Alexis on Halloween

So this Halloween was not a great one for our DAughter Alexis. After school she did what she always does, and that is spend some time watching cartoons after homework. Of course, this day was a Friday so there was no homework.

Heading to the big screen in the basement, she missed a step and fell down 10 stairs and landed at the bottom. She is in a cast for 6 weeks.

ALexis did go trick or treating after we were told at emergency care that her arm was fine. She was a Bat this year and her sister Cjeyenne was a pirate cheerleader.

The next day the emergency care center called us back and told us they needed to see us right away as the Radiologist had read her Xray and she had a buckle fracture in her wrist.

I knew something was wrong as she complained of pain since the accident, and she is very tolerant of pain.

A Busy Girls Weekend in October

This year's Retreiver Rally was fun and different all at the same time. Fun because it is always fulfilling to attend a school event with my children and different because Ron was not with us this year as he was in Florida for the week.

At the rally we played on the inflatable slide and fire truck, got tattoos, made sand art into key chains, and took a few minutes to catch up with our favorite teacher from lasy year, Mrs. Haag.

The entire weekend was very busy as we also took in the open house of the University of Maryland Farm for the first time since we have lived in Maryland. This farm is behind our property, and we have said every year that we were going to attend. It is amazing what we have been missing!!! We had so much fun petting a day old baby calf, eating fresh pumpkin ice cream, learning how to compost, and riding the hay wagon tour of the farm fields and dairy cattle barns.

Cheyenne held an African centipede that was so gross!!!

Our other "kids"

Ron and I both had pets growing up and in our early adult lives. But we never made time for pets in our life together. In 2005, as my employer transferred us to MARYLAND, we promised the girls that they could get a puppy. Soon after our home goods were delivered to our new residence, we knew there would be no time for a pet in Maryland any more than there had been time for one in Florida.

The girls held us to our promise and asked for the puppy constantly until I compromised and brought home a kitten. (June 2005) I thought a kitten would be self sufficient, use the litter box, and not mind being home alone for long periods of time. Romeo is a black part Siamese cat who has grown on all of us. (even Ron who says he despises cats)

Last year (2007) at Easter time, Ron took us all to a Y-Me breast cancer awareness walk in Northern Virginia. The walk was very emotional to be amongst cancer survivors and family members of those who had lost their battle with cancer. One of the most enjoyable experiences that day was the fact that there were about 100 dogs that walked with us as we completed our journey around the park and back to the finish line. As we pulled out of the parking area and headed home, I knew we were destined to have a dog . I wanted Chey and Lexi to have a dog. So the following week, as Lexi attended a birthday party at the mall, Chey, Ron and I went to the puppy store to start looking for the type of dog we wanted to own. A few weeks later, I found Lilly, our Cocker Spaniel at a private breeder in Glen Burnie. She is beautiful, has a big heart, is always excited to see us, and gets home made dog food. SPOILED!!

So the first week of July, (2008) Lilly woke up on that Saturday morning ill and had to be taken to our vet. As we were waiting for our turn in the consult room, I fell in love with a cute little tabby kitten in the window where our vet always has rescued kittens. I am not sure why I wanted her so badly, I think it is because she reminds me of my first cat, Shag, that I had as a child. We got rid of Shag after he scratched my dad one morning when his tail got stuck under the front door and my dad was trying to free him, because the scratch ended up as "cat scratch fever". It really is an illness, not just a great Ted Nugent song. So anyhow, I ended up going back and adopting "Foxy" our newest and FINAL family member. She is adorable, but lots of trouble as she was a barn kitten.

Nascar Nuts

We have discovered as a family, that we enjoy going to the races. This was Chey and Lexi's first race in 2007 in Dover. The day could not have been better as Carl won that day. Lexi shares a fanview scanner with ther dad, and Chey shares the RE scanner with me.

BSE - Louden New Hampshire

In September we went to the races in New Hampshire. We considered this the last event of our Best Summer Ever. The girls had started back to school already. I went to Rhode Island on Friday, drove to Framingham Massachusettes to attend a Back Pack Donation event on behalf of the OD Foundation, and them went on to tour a store in Nashua New Hampshire. On Saturday Morning, Ron and the girls joined me. We went to visit the OD show car at my store in Nashua. Rooster (Bruce) a fabulous fun person who takes care of one of the touring show cars for Rousch Fenway treated us very special that day. The girls got to sit in the show car and sit on it to take pictures with Bruce. Very few folks get this opportunity as Bruce usually doesn't even let anyone touch the car, let alone get into it. We will miss Bruce if he doesn't stay on with us as we change drivers in January.

The following day, we went to the race at Louden. What a neat track! even through all of the rain. The McCain family was there as well as Diamond Rio. Carl finished 3rd that day and we had a great time!

Monday morning, the girls and I came back to Maryland and Ron went to Florida for the week. We missed him terribly!!!

Best summer Ever - Niagara Falls

So the fun continued for us as we went to Niagara Falls for a day trip on August 16. We flew to Buffalo on a 7AM flight and flew back to Baltimore on the 8 PM flight all in the same day. If you have never been to the Falls, I recommend that you add it to the bucket list if you have one. We have been talking about doing this as a family for the entire time that we have lived in Maryland. I travel several time a year to Buffalo to visit stores and have saved this special occassion for when I could experience it with Ron and the girls.

First off, our day was interesting as the car charger in our rental car did not work, and yes there was only one. I never learn how to get anywhere because I have become dependant on the talking box attached to my windshield, and by the time we realized the charger did not work, we were far from the airport and almost to Niagara Falls. I would say that Niagara Falls NY is not a glamorous place and there is no where there that I experienced that one would want to get lost in. We made it to the park where all tourist go by following the road signs and decided that we would leave a little early to head back to the airport in case we got lost.

We decided to take a guided tour of the area and attractions and I recommend this to any first time goers. Our tour started out solemn as we learned that a 12 year old girl had fallen into the Falls the day before and had not been recovered as of yet. No one except a few daredevils in homemade contraptions have ever survived falling in the water. The current is so powerful that you cannot even dip your toe into the water without being sucked in and carried away. News crews were everywhere as the search continued and we were told that they would all leave by the end of the day as the history of these accidents were that what ever fell into the Falls would end up surfacing in the whirlpool a few weeks later.

We went on the Mist of the Maiden, Cave of the Winds, and spent time touring all around the park. If you have a passport, you can walk across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada where it looks beautiful and much much nicer than the US side. At Cave of the Winds, you get a funny pair of Sandals to wear and a yellow rain coat. You have to experience this just once!

On the way back to the airport, we had extra time because we found our way without navagation!!! I took everyone to a locals favorite called Schwabels. This family owned restaurant has been around since the early 40s and reminds me of my Grandpa Dusty. He would have loved the bar glasses that are tall and skinny as he had some just like it. All of the waitresses are in nursing outfits, and the head butcher and meat carver is in a long white butcher coat. They carve your beef for the "Beef on Weck" at the bar and serve it with hot homemade german potatoe salad. Weck is a super salty roll with Pretzel type salt on the top.

The first time I went to Schwabels, a few years ago, it was snowing in Buffalo like crazy and the only other person in the restaurant besides my group was Tim Russert. He grew up a few blocks from there and was in town to finish filmong the special report he did on caring for aging parents. Big Russ still lived just a few blocks away and did not feel like coming out in the snow for lunch that day. Tim stopped at our table to tell us that we had picked the best joint in town to get a bit e to eat. He then thanked everyone working there for a fabulous sandwich as usual and said he would see them soon. And out the door he went.

Ron and the girls enjoyed our day in Buffalo, and I am so glad I waited to share the experience of Niagara Falls with them.