Day 22 - Putt putt at Putt It

Now I know why I don't do this more often.  Really, Putt It in Meadville across from Walmart would be a really fun place for a family who is not us.  It is really cheap to play - 3.00 for adults and 2.50 for kids.  Or 5.00 for two people, or there are always buy one get one free coupons in the paper.  We happened to have free passes.   Well, let's just say that my children have no idea about mini-golf etiquette, nor do they really care to learn.  Translated, that means our kids were all over the place and would not listen to us.

There are also batting cages and actually two putt putt courses.  When we were finished with the first, the kids wanted to play the second.  Nope, I had had enough fun for one day. *sigh*

Day 22 - still beating the heat - Chuck E Cheese

heh heh...so last week it was Jordan's birthday, and he told me he wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese.  I had been holding onto coupons, so I figured why not?  AND...since it was Jordan's birthday, we received an email coupon for 20 free tokens.  AND...it was pretty hot and humid, so doing something indoors seemed like a good idea.   Unfortunately, it took a while to get moving, so it was 7 PM by the time we even left the house for Erie.  The good news is that by the time we got there, all the sane parents had taken their children home.  It was not crowded at all. 

So, here are my tips for an enjoyable trip to Chuck E Cheese.  Save the coupons from the Sunday paper.  Also, go their web site and register for email offers.  And go late.  Your kids will be nuts by the time you leave, but at least you won't have to wait in ridiculous lines to trade in your tickets for ridiculously cheap prizes.

Day 21 (sort of) - Beating the Heat

Okay, so it's been a week since I've written anything.  I suppose when I wrote the title of the blog (30 days or so), I already knew that writing every day would be a bit much for me.  Look for the title to change soon.

With the weather last week, it was all about beating the heat.  One day last week, Jim took the kids to Lakeside Lanes bowling alley, which is on Route 18 about three minutes from my house.  Santa brought Ben a bowling ball, and I just found one at a garage sale for Jordan.  Jordan had yet to use his.  I love this little bowling alley.  It is certainly nothing fancy.  There are only about eight lanes, and the six pound balls get stuck at the bottom of the lane all the time.  However, my boys bowl in a league there every Saturday during the school year, and they love it.  The people who work there are wonderful.  They give the kids instruction at times to help them learn the proper way to bowl.  They have parties for the holidays and the boys get to bowl with the cosmic bowling lights on.  I esp. like it cause it gives them something to do in the dead of winter.  They have this gumball machine there that my boys feed quarters to.  The nice thing about it, though, is that pretty often they will get a "winner" gumball that earns them a coupon for a free game.  So by the end of bowling league, we had quite a collection of free game coupons!

So Jim took the boys bowling.  They had a great time, beat the heat, and probably only had to pay to rent those great-looking shoes.

Day 20 - Gems, geocaching, and a giant rocking chair

Who would have thought Austinburg, OH held such treasures?  My boys love rocks.  They pick them up all the time and can tell me pretty much where each one is from.  Each rock holds memories for my kids.  (On a side note, if you think that's neat, read Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass)  So when I saw the brochure for Noema Gems, I knew I wanted to check it out.  http://www.noemagems.com/


Noema Gems is just this little building in a teeny town in Ohio just below I90, though the back roads are way more scenic.  The place is a store and mini-museum; you can buy gems of all kinds and look at some interesting displays.  But the attraction is the mining for minerals and gems.  So you pay $4 and get a bucket of stones to sift through.  They give you this little display to help identify what you find, and of course, you can keep anything you want.  The boys had a blast - they found some quartz, fool's gold, flint, amber, and many other things.  Ben even found two shark teeth!  Eventually, though, they started to complain cause it was too hot.  Really?  This kind of weather is what we've been waiting for.  And there's no whining on adventure day, so a little cold water and we were off.

The rock store.

Ben found a shark tooth.

I had printed a few sets of coordinates for geocaches at what sounded like fun locations, so our next stop was  the world's largest rocking chair.  Well, there are probably bigger ones, but we've never seen 'em.

I love it!

Hehehe...isn't it great?  I am all for cheesy attractions.  Look how little the boys are on the sides!  It amazes me sometimes how popular geocaching is.  While we were sorting through the treasures of the geocache, another family stopped to find it.  And we weren't the first ones to find it today.

Our next stop was less than a mile away.  The name of the geocache was "Cool Treat on a Hot Day."  Perfect.  Even more perfect was that Ben had nabbed a coupon out of the rocking chair geocache for that very ice cream store.  See, the universe is on my side lately.  The cool thing about this particular geocache was its container.  Many geocaches are ammo containers.  This one was too, only it was probably an ammo container for GI Joe.  Teeny tiny.  And our new friends from the rocking chair - that was their next stop, too.

Just what we needed on a 90 degree day.

Teeny tiny.  Clever.

On the way home, we saw a sign for a covered bridge, so of course, we couldn't pass it up.  The Doyle Road bridge is beautiful, and predictably, Jordan found a geocache.  Apparently there is one at every bridge.  We didn't even have the coordinates for this one; he just found it.  Yep...we're that good.  hehe.  And also predictably, the kids had to check out the creek.

So Austinburg is about 50 minutes from our house in Conneaut Lake, so our adventure took about four hours total.  I didn't disclose exactly where we were going after the rock shop, and the boys at first wanted to come straight home.  When are they going to learn to trust me? :-)

Doyle Road covered bridge.

Ben's treasures

Jordan's treasures.

Day 19 - Postcrossing

I was stupid.  Did I really think that I could do something worthy of writing about every day for thirty days in a row in the middle of summer?  Somehow every year I think I am going to have all this free time to do things - then we end up overscheduled.  So since things have been so busy over the past couple of days, I am going to take a few minutes to tell you about something the boys and I do from home.  It's called Postcrossing.  Basically, you send postcards to and receive postcards from all over the world.  First, you go to www.postcrossing.com.  Take a few minutes to register and you're on your way.   To send a postcard, you click on "send a postcard" and then "request address."  You're then given an address and a postcard ID to write on the card.  Once the recipient gets the postcard, he or she registers the postcard using the ID.  Once that is done, your address will be given to a random person in the world.  You can have up to five postcards traveling at once. 

Once you've sent and received postcards, you can look at your stats.  You can see how many miles your postcards have traveled (ours have gone over 25,000 miles so far), view a map showing sent and received cards, and view charts of your activity.  You can upload digital images of the postcards you receive and view your "wall" of cards.  

In this digital age, when email and facebook and texting have replaced snail mail, it is so exciting to go to the mailbox and get a personal note from some random person from halfway around the world.  Originally, I signed up because I thought that Ben and Jordan would really have fun with it.  We went to the spillway and purchased postcards, and that was fun.  As a side note, do you have any idea how hard it is to actually find postcards these days?  But initially, they were not real involved with sending the first postcards.  There I was, spending time writing these notes while my kids played.  But as I suspected, they are way more into it now that we have actually gotten a few cards.  Jordan was amazed to see that we sent postcards across the ocean.

Oh, who am I kidding...I didn't really do this just for my kids.  I am hooked!

Day 18 - Zelienople Horse Trading Days

If you are looking for a nice summer festival, this is one to consider.  My sister and I have a Tastefully Simple booth there, but I always love walking around to see what is there.  Of course there are lots of crafters.  And festival food - wow - anything you want is there.  I recommend the white pizza.  Really, white pizza, at a craft show!  And for dessert, you MUST get the Amish doughnuts.  Oh. my. goodness.  Giant, warm doughnuts, dipped in glaze flavored with a hint of maple.  It's not unusual to see the line twenty people deep.

The festival seems to take over the entire town.  Not only are there booths at the crossroads in town, but if you walk down the main street, every store has a booth set up outside.  About two blocks down from the main part of the festival, there is a children's area with a blow-up jumper, a rock-climbing wall, pony rides, and a petting zoo, where kids can bottle-feed baby goats.

The day to go would be Saturday if you have kids.  There are a ton on fun things happening - frog jumping competitions, baby races, rodent races, a tractor pull, and more.  Check the website for other events, such as a karaoke competition and free concerts.  http://www.horsetradingdays.info/home

Fun stuff!

Day 17 - Vacation Bible School

All the cool kids go to VBS at Trinity.  So a few years ago, I had to make sure my kids were a part of it, too.  No, seriously, a few friends of mine at bunco one day were talking about how much fun it is for their kids.  How cool - kids excited about singing and learning about God.   Well, Jordan just gets excited about game time.  "Yes, it is awesome that you got from first base to home in kickball."  But hopefully he gets more out of it.  :)

The people who run it are amazing.  The decorations are always awesome.  The adults show enthusiasm 100 percent of the time - like they really love what they are doing.  Not only do they run VBS from 6 - 8:30, they also hold dinner beforehand, starting at 5:30.   And I love to see my students volunteering their time to help - how wonderful to see teens spending their time this way.

I am sure every VBS is great.  But there is something about this one that feels special.  It has something to do with community.  I look around sometimes at all the parents and kids there, and I know so many from different aspects of my life, work friends, neighbors, students, bunco buddies, etc.  It's a highlight of my day to sit and chat with people when I drop off or pick up the kids.  It's good to reconnect, even for a just a little bit.  And the two and a half hours of kid-free time is not bad either.

Day 16 - Fireman's Beach

We are pretty lucky to have Fireman's Beach less than ten minutes from us.  For years I have been taking the kids to swimming lessons in Meadville.  Sometimes I get tired of driving to Meadville.  So I decided to sign Jordan up for swim lessons this year at Fireman's Beach.  I wasn't sure about swim lessons in Conneaut  Lake.  First, they go for three weeks - really, three weeks!?  (at least it's close) Second, the temperature of the water would be kind of unpredictable, especially at 9 am.  But Jordan is enjoying himself.  Yesterday he wouldn't get out of our pool until he had practiced everything he learned at that day's lessons.  And as a bonus (for him, not me), Jordan plays at the park after lessons.  I would prefer to just go home....but I guess it's not all about me.

Fireman's Beach is a great place.  The sand is clean and soft; the grassy area is clean.  Trees provide some shade.  You can launch your boat there.  The park is nice for kids.  Concession stand is cheap - goodness knows my kids can't be expected to go somewhere like that and NOT buy something from the concession area.

So this week is a little crazy with so much stuff scheduled,  but I guess that's part of what this blog is about - what we do in the summer.  Fireman's Beach is not anything unique, but it's part of our summer, it deserves to be an entry.

Day 15 - Swimming at the MARC

By 10 am, it was 85 degrees.  There was only one thing to do today - swim.  We went to the Meadville Area Recreation Complex.  Refreshing water in two pools, water slide, diving board - all my kids need to keep them busy for hours.  And we left just in time to miss the rain.

http://www.marc4fun.com/

Day 14 - Covered Bridges

Ashtabula County, right across the border into Ohio, is home to 16 covered bridges.  One day in October, about 12 years ago, Jim and I went with some family members to a festival we thought sounded like fun - the Covered Bridge Festival (always the second weekend in October).  After enjoying some festivities at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, we got a map of all the covered bridges in the county.  We went to several and took great fall pictures.  We have been visiting the bridges ever since.  We always go in the fall, but sometimes we like to see the bridges in different seasons.  So today we took that opportunity.

We always go to the Caine Road bridge.  It is the best place to take fall pictures because there is a pond there that reflects the colors of the leaves.  We decided to skip that one today, so we started at the South Denmark bridge.  We then moved on to Netcher Road bridge and finished at Giddings Road Bridge.  I suppose we could have seen more, but our goal was not to hurry.  At each bridge, we stopped to take pictures, geocache, and just explore.  At the South Denmark Bridge, Jim and the kids went underneath the bridge to throw some rocks into the creek.  At the Netcher Road Bridge, we found a dead frog and some really cool green, blue, and red rocks.  If you are a geocacher, I believe there is a geocache at each bridge.  Most are micro caches. 

If you want to get photos from different angles, Jim suggests wearing jeans - the grass at Netcher was high and scratchy.  And our flip flops weren't exactly the best shoes to be walking around in that stuff.  Although...flip flops are a good idea if you want to actually walk in any of the creeks.  What can I say, covered bridges are not just pretty to look at; for us, they are an event. 

And to end our event, where else would we eat but at Covered Bridge Pizza in Andover, Ohio?!  This restaurant is actually a real covered bridge, or at least half of it.  In 1972, Ashtabula County sold the bridge for $5.  It sat in storage for a few years but eventually half became a pizza place in North Kingsville and the other half the pizza place in Andover.  And of course, I can't go there without thinking of eating the pizza with my family.  When we vacationed in this area when I was a kid, I always looked forward to the one day of the week we ate pizza from the Covered Bridge.  When I told my sister what we did tonight, she asked if the pizza still had the "sausage balls" on it.  Clearly a little nostalgic for her, too.   http://www.coveredbridgepizza.com/#!

If you are interested, here is a link to the covered bridges in OH - http://www.coveredbridgefestival.org/bridges.htm.  From this webpage, you can request a map of the bridges.  I suggest this.  Sure, you can print one from the net, but it's not nearly as good.  Today we went a little out of our way when going to the third bridge because of our inadequate map.  And those of you with kids know what it's like when you have to spend too much time with them in a car.

South Denmark bridge.  Imagine this picture in the fall!



The side of South Denmark

Netcher Road bridge

Giddings Road bridge



being silly



Our last stop!

Day 13 - Garage sales and party day!!!!

This is the perfect Saturday (or Friday) morning:  get up around 7:30 am; throw on some comfy clothes; go to the local convenience store and pick up a newspaper and a breakfast sandwich on a pretzel bun; head out to the garage sales.  AWESOME!  Today's treasures - Tony Horton's 10 minute workouts on DVD for 50 cents...the entire Eragon series for $1.25...torch lights brand new in unopened boxes for $5 a pair.  Really, the universe throws exactly what I need at the time into the garage sales I visit.  I just repainted the deck and got great new furniture, and as I was sitting out yesterday I told Jim that I wanted to find some kind of outdoor lighting...and one day later- BAM - there it is at a garage sale.

This evening was party time.  We went to a graduation party first at the new Dockside in Conneaut Lake Park.  If you have a chance to go to an event there - go - it is gorgeous!!  Then we went to a summer party at a friend's house.  What a great time - had a chance to catch up with some fellow teachers and other friends, and it was great to see all the kids playing.  The evening ended with a fireworks display that left me in awe - truly.

I am thankful today for an all-around beautiful day!  And as busy as everyone seems to be all the time, I am thankful that my friends go through the trouble to throw this big party to get people together, and I am thankful that we are invited to attend.

Day 12 - Wagon Trails

How about a safari in Ohio?!  Wagon Trails Animal Park in Vienna, OH, 10 miles outside of Youngstown, is AWESOME!  Ben went there on a field trip in 3rd grade and has wanted us to go there as a family ever since.  It was about an hour drive from our house in Conneaut Lake.  When we boarded the truck, it was hard to believe that we were about to see over 350 animals from six continents.  Each person on the ride received a bucket of feed, and the truck stopped about 7 or 8 times along the one-hour ride.  The guy driving the truck was a great tour guide.  He described some of the animals by name and described their personalities.  He knew exactly where the baby animals were and when they were born.  He described very clearly how to feed each group of animals we encountered. 

To feed most animals, all we had to do is sprinkle the feed into their open mouths.  It was absolutely the coolest thing.  At every stop of the truck, there was a virtual stampede of animals heading for us, antelope, elk, buffalo, camels, you name it.  The animals also stick their heads into the truck and feed off the floor under your feet; most of the time, they don't really care if your legs are in the way.  Out of all the animals, the only ones we could not pet were the zebras and the ostriches.  When else in my life will I ever be able to feel the velvety antlers of the elk?  Or to pet a camel's head?  Or to rub a donkey's ears or a water buffalo's head? 

Jim didn't go, but we took my mother, and I have to say that this place is also very handicap friendly.  There are no steps, and we could park very close.  Shoot, there was even a handicap portapotty!  The only disadvantage is that it is a little pricey.  The cost for an adult is 14.95, and for a child, 10.95.  That included the safari ride and the feed and a separate petting zoo to explore either before or after the ride.  Total we spent about two hours there.  On the bright side, if you go to their website, you can print a coupon for $2 off each admission. (http://www.wagontrails.com/) I think I can say this is a trip that the kids will remember!

Here comes the stampede.

This guy's head was bigger than my mother's legs.

Feeding under the seats

We're coming!  Feed us!

Look at that tongue!

This baby donkey is only one week old.

Feeding these guys was actually a little scary!

Day 11 - Farmer's Market

Today the fun was all mine.  Our Lady Queen of the Americas, the Catholic church in Conneaut Lake is home to a farmer's market every Thursday from 2 - 6.  This is the first year for it.  I really would like to see it become a success.  I was a little disappointed when I pulled into the parking lot and saw that there were only about a dozen vendors.  However, I have to say that I found some treasures.  There was a guy there from Saegertown who was selling everything maple - maple syrup, maple sugar, dip mixes with maple, maple barbecue sauce, spicy maple mustard...you get the picture.  Another booth featured homemade cheeses sold by some Menonites - garlic dill was the yummiest.  An Amish lady was selling baked goods; I took home some homemade bread.  I bought some cinnamon swirl bread and some zucchini bread at another booth.   I know, carb overload.  It's worth it.  There were also a few crafters.  One woman was there selling beach glass jewelry at a very reasonable price.  My neighbor picked up a necklace and a bracelet set for two dollars.   I even had a chance to chat with a retired colleague, who also had a booth.

The farmer's market was very small today but still well worth going to.  I really hope that it catches on and becomes more popular, both for vendors and for customers.  

Day 10 - The Beach at Presque

Today was the perfect day for the beach.  We are so lucky to live 45 minutes from Lake Erie.  When I was a kid, we vacationed in Pymatuning and always spent one day of our week's vacation at Presque.  It's easy to pretend you're at the ocean.  Soft sand, waves, and not being able to see all the way across the lake create that illusion.

There is so much to do around Presque Isle State Park that I could probably complete my entire 30-day project in that vacinity.  I'll leave some of that for another day.  Today we went to the park with another family.  On the way, we stopped at Little Caesar's and picked up three pizzas.  Now that's a picnic.  Three adults and five children ate for under $20, and I didn't have to spend a bunch of time making sandwiches for everyone.  The kids had a blast in the water.  And of course I could count on Jim to go in and play with the kids....and throw them around...and get yelled at by the lifeguard!  :-) 

For those of you familiar with Presque, we went to beach 7 and then went to the playground area after the beach.  The sand isn't as smooth as I remember in other parts of the park, but it's a good one if you need handicap accessibility, and it's nice because of the playground.  Normally we go to beach 6, which we like for the concession area and the nice bathrooms.  Anyone who knows Presque, I would live to hear which beach you normally frequent and why.

Ben was very sad because we did not make time to go to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center.  Now that place is a great free attraction.  You can go to the top of this tower and see great views of the lake.  Inside it's basically a small museum.  And geocachers, yep, there's one there, too.  Next time we venture to Erie, we will take advantage of some of those other attractions...we'll fill you in when we do!

A random picture of the beach. 

Look, waves!

Ben loves to get thrown.

I think this was right before the lifeguard yelled.

Day 9 - Ernst Trail

Today we went on an easy six-mile bike ride on Ernst Trail.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this trail.  Built in 1996, the trail is actually five miles long and goes from right around Park Avenue Plaza in Meadville and continues to Route 19.  Eventually, the goal is to continue the trail into Conneaut Lake.  A couple times of year, there are 5K races there to raise money for the project.  Much of it parallels French Creek, providing beautiful scenery.  About a quarter mile into the trail, there is a covered bridge.  We stop there every time.  The boys like to play in a little creek that runs under the bridge, and for you geocachers, you can find one there.  Every half mile is marked clearly, so it's easy to keep track of how far you've gone, making it a great trail for running.  It's also very flat.  It would have been pretty easy to complete the whole ten miles, but it may have gotten dark before we finished.  Oh, and the bugs tend to get pretty thick, so sunglasses are a good idea.  Jordan got a bug in his eye and ended up swerving off the path and falling off his bike.  But he's a tough one, so he really didn't complain much.  It was a nice time - we really should go more often.  And Dairy Queen is pretty close, so of course we ended the evening there. 

This is the creek that goes under the bridge.

Too cool for words.

Jim caught this little guy.

And Jordan loved him.  He wanted to "spend as much time with him" as he could.

French Creek is in the background.

He's goin' FAST!