Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Williamsburg Fun
Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity of taking Caitlin to Williamsburg for her 11th birthday. October was very busy and so it worked out that the only available week that worked for both families was her actual birthday--what a special treat!
She and her brothers, Grant, Jacob and Quinn spent the night because Tiff and Brent were involved with taking the Explorer girls rock climbing. We had a wonderful evening all together making caramel apples and eating ice cream (after dinner, of course!). The boys had a camp-out in the back yard with Dad-Dad in our new pop-up but Cait and I retired early (9:00 p.m.) to the guest room to watch a movie, "Girl of the Limberlost", one of Cait's favorites and fall asleep. However, we were both so excited about the trip that I think it was close to midnight before we actually got to sleep.
I woke early and dressed and waked Cait and we were off at about 5:30 a.m. Caitlin was excited to see the sun come up which wasn't until after 7:00 a.m. I had hoped we could make it all the way to Williamsburg before we had breakfast but we made it to Richmond at about 9:00 a.m. and decided we were too hungry to go any farther. (I think this was because I talked with Dad-Dad on the phone about that time and he was telling me all about the pancakes he was making the boys.) We found a Perkins Restaurant and ate there--huge breakfasts for both of us. Cait got a bit of attention because she had dressed in her colonial garb when we had stopped earlier for a bathroom break.
Our first stop in Williamsburg after we had purchased our tickets and made reservations for the ball at the Capitol that night was a leisurely walk from the Governor's Palace to the Public Hospital, which houses the DeWitt museum. We browed through some paintings and clothing displays and then spent some time looking at the toys and dollhouses on display. They have some really neat exhibits and activities for kids, including a scavenger hunt for pictures of snakes and a really cool exhibit of pictures and art objects that they have arranged around a room telling a story about a dog who is visiting the country to find his cousin.
Cait was very anxious to take me to the Yankee Candle store and had been telling me all about it, so we headed there next. It turned out that our motel was located just across the street! Wow! What a place. There were all kinds of activities for kids, face painting, pumpkin decorating and what Cait was excited about doing, candle dipping. We each chose a candle and dipped it in different colors of hot wax until we had what we wanted. There was also a Christmas room where it actually snows every five minutes!
We then checked into our motel and donned our bathing suits for some time in the pool before changing for the evening ball. Caitlin had seen Carrabbas's next to Yankee Candle so we decided to dine there. We arrived at the Capitol very early and I was concerned because it was a bit chilly and the program didn't begin until 7:00 p.m. God was so good! Cait had been very nervous about the dance and although I kept assuring her that she would have a good time and didn't have to participate if she didn't want to, she was still a bit apprehensive. Well, lo and behold when we approached the Capitol there was a group of children in costume dancing. It turned out to be two homeschool families, one from Tennessee and the other from Cary, North Carolina (and I am sorry Kimberly we left without getting their names or addresses). The moms were sisters and they were doing a field trip to Williamsburg together. Even the moms were in colonial garb so at first I thought it was part of the program. Well, they invited Cait to join them and they had a wonderful time keeping warm and having fun. As more people joined they kept adding kids and it was just so cool to see these homeschool kids reaching out to others. Of course, this broke the ice for Caitlin and suddenly she had two friends! When the program began and they asked for volunteers Caitlin was grinning and waving her hand in the air with the others. She was chosen to dance at the second opportunity and just beamed the whole time. When NiNi finally was chosen for the final dance (and became the head couple, which meant that I had to choose the song--actually the lead man whispered it to me and I just had to repeat it but it was a French title and I had to call it out for the whole assembly to hear).
No pictures could be taken during the ball but afterwards the actors were on the portico and I was able to get a shot of Cait with one of the ladies. She fits right in, doesn't she? (Good work, Tiff!)
On Sunday we had devotions in our room together. I was so impressed by Cait's familiarity with God's Word--good work Brent and Tiff! We read Proverbs 31 and talked about it and she told me it was her favorite book of the Bible and that two verses were underlined three times in he Bible. Great start to being a godly woman!
We spent the whole day in Colonial Williamsburg on Sunday--our first stop was purchasing tickets for a carriage ride, which we both had been anxious to do. Cait opted to ride the stagecoach over the open carriage as it was twice as long a ride. Our driver was quite a character and kept up the conversation. We learned all kinds of little tidbits about living in Colonial Williamsburg. He even sang us a song, "O Brittania" which I was able to video as we traveled along.
For lunch we ate in Chownings Tavern which was fun--this was the one tavern I had never been to before. The only other tavern opened that day was very crowded and Cait was getting hungry but it turned out to be a good choice as it is a little more casual and she was able to get a sandwich and soup. She asked me why the waitress kept calling us, lovey. She had a British accent and I think probably was genuine. She graciously agreed to take a picture of us.
We did a little more touring, visiting just about every shop in the area, I think! At 3:00 there was a program at the museum so we headed back there. It was a fun ending to the trip. It centered on a new display they have of quilted clothing, much of it petticoats so we learned some interesting things about under garments in the 18th century. She talked a lot about ladies' pockets and we saw some beautifully embroidered ones. At the end there was an activity for kids which we brought home with us. It was a paper with the outline of a pocket that Cait could decorate and on the back was instructions for making a pocket--so now Tiff has another project to work on!
This was an absolutely wonderful experience--I had as much fun as Caitlin so it was a treat for me as well as her. Although she did have me locked up at one point--I don't have the name Meany NiNi for nothing!
She and her brothers, Grant, Jacob and Quinn spent the night because Tiff and Brent were involved with taking the Explorer girls rock climbing. We had a wonderful evening all together making caramel apples and eating ice cream (after dinner, of course!). The boys had a camp-out in the back yard with Dad-Dad in our new pop-up but Cait and I retired early (9:00 p.m.) to the guest room to watch a movie, "Girl of the Limberlost", one of Cait's favorites and fall asleep. However, we were both so excited about the trip that I think it was close to midnight before we actually got to sleep.
I woke early and dressed and waked Cait and we were off at about 5:30 a.m. Caitlin was excited to see the sun come up which wasn't until after 7:00 a.m. I had hoped we could make it all the way to Williamsburg before we had breakfast but we made it to Richmond at about 9:00 a.m. and decided we were too hungry to go any farther. (I think this was because I talked with Dad-Dad on the phone about that time and he was telling me all about the pancakes he was making the boys.) We found a Perkins Restaurant and ate there--huge breakfasts for both of us. Cait got a bit of attention because she had dressed in her colonial garb when we had stopped earlier for a bathroom break.
Our first stop in Williamsburg after we had purchased our tickets and made reservations for the ball at the Capitol that night was a leisurely walk from the Governor's Palace to the Public Hospital, which houses the DeWitt museum. We browed through some paintings and clothing displays and then spent some time looking at the toys and dollhouses on display. They have some really neat exhibits and activities for kids, including a scavenger hunt for pictures of snakes and a really cool exhibit of pictures and art objects that they have arranged around a room telling a story about a dog who is visiting the country to find his cousin.
Cait was very anxious to take me to the Yankee Candle store and had been telling me all about it, so we headed there next. It turned out that our motel was located just across the street! Wow! What a place. There were all kinds of activities for kids, face painting, pumpkin decorating and what Cait was excited about doing, candle dipping. We each chose a candle and dipped it in different colors of hot wax until we had what we wanted. There was also a Christmas room where it actually snows every five minutes!
We then checked into our motel and donned our bathing suits for some time in the pool before changing for the evening ball. Caitlin had seen Carrabbas's next to Yankee Candle so we decided to dine there. We arrived at the Capitol very early and I was concerned because it was a bit chilly and the program didn't begin until 7:00 p.m. God was so good! Cait had been very nervous about the dance and although I kept assuring her that she would have a good time and didn't have to participate if she didn't want to, she was still a bit apprehensive. Well, lo and behold when we approached the Capitol there was a group of children in costume dancing. It turned out to be two homeschool families, one from Tennessee and the other from Cary, North Carolina (and I am sorry Kimberly we left without getting their names or addresses). The moms were sisters and they were doing a field trip to Williamsburg together. Even the moms were in colonial garb so at first I thought it was part of the program. Well, they invited Cait to join them and they had a wonderful time keeping warm and having fun. As more people joined they kept adding kids and it was just so cool to see these homeschool kids reaching out to others. Of course, this broke the ice for Caitlin and suddenly she had two friends! When the program began and they asked for volunteers Caitlin was grinning and waving her hand in the air with the others. She was chosen to dance at the second opportunity and just beamed the whole time. When NiNi finally was chosen for the final dance (and became the head couple, which meant that I had to choose the song--actually the lead man whispered it to me and I just had to repeat it but it was a French title and I had to call it out for the whole assembly to hear).
No pictures could be taken during the ball but afterwards the actors were on the portico and I was able to get a shot of Cait with one of the ladies. She fits right in, doesn't she? (Good work, Tiff!)
On Sunday we had devotions in our room together. I was so impressed by Cait's familiarity with God's Word--good work Brent and Tiff! We read Proverbs 31 and talked about it and she told me it was her favorite book of the Bible and that two verses were underlined three times in he Bible. Great start to being a godly woman!
We spent the whole day in Colonial Williamsburg on Sunday--our first stop was purchasing tickets for a carriage ride, which we both had been anxious to do. Cait opted to ride the stagecoach over the open carriage as it was twice as long a ride. Our driver was quite a character and kept up the conversation. We learned all kinds of little tidbits about living in Colonial Williamsburg. He even sang us a song, "O Brittania" which I was able to video as we traveled along.
For lunch we ate in Chownings Tavern which was fun--this was the one tavern I had never been to before. The only other tavern opened that day was very crowded and Cait was getting hungry but it turned out to be a good choice as it is a little more casual and she was able to get a sandwich and soup. She asked me why the waitress kept calling us, lovey. She had a British accent and I think probably was genuine. She graciously agreed to take a picture of us.
We did a little more touring, visiting just about every shop in the area, I think! At 3:00 there was a program at the museum so we headed back there. It was a fun ending to the trip. It centered on a new display they have of quilted clothing, much of it petticoats so we learned some interesting things about under garments in the 18th century. She talked a lot about ladies' pockets and we saw some beautifully embroidered ones. At the end there was an activity for kids which we brought home with us. It was a paper with the outline of a pocket that Cait could decorate and on the back was instructions for making a pocket--so now Tiff has another project to work on!
This was an absolutely wonderful experience--I had as much fun as Caitlin so it was a treat for me as well as her. Although she did have me locked up at one point--I don't have the name Meany NiNi for nothing!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Camping in North Carolina
What a gorgeous weekend the Lord gave us! We had been planning for months to use this long weekend to travel to North Carolina to camp at Falls Lake Campground near Butner, NC where Kimberly's parents live. We camped here three times before, twice while Carl was in Kuwait and Kimberly was living in Butner. It is a beautiful, but no frills, campground. No campstore or concessions but a large lake and wooded campsites, just our style. The kids loved camping there because we had always found a site on the lake with access to a tiny beach where they could swim right from our campsite. Twice we camped next to a man, named John King, whom the kids became good friends with. (He was almost completely deaf, so he had no problem camping next to a family with several boisterous boys!) The boys were disappointed that he wasn't there this time--once he had his teenaged grandson with him and the boys had a great time wrestling in the water with him.
We had a rough start this time. We left work at about 11:00 a.m. thinking we would be early enough that we would miss traffic. But alas, traffic was slow around Dumfries so we decided to stop and eat at the Cracker Barrel, hoping things would be moving faster when we got back on I-95. It was still slow but our biggest slow down was that we goofed when we got to Richmond. Instead of staying on I-95 so that we could pick up I-85 on the south side of Richmond, we went around 295 and missed I-85. Finally, as we crossed into North Carolina, I pulled out the map and sure enough we should have picked up I-85 two hours back! Ahhhhh! By this time it is 6:00 p.m and we had thought we would be setting up camp by this time. Carl had gotten off work early and had arrived at the campsite and been set up since 5:00 p.m.(with the help of five kids ages 3-9 years!) We consulted the map and found a road that took us across to I-85. It was getting close to 8:00 p.m. by the time we approached our exit and we were very nervous. Not only were we now going to have to set up our pop-up for the first time in the dark, but in North Carolina state parks they close the gate at 8:00 p.m., no exceptions, and no one can get in or out. Carl went to the Ranger Station to explain our problem and was told that if we didn't arrive by 8:00 p.m. we would have to park outside and walk in--and the fact that we had a camper was a shame, wasn't it? Well, we kept calling Carl to let him know where we were and finally arrived at the campground at 8:07 to find Carl waiting with the kids in his van and the gate open! Happily, the camper went up easily with Carl's help. We started a fire and roasted hot dogs and then fell into bed sometime after 10:00 p.m.
The rest of the weekend was wonderful. We love cooking and eating outside and I always take something to cook in my iron Dutch oven. This time I had taken a roasting chicken and looked forward to roasting that on Saturday night. However, when I went to retrieve it from out camping tote, it was missing. Bill was sure it had been packed but we remembered later that we had carried it home from our last camping trip with leftover peach cobbler still inside and had cleaned it out at home. It apparently then had not been packed with all our camping equipment. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs over the open fire that night instead. We still enjoyed cooking pancakes and bacon over the fire--my favorite way to cook when we are camping! Carl made breakfast on Saturday morning using his campstove--delicious eggs and bacon and toast.
It was warm enough for the kids to swim in the lake (not however, warm enough for the adults to do the same!) They had a ball splashing and swimming.
Carl and I took Esther and went out Saturday morning to find the Super Wal-Mart and picked up the rest of the groceries we needed for the weekend and Dad-Dad and the boys had a great time looking through Alex's survival book and then making a lean-to shelter with a tarp and some sticks. They were so excited to show that off to us when we returned and ate their lunch in its shade. They insisted they would sleep there that night. Alex did fall asleep there but Carl moved him to the tent when we all went to bed.
Of course, camping (or any outdoor activity) means finding wildlife and catching it, if possible. The boys caught a little skink and Esther, being a true Trautman woman, found a snake--and caught it. She was so excited about it and the fact that it was small and a beautiful green color (it was a green vine snake) made it all the more attractive as she posed with it in her hair.
On our other trips to this campground we had found some very interesting mushrooms and this trip was no different. Just walking around the campground loop we found many. Dad-Dad encouraged the kids to name them. We found a "fried egg", "popcorn kernel" and a "golf ball on a tee" (this one named by Carl). Isn't it the coolest mushroom?
Kimberly stayed home with little Samuel but joined us for the day after church on Sunday. We had a great time visiting with her and seeing little Samuel taking a few steps. Carl and Dad went out in the evening and brought back pizzas and subs for dinner (not our normal camping routine--but Bill was trying to make up for the chicken fiasco--and at least Carl and Kimberly had a chicken to take home for Monday's dinner!) Dirty, tired and happy kids were packed into the vehicles and headed home at about 7:00 p.m. for showers and bed. And NiNi and Dad-Dad relaxed by the fire and enjoyed the quiet (the entire loop had been filled with families--and they all packed up and left Sunday afternoon, leaving us totally alone on the lake). We took one last walk around the camp loop before it got totally dark. There was a beautiful full moon shining on the lake, which I tried to capture but only got a fraction of its beauty.
And then we retreated to our little pop-up and enjoyed one last night sleeping snuggled under covers with the screens open, enjoying the night breezes and sounds. It was glorious waking up each morning and the first thing you saw was the sun coming up over the lake! I loved every minute of our trip (well maybe not the minute when I discovered I had no way to cook a chicken!). We got up and packed up the next morning and had an uneventful trip home, arriving at our exit at about 6:00 p.m. and decided to call Ryan and have him meet us for dinner at Cracker Barrel. What a nice ending to a perfect weekend.
We had a rough start this time. We left work at about 11:00 a.m. thinking we would be early enough that we would miss traffic. But alas, traffic was slow around Dumfries so we decided to stop and eat at the Cracker Barrel, hoping things would be moving faster when we got back on I-95. It was still slow but our biggest slow down was that we goofed when we got to Richmond. Instead of staying on I-95 so that we could pick up I-85 on the south side of Richmond, we went around 295 and missed I-85. Finally, as we crossed into North Carolina, I pulled out the map and sure enough we should have picked up I-85 two hours back! Ahhhhh! By this time it is 6:00 p.m and we had thought we would be setting up camp by this time. Carl had gotten off work early and had arrived at the campsite and been set up since 5:00 p.m.(with the help of five kids ages 3-9 years!) We consulted the map and found a road that took us across to I-85. It was getting close to 8:00 p.m. by the time we approached our exit and we were very nervous. Not only were we now going to have to set up our pop-up for the first time in the dark, but in North Carolina state parks they close the gate at 8:00 p.m., no exceptions, and no one can get in or out. Carl went to the Ranger Station to explain our problem and was told that if we didn't arrive by 8:00 p.m. we would have to park outside and walk in--and the fact that we had a camper was a shame, wasn't it? Well, we kept calling Carl to let him know where we were and finally arrived at the campground at 8:07 to find Carl waiting with the kids in his van and the gate open! Happily, the camper went up easily with Carl's help. We started a fire and roasted hot dogs and then fell into bed sometime after 10:00 p.m.
The rest of the weekend was wonderful. We love cooking and eating outside and I always take something to cook in my iron Dutch oven. This time I had taken a roasting chicken and looked forward to roasting that on Saturday night. However, when I went to retrieve it from out camping tote, it was missing. Bill was sure it had been packed but we remembered later that we had carried it home from our last camping trip with leftover peach cobbler still inside and had cleaned it out at home. It apparently then had not been packed with all our camping equipment. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs over the open fire that night instead. We still enjoyed cooking pancakes and bacon over the fire--my favorite way to cook when we are camping! Carl made breakfast on Saturday morning using his campstove--delicious eggs and bacon and toast.
It was warm enough for the kids to swim in the lake (not however, warm enough for the adults to do the same!) They had a ball splashing and swimming.
Carl and I took Esther and went out Saturday morning to find the Super Wal-Mart and picked up the rest of the groceries we needed for the weekend and Dad-Dad and the boys had a great time looking through Alex's survival book and then making a lean-to shelter with a tarp and some sticks. They were so excited to show that off to us when we returned and ate their lunch in its shade. They insisted they would sleep there that night. Alex did fall asleep there but Carl moved him to the tent when we all went to bed.
Of course, camping (or any outdoor activity) means finding wildlife and catching it, if possible. The boys caught a little skink and Esther, being a true Trautman woman, found a snake--and caught it. She was so excited about it and the fact that it was small and a beautiful green color (it was a green vine snake) made it all the more attractive as she posed with it in her hair.
On our other trips to this campground we had found some very interesting mushrooms and this trip was no different. Just walking around the campground loop we found many. Dad-Dad encouraged the kids to name them. We found a "fried egg", "popcorn kernel" and a "golf ball on a tee" (this one named by Carl). Isn't it the coolest mushroom?
Kimberly stayed home with little Samuel but joined us for the day after church on Sunday. We had a great time visiting with her and seeing little Samuel taking a few steps. Carl and Dad went out in the evening and brought back pizzas and subs for dinner (not our normal camping routine--but Bill was trying to make up for the chicken fiasco--and at least Carl and Kimberly had a chicken to take home for Monday's dinner!) Dirty, tired and happy kids were packed into the vehicles and headed home at about 7:00 p.m. for showers and bed. And NiNi and Dad-Dad relaxed by the fire and enjoyed the quiet (the entire loop had been filled with families--and they all packed up and left Sunday afternoon, leaving us totally alone on the lake). We took one last walk around the camp loop before it got totally dark. There was a beautiful full moon shining on the lake, which I tried to capture but only got a fraction of its beauty.
And then we retreated to our little pop-up and enjoyed one last night sleeping snuggled under covers with the screens open, enjoying the night breezes and sounds. It was glorious waking up each morning and the first thing you saw was the sun coming up over the lake! I loved every minute of our trip (well maybe not the minute when I discovered I had no way to cook a chicken!). We got up and packed up the next morning and had an uneventful trip home, arriving at our exit at about 6:00 p.m. and decided to call Ryan and have him meet us for dinner at Cracker Barrel. What a nice ending to a perfect weekend.
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