Even More Vacation Pics
More Vacation Picks
Day at the beach
Today we spent most of the day at the beach. Our time at the beach is interesting because the water is very stirred-up and murky. It is more brown and smelly than usual, and there is a lot of sea-life. Jellyfish, stingrays, crabs, snake eels, fish, and dolphins are all prevalent right now.
The kids are loving playing at the beach. Lucia and Rose are having fun playing at the edge of the water and the older kids are having fun digging, looking for things, and using the skim board and boogie boards.
Gadsden -> Orange Beach
Today we made the trek from Gadsden to Orange Beach, to meet the Herrels and the Reagens for a previously scheduled vacation. We are all staying in a big house just a short walk from the beach.
Crazy Day
It was a crazy, emotional day today. Susan, Erin, and her mom went to the house this morning to clean. They were there for a few hours, getting everything perfect for the new owners.
All of the Lieslands went over after Rose’s nap, to say goodbye. There were a lot of tears shed. We also had one last visit and popsicle with Rick & Donna, our closest neighbors ever.
By dinnertime it was time to transition to the traditional May 29th affairs – our 13th anniversary. Erin & Nate watched the kids so Susan and I could go out to dinner. We ended up at Cool Basil – table 13!
Cincinnati Visit
Sunday: Drive there
Monday: Dinner with the Romans at Skyline
Tuesday: Dinner at my parents’
Wednesday: Dinner with the Herrels
Thursday: Thanksgiving Breakfast, Thanksgiving dinner at the Radles’
Friday: Hang out, help Holly & Alex move, Holly & Alex’s for dinner
Saturday: Xavier game, Thanksgiving dinner at the Holmes’
Sunday: A very long drive home (11 hours, traffic back-up, rainy!)
Pearl Jam in Chicago
Last winter Pearl Jam announced that they were going to play a couple shows at Wrigley at the end of their summer tour. Six months later the older kids and I were off to Chicago. We stayed one night, arriving at our hotel and then heading straight to Wrigley. After dinner at a near-by restaurant we enjoyed a self-guided tour of Wrigley and then the concert.
24On Tuesday, the next day, we headed downtown for just a few hours to play at Millennium Park, see the lake, and walk to Navy Pier. Then it was time to head home.
Cousin Camp
Last week I got to travel with the kids to the 8th annual cousin camp. I drove our three older kids and the Reagen kids to KC on Thursday afternoon and we arrived back home on Saturday. Activities consisted of swimming, bowling, swimming, outdoor theatre, donuts, park, and swimming. Eight straight years is pretty impressive. Everyone still loves the annual tradition.
Cincinnati Visit
We just wrapped up our nearly annual summer trip to Cincinnati.
Day 1: Drive & Skyline
Day 2: Mar-Mar’s birthday and Joyce and Dave’s for 4th of July
Day 3: Rob work, dinner & Smale Park with Romans
Day 4: Dinner at Holly’s
Day 5: Dinner with the Herrels
Day 6: Pizza night at Jill’s
Day 7: Drive home
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Camp Akela
This morning I dropped Elliot off at Camp Akela, a Cub Scout camp. He will be staying for a couple of nights. It looks like they have some fun activities planned and we hope he has a great time.
Midwest Roadtrip
We just got back from a 4 day drive around the Midwest. We left this past Sunday afternoon, and spent the night in Bloomington, IL. On Monday morning we left the hotel as quickly as possible and headed to Indianapolis for my Aunt Mary Beth’s funeral. It was obviously sad to be there for the funeral, but it was nice to see a lot of family and meet Jill’s baby, Annie.
After the funeral we hit the road and headed to St. Louis, arriving just in time to swim in a nasty, indoor hotel pool, watch Full House, and then get to bed. Tuesday morning we hit City Museum with the Reagens and stayed until dinner time, when we headed to Nick & Molly Ehlman’s house, to meet their baby. We enjoyed some Imo’s Pizza, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, and some quality time with the Ehlmans. I had a nice group shot of everyone, but my phone died and I lost a few pics.
Wednesday morning it was time to head home. We met Mark Arminio at Tony’s Donuts in the St. Louis suburbs and then hit to road, headed home. It was a fun, busy trip.
Mahoney State Park
This past week we went on our annual, or sometimes bi-annual, trip to Mahoney State Park with the Liess clan. It was fun and the kids always have a blast. This was the first year the older kids could go off on their own most of the time. We also celebrated Rose’s first birthday while we were there.
