Camp Luz

The girls both went to Camp Luz this year.  Last year, Ellie went to Diabetes Camp put on through Akron Children’s.  She loved the experience, and I am so glad she went.  I think it gave her a lot of confidence that she could do things like that even though she had diabetes.  This year, she wanted to give Camp Luz a try again.  I contacted them in April to see if they could get me some things ahead of time, and what it might look like to have her as a camper.  They worked really well with us.  I got the camp menu about 2 weeks ahead of time and tried to estimate carbs.  We talked with the nurse a few days before camp started.  And Ellie was ready to go.  While it was a bit stressful from my end watching her numbers go up, up, up and then fall down, down, down, it was worth it.  Ellie had a great time, made some new friends, and had fun with some campers she knows from school. 

    

Madison went the week after Ellie.  She has gone since she was in 3rd grade (I think), and she always looks forward to it. This was her first year at Jr. High Camp.  It was fun to hear how they provide new games and experiences for each grade level.  She was in a cabin with quite a few of her friends and a few that she got to know.  She was tired, but happy, when I picked her up at the end of the week.  (This is her with one of the two counselors; her other counselor was actually Rose, the same one Ellie had!)

    

They both enjoy the week while their sister is away.  It always starts off a little boring and slow.  Then, they get in the rhythm of things, invite a friend over, think of something fun to do with me, or find a new way to entertain themselves. 

Madison had volleyball camp from 9:30-11:30 for three of the mornings.  She wanted to go shopping at Target, Joann’s, and World Market; she had gift cards to 2 out of 3 of these stores to use.  On the first night, she wanted to order pizza from Gionino’s (not a favorite pizza place for Ellie) and watch the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie she had started at school, but never finished.  (Ellie didn't want to watch it either.)  Finally, she and I worked to reorganize Ellie’s bathroom.  We pulled everything out, cleaned it, edited what we thought she didn’t use, and got a few new things to finish it all off.  We videoed ourselves doing it because Ellie really likes watching little videos like that.  Then, Madison did an amazing job putting the video clips together to make a full video of the makeover.  It was a lot of fun.

    

Ellie was a crew leader for VBS at our church from 6-8:30 the whole week Madison was at camp.  She had so much fun leading, guiding, and teaching her crew of 3.  She did a great job with them!  One day, she decided she would join me grocery shopping if we could also stop at Target and browse.  I was impressed that she only bought some facemasks and didn’t give in to any of the toy aisle temptations.  She wanted to make empanadas, se we crammed that in that same day.  One other thing she wanted to do was invite a friend to go to the Humane Society with her.  So, on Tuesday, Bailey came over to play while I was at a meeting and then we went to the shelter in the afternoon.  They enjoyed looking at all the animals.  One whole day was her going to the state fair (see a future post for more details on that!).  And that was about a wrap on the week for her.

    

Summer Activities

We have had some BIG adventures – like our vacation and people visiting.  But we have also enjoyed just have time to do whatever.  The girls rearranged their rooms.  This is always a big undertaking, but it is also a good way to vacuum out all the corners, clean out all the boxes, and trim down what you don’t need.  (Probably all good reasons for me to rearrange my room!)  Their rooms look great.  I am so proud of how they take charge, stick with it, and finish with a job well done. 

For their birthdays, we gifted them tickets to the Dude Perfect show at Rocket Mortgage Stadium.  Both girls enjoy watching this YouTube sensation, but I would say Ellie is more obsessed with them.  They are a group of dads who started a YouTube channel 15ish years ago where they would try to do trick shots.  Their channel has taken off and they have added a lot of elements to what they do.  (You can check them out here.)  I had low expectations for the show because how do you recreate trick shots that may take all day to succeed at while on stage.  They managed to figure it out!  It was a great night.  We saw them do some competitive games with unique shots involved.  They had Top 10 segment (rating chips).  A Get Crafty segment.  A Cool or Not Cool segment where the audience could live vote! It all worked really well.  We all had a great night out.

    

Megan came over for a day to swim, play, hang out, and end the night with LincWay Cafe’s bursting bobba tea.  The girls had a lot of fun reconnecting.

   

4-H continues on with the group project – Rockets Away – finishing up.  The girls worked hard with Jeremy to finish building their model rockets.  At the meeting, they were able to blast them off.  Ellie’s rocket was recovered.  Madison’s was never found.  Both launched into the air, so it was fun to watch.

         

There will (hopefully) be some more summer fun time things happening before we go back to you-know-where.  But sometimes I don’t think to take a picture or blog about it.  Life is normal here in this house.  Just like to highlight things that I can.  We also watch a lot of Netflix, YouTube.  Bake a lot of sweet things we don’t really need to eat.  Get on each other’s nerves at times.  Live with clutter and forget that we need to do some chores once and awhile.  You know, those things.  But we like doing life together. 

A lot of Yohs!

About a week after we got home from vacation, Jeremy’s family and extended family descended on Kidron!  And it was GREAT!  Usually this time of year, Jeremy’s brother’s family and his sister and her husband come to Ohio.  This year, Scheers from Florida (Judy and Ned; Ryan, Lori, and Piper; Stephen, Paula, and Mia) came and stayed about 3-4 days.  The Gilsons (Don and Beth; Tori, Ryan, Maddie, and Tinley) from Kentucky came.  And Jeremy’s cousin Brian also came.  Those groups came for about 2 days. 

It was so much fun to reconnect with everyone and see everyone together.  The girls were in heaven being able to play with so many little kids – Zadie, Mia, and Piper are all under 5!  By the end of the time, Mia was calling the girls her “sisters.”  And there is a good chance we can have our kids fly to Florida to be nannies in the upcoming summers! 

    

We had a large group mean the first night followed by lunch the next day.  The kids entertained themselves around the clubhouse at the condos with each other and bubbles and whatever else they could find.

         

We went to the Orrville parade and gathered enough candy in everyone’s bags to last til we see each in a few years.  (Seriously, there was a massive amount of candy!) 

Then, we went to the Ohio Light Opera concert in Wooster square.  It is a really relaxing evening of sitting in lawn chairs and enjoying the live orchestra play. 

    

Another day, we went swimming at the Tschiegg’s pool in Orrville and then returned for burgers at our house.  The kids played in the basement and outside while the adults talked on the patio.  While it was a little warm out, it was bearable when the sun went down.  Plus, most of them were from Florida so it was nothing.

We ended the week with lunch at Mariolas Italian restaurant in Wooster with just the small Yoh group. 

It would be fun to all gather again… maybe next time in Florida!

Road Trip: Homeward Bound (Part 5)

We left Gulf Shores around 11 on Friday morning and headed north on Interstate 65, our new best friend.  We made a few stops/saw a few sights on the way…

Not one, but TWO Buc’cees Gas Stations (think truck stop, but with cars only with a retail store and pretty tasty bbq and really nice bathrooms.  think also a lot of people, cars and congestion getting in and out)

                    

Sonic for lunch and half price slushies.  A rocket from the road at a rest area

Crossing through Alabama and into Tennessee – our first stop.

We drove around a bit in the evening, but mostly we were ready to get out of the car.  Ellie and Jeremy swam in the pool.  I thought it was too cold (which is nothing new), but so did Madison (which made me feel justified in my thinking!).

The next day was our 17th wedding anniversary.  The girls surprised us with homemade cards that fit together like a best friend necklace. 

We stood in line for 1 hour, 41 minutes to get a seat at the Pancake Pantry.  We ordered plates of pancakes and rolled cakes as big as our heads to provide us nourishment for the day ahead. 

   

From there we headed to Belle Meade Plantation.  I had booked us a family tour.  I didn’t realize that it would be just our family with a tour guide.  It was actually really nice.  We couldn’t take any pictures in the room, but she filled our minds with the history of the plantation and the family as we looked at various portraits and artifacts.  The fact that sticks in my head is that the family bred race horses.  They had a slave (who later chose to continue to work there after freed) who was so well-known for his work with the horses that his picture and name was actually printed in the paper when he passed.  The one horse they had is also in the lineage of 13 out of the last 15 Kentucky Derby winners. 

We saw the slave quarters.  They had over a hundred slaves on their property, which I learned was uncommon and indicated wealth.  I was under the impression that many plantations had that many slaves, but I think the guide said it was less than 5% of slave owners that had that many.

We finished the tour with time in the old milking parlor.  We learned about various toys the kids made and were able to make a few “historical” things ourselves – tin punched candle holder, spinning toy, writing with a calligraphy pen and ink well, and trying on clothes from that era.

                   

Oh, and Jeremy and I did the free wine tasting.  I do not love wine.  This was really not an exception.  I am sure it was excellent for those that do like it.

After leaving Belle Meade, we did a little souvenir shopping – at the shop of the American Pickers people and other shops in that area. 

         

We drove to the mall to eat at Rainforest Café – a throwback memory to eating there in Florida with Grandpa and Grandma Yoh years ago.  There was no wait, so it made it even more appealing! 

   

Then, we perused the mall for awhile.  Madison discovered the brand names she has on clothing (Children's Place, Adidas, etc) have actual stores devoted to their brand.  Yeah, I don’t really take them to the mall…

We ended the evening visiting a live music spot Jeremy had discovered on his “man trip” to Nashville last year.  The place is called Station Inn.  It is great.  There are fairly well-known people that perform.  The night we were there it was bluegrass – Shawn Lane and Richard Bennett.  It is not a bar atmosphere; people are there to hear the music primarily.  It got a little late, but I really enjoyed it.

    

The next morning, the girls took a dip in the pool before we packed up and headed out.

    

Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky was our next and final destination before home.  We took the Historic Tour (2 hours, 2 miles) at 3ish.  Our tour guide was informative and able to answer a lot of questions.  There were quite a few people in our group, but it worked out just fine.  This was one of the highlights of the trip for us.  I think it was an unexpected hit .  It is really amazing inside the cave, and we just saw a small portion of it…. careful not to take the tour that required belly crawling and tight spaces.

              

Just kidding when I said Mammoth Cave was our last stop.  We visited the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln before leaving the next morning.  Jeremy had a memory of going there when he was a kid.  He said that it was their sole destination that day – a 5 hour drive for this place; his dad wanted to visit.  We were underwhelmed ourselves, but it is also an interesting piece of history.  The site where a replica of Lincoln’s cabin is looks like the Lincoln Monument in Washington DC, so that is kinda cool.  Madison took a picture by the cornerstone put in place by another president.  So, it is neat to touch history.

              

And that was that.  We got home Monday evening around 6pm, greeted by a very excited dog, a super clean house (thanks, Mom and Lilli!), and all things familiar.  Our trip was so much fun.  We didn’t get tired of traveling or on each other’s nerves (too much).  And we didn’t feel like we never had time to breathe.  It was just right if you ask me.