Pack Reunion in New York, July 2014

We had a wonderful time with family, as always.  It is a struggle to get all of the Pack siblings together as they all live in separate areas of the country... New York, Washington state, Utah, and Colorado.  Usually we go out west but this year was unique in that everyone made a special effort to get to New York where Mike and Lisa live with their family.  We allotted a full week to be there and it still went by way too fast.

We didn't make it too far from home starting out, the car broke down not 30 miles from home so this photo is us in the tow truck making sad faces.  But living close to home has some perks, we were able to take my mom's Acura instead and lose only a couple of hours.

We stopped at a rest area just at the Virginia border and I saw a photo opportunity.  Glad I did, she really hammed it up for these and that is not usual for her.  The typical scenario is me taking tons of photos just to get one that is not blurry or her running from the camera.  I do have some great photos of Jane, but you have to realize there are a lot of duds that get deleted!

                                               

We stopped in West Virginia and did the same thing.  There were signs not to pick the flowers, which of course any 2 year old would disregard.  I wonder if I shouldn't do this for every state we visit, but it was easier to cruise on through the other states and when we stopped there weren't any great places to take photos.  

Arrival at Mike and Lisa's on Sunday afternoon was low key.  Not everyone was there yet, except Mom and Dad Pack, Grandpa Pack, the Bowns and the Lindquists of course.  But Monday morning, we wasted no time in getting out on the lake.  Lake Seneca is closest to their home, and a friend of theirs was willing to share his boat and his expertise to take out all the menfolk.  A couple of the little guys got to go out too, but there was hardly any wind.  

Meanwhile, the women, children, and elderly had a nice time on the lakefront, listening to the pier-driver and digging in the sand.  The weather was not ideal for sailing perhaps, but it was wonderful lakeside.  A perfect cool summer morning without humidity!

On Tuesday, we headed to Niagara Falls.  This was one day trip that I was particularly excited about.  I'm not sure why, as I have been there before, except that I do remember the trip from my childhood and the memories had grown dim.  Needed to relight that part of my brain, and get some awesome photos with Jane there too.  My mom had a thing when we were younger, to take us to as many significant sites on roadtrips as we could cram in there.  I wish she had taken more photos of the places we saw.  All I have now are a few photos here and there but mostly my mind's eye.  Weather was again, perfect.  A tad windy today (should've swapped sailing days) but the feel of the water blowing off the falls and into my face was pleasant and refreshing.  Afterwards we were treated to ice cream by Grandma and Grandpa Pack.  Jane found an animal umbrella that she loved.  Fortunate for her, she doesn't have one so we felt it was a purchase we could use.

That night we went to eat in town.  The restaurant was nice.

From what I recall, Wednesday started out slow.  We went looking for things to do.  Lisa and I went to some community yard sales.  We took a walk around the area with Jane, and let her play on the dock in her bathing suit (no swimming took place, although we did take her on a canoe ride).

We also went to a local Amish store (and found cheese curds!)  We met a lovely little girl named Marilee.  She showed us her new stray cat friend that they've taken to feeding, and accompanied us around the store.  She really was too sweet.  I need to raise my little girl like Marilee.  

This post is getting awfully long, so I think I'll do a part II next time.

Beach Time!

This year so far has been month after month of Jeff slaving away at his job at Synergy.  A typical day for him was to leave early before we woke up, and get home around 7pm.  A typical week for the past few months was working 6 days a week, and often on weekends.  So yeah, we didn't get to see him much.  Which really would have annoyed me at any point, but especially during my very sick first three months of pregnancy, I was losing patience quickly with his employment status.  Luckily I knew he was moving on in June so that kept me sane and kept the complaints to a minimum.  But Jeff was having a hard time getting a day or two off, let alone a full week.  But I insisted he use his vacation days before he lost them all after the job change (As it was he still lost a week or two).  So I hopped online and bought a two day hotel stay in Myrtle Beach for Memorial Day week, which was at the end of May.  We've both never been there but that's where a lot of people go for their beach vacations so I thought it would be nice to try it out.  Then I also decided that a trip to the zoo was in order, so we'd hit the Columbia Riverbanks Zoo on the way out.

The zoo was fantastic.  She had a great time last year when we went, but this year, she could name most of the animals herself, and would look longer.  In the koala habitat, they were sleeping, so she 'ssssh' d me for talking too loudy.  She loved the animal carousel, and was eager to get to the aquarium, which she acted like she remembered!  We also paid a little extra for her to feed the giraffes, which was the best $2 spent that day!  She loved feeding them, and talked about it for a whole week afterwards.  Even now she sometimes mentions it, and has renewed interest in her giraffe figurines.  So the zoo is something I'd love to do again with her soon, maybe before this next baby comes if we can cram it into our busy summer schedule.
The hotel in Myrtle Beach, Dunes Resort, was a family-entertainment type location with both indoor and outdoor pools and water features, a ship playground (Jane's absolute favorite place during the trip), dining, and on the beach.  So we spent most of our time there.  It was nice that the resort gave us a free upgrade to an ocean front suite with a full kitchen and living space, along with two queen size beds in a separate bedroom.  Lucked out from our original ocean view king studio reservation!  A great start to the few days we would spend there.

Jane loved the playground and asked to go there often, asking me to pretend to be Izzy while she would pretend to be Cubby (Jake and the Neverland Pirates, one of her favorite shows if not THE favorite).  I think she likes Cubby because he always has the maps and Jane is kinda into maps right now.  But she's also into pixie dust so I don't know.  She'd put her eye up to the play telescopes and say "Captain Hook coming!!!!", or, "Tick Tock Crock!"  Unfortunately she's past the 'croc-o-gator' phase, which didn't last nearly long enough.  She didn't like walking around on the hot sand without shoes, but didn't want to wear her shoes in the sand, so Jeff carried her around the playground a lot.  It's funny but she has no interest in the swings or slides.  She spends her time on playgrounds running across bridges and using her imagination, wanting us or another child to join in her pretend fun.
I think the second most enjoyable thing for Jane in Myrtle Beach was the Captain's Hook themed miniature golf.  She would place her ball right next to the hole before putting it in, but I think she really enjoyed it.  She loved the mermaid scenery and Captain Hook's boat, but the dark caves with voices spooked her, we had to carry her through those.

Most exciting for us, was Jane coming around to the ocean.  Our trip last year was a sand-only affair for her, but this year she dipped in her toes and didn't take long to venture a little deeper.  When daddy held her, she'd go as deep as he'd take her.  She loved 'jumping' over the waves as they rolled in.  It was so fun to hear her laughs and squeals and see the big smiles on her face.  She went on a long walk along the shoreline, jumping in and out of the tide pools.  She had so much fun, she cried when it was time to go in for lunch.

Our last day was spent exploring the main tourist part of Myrtle Beach, the Boardwalk, where we ate some food that was not very impressive at Peach's Corner, visited a candy store where Jane could hardly keep her hands out of the candy jars, and let her enjoy some of the fun to be found, a Stuart Little car ride and all the stuffed animals she could hold at 'The Gay Dolphin' gift store that Jeff and I sniggered at every time we saw the signs.

Overall, we decided that although it was a fun beach trip, we will probably continue to visit the South Carolina beaches in the future.  We loved our experiences at Seabrook Island, Kiawah Island, Isle of Palms much more, just because we enjoy a more scenic beach with quieter or more historical attractions.  We aren't so much into the entertainment scene which Myrtle is known for.