Day 2 - a day without kids (also known as Warrior Dash)

It's difficult to believe, but nearly six and a half years into parenthood, this is the first time both Rich and I both left the kids overnight. Now don't get me wrong, we have each individually been away from the kids, but never at the same time. With it comes anxiety - how will they behave? Will their grandparents be sorry they offered to do this for us? Will they miss us and be miserable or will they be so happy we are gone that they don't care if we come back? Despite the anxieties, we packed our bags and hit the road.

So, just how did I spend my first child-free day since January 11, 2005?  Playing in the mud, of course!

More specifically, it was my second running of Warrior Dash: Think trail race meets obstacle course and you'll have a rough idea of what the event is like. Only this year, it wasn't like that at all.  It was worse.  Heavy rains Friday night turned the trails into death traps - well, not quite death traps but it did make for a pretty treacherous afternoon.

But, first things first.  This year's event was held at Skirmish USA, which bills itself as 'the world's premier paintball facility'. I've never played paintball, but from my run around their facilities, I imagine it would be a pretty cool place to go if I did. And as with all their events, it's really a big party with a race thrown in for good measure... there are live bands playing all day, people decked out in some pretty crazy costumes (more on that in a bit), beer and turkey legs.  Add in some good friends and it really can be the "craziest frickin' day of your life".

As you can see, we all started the day clean.  And I think we stayed that way until the second or third obstacle of the afternoon... knee-deep mud.

While some of the obstacles we encountered this year were things we came across last year, a number of them were not. Truth be told, the entire course felt like something of an obstacle this year. The ground was wet and muddy, there were rocks and tree limbs everywhere, and it was difficult at best to get good footing.

Among the new obstacles: teetering traverse, barricade breakdown, arachnophobia, Rio run, the great warrior wall and road rage.

The teetering traverse was a little nerve-wracking for me as the beams were fairly narrow and pretty high off the ground. The guy ahead of me made it to the first peak before deciding it wasn't for him and climbed down. I'm happy to say I toughed it out and made it across - even though I did turn around and back down each descent.

Barricade breakdown was a series of walls, maybe waist-high, to climb over followed by barbed wire to duck under. The challenge here was finding enough space that I didn't kick the person beside me as I threw my leg over the wall.  I think there were five walls in total and I was getting tired by the end.

Arachnophobia was simply a series of tangled ropes to climb through while Rio run was a brief run through a stream. There's nothing too exciting about either of these obstacles.

The great warrior wall, on the other hand, was exciting and horrifying all at the same time. I'd guess the wall was 15 feet high. A rope with multiple knots (good for placing your hands) and small ledges along the wall (great places to put your feet as you climb) on one side, a series of slats - like a ladder - on the other.  There were probably five or six ropes on the wall, meaning five or six people climbing the wall at a time. The climb up wasn't too bad, but I had a difficult time getting myself over the wall. For me, the challenge came in finding a place to hold on in order to throw my legs over to the down-side while the wall itself rocked with climbers. Add to that a friend (who did not climb the wall) pointing out to me that it's too far down to jump and my husband looking up at me thinking I might just fall off the wall, and the adrenaline level was UP. After what seemed like an eternity clinging to the top of the wall, I made it over and down without incident.  Incident was coming later...

The last 'new' obstacle was road rage - a cluster of tires to run through and cars to climb over.  Unfortunately, I didn't make it there before incident found me.

Just before we came out of the woods, I tripped over a pretty big log and slammed down on the ground, striking my left knee and elbow pretty good. A very nice warrior helped me up just as the guys in my party turned around to assist. I realized pretty quickly that it was more than just a little bump and I struggled to run from that point on. Luckily, we emerged from the woods not long after that, climbed through tunnels, over the cargo net, through the road rage, over the fire, through the mud, and then crossed the finish line.... where we all looked much different than we did at the start! The clean girl in this picture is my niece who ran an earlier heat than the rest of us and had more than enough time to visit the freezing water of the tanker trucks to clean off before we even arrived for our race. But I promise there was a time when she was just as dirty as the rest of us!

Earlier, I mentioned costumes.  It's one of the things that I think makes Warrior Dash such a fun event to attend.  You just never know what sort of crazy folks you are going to see.  There were Mutant Ninja Turtles, ballerinas (some of which were boys), drag queens, beer cans, men in dresses and coconut bras, and this... a patriotic banana hammock, a tux collar, and nothing else. Brave. And scary as hell!

Afterward, we drank some beer.  But it was cool and misty and we parted ways earlier than I expected with Rich and I heading off for a kid-free night at the Holiday Inn Express in Frackville.

While there's nothing too interesting about Frackville, Rich and I found a great restaurant for dinner: The Wooden Keg Tavern in St. Clair (just a few miles down the road). The Wooden Keg Tavern is in a historic 1860's building; it's claim to fame is that it was once a Molly Maguire hangout.  Now if, like me, you don't really know what that means, read on:

Molly Maguires were mainly Irish-American miners in the anthracite coal fields of Pennsylvania who wanted to fight the poor conditions of the mines, the long hours they were expected to work and the low salaries that also led to a low standard of living for the workers and their families.

While some fought the battle for worker's rights in the legislature, the "Mollies" were rumored to use vandalism, robberies, threats, assaults and even actual killings in their fight. A strike in 1875 ultimately led to a series of trials over a two-year period; all told, 19 members of the Molly Maguires were hanged for their crimes.

Historian Harold Aurand called the validity of the trials into question, stating “The Molly Maguire investigation and trials were one of the most astounding surrenders of sovereignty in American History. A private corporation initiated the investigation through a private detective agency; a private police force arrested the alleged offenders; and coal company attorneys prosecuted them. The state provided only the courtroom and the hangman.”

In the basement of The Wooden Keg Tavern, there is a 'tunnel room' which gave the "Mollies" access in and out of the hotel for their secret meetings. All around the room, you'll find clips about the trials, details of the history of the group, and you can walk into the tunnel itself.

They had both typical tavern food as well as some more upscale menu items. We started with an order of onion rings and a crab dip with tortilla chips. Rich also ordered their wings while I had a bacon cheeseburger with homemade fries. Everything was fantastic and I would eat there again without hesitation.

As for the Warrior Dash, despite my Warrior Wounds from this year's event, I plan to do it again next year. My only advice if you are interested in joining us: Register early. If you can register by the first deadline, you'll save almost half over a last-minute entry (I speak from experience here as I've now done it both ways). Hope to see you on the battlefield in 2012!

As for all those anxieties in leaving the kids - well, you will just have to keep an eye out for my next post to see how that went.



 

Day 1 - Way Fruit Farm

A few weeks ago, I registered for the Way Fruit Farm mailing list. Last Monday, I got an email letting me know that strawberry picking season was underway. With a warning that read "The longer you wait, the harder the picking gets", I figured Day 1 of summer vacation was the perfect time to head out to the fields.

Way Fruit Farm asks that you bring your own containers to fill (though they do sell boxes for those that come without) and that you stop inside the store to have them weighed before heading out to the fields. After getting our buckets weighed (1/4 pound each), we made a quick stop at the wooden John Deere tractor outside the store before crossing route 550 en route to the strawberry fields - roughly six acres worth.

My little berry pickers

The kids didn't wander too far into the fields before they started picking. I found it interesting that they'd pull just one or two strawberries off a plant before moving on to another one nearby, despite the fact that there were plenty of ripe strawberries on each plant.

My only complaint: the berries were much smaller than I was hoping for since I initially envisioned us melting Hershey's chocolate to make chocolate covered strawberries.  We'll just have to do that with store-bought berries instead.

Heading in with their harvest

When it was all said and done, the kids had just over four pounds of strawberries in their buckets (combined, not individually).  At $1.50 per pound, it seemed like a pretty good deal. We also picked up some fresh zucchini and yellow squash and a package of fruit pectin so that we can make jam with some of the harvest.

I found a recipe on the web that looks simple enough for even me to pull off and that will likely be on the agenda for tomorrow morning. The recipe calls for four cups of strawberries, four cups of sugar, one tablespoon of lemon juice and one tablespoon of fruit pectin.

Four cups of sugar seems pretty excessive to me... but I have never made jam before, so what do I know?  I figure I can start off with a little less sugar and then add it in if necessary.  Besides, if the kids don't know it is supposed to be ridiculously sweet, maybe I can get away with it.

Way Fruit Farm also has tart cherries for picking; the website says that the season starts in mid-July and runs through early August. Cherry picking could be fun... I'll be waiting for the email that lets me know when it's time to grab our buckets and head out to the fields!

Tomorrow is the last day of school

Matt came home today with all sorts of papers, books, scrapbooks, etc. from his first year of school.  And as his last day of kindergarten is just hours away, I find myself reflecting back on the first day.

Much about the day was just how I expected it to be; Matt was more than ready to take this step and I was nothing but excited as we took Matt into school for his first day, or more accurately, for his first hour. We met the teachers, helped Matt with a small project (something that came home with him today and brought a tear to my eye), read a story, and then it was time to go. 

I find myself amazed at all the things that Matt has learned over the course of the year. Whereas last August he could recognize some 'sight words' and could write his letters and name, he's now reading books and writing sentences and paragraphs. I could not be more proud of my little boy and all the things that he has accomplished this year.  And I am filled with excitement for all the things that I know lay ahead of Cathy in the coming year.

But before we can send my little girl off to school this fall, we have to survive the summer first.  It all starts Friday.

Wish me luck!

PNC Park

Earlier today, someone asked if I was at all concerned being a Phillies fan at PNC Park on Sunday afternoon. I wasn't at all. Pirates fans are, for the most part, pretty kind - even the gentleman in the row ahead of us who tried very hard to convince Matt to cheer for the hometown team. It also helps that Phillies fans come out in droves for the series so we were in no way alone. I'd say the stadium was probably evenly split between Phillies fans and Pirates fans and that only added to the experience!

Sunday afternoon was Kids Day, complete with a pirate themed inflatable obstacle course and a Parrot bouncy house on the street outside the ballpark. After we signed some sort of waiver, the kids and I were able to navigate our way up ropes, down slides, through cannons, around palm trees and finally out past a treasure chest.  And yes, as you can see here, I went through the course too (on the record, I'd say it was to help Cathy climb the rope wall, but off the record, I may tell you it was just because it looked fun).

After a brief stop at the playground inside the park (which, by the way, pales in comparison to the Phanatic Phun Zone), we walked up to our seats.

One of the nice things about seeing the Phillies play in Pittsburgh is the affordability of the tickets. The goal was to spend roughly $20 or less per ticket and it was easy to do that at PNC Park. We sat in section 314, Row H - the seats were almost directly behind home plate and, perhaps most important given how hot it was on Sunday, completely in the shade by the middle of the 4th inning.  All for $16 per adult and $10 per child (that's right... kid's pricing).

This is the view from our seats. It was perfect for watching the game, the activity along the river, and for looking over the great Pittsburgh skyline!

Last season, I saw Kyle Kendrick pitch twice (once in Philadelphia and once in Pittsburgh) and I saw Vance Worley pitch a beauty at Citizens Bank Park earlier this year... but I really wanted to see one of the Phillies aces and couldn't have asked for a better one than Roy Halladay. Halladay pitched his perfect game last year on the day my dad died and I really hoped he might pitch another one on Sunday afternoon. Well, that dream died early in the first inning when the Pirates jumped out to a two-run lead on a home run by Neil Walker.

The Phillies offense finally kicked into gear in the 4th inning; by the 5th inning, they held the lead. One of the most spectacular plays I've ever seen came in the 7th inning when Chase Utley had a diving catch on a line drive by Jose Tabata to end the inning. When it was finally over, the Phillies had ended their four-game losing streak with a 7-3 win!

One of the great things about Kids Day was that we were able to take the kids down on the field after the game to run the bases. I am pretty sure it was worth the nearly hour that we waited in line as the kids were so excited to have this opportunity and the view from the field was amazing.

Matt and Cathy were fantastic all afternoon and I love the enthusiasm they both have for watching the game. If the Phillies were playing in Pittsburgh again this season, I would definitely do this again.  Unfortunately, this was their only trip for the season.

If you are a baseball fan, I highly recommend you add this to your to-do list soon. The Phillies will be back in 2012 and we'll be right there to watch them!

Pittsburgh Children's Museum

I am a big fan of the 'grand entrance' which is why I always, always love the drive into downtown Pittsburgh.  After you pass through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, but before you get to the Oakland exit on Route 376, you round a corner seemingly still in the middle of nowhere and voila - right there in front of you is the downtown skyline. No matter how many times I have seen it, and it's been quite a few over the last 20 years, I never tire of that view.

Of course, once you get over that moment, the roads become something of a nightmare for the directionally challenged (also known as people like me).

Twenty or so lane changes and bridge crossings later, we arrived at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh... the first official stop in the "Summer of Fun".

Among the highlights, from my adult perspective, was Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. There were replicas of many of the familiar sites from the Neighborhood of Make Believe, including Daniel Striped Tiger's clock and even Daniel himself among a collection of puppets used on the show. 
Daniel was my favorite character as a little girl and seeing him brought back some nice childhood memories.

If you were to ask the kids what their favorite exhibit was, I would guess it to be a toss-up between the Garage and Workshop, Waterplay, and the Attic.

There's a climbing structure inside the Garage and Workshop area that held the kids attention for what seemed like an eternity. This area included a cargo net that was difficult to climb in my flip flops and a slide that had the tightest turns (making for a somewhat uncomfortable ride down for my grown-up body). There were tiny parachutes floating down from the ceiling which Matt had a great time catching and then returning to the top of the structure using a pulley system.  And both he and Cathy enjoyed another pulley for a Rube-Goldberg style roller coaster for balls.

Having no idea what that last sentence really means (I basically stole it off the museum web-site), I went to Wikipedia for something of an explanation - a Rube Goldberg machine is essentially an over-engineered machine that performs a very simple task in a complex fashion. Regardless, the kids had a blast with it!

Waterplay is just what it sounds like... the kids put on rain coats and Crocs and set about playing in the 'river'. Cathy was somewhat obsessed with the lock that demonstrates how boats are able to navigate rivers as the depth of the water changes.  Interestingly, this reminded me of a trip that Rich and I took to Canada long, long, long before we had kids and a side-trip to the Welland Canal. Rich's inner-geek came shining through when we had the opportunity to actually watch a barge move between locks. While he was thrilled, I was bored to tears.  But judging by Cathy's play in this area, perhaps he'll have a travel companion for a return trip.

The Attic has a Gravity Room (a room sloped at a 25 degree angle) and a Phosphorescent Room (a shadow room) where we also spent lots of time. I am pretty sure the kids went through the Gravity Room at least 20 times - sometimes running, sometimes walking. While I found it made me feel queasy every time I passed through it, they were obviously immune to it all.

We spent not quite five hours here though I think the kids would have stayed longer if it weren't for a 5:00pm closing time. Overall, I'd say it was a nice museum... clean bathrooms, not too crowded, activities that were a hit with the kids. I don't know if I would lay out another $42 for a day at the museum, but since I am now a member, I'd go back again if I were in the area.

Our "Summer of Fun" has offically started...

The marathon is considered a 'long-distance' running event; friends I know that have run one or more tell me it is the most difficult race there is, that while a half-marathon is a challenge, the full-marathon completely wipes you out. 

Since I am unofficially training to run a marathon this fall, I am starting to think of other things in these terms as well. Unquestionably, I'd throw the job search into this category. The reality of life in Central Pennsylvania is that, if you are not a professor or researcher, there are few good opportunities for someone with a higher level of education. And I'll be honest... after months of networking, writing cover letters, tweaking my resume, etc., I am wiped out.  It's a marathon.

I think the "Summer of Fun" will be something of a marathon too: 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.

So if I am thinking about the summer as a marathon, then the race is officially on.

Mile one of my summer marathon takes us to Pittsburgh... We started planning the weekend over a month ago, built around the idea of catching the Phillies on the road versus the Pirates. We settled on the Sunday afternoon game and recruited college friends to join us. Twelve of us in total.

Not long after the tickets arrived, I thought perhaps it would be more fun to make a weekend of it. I wanted to find something we'd never done before (instantly ruling out the Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium) that the kids would enjoy. We chose the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh.

I made the obligatory scan of the Internet looking for discounts for the museum - the best I could find were $1 discounts for things like Giant Eagle or AAA membership, or discounts from the Pittsburgh Entertainment Guide which were of no help to us.

The museum, as part of the Association of Science-Technology Centers, offers a reciprocal program with a number of science museums around the country (including the Franklin Institute and the Academy of Natural Science in Philadelphia) and so we discussed the potential value of a family membership.

Admission to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh for two adults and two children is $42.  If we make just one visit to the Franklin Institute over the next 12 months ($55), then we'd essentially break-even on the $99 family membership.  Add in a visit to the Academy of Natural Science ($44) and we've come out ahead.

Since much of my family is in the Philadelphia area, I suspect we'll have no trouble visiting both these destinations in the coming year.

After we completed the membership purchase, I learned that for a $31 upgrade (bringing the grand total of the membership to $130), we would also qualify for the Association of Children's Museums' reciprocal program covering the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia ($60), expERIEnce Children's Museum in Erie ($24), and Hands-on-House Children's Museum in Lancaster ($28) along with many other children's museums around the country. I couldn't pass this up and so you are now privy to some of the places we'll be going this summer.

Because we got home late, the pictures are not off the camera yet and I'd like to try including them when I blog about the museum and the baseball game.

For now I'll say this... if the summer really is a marathon, I am pretty sure I am going to enjoy the run!

 






 

The end... of daycare!!!

I've thought about this day hundreds (maybe even thousands) of times since I wrote that first over-priced daycare check back in April of 2005, when I walked outside in a heap of tears after leaving my baby boy with a woman who I had met only once before while my husband looked at me as if I'd grown three heads. Needless to say, the tears subsided quickly and that woman was fantastic to both my kids... even now when I see her, she continues to delight in their accomplishments and celebrate their milestones with me!

Both kids thrived at Daybridge and Rich and I made some wonderful friends there who continue to be a part of our lives even as our children have started heading off to different elementary schools. So, aside from the fact that I could have put two new luxury cars in my garage with the money I have spent on daycare the past six years, I will always be grateful we chose the place we did for our kids. You cannot put a price tag on the piece of mind you have from knowing your kids are happy and well cared for while you are at work.

But since I am not working, since Matt will be finished with his first year of school next week, and since Cathy strikes me as a little girl who is ready for kindergarten this fall, tomorrow will be her last day at Daybridge. I have already started to fantasize about what I will do with all the money I am going to save over the next six years... despite all the friends who tell me that I'll never really see a penny of it.