Fun times in Norfolk

Yesterday our family met up with Amber, my college roommate, at Schlotzsky's in Norfolk. I think that place is my favorite sandwich shop in the world! It's a little chain out of Texas and they have the most amazing sourdough bread. The original purpose of our trip was to check out an acoustic festival being held at the park next door. It wasn't quite what we expected and the atmosphere wasn't an enjoyable as we'd hoped either. The music was nice, but from the advertisements we thought there would be more of it! They did have a book fair alongside it though that featured local artists. I bought a book for H3 entitled "The Little Pot" and the author signed it for her. The story is about a little fruit pot who was trying to figure out what the potter meant for him to be. It's a very cute story based out of a verse in Galations and well-illustrated. I hope H3 will enjoy it!

After browsing the book fair, we stopped into Nauticus, a local naval museum. Since the festival was free, we didn't bring a lot of money with us and didn't feel like paying the $11 to see the exhibits, but then we discovered that the self-guided tour through the USS Wisonsin (a WWII battleship that served in the Korean War and Gulf War as well) and accompanying exhibit were free! We took about 1 hour to browse the exhibit and the ship and it was then that I really wished I hadn't left my camera at home! In the rush to get out the door for church I completely forgot it! Amber took a couple pictures so I'm going to try and track down some from here. Anyways, I was pleased to note that the tour was very stroller and wheelchair friendly, so maybe one of these days I can bring my parents here or Grandpa. I'm sure he'd enjoy taking a look at it! The Wisconsin was decommissioned in 1991 and is technically in mothball state, waiting to be permanantly retired as a museum ship. We did find out though that the engines were cooled and sealed in such a manner as to prevent rust and would be in perfect working condition if needed again! They are kept at a constant temp of 40 degrees!

There seem to be a lot of festivals in this area over the next couple months and most are free, so hopefully we'll get to explore a few more of them and in the future I will try to remember my camera!

~H2

H3 Birthday and Misc

H3's little first birthday party was a success! We went down to a park and had pizza, cake, and chips with my college roommate and another family (Dean, Robyn, and their 3 beautiful daughters). H3 looked very happy throughout the whole thing and even marked her slice of the cake while we were singing happy birthday to her. I can't believe my little one is a year old. How fast she's grown! After food, we took the kids over to Fort Fun, the delightful playground at the park. Granted, it had been drizzling most of the time so everything was wet, but they had fun anyways! I like taking H3 there on nice days during the week and we swing. It's probably the nicest playground I've ever seen and wonderful for kids.

I found out on Saturday morning that I finally passed my EMT test! Woohoo! It's done, over, finished, no more headaches from studying! My test partner and I are both very excited. For now we are just volunteering at the rescue squad. I may pursue a part time job later in that field but for now I just really enjoy volunteering. This certification is also for the Boy Scout camp during the summer, so it's a relief to have that done now.

I've got mac n' cheese in the oven for H1's school today--a farewell/congratulations party for his principal who was promoted to assistant superintendent. I know she'll do a wonderful job because she's a wonderful, talented lady, but we'll miss her at the school. She was a delight for H1 to work for. Time to get that out and over.

Until next time!

~H2

Back again!

We returned last night around 11pm from a quick weekend trip to OH to visit my folks. What a whirlwind--but a good one! Friday was my b-day, and in the morning H1 made me yummy pecan pancakes with peanut butter on top! A friend from church brought over some wood that he had cut down on his property so he and H1 spent some time getting it further chopped and situated. Then, H1, H3, and I went to lunch at Applebees. H1 had to leave at 2:00 to get ready for a football game that night, so I gave H3 a bath and she helped me pack (more like unpack what I was trying to pack) and we loaded up the car. H3 and I arrived at the game around halftime and then met up with H1 afterwards and at 10pm we set off for Ohio! The drive was pretty nice, actually. Very quite and little traffic. H1 and I took turns driving so both of us got some sleep (H3 slept the whole way) and we arrive around 8am. After breakfast and a nap for H3, we took a few minutes to celebrate a belated b-day for me and an early b-day for H3 before heading to the park by the lake (Erie). Dad grilled chicken for dinner and we accompanied it with corn-on-the-cob. Yum!
Sunday morning we visited my parents church (minus Mom because she wasn't feeling too good) and then returned for lunch. Mom was starting to feel better so we decided to visit the Cleveland zoo (so glad that my grandfather gave Mom a wheelchair so she is able to go to some places like this where she couldn't before). The zoo was a pretty decent size and the exhibits were laid out well--especially the Australian one. I don't think I've ever been that close to a kangaroo or a koala! H3 seemed to like the big cats (a.k.a. the tigers). Dinner was pizza and leftover cake and we went to bed early. Monday we pretty much just packed and chatted for a bit before leaving at 11am to head home. We were originally expecting to be home around 9:30 that night, but hit a few holiday traffic jams. Oh well. At least we made it back and H1 got a few hours of sleep before school today!
Today was the first day with the kids back in school. He said it went ok, but not as well as he was hoping. His schedule is a lot different than last year, so that will take some getting used to--if they will ever give him any details about what he's supposed to be doing! This week will be pretty busy for him. He has a game tomorrow night (Wed) and Friday night, and then Thursday night after football practice he's meeting H3, me, and a few friends at the park to celebrate H3's birthday. He'll only get to stay for about 30 mins though because he has worship practice at church too! Our worship leader is gone this Sunday so H1 is filling in.
I don't think H3 will be to offended about getting cake twice in one week. I hate to spoil her too much, but my parents really wanted to celebrate her birthday with her even though it was early and I wanted to at least do something the day of as well. I requested presence, as opposed to presents, at her little party. The park there is pretty nice and probably has the best playground I've ever seen. There's just a couple people coming...my college roommate Amber, and then our friends Dean and Robyn and their 3 girls. This is to celebrate that H3 is a year old and that H1 and I made it through our first year as parents. Hurray!

Below are some pictures from our trip.

H3 surprised us by making a dash up the stairs--her first time climbing them since we don't have any!

Getting a ride on Daddy's shoulders

Dad and Mom, H1 and H3


Opening her birthday presents

Mom and H3 at the park

Dad grilling chicken

H3 getting some cake!

H1 and H3 with the cake before it was eaten

~H2