The Jar of Fun takes us to...

... Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA.  

If you've followed my adventurous summer from the start, you may be having a sense of deja vu right now.  After all, I've already been to Knoebels this summer, back on Day 3 of summer vacation. 

A (gasp) working phone booth

That trip was pretty brief though - just a few hours.  And, it did not include the kids.  But now, thanks to Matt's reach into the Jar of Fun, that's all changed; The kids have, happily, had their day of fun there too.

One of the things that I love about Knoebels is that there's free admission to the park.  If you have kids under the age of (maybe) eight, you know as well as I do that adult park admission is wasted money.  For example, I've been to Hershey Park a number of times with the kids, but I have yet to get on any of their steel coasters.  I look longingly at Fahrenheit, with its 97 degree first drop, but haven't touched it in its nearly four years of operation.  Instead, I ride the Kissing Tower, the Monorail, and the Twin Turnpike.  And while I have fun with the kids, there's no way those rides justify the $54.95 gate price (although I can't remember the last time I actually paid a summer gate price). 

At Knoebels, that's not an issue.  It's a pay as you go system, with most rides priced between $0.75 and $1.50 (though the Twister and Phoenix cost $2.25 each).  During the week, you can get a ride-all-day bracelet with two pricing levels for kids either under or over 48".  Because Matt is right at 48" and because he was spending the day with his much shorter little sister (who measured just above the 42" line!!!) we purchased under 48" passes for each of the kids through the Centre Region Parks & Recreation office for $16 each (they're $20 at the park).  We added $30 in tickets at the park to cover roller coasters, which are not included in the ride-all-day option (though you can add that feature to your pass for another $5), and other rides the kids might need a grown-up to accompany them.  And then we were off to have fun!

One coming, one going!

It's always interesting to me which rides will draw the kids back, over and over again... and this time it was the Hand Cars.  And the Kiddie Whip.  And the Ribbit.  And the Panther Cars.  And the... well, you get the idea. 

My passenger on the Antique Cars

While we spent plenty of time enjoying rides meant for the younger set, we also rode roller coasters... the first time since kids entered our lives that we've easily been able to do that while they were with us.  First up, the Phoenix.  Matt and I hopped in line while Rich and Cathy went over to ride the Antique Cars.  Not surprisingly, Matt asked lots of questions - how high is the hill, how fast does it go, will it be scary?  While I couldn't remember the specifics, I told him I'd be right next to him and I'd hold him tight and that's all it really took to put him at ease.  I hope my 'Mommy Power' always works that well!  Later, we swapped... Rich and Matt rode the Phoenix while Cathy and I rode the Cars.

We are in red shirts, arms in the air!

The Phoenix was great (it is one of my favorite wooden coasters), though Matt tells me he could have done without the dark tunnel that comes after you pull out of the station and before you climb that first hill.  But otherwise, the smile on his face was a mile wide, his laugh the best sound I've ever heard.  We also rode Twister together and Matt had a great time on that ride as well. 

My newly minted thrill-junkie also managed to get both Rich and I onto Galleon, a pirate ship swing ride.  Rich came off looking about as green as I've ever seen him.  And, while I expected to be equally green, I can happily say that it wasn't bad... maybe it was even a little fun.  Sometimes your memory of something is much worse than the reality of it.   

This summer has definitely been a transition for Matt at the amusement park.  He'll still ride the things that Cathy wants to go on and he even enjoys some of them, but he's clearly moving toward more of the high-thrill rides and I am so excited by that; it will completely change our amusement park experience going forward.  The little girl will be more of a challenge... rides are too high, too fast, too scary.  And for now, I am still ok with that because even though she's meeting the height requirement for some of these more grown-up rides, I just wouldn't feel comfortable with her on rides like the Phoenix just yet.  

We always close out a trip to Knoebels with a ride on the Pioneer Train, and this trip was no exception.  The ride is much longer than it looks from the train station, covering roughly three miles round-trip.  It passes under the Twister roller coaster, past the campground and into the woods where we've often seen deer (though not on this trip).  Once it pulled back into the station, we grabbed some ice cream before hopping on the tram car for the ride out to the parking lot.

When we finally made it back to the car, much later than I ever thought, we all agreed that it was a fun day.  I keep forgetting to ask the kids to rate things (they really haven't caught on to the rating scale anyway, so that's probably not a bad thing) but did ask what they liked best.  For Matt?  The Phoenix... no surprise there.  For Cathy?  It was the bumper cars, even though she only rode them twice. 

With summer winding down, I am a little sad to think that these great trips with the kids will be coming to an end.  At the same time, I am pretty excited to start focusing on what comes next.  Most importantly, my little girl will be starting kindergarten before the month is over... tomorrow we have bus orientation and Tuesday morning, her kindergarten assessment.  I've never been so proud, excited, and scared all at the same time... I am sure you'll hear all about it soon enough. 

For now, I promise I will back-pedal to last week's trip to Discovery Space of Central Pennsylvania in the next day or two before focusing on how we spend the rest of our summer vacation...

Stay tuned! 
 

Cake Decorating 101

Most of what I will write about over the next few weeks will be the things I do with the kids (a few more Jar of Fun days, a trip to see the Eagles and Steelers play preseason football next week, the Phillies and Marlins the week after, the Little League World Series, and who knows what else), but sometimes there are things that I do FOR the kids that I hope may be just as entertaining.

If you've been to one of our kid's parties over the last few years (and Roger, if you are reading this, I promise I'll get you back on the list next year), you know that Matt and Cathy have started asking that I make their cakes rather than buy them.  The first time Matt asked, I thought this was a great idea.  Cake mix is cheap; frosting is cheap... I'd save a ton of money.   What I clearly didn't understand was the time I was going to sink into one of those things, even though my designs, so far, have been pretty simplistic.  I needed to mix colors, load frosting into my seemingly cool Pampered Chef tools meant for just such a task, and decorate.  Not as easy as it sounds... and it takes a long, long time.  For as long as the cake-decorating process seems to take me versus the amount of money I would have spent at the store, I probably averaged $2.00 an hour on the labor.  This is why I've scratched this career choice off my list of possibilities!

My cake-decorating history goes back a few years, starting off with a road, a dirt pile, and some construction trucks from the Christmas tree for Matt's 4th birthday.  There were also trees from our GeoTrax set in the green 'grass', though apparently not in this picture.

Next up, Dora the Explorer for Cathy's 3rd birthday.  I remember making this the morning of her party, sending my brothers Bob and Dan, my husband, and all the kids out of the house so I could focus on this.  I was sure it wouldn't get done by the time guests arrived, but it somehow did.  I learned an important lesson though: never wait until the last minute to make the cake!

I got off pretty easy in 2010, slapping some frosting on top of a rectangle-shaped cake and then taking the kids to amusement parks to celebrate their birthdays.

But, in 2011, I was back at it.  First up: Matt's 6th birthday, with a request for Zhu-Zhu Pets.  These cakes are my favorites, at least in terms of how close they came to looking like the actual toys I modeled them after.

And finally, for Cathy's 5th birthday, it was Sally the Porsche (which I clearly should have made as a four-layer, rather than two-layer cake).  I am sure the only thing that helped people identify her was the trademark blue coloring (though in too light a shade for Sally) and the Carrera label on her backside. 

For the most part, I do enjoy asking the kids what they'd like to see and then trying my best to create it for them.  Nobody has asked me at a party what the heck the cake is supposed to be, so I guess I am not terrible at it.  BUT...

But, I'd like to be more skillful when I make their cakes and so beginning this week, I am going to take a class, Decorating Basics, in the Wilton line-up (available here in State College through Michaels).  The website tells me that I’ll learn to create icing drop flowers, rosettes, shells, pompom flowers, leaves, shaggy mums, and the ribbon rose. I’ll decorate cookies, cupcakes, and cakes.  And then I will bring home my work, sit down at the kitchen table and sugar up the kids just in time to send them to bed... brilliant!

So, in addition to reporting in on all those fun kid activities coming up over the last three weeks of summer vacation, I'll also be sharing my adult adventures (and all the fun pictures) with you.  If I survive this, there are two more classes in the series that I'd love to take before the year is over.  And then come January, I hope to make a knock-out cake for my son's 7th birthday!

Horseshoe Curve and Railroaders Memorial Museum

The Schaffer and Cropp kids

I can still remember the first time I ever heard of the Horseshoe Curve: I was in my final year of college, doing a community nursing rotation at the student health clinic for Penn State's Altoona campus.  The nurse I worked with talked about the Curve, about what an engineering marvel it was, and while I politely listened, I could not have cared less.  And I most certainly did not make the short drive out to the Curve to see what all the fuss was about.

I think it was at least 10 years later before I made my first trip out there, long before kids, when Rich's parents were visiting for the weekend. But, since that first visit, I've been there plenty.  Turns out, that nurse was right... it is pretty cool and it really is an engineering marvel.

Watching a train at the Curve

The curve was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (located in the Kittanning Gap near the summit of the Allegheny Front) nearly 150 years ago, enabling rail travel across the state.  Designed by John Edgar Thomson and Herman Haupt, the horseshoe shape lengthens the accent and decent of the trip, resulting in a more reasonable gradient over a much longer distance.  Several engines pull and push trains up and down the mountain and with more than 50 trains scheduled to pass through each day, you are virtually guaranteed to see multiple trains move through the Curve during a visit.  The Curve has three tracks, so it is possible that you will see three freight trains at the same time - on Wednesday, we saw two simultaneously.

Admission to just the Horseshoe Curve is $6 (regardless of age), while a combination pass ($10 for adults, $7 for children under 12) will also give you access to the Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona.  Once inside the gates at the Curve, you can walk up the 194 steps to the observation park - I didn't count them, I just read it on their website - or you can ride the funicular car.

the Funicular

I highly recommend the car, at least on the way up.  Especially if your lazy, 35 pound five-year old daughter is looking to be carried up the last 180 or so steps. 

Our four adventurous days in the Philadelphia area with the Schaffer family last month did not keep them from spending a few days with us here in Central PA.  In our original plans, we were headed to Delgrosso's Amusement Park for the day (FYI - WKSB radio is offering a Buy One Get One free deal through August 26).  But, in a surprising deviation from the weather that typically comes when we spend time with them (hot, hot, hot with a little humid thrown in), we were rain-out.  Instead, I decided to hand-pick the Curve and Railroaders Museum from the Jar of Fun as it was one of the few indoor (and open) activities still in play this summer. 

We grabbed lunch at the famed Hungry Howie's Pizza, made famous by the many times we've heard the Shaffer family talk about it, on our way out to the Curve, huffed and puffed our way up the stairs, watched some trains, and ate.  When the kids had their fill of trains (and pizza), we walked back down the steps to check out the small museum at the base of the funicular car... nothing too exciting here, though there was this great picture of the Curve that I really liked: taken on the 100th anniversary of the Curve back in 1954. In the picture, which required weeks of preparation, "6,000 synchronized flashbulbs took what must be the most elaborate nighttime railroad shot ever." 

After a quick pass through the museum, the kids did manage to squeeze in one ride on the funicular... I love that word (which is why I keep writing it) even though I don't call it that while we're there.  I call it an incline; it's not as good as one of the Pittsburgh inclines or even the Johnstown incline, but it's all the kids have known.  On the ride up, another passenger let us know that he had just seen a train along the tracks in Cresson and sure enough, as we were getting off the funicular, you could hear it beginning the decent down the mountain.

Before making a second trek down the steps, we took a few pictures and I especially love this one of me and the kids!  Even now, when I look at this picture, two things immediately come to mind.  First, I wish the sun were out.  I hate dreary days and Wednesday was about as dreary as they come.  Second, I was thinking this place will be beautiful in the fall... the only time I've been down in the fall, Matt was just a baby and I stayed in the car with him while it RAINED like nobody's business... ironically, we were with Schaffer's that day too!

After the Curve, we spent some time at the Railroaders Memorial Museum - a place I don't really recommend for younger kids.  Aside from a community room with several train tables, wooden track and every imaginable Thomas the Tank friend, there are very few interactive things for the younger set.  Just lots of history, lots to look at, and lots to read.  All that adds up to lots of reasons not to go back for a few years.  The Curve on the other hand, I'd have no problem going back to or taking the kids to.  Everyone loves to watch the trains and as an adult, I appreciate the Curve in a way the kids don't.

Amtrak's Pennsylvanian runs between New York and Pittsburgh once each day (via Philadelphia) and is the only regularly scheduled passenger train to go through the Horseshoe Curve.  If I am reading the train schedule correctly, we could board the train in Johnstown and ride to Altoona, taking us through the Curve.  The trip lasts for just under an hour and would cost less than $10 per person.  I have a feeling we'll have to do this one of these days... maybe in the fall!!! 

Greenwood Furnace State Park

Not long ago, a friend asked where I would go and what I would do if I could get away, anywhere, for a few days.  I immediately thought of the beach... I spent a lot of time at the beach when I was young and have such great memories of trips with family or friends over the years.  I imagined watching the sun rise during morning walks along the beach; I imagined reading books by the ocean; I imagined strolls along the boardwalk at night... what I clearly did not imagine in this scenario were two little people!

And while I am not complaining, I do in fact have two little people who seem to dictate how my life works these days...

I miss the beach, especially in the summer, and am just a little jealous every time a friend gets back from a beach vacation. I am salivating just thinking about our big group trip to the Outer Banks next June!  Until then, we'll try to make do with what we have here in Central PA, and that includes several nice state parks with beach areas along the lake.  Our latest destination: Greenwood Furnace State Park.

For all the years we've lived in Centre County, this is the first summer we've been to Greenwood Furnace (though we've been to Bald Eagle State Park and Whipple Dam plenty).  When a friend pointed out that it had the best bathroom facilities around, we deemed it worth checking out. 

I don't think you ever realize how important a good beach bathroom is until you take your child into the not quite (but pretty darn close to it) outhouse out at Whipple Dam. Where you walk uphill through the woods only to be overwhelmed by the stench of it before you've gotten within 50 feet of the place.  Greenwood Furnace's facilities are pretty good - only steps away from the beach, complete with water fountain, flushing (smell-free) potties, and hot showers.  It's only 15 or so extra minutes past Whipple and is totally worth the extra time in the car!!!

Emily, Cathy, Jaidon, Matt

Our friends Jaime, Jaidon, and Emily joined us on the beach, which was so great.  Emily is one of Cathy's favorite friends and I am always glad for the times when we can get the girls together.  And after seven months as a stay-at-home mom, I TOTALLY appreciate any and all adult conversation I can find! 

I keep getting reminded to NOT say this out loud, or at least not to put it down in print, but I am just about ready for the summer to be over.  Not that I am eager to send my baby to kindergarten (I am certain I will be a basket case that day) or am welcoming the cooler weather of fall (although it's been a really hot summer, so maybe I am).  It's just that I am becoming more and more aware with each passing day that while this summer has been a gift and I am having great fun with the kids, I'm just not cut out for this.  I am tired.  I lose my patience easily.  I have grown weary of the volume of laundry that comes from almost daily beach or pool outings. 

But... back to the beach.

Greenwood Furnace is great for what it is.  In our two visits, its never been crowded, even on the 4th of July with my brother Bob and his family.  It has nice picnic facilities.  The water is relatively clean (and cold) for a tiny lake.  It has a fun playground at the far end of the beach.  The kids can chase the little tadpoles that swim near the shore line for hours (happily without catching any of them) and build castles in the sand.  And most importantly, we can easily pass a summer's day here.

It's funny... it took the kids a good two or three hours before the playground hit their radar, but once it did, there was no place else they wanted to be.  Matt is becoming such a skilled monkey-bar climber, swinging across over and over again - stopping for pictures whenever the mood struck. 

The girls, meanwhile, had the most fun sliding down the slide together and swinging side-by-side.  I especially enjoyed Emily's lessons to Cathy on how to move her legs in order to swing all by herself... unfortunately, the lesson didn't stick and I pushed the whole time. 

I can't wait to see it in the fall!

As I sat on the beach looking out over the trees that surround the lake, I decided that if I am still unemployed come October, this is where you will find me.  I love fall with all it's changing colors and cooler temperatures.  It's my favorite time of year for running or hiking in the woods.  And soon, I think it will be my favorite time to grab a beach chair after I put the kids on the school bus and read quietly for a few hours (please feel free to comment away if you have any suggestions for my beach reading list)... a small part of that fantasy trip to the ocean, right here in Central PA.

By the way, if you decide to spend some time here, I have just one request: Please keep the beach clean... My summer oasis is no place for your bloated swim diapers!

Camping at Bald Eagle State Park

We have a terrific group of friends we met through the kid's daycare.  Our oldest kids, with the exception of one, are in the same grade, have been together since not long after they were born.  Same thing with our second kids (with the exception of Cathy who will head off to school a year ahead of them).  Third kids?  Well, half the group has them (including a set of twins) and half doesn't... but you guessed it, the youngest kids were all born within months of each other.

We have park dates, dinner parties, and occasional grown-up nights together, and most of us are planning to travel together to the Outer Banks next year... we really like each other that much.  Our kids like each other that much.  It's been great.

Earlier this summer, when one of the other moms suggested that we pack up the dads and kids and send them camping out at Bald Eagle State Park, I knew it was a must for our Summer of Fun even though I was not invited.   

Last night was camping night... the kids were definitely excited to be going though I must have heard a dozen times (mostly from Cathy) that they didn't want to go without me, that they would just miss me too much.  I packed them up and sent them out the door anyway... mostly because I was sure once they settled at camp with eight of their best friends, they'd be just fine.  They were. 

I could pretend that I was a little sad not to be invited, but that would be a lie.  I didn't have anyone asking me to play Zingo or pitch to them in the backyard; I didn't feel compelled to do laundry or clean my house.  Instead, the moms got together for dinner and drinks.  And afterwards, I shopped.  I read a book... things I wanted to do.  It was nice!  

After camp was set up last night, I heard there was grilling, a trip down to the beach, s'mores, bike riding, and a late bedtime.  I wasn't missed at all.

All the moms joined the group this morning for a fun day on the beach and we spent about five or six hours before packing it in.  The highlight of the day: our boat ride down past the bald eagle's nest, complete with a tube ride and swim in the lake.  The kids had a great time jumping off the boat and it was fun to watch both Matt and his friend Kayleigh enjoy their tube ride.  Cathy told us repeatedly that she wasn't interested in a ride herself, but she changed her mind and I rode the tube back to the beach with her.  She was a little apprehensive at first and we did need to ask them to slow down the boat a bit, but she had a great time.

Overall, it was such a relaxing summer day and I am glad I made the trip down to spend time with everyone, despite the growing list of things that need to be done around the house.

I'll take a great day with the kids over a clean house any day!!!

The Jar of Fun is back...

A few years ago, I bought Rich a copy of 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up. The book lists places both far and near (for example, there's Ayers Rock in Australia and Blyde River Canyon in South Africa to go along with more 'local' destinations such as Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks in California or Niagara Falls in New York).  Short of winning the Powerball, I suspect there are many places in the book that we'll never see.  But we have hit a few of them already and I think that's pretty cool.

One of the 'Places to Go' is a riverboat cruise on the mighty Mississippi River... something we did in October 2008 during a trip to New Orleans.  I loved that riverboat cruise, being among the many barges that travel up and down one of the busiest stretches along the Mississippi, taking in the sites along the way... from areas still damaged after Hurricane Katrina to an oil refinery to the breathtaking view of the skyline as we approached downtown New Orleans.

Tuesday, the Jar of Fun made its first appearance in nearly three weeks, giving us perhaps the closest equivalent I'll find here in Central Pennsylvania - the Hiawatha Paddlewheel Riverboat and Williamsport Trolley Tour.  Rich also made his first appearance on a Jar of Fun day, an unexpected surprise since I told him the night before that he was not allowed to influence the destination if he planned to tag along (he really wants the Whittaker Science Center in Harrisburg).

The hour-long cruise sails out of Susquehanna State Park four times a day (11:30, 1:00, 2:30, and 4:00) in June, July, and August.  The tour's literature promises you'll learn what a Boom Rat is and how the Susquehanna River helped Williamsport become the richest city in America during the height of the Lumber Era, and it delivered on both counts... all for the low, low price of $7.50 for adults and $3.50 for kids (there are coupons on the website for $1.00 off each ticket, so it was $18.00 for four of us).



            After the cruise, we took a tour on
the Williamsport Trolley.  Trolley fares were $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children.  The tour was a roughly 90-minute long ride through Williamsport’s areas of interest, including Millionaire’s Row (the beautiful homes built by the lumber barons during the city's Lumber Era).  We also passed Memorial Park where the first Little League Baseball game was played and learned about how that first little league team was formed.  I've had it in the back of my mind to take the kids to the Little League World Series all summer so it was fun to get a little of the history behind the organization.  Especially now that Matt is expressing an interest in playing Pee Wee ball next spring!

We passed this mural somewhere along the tour... if you are from State College or you've at least been through downtown, you should recognize the artist (even if, like me, you don't know his name).  You can see his local work on the side of SBS.

Another highlight of the tour (if you can really call it that) was a brief stop at the Peter Herdic Transportation Museum... and brief is really all you need here.  Admission is included with the trolley tour.  There's not much to see here - an old bus, an old coach, and a canoe inside... but outside, there's an old Pullman car that you could walk through and that was pretty neat.  This particular car had a dining area, kitchen and a few sleeping rooms.

We've got a video that we've probably seen a hundred times by now called The Big Train Trip which follows two boys on a trip from Toronto to Vancouver on VIA Rail Canada.  The kids have always had an interest in an overnight train ride, and the Pullman car put that front and center in their minds again... I'd love to do the Canadian trip, but I priced it out once at something like $10,000 (it may have been Canadian dollars, but that's still too expensive for a three-day train trip).  So maybe we'll settle for the auto-train to Florida one day...

I think this picture is pretty cool...

We had a great dinner at Paradise Cancun in Williamsport, played miniature golf at Hoopla's (outside the Lycoming Mall), and finished off the day with ice cream back at Amy's Frosty Freeze in Mifflinburg (you may recall we also stopped there after T&D's Cats of the World on Jar of Fun #2 day).

All in all, it was a good day.  The kids really enjoyed the paddleboat ride and the trolley ride.  And, they both crashed hard on the drive home, which I guess was to be expected since we were out of the house for more than 12 hours.

Now that the Jar of Fun is back in business, I'm already looking forward to whatever our next adventure might be...






 

Checking in at the half-way point

I am sitting in bed organizing the family social calendar - something I've been a little lax with the past few weeks.  As I am doing that, I am starting to realize just how quickly the summer is passing by and how rapidly the new school year is approaching.  We have bus orientation and a kindergarten assessment coming up in the next couple of weeks and the new school year is just over five weeks away.

Wow!!!  Five weeks.  Just five weeks until I put my baby girl, my youngest, on the school bus for the first time.  Just five weeks until she starts kindergarten.  As I talked about in 'Miracles', there was a time in my life when I was not sure we would celebrate this milestone with her.  And now it is only 37 days away.  

In early June, I compared the summer to a marathon (you can read the blog post here).  I said "... it's a long event (according to Phineas and Ferb "there's a 104 days of summer vacation and school comes along just to end it...") and when it's all said and done, I imagine it will completely wipe me out."

Now that we are more than half-way through it, it's a good time to sit back and talk about how things are going.

No doubt, the kids and I have been incredibly busy.   Probably a little too busy... but this is likely the only summer I will ever have where I can spend this kind of time with them and I want to enjoy every minute of it.  Surprisingly for how busy we have been, we've only reached into the Jar of Fun three times (Repitland, T&D's Cat of the World, and Lakemont Park).  Those other outings?  All planned.

I'm having a great time, and I hope that they are too.  Last weekend aside, we've made some great memories and I am looking forward to making more over the next five weeks.  The Jar of Fun will finally make its return this week and there are some fun activities coming up in August... some local things like Ag Progress Days, Grange Fair, and 'Penn State Day' (when we'll bike around campus and visit the All-Sports Museum, the Arboretum, the Creamery, etc.) and quite possibly some not-so-local things like the Little League World Series, or NFL training camps (if such things exist this year).  We're also thinking about a short trip to the beach and are hoping to get back to Citizen's Bank Park for my birthday. 

As the summer starts winding down, I know I need to get very serious and very focused on my job search again.  For as much as I have loved the time with the kids, I am ready to head back to work.  I believe that full-time wife and mother is one of the most difficult career paths and I'm pretty sure it's not for me (If we are Facebook friends, you know that I have also ruled out wall-paper scrapper, painter, baker, photographer, and truck driver over the last seven months).

But have no fear - just past the half-way point of our "Summer of Fun", I think we are all still full of enough energy to finish the race.