Camping in Gettysburg

This past weekend we had our second camping trip of the season to Artillery Ridge Campground in Gettysburg. Our first had been Mountain Creek, which I did not get a chance to blog about. I had been watching the weather forecast 10 days in advance, hoping for a weekend full of sunshine. It was almost perfect....Friday rained all day and it had been raining for several days prior to this. The ground was completely soaked, and it was a little cool for this time of year. I took off work at 2 and picked up the kiddos from day care. Jimmy had gotten off around lunch time and finished up last minute packing. By 3:30 we were on the road. We started setting up, which went fairly smoothly. We were, however, dissapointed with our site, which we picked the weekend before!! It had to have been the muddiest site there. We had choosen it because our original site was pretty small and we would have had a hard time getting the slides out as well as the awning. This site was so muddy that when I got out of the truck I sunk almost to my ankles! This made it very difficult to keep the camper clean with two kids and a dog. Almost impossible. This was the point that I realized I definitely need to keep more more old towels and paper towels in the camper. We were almost set up when Jimmy noticed that the carpet was wet around the front corner of the slide. This in combination with being very annoyed that we could not get satellite reception due to all the trees, caused, well lets just say, a bit of frustration. Where the heck was the water coming from? In addition to this, the fan on the air conditioner decided it didn't want to work followed by the check light coming on the fridge (which turned out to be fine). We also had two hungry children by this time. I started making hamburgers and mac and cheese for the kids while Jimmy sweated and cursed finished setting up. BTW, the water was coming from a small crack in the slide that we found when we got home and Jimmy has since caulked). It was pretty much a wash out on Friday night. We stayed in and watched the 4 or 5 channels we could get from the antenna (life is rough!). Here are some pics....

Saturday morning was cloudy to start but the sun did start peeking through the clouds and things started drying out. We went to the playground and hung out at the camper until after lunch. We took the kids to the pool and were quite surpised how much Cody enjoyed himself. It took a little convincing, but once he was in, you couldn't get him out. We then headed over to the Kiddie Carnival and the kids had fun with the dime toss, duck pond, and balloon maker. Cody got an octopus and Hannah wanted a penguin. My parents stopped by to visit around dinner time. We played a few games and built a fire, roasted sausages, and ate, ate, ate. Hannah toasted some marshmellows. Later the kids watched Cars in the camper and Jimmy and I had a good time sitting by the fire and just talking. On Sunday everyone slept in, which was much needed. I made breakfast-eggs, hashbrowns, and toast. We started packing up and headed home. It was a great weekend. Now the countdown begins to Frontier Town!

Parade, Picnic, and Plenty of Yardwork

What a fantastic Memorial Day weekend we had! A great start to hopefully a spectacular summer!! Our weekend actually didn't start out wonderful, as Cody had a fever Friday night and was quite fussy. I felt so bad for him. Thankfully, by Saturday he seemed to turn the corner. Mom and Dad were at a car show and I dropped Cody off to spend a few hours doing what he loves...looking at cars with his Pappy! Poor little guy was so tired after two hours, I ended up picking him up early. It ended up working out well, since Hannah was in the parade for dance, he was able to nap before leaving. Kathy's Carousel dancers did a fabulous job in the parade. The preschoolers were the candy throwers. Hannah and her friend K got to ride in the wagon. Cody was not in the mood to ride in the wagon and ended up heading back to the truck with his daddy. I never thought I would be walking down the main street in East Berlin for a parade. Even Gammy and Pappy ended up walking in the parade with us.



On Sunday I headed to the grocery store and then we spent the day at the lake on the boat. We took our little grill and cooked hot dogs and hamburgers. The kids really enjoyed themselves. It was such a beautiful day. Hannah was her usual "fish" self, swimming and swimming. Cody on the other hand, wanted nothing at all to do with the water. Hannah even ended up meeting another little girl her age along the shore where we pulled the boat up and enjoyed swimming with her. The family had been camping and walked down from the campground. We enjoyed talking with them about, what else, CAMPING! Unfortnately, I did not bring my camera so no photos to share!

On Monday we decided to dig into some much needed yard work. We went to Agway and bought a few scoops of mulch and plastic to put down. Hopefully my weed picking days have come to an end for a while! Since we will be spending many weekends away from home, this should help cut down on some work! In two weeks we will be heading to Artillery Ridge campground in Gettysburg. Looking forward to it!

Childrens' Bedroom Tour

Over at Kelly's Korner she is hosting a tour of guest rooms or children's bedrooms. I enjoyed seeing everyone's living rooms last week and thought I would participate again! I'll start out with my daughter's bedroom. Hannah is my sweet 5-year-old girl. When we moved to our home in 2007, her bedroom was very, well, let's say old fashioned. It definitely needed a makeover for a little girl. We decided to paint her walls light purple and the trim bright white. I just love how it turned out. Here is a view from the doorway.



We recently got the white dresser and nightstand from Target. Up until that point she was using nursery furniture, which is now in her brother's room. I was quite suprised how well the furniture was made and the price was great. We are debating whether to paint her bed white as well...however, this bed is very old. It was my husband's grandma's bed and I don't want to take away from the character.

Now a tour of my 2-year-old son, Cody's room. Just a few months ago he moved from his crib to a toddler bed. He loves the movie Cars and anything to do with Cars. So I felt it appropriate to do a Cars theme for his room. This is a view from the doorway. My SIL made the curtains for me.

We are hoping to get a bunk bed set in a few years. But for now this works. The furniture is kind of mixed up. My daughter used to have the colored dresser but since she got the new white furniture, I thought the bright colored dresser would look nice in Cody's room. At this point we are still using a changing table. I'm hoping to get some Cars posters to frame and hang on the walls soon. These walls defintely need something!

These shelves were here when we bought the house. Apparently this room was used for an office. We decided to keep them to put toys on. Nothing much on there now though.

That completes the tour of my childrens' bedrooms. Thanks for stopping by!

Living Room Tour

Show Us Where You Live Friday

I recently came across Kelly's Corner and thought this was a neat idea! We moved into our home in July 2007. This home has been such a blessing to our family. It was exactly what we wanted and we didn't have to change a thing!! In fact, I even purchased many pictures and furniture from the previous owner since our our likes were exactly the same and that family was downsizing! We spend a great deal of time in our living room, particuarly during the winter months when we are cooped up inside. It is probably the most lived-in area of the house besides the family room. I try to have toys hidden from view when they are not being played with but yet accessible for the kids to easily find things to entertain themselves while we are in that room. My husband and I have different views on the whole toy thing...he feels the kids' bedrooms are where toys should be kept, and I feel they should be available throughout the house. We have scaled down a bit with what is kept in the living room for this very reason. I found ways to "hide" things and I'll admit it does look less cluttered. I like country and simple. Here is the grand tour...

We got our couch and recliner from Ashley's Furniture for a great deal because they were discontinuing this particular style. I was so thrilled to finally have a brand new set of living room furniture. We always had hand-me-downs, which don't get me wrong, is wonderful, but it was nice to finally have new! The color of the carpet would not be my first choice, simply because it shows every little mark and stain. Just doesn't work well with two kiddos and a dog. It's very hard to keep clean.

There is a story to the entertainment center. A few years ago we had purchased two end tables at Target which you can see one in the left hand hand corner of the picture. We already had a used entertainment center at that time that did not match. It just so happened to work out that a few years later my MIL saw this one at the Goodwill store for 100 dollars! It was in brand-new condition and matched our end tables to complete the set!! We were thrilled to say the least. The stencling and curtains where here when we bought the house, and I liked it so much that we kept it.

This shelf was given to me by my Mom when we bought our first home. As you can see, I collect Willow Tree Angels.

And that completes the tour of my living room. Pretty plain and simple. Thanks for looking!

Something For Mother's Day...A Little Early

My very sweet daughter told me today that she has a surprise present for me for Mother's Day and wanted me to guess what it was.

"I'll give you a clue , she said, something that you use your arms for". Hmm, "Is it something for scrapbooking?" I asked.

"No, silly, she said, it's a hug!" Aww....how cute! It's moments like this that make up for all the frustrating ones! Gotta love a 5 year old!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It's a rainy Monday here and I'm glad we could all stay inside today. It's been raining straight for several days now and I think we are all ready for some sunshine! The kids have lots of energy today from being cooped up!

Hannah had dance class and I was thrilled when my neighbor whos little girl also dances offered to take the girls and pick them up. This saves me from loading and unloading Cody 4 times in the rain!! Plus it eliminates having to move car seats around because I usually take our neighbor one way or the other and have to squish 3 seats in the back. You would think that by having a SUV that there would be PLENTY of room. However, I believe my back seat is no bigger than a regular sized car. I'm convinced that my next vehicle should be a van. I thought the day would never come that i would actually want a van, but it has. I just love those automatic doors when your hands are full (which is all of the time).

It's been an overall productive day. I got our bed sheets laundered and put back on the beds, vacuumed upstairs, and cleaned my hardwood floor. The kids have been fed their lunch (and too many snacks!) and I made a cake to take into work tomorrow for a coworker's birthday. I still need to clean the bathrooms and do another load of laundry. I also need to start thinking about dinner. Maybe meatloaf and scalloped potatoes, yummy!

Cody finally decided to go down for a much needed nap! He is starting to not nap consistently for me. I remember Hannah was around this age when she stopped napping. I do believe he still really needs one because by 6:30 (dinnertime) he is usually grouchy or even falls asleep while watching TV. It is not a pretty site when i have to wake him!

As an aside, I've really been enjoying reading other Mom's blogs. I could spend hours just browsing through and finding interesting people. One blog that I've been following daily is MckMama. She is a mom of four children ages 4 and under! She is a wonderful writer and quite an inspiration. Check it out if you get a chance.

Nothing much else going on today. Now off to relax a little while it's quiet around here...

Hippity Hoppity, Easter 2009

Our Holiday weekend started on Friday with a road trip to Cabela's. This was a somewhat last minute decision since the weather was not the greatest when we woke up that morning. So I packed up the DVD player and other activities for the car ride and we were off to Hamburg, PA which is only about an hour or so away. The kids really enjoyed themselves, especially Cody. He was very excited to see the HUGE display of animals and the aquarium. Then it was off to lunch. They do have a restaurant in the store but it was very crowded so we opted to go across the street to Taco Bell and Long John Silvers. After lunch we drove through Indiantown Gap which was really interesting to see. We climbed to the top of a mountain in the truck and the view was amazing! It was a great family day.



On Saturday it was time to paint Easter eggs. Hayley came over and we had a great time dipping eggs and putting stickers and glitter on almost 2 dozen eggs! It was a good thing Nanny was making deviled eggs for Easter dinner to use up some of those. Later that afternoon we went to see Monsters Vs. Aliens in 3D. Jimmy and Cody decided to stay home since we thought Cody would probably not sit through the movie. So Nanny, Pappy, Hannah, and I enjoyed the movie. Hannah really enjoyed herself and the fact that it was 3D was really cool. Of course the price of going to see a movie and getting a drink and popcorn is absolutely ridiculus, it was worth it just to have some time with Hannah. The girls played a little at the arcade and got to jump around in some balloons. We were entertained watching these kids play Dance Revolution, wasting their money!

On Easter Sunday we were invited to Jimmy's brother's house for lunch and an egg hunt. Nanny suprised the kids with "prize eggs" and presents for finding those eggs. It turned out that each kid got 3 eggs and 3 prizes. They had a blast, although the darn weather was not cooperating and it was pretty cold! Cody really enjoyed just hunting for eggs and putting them in his bucket. We spent the day there playing cards and talking.




It was nice to have Monday off to catch up around the house and of course laundry and grocery shopping needed done. It was a great weekend!