.

3 Dudes Hiking

Unexpectedly chilly and light rain throughout. Brennan really fought us about going, but Annie supported his going and after his nap on the way to the trail, he was in good spirits. Lean-to site is wicked awesome. Really need to remember to wear boots & bring extra socks! Muddy in some spots and with the steady rain, we weren't quite ready. Short trip, though so no biggie. I carried my 20+ pound pack. Boys carried daypacks with water & snacks. Brennan & I wore sneakers - stupid choice. Found a tick on my pants as I was driving home - yech.

Hiking w/ the Boys

Got both boys to go with me, but Lil b wasn't happy about it at first. He didn't gripe much, but he wasn't his usual jolly self. Got a nice bit of hiking, but not as far as I was hoping - started an hour late and took many mini-breaks for the kids. No dog today - too muddy and I wanted to be able to focus on the boys. My L foot external edge gave me a bit of grief after 1 mile, but not enough for me to stop. I did wear a 20 lb pack - sleeping bag, tent, bear canister (full), cook kit, toiletries, and 2L of water - lucky I had 2 bottles as Brian missed packing his in his pocket so he took one of mine.

Lessons learned:

• Bring contractor bag to keep pack contents dry!
• Turn around on path intermittently to be sure trail is marked both ways (especially near fallen trees) - and see if you dropped anything :-)
• Double check your load! Brennan chose to not bring his pack which didn't click to me, but that meant we didn't have his emergency inhaler OR a first aid kit. Stupid.

Start of 2019

It's been a slow, sad, depressing end to 2018 in the way I have failed to get enough sleep, eat well, or otherwise take care of myself. Hoping for a better attitude & commitment going forward. But I have been blessed with a beautiful family and so many things God has forgiven me for, I need to focus & take advantage.

Annie is w/ her parents in FL - they flew down today.

Allison is at the Updyke's overnight.

Just the boys, me, Belle, and Stella. Went to bed at 11pm and they are sleeping soundly but I stayed up to look over some things. Tomorrow taking J and the kids to the Rochester Museum of Play - I'll be missing a New Years Day hike on the FLT, mainly due to Brennan's asthma, but not much you can do about that.

Annie returns Thursday.

Brennan Asthma

On Sunday Annie left for North Carolina. Brennan had developed a cough so I kept him home from school on Monday. Around lunch I grabbed his inhaler refill from the pharmacy but it was a powder kind and we think it wasn't working right or something because he felt no better after 15 doses. He kept having more & more trouble breathing and eventually I got pretty worried. I called Annie and she had the great suggestion of calling Lindsay Z from next door. After about 20 seconds she assured us going to the ER was the right thing to do! He was wheezing badly & his pulse was 120.

Short story is he got 2 breathing treatments & some Prednisone. Dudey came over to be with Brian & Allison even though they were sleeping - weren't sure what the hospital would end up doing. Our NP was Linda Jennings! Everyone was friendly & helpful and they got him right into a room. Ben was the nurse who first evaluated him. Sandi gave him the nebulizer treatments. We had a follow-up on Tuesday w/ Kathy Galloway even though they originally said there was no room in the schedule - which is what they said Monday when I had tried to get him seen. She upped his Prednisone dosage and got us another inhaler for school. He returns today and I'm just hoping it goes smoothly.

Brian Birthday - Laser Tag

Brian sent out the invitations to his friends and we all had a BLAST playing laser tag! Uncle Andrew & his kids played also. It was rainy and dark at the start and thank goodness Annie brought extra hats, gloves, & scarves. It got warmer eventually. I didn't think 1 hour would be enough time, but everyone seemed happy afterwards. Once I got top-gun and another time I had the best kill-to-death ration (10:2). Brian invited Tully, Jackson Olson, Ethan Hursh, Linus, Phillipe, & James (couldn't make it). After that we went to Aniello's which was mobbed, but there was enough space for us - nana & dudey came also as that was where they said goodbye to Andrew & family.

B puffy ear

This keeps recurring, but not at regular enough intervals that we noticed a pattern. Adding here for future reference. It lasted about 1 week.

Car Camping / Labor Day Weekend

Annie, Evan, Brian, Brennan, and I stayed overnight at Watkins Glen State Park site # 184. Tough time staking down the tent corners since the ground was so hard-packed. There were a couple other sites we saw where it was more open field - which also got more direct sunlight and would have been hotter!

We set up camp, went to hike the Gorge for a while and visited Glen Dairy Bar for ice cream. We tried to swim at the pool but it was temporarily closed. We considered the beach on the lake, but when we got there it said "No Lifeguard = No Swimming" so Annie put the kibosh on that. By the time we got back up the hill the pool was open and we enjoyed that for about an hour. There were a lot of people but the pool was so big you didn't really notice and the boys loved the diving board. Wish Allison had joined us!

After that back to camp to hang the wet stuff, start a fire, roast hot dogs, make S'mores, and then sleep. All 5 of us fit in the big red tent and for the first time in my life, I slept without a rain-fly. It was still warm when we went to sleep but no one needed anything more than blankets during the night. I didn't sleep great and Evan had inverted so his feet were in my face all night, but not sleeping was to be expected.

We didn't do breakfast in the morning as we were in a rush to get Evan home but first Brennan desperately wanted to go fishing. So we went to the pier near the fancy hotel and fished for a couple hours. It was very annoying to me how the reels weren't working right and kept getting tangled. Seemed like there was always at least one that needed to be fixed. But at least everyone got a chance.

Then took Evan to Alpine Junction around noon, then home. I dropped off the boys & Mommy, went to in-laws to get the dog, then back home to clean up. At 2pm we left to pick up in-laws and all drove to Fr Browns family lakehouse on Keuka Lake. Brennan & Brian fished almost the whole time since they didn't know the other kids. Annie and I hung w/ Fr Jones a bit. We left around 5 I think, just as Nana got sick in a bag in the car. Drove everyone home and started to relax for about 10 minutes before Annie made me take Brennan fishing again.

I took him down behind Wegmans and the light rain really added to the allure. I never thought I liked fishing but it was fun. We waded into the river to get our lines closer to the deep spots. I caught the little Bass in the picture, but it was Brennan's first time touching a real fish and holding it up like that. The colors on the photo are awesome! I could probably even be talked into going with him again sometime.

State Fair / Labor Day Weekend

Went to NYS Fair on Friday as Allison, Annie, and Samantha were helping volunteer at the NYS Parks as Girl Scouts. Picked up Evan on the way. The boys hung out in the car for a while and relaxed. Then we brought some food to the girls and waited for their shift to end at 2:30pm.  They seemed to have fun and the birdhouses were not the little toy kind - they were pretty big.

We didn't do any rides, just walked around a bit, saw the butter sculpture and got some milk, saw the cows, had a cool time at NYS stuff - FEMA, aquarium, hunting, bug control. We tried to connect with Dave & Heather but with Oliver, they just wanted to do different stuff and it was tough to get together. The kids bugged about doing rides but we decided not to do that to save some bucks.

We also went to the new Expo center which was nice & cool thanks to the skating rink. It was a lot of walking and not doing much but at least we got in & parked for free. We had planned to go home, but after talking to L & C we stayed overnight at their house - we had packed bags just in case. And that was a blast of course. The kids got to run around & play outside with Logan & the girls got to do girly talk with Alexandra & Christine.

On Saturday we took it pretty slow and didn't leave their house until lunch time. Then we went to this nice ice cream place and all got ice cream. Then we went to the chocolate store, and then walked over to the pizza place / huge indoor soccer field place. We got to play soccer, throw the frisbee, eat pizza, and got MORE ice cream (for free this time). Then we finally left - I think around 3pm.

To the chagrin of the kids we then stopped at Skaneateles Lake for a few minutes (nice pics), then went to Swabby's where Annie and I went on our first "date". We got drinks, chicken, fries, and t-shirts. It was pretty cool to see after all these years.

Lastly we stopped at CHEESE on 414 and took some group pictures before finally getting Samantha home at 7:30pm. Might go car-camping tomorrow. I was thinking backpacking, but at least it's outside!

Sworkit w/ the boys

They complained, but they had fun.

Trying to get the boys & me moving again

I need to lose some weight before the wedding and get the boys moving, whether my knee needs to be operated on or not. So this morning I biked at the Y (also need to get my # of visits in) and then this afternoon the boys & I did a Sworkit. It was a short 15 minutes but it can hopefully be the start of a pattern. Brennan has soccer starting tomorrow.

Overnight at Hershey Park

Sunday we went to Chocolate World and did the movie, the taste-testing, the make your own candy bar, and the trolley tour. First impression was the heat & the crowd. The movie was cute - got sprayed a little and some dramatic effects like Bugs Life in Disney. The tasting event was okay but there were kids talking over the instructor the whole time so it was hard to hear. It was a cool event, though. Next was the make-your-own bar which was very nice. Not as many choices as I was expecting but we were really able to watch the entire process of the bar being made which was the coolest thing. I got fixated on the size of the hairnet the provided me. It just seemed silly! 

The trolley was very informative - much more than expected. I loved the bit about no one being laid off during the Great Depression. Hershey was a class act by all accounts. Checked into the Springhill Suites around 8pm, then drove to Wendy's for everyone's dinner. Despite some objections we ate in the hotel lobby - much roomier, and no mess to clean up in our bedroom.

Monday went to the park. First did Fahrenheit. Ended w/ Great Bear, Reeses Tower, Trailblazer, Superdooperlooper, and The Comet. Did other stuff in the middle but the details are a little fuzzy.

It was WICKED hot & humid, and very crowded. I think Annie's phone said it felt like 101 ℃ We arrived before the gates opened and first went to Fahrenheit since the line was short. It was Allison, Evan, Brennan, and me. It was a negative drop and a total blast! Then went to Laff Trak which was okay, and inside, but the line was too long and the result wasn't that worth it. At least everyone in the family was able to go and cool off a bit. Then we did the Lightning Racers twice it was so fun. Go on the right side - it always loses, but it's not as bumpy so it's more enjoyable.

We did some other rides - the whip, music express, monorail, the pirate, the claw, the howler, trailblazer - pretty much anything we passed where the line wasn't too long. The kids did the waterpark from 6-8 which was a bit of a dud. The Water Coaster was closed and the lines for everything else were insane. They did get into the lazy river (Water Coastal Highway) twice and I think they did a slide, too. While they were doing other rides I went to the car to get the swim bags and then I needed a break so I may have missed a couple things. The splash zone was refreshing but again, the lines were long.

By far it was a fun trip, but a lot of walking and work and unfortunately it was so hot. It was definitely NOT disney and there were several issues, mainly with the All-Day Eat & Drink deal. It was difficult to tell which places participated and which didn't. And if you wanted just a drink refill, you still had to wait in the entire line. I quickly got annoyed by that and just started bending the rules and cutting in front of people or pulling drinks from places that weren't technically on the list. Most annoying, the drink stations kept running out of drinks that weren't soda - lemonade, iced tea, fruit punch, even the slushies. One of the last stations we visited we asked the guy if we could get slushies - we didn't know if it was included or not - and he replied, "Yeah, if there's anything left." I mostly had water so not that big a deal but it was a crummy experience.

Also, the bathrooms were hard to find and on the small side. Directions about where to go were pitiful. A couple times I asked where was the nearest bathroom and was directed 200 yards away when there was one 50 feet away in the other direction.

And the paper map they handed out was either inaccurate or just poorly drawn. The Decades restaurant was NOT where we expected which we didn't know until we were looking for food & drink of course. Even the app directed us to an empty building. Finding help was hit-or-miss - the restaurant & shop workers seemed to mostly be summer help and sometimes didn't know, but if you could find a security guard, they were good. Spotting either of those groups was like Where's Waldo because they blended in with the crowd so much. 

The night ended on a high note, though. After the water park it was a mad dash to hit as many coasters as we could before they closed. Evan, Allison, and I did the Great Bear which was recommended by everyone we asked. It was definitely a highlight and doing it in the dark was a bonus. We finally made it to Reeses Tower and while Brian begged off w/ Annie, Brennan wanted to do it - until we were ready to launch. Then he whimpered that he wanted to get off but we were already 20 feet off the ground & ready to launch. I put my arm between his chest & the shoulder bar for added comfort but he was really scared and held my hand every second he could for the rest of the night. We then did the Trailblazer which would have been better but a young girl right behind my head got in yelling past me to her friend that her intention was to scream as loud as she could for the entire ride and she succeeded. I stopped holding the railing and plugged my ears it was so painfully high-pitched. Then we did the superdooperlooper which, for me, wasn't much. It was only 30 seconds while Great Bear was 45. We ended doing the Comet which was a long ride and definitely a great thrill to end the evening. It was Brennan's favorite ride he said and he was so proud to get us on it. Annie didn't make any of the evening rides as she volunteered to hold the bags - we thought she didn't want to do any of them but she told us later that she had wanted to. She could have come! All the rides have bag holding areas you just drop off before the ride and grab on your way out. Hopefully a lesson learned.