Karen Visit and Trip to Philly

My dear friend Karen came out for a visit a couple of weeks ago.  I love when I'm able to spend quality time with great friends, especially those I don't get to see often, so I found this to be a very welcomed treat for me and my family.  Thankfully, she had minimal problems arriving at Philadelphia International aside from an annoying lady she'd "befriended" during her flight who apparently found enough confidence in Karen to narrate the last 2 or 3 months of her life in great detail....much to Karen's chagrin (although it did make for a very entertaining tale during our drive up to Levittown.  The tale, in a brief synopsis, included the girl moving to California either with or to be with some dude who was an abuser who burned her with a cigarette on 2 separate occasions in a display of "commitment" of some kind.  The girl had enough of such treatment (as like sorts of things were apparently the norm in the relationship), called her family back in the Philadelphia area, hopped a bus and began a pilgrimage of sorts back to the east coast...until her luck ran out in the KC area.  A friend of the family who lived in the area had picked her up at the bus station in KC, MO, and got her a flight from Kansas City International to Philadelphia.  The tale told in person was pretty awesome as Karen is a phenomenal storyteller.  

Regardless, as she was here for only a few days, Karen not her "new friend", we had some time to make a couple of day trips. The first was to Peddler's Village in Lahaska, PA.  We were going to take the kids to a local park, but the weather had turned...rainy and somewhat windy...so Giggleberry Fair seemed to be a good option.  I was wrong, however, as I thought most of the schools in the area had already begun and that it wouldn't be busy....so it didn't turn out to be as good an option as I had originally thought.  Christopher did have a good time, though...and Matthew...well, he just sort of rode around in his stroller and watched all the tomfoolery that was going on all around the place.  It ended well, however, in that we had a very good lunch at Hart's Tavern, a local restaurant and enjoyed the scenery during the drive back.

These are the prizes Christopher won with all of his tickets...he was a very happy boy.

 Karen had also done some research before she arrived and discovered the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum located on the corner of 7th and Spring Hill in Philadelphia...not the best area in town, but not too bad.  We decided, as she had not yet had the experience of visiting a couple of the more famous Philadelphia landmarks, that we would try to hit some of them on this trip.  One thing we did not do was visit the Art Museum, but the forces that be didn't allow for that trip to take place on this trip.  We did, however, get to Pat's Steaks for Karen to taste an original Philadelphia cheesesteak (Karen thought the sandwich was very tasty and "not as greasy" as she thought it would be), took a short walking tour up Market St., saw some local  sites as well as a brief walk-through the Independence Mall before heading back down Market St. to visit the Franklin Fountain (relatively famous ice cream place down by the pier located at 2nd and Market)...this trip was for me as I'd seen this place on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and have been obsessed about going there ever since laying my eyes on their delectables.  Then we headed up South St. to get some BBQ from a place my mother-in-law had somehow got her hands on gift certificates.  Before that last leg, I had a slight panic attack as I thought I had lost my wallet, but I had dropped it in the door pocket of my car.  After getting the BBQ, we headed back to Levittown to feast with my family, mother-in-law included, and Karen.  

Below are some pics of the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum.  There was no furniture in the house, one rumor is that he had to sell the furniture to pay bills or move to New York.  It was a very interesting trip and we learned a lot about Poe....many things that Karen nor I knew, which was pretty cool. (It's not so surprising that I didn't know stuff, but very surprising that Karen was even in the dark on some of the information!). It was small, taking around an hour to watch the pre-tour 9-minute movie, tour the entire house, and check out the exhibits, but it was well worth it.  We did learn that his stint in Philadelphia was the most successful period of his life.  He was able to maintain a very good livelihood from working as a critic and editor for a couple of different publications.  He also wrote many of his most famous works, including:Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, The Purloined Letter, and The Cask of Amontillado.  And, to answer the question some might ask, YES, it is pretty creepy. They actually have, as pictured below, a fake heart and hand underneath one of the floorboards on the top floor, Maria Clemm's room (I forget her nickname), Virginia Clemm's (Poe's cousin-wife) mother.

Yes, it was THAT scary and creepy!

The last set of photos are from the other parts of our trip...the first few from lower Market St. where Benjamin Franklin lived and worked.

 

 The Independence Mall visitor center and the Revolutionary era Philly Phanatic...

Franklin Fountain sign...concoctions are expensive, but awesome!

Unfortunately, Karen had to cut her trip a day short because of Hurricane Irene, which was predicted to hit Philadelphia on the eve of her departure...safety first.  It was very cool to get to see her and spend some quality time with her.  Maybe next time, she'll be able to bring Zooey and Nick...

The very tip of Hurricane Irene from the airport cell phone lot as she approached.  Karen was able to reschedule her flight and get out of town before the airport was shut down.  It's a good thing she made it when she did or she'd have been here for 2 more days!

My drive back from PHL...still the tip of Irene.  Pretty freaky stuff.  I can now add hurricane to my natural disaster list

Trip to Indiana

Although finances were tight this summer, we found a way to manage enough funding for a trip to Indiana as soon as my ESY (Extended School Year for those keeping score) ended on August 12.  We left promptly on Saturday, August 13th, for the Hoosier State to visit some of Colleen's family and our friends.  It's usually a busy week for us as we typically try to get as many people fit into a rather tight window throughout the week on top of making sure the children are tended to and that we make some stops along the way that we or one of us typically enjoy.  We did pretty good this year, and got away without spending loads of cash, which was nice.

Trip to the E.R.

Although it was a relatively frugal trip for us, it wasn't without some excitement.  Day 2, less than 12 hours after our arrival at Col's cousin Kelly's house, Christopher, wound up from being in a car off-and-on for 10+ hours the day before, was freakishly hyper....jumping around, doing flips, jumping on the couch, and off the couch, et. al.  We tried to keep him settled, but it was a challenge.  So I went upstairs to run him some bath water and give him a bath before taking him somewhere to run it off.  While I was upstairs, however, one of Christopher's jumping adventures turned into a trip to the E.R. as he learned that jumping from a couch to a coffee table is not conducive to "fun times."  Three hours and three stitches later, we returned to Kelly's house with a defeated and somewhat deflated little boy.  Don't worry though, his reality check was only effective for about 2-hours....then Yahoo-Serious was rejuvenated and back to form.

Trip to the Potowatomi Zoo

Christopher with Joanna checking out the Bengal Tiger

Christopher posing in the cut-out the only way he knows how....being a goof.

 Our trip to the Potowatomi Zoo was a lot less dramatic in many ways.  We met up with Colleen's cousins and their children for the adventure.  It was pretty fun, but Christopher was a hot mess during a lot of it due to his being very tired. Otherwise, he loved watching the animals (the Bengal scared him a bit) and feeding the ducks (although he wanted nothing to do with feeding the goats in the petting zoo part..."They're stinky, Daddy.").  Matthew spent the day chillin' out in his stroller. He, unfortunately didn't give us a lot of photo ops during this trip, but I did manage to get a decent one of him in his stroller.  Col's cousin's kids were very, very helpful throughout this adventure and the entire trip for that matter.

I have no clue what he was checking out here, but whatever it was, it must have been astronomical!

We saw lots of different animals.  We saw Flamingos, Alligators, River Otters, Kangaroos and Wallabys, Chimps, Wildebeasts, Ducks, Koi Fish, a Bengal Tiger and a White Tiger, and a really, really big lion that had a large sign on the cage that read, "WATCH OUT FOR SPRAYING LIONS".  Thankfully, he was comfortable with his territory when we were there.  His spraying zoo patrons apparently made the South Bend Tribune!

 At the Berrien County 4-H Fair in Berrien Springs, MI 

Matthew is apparently ready to go...chillin' out in the passenger seat of the car happy as a clam just before we left for MI

 We were also able to make a trip up north 10-minutes to visit our friends, Larry and Chaya and their grandson, Gabriel.  We met them at their house and followed them 10-more-minutes north to Berrien Springs to check out the 4-H Fair.  Christopher rode some rides...Matthew ate like a fiend...and we got a sno-cone.  All was well with the world.

 Shipshewana and Feeding the Ducks at ND

Christopher looking at some goldfish outside the Blue Gate Restaurant in Shipshewana, IN (aka, Amish country).  We were waiting for a table and he needed to get outside and walk before he got us kicked out! (kidding, of course). We'd just finished shopping and were ending our day-trip with a tasty meal.

 Without question we made our annual trips to Shipshewana, IN for a little day-trip shopping.  It is Indiana's Amish country, so there's a lot of "country-decor" and awesome food.  I spent a bit of cash in the music store there (pretty cool one actually...lots of unorthodox instruments that they leave out so you can play) and a toy store.  I don't mind the trip because that's where I typically hang out.  Christopher spent most of the day with Colleen while I was with Matthew.  I tried to get pictures, but he wasn't cooperative or in the mood for such silliness.  He just wanted to nap.  That picture of Christopher is the only picture that came out from that leg.

Notre Dame is next to Godliness in my in-laws' lives.  Every year we go to the campus, check out the bookstore, and do something else...go to the Grotto, simply go for a walk, or....

Christoper outside the Hamme's Bookstore in South Bend, IN.

...feed the ducks and geese by Notre Dame Lake.  Christopher was very funny...holding his bread out and prompting the water fowl calling sheepishly, "here, buddy......here, buddy..."  It was very cute until a Canadian Goose approached and totally kaboshed the whole thing (they're mean not-so-little critters).  Matthew didn't care about any of it!

didn't give two shits about the ducks or geese

Some Random Pics

Aside from the stitches on day 1 and some minor fits and scheduling conflicts, the trip overall was very fun.  We got to go to Col's other cousin's lake house, which was cool because a lot of people came over and we got to see everyone at once.  We got to meet up with some friends of ours on 2 separate occasions, which was nice.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to meet up with everyone, but that's how it goes sometimes.