Trip to Penn

At Heinz Field

Well...after almost a year in planning, we just got back from our trip to Pennsylvania. We had a blast! We were originally planning on taking two days to get there, but after Steve's brother and his wife decided to get on the road at 1:30am, we decided...what the heck....lets just get there. It took about 16 hours from door to door, but we made it, and boy were we happy to have finally gotten there. On the way there Steven decided it was time to get a fever and anyone who knows my son knows that this is his M.O. (method of operation). Before ANY holiday or ANY vacation, my son gets sick...I don't know why, but he does. I was giving him Advil the entire way there and he HATES IT! It took over an hour at one point to get him to finish 1 1/2 tsp. The next morning he slept in until 9:30 and and his fever broke. He was fine the entire rest of the time we were there. On Saturday we went to "Big Bear Lake" in West Virginia (http://www.bigbearwv.com/pageload.cfm) where Steve's aunts and uncle's had their own property there. There is a water park there as well that we all went to and had a good time. I think Steven was still feeling a little under the weather and stayed with me most of the time. We then had a huge family gathering at our cabin on Sunday evening where ALL the family came and we got to visit. We stayed local as well while we were there and visited local waterfalls, rock slides, general stores, go-carts, etc. On Tuesday, we took a behind the scenes tour of  "Heinz Field" where the Pittsburgh Steelers play which was very cool. We then went to lunch at "Primanti Brothers" in the strip district. This is Steve's brother's favorite place to go when we go to Pitt. This in the third time I have been to Pitt and also the third time to "Primanti Brother's". http://www.primantibrothers.com/index.html. We then rode the incline, did some local shopping, and then let the kids play in a fountain with water set to music. They loved it! Steve and the rest of his family are huge fans of a local restaurant called "Bud Murphy's" http://www.budmurphys.com/Home_Page.php and they just could not wait to get there to have some of their pizza. All in all it was a wonderful trip and we had a great time with family. I am looking forward to going again...sooner than later (our last trip there was when Steven Jr. was 9 months old).

If you click on the title of this post it will take you to my "YouTube" page where I have a number of video's that I took while on this trip.

Frogs & Fireworks, July 4th, 2010

I must say...I love the title to this post...."Frogs & Fireworks"..It almost sounds like an annual event...come to think of it...I think it should be....Fireworks and Frog Gigging! Well...Steve Jr was so excited about seeing his cousins that he could not stay awake for the festivities. He was asleep by 9:00p.m. He and his cousins went swimming, we fished and then they played until dinner. After about 2 bites of dinner it was bath time, his nightly "night cap" of chocolate milk, and then he was asleep within 5 min.  After a wonderful dinner with Kay and Mike, we did fireworks and then went "Frog Gigging" in two good size ponds that surround the house. Steve had recently told me that he and his brother had seen some huge frogs there and had wanted to go "Frog Gigging" but did not have the proper tools to do so. On our way to Monticello, Fl yesterday morning we stopped at Wal-Mart and picked up a 5 prong "Frog Gigger". It looks like the top of a large fork. Steve cut down a small tree, and used that for the long handle of the "Gigger". We then took to the banks of both ponds and also got into a small boat and "gigged" from the water. I must say...we both had a blast and were able to come away with 11 large frogs. We watched a video on "YouTube" which showed us how to clean the frog legs (very easy) when we got home this morning. I let Steve do the cleaning and I assisted, but WOW..what a cool new experience. Thank you GOD for this gift of family, and this new experience that I was able to have and share with my n-laws and my husband.

Click on the title to this post for a "YouTube" video of one of the frogs that we caught...Enjoy

Father's Day Weekend, June 2010

What a wonderful Father's Day weekend we had last weekend. I have just been so very busy with work lately that this is the first short moment that I have had to myself to actually sit down and do my blog. My brother, his wife, and daughter, Ella (she calls Steven Jr. TT...sooo cute when she does) came into town from Baltimore for a week long family trip...first stop was to my mom's in St. Augustine so of course we had to go as well so that we could visit and spend Father's Day weekend with them and my mother ("Grandma at the Beach" in Steven Jr words). It was a very nice weekend and we spent a lot of time at the beach. There is no way we could not. Steven had a blast. I was such a proud mom when I saw Steven Jr swimming underwater in the ocean. Lots of things to be thankful for that weekend and every day.

If you click on the title of this post you will be taken to "YouTube" to watch an awesome video of Steven Jr on Steve's shoulders in the ocean as Steve falls into the water. Then Steven Jr takes to the water like a fish and starts swimming underwater. I loved it and just had to share.

Enjoy!

Trenton, to Gainesville, to Trenton, to Gainesville, and finally home!

I spent my Sunday at the office reviewing a current open protective services case and Steven and my husband spent the day at the springs. I knew that Steven was excited and I was happy to be able to get this work done. Upon my arrival home Steven and daddy shared with me their day at the springs and how Steven swam like a fish. That night Steven could not stop rubbing his eyes. I thought for sure he was just exhausted from his long day of swimming. Steven woke up the next morning and picked up where he left off with his eye rubbing, but again I thought to myself "It is just a morning thing". Well, about two hours after arriving at work in downtown Gainesville, his summer school teacher in Trenton (an hour away) called and told me that Steven's eyes are bloodshot and swollen. At that point I knew something was going on. I called the Dr's office and made an appointment. I was positive that it was allergies, but I still wanted the Dr. to be the one to tell me that. So I drove back to Trenton and picked him up, and then drove back to Gainesville to take Steven to the Dr. Well...it is a good thing that I got him there because his eye rubbing was occurring due to a bacterial infection. Steven got put on eye drops 3 times a day and was not allowed any contact with the children in his summer school class for 24 hours. So needless to say, yesterday was a LONG day, but no more eye rubbing! Oh...my car hit over the 100,000 mile mark as well....wooo hooo!!

Camping and UF Women's Football Clinic

Whew...what a weekend.....camping, football, and lots of bug bites! As soon as Steve came home from work on Friday, June 4th we loaded up the truck and took off to Manatee Springs for a weekend of camping. We were ready. We set up camp, got the tent sprayed with "Rain Guard" and we went to the springs to cool off...ahhhhhh. Let me just say that we have a water bug. Little Steven is swimming like a fish. He was having so much fun...and dad...well...lets just say he is the best. He would put Steven on his back and swim all the way across the spring and back with him. Of course Steven did not want to stay on his back because he can do it himself, and dad would let him, but boy he was right there ready to bring him in close when he would get tired. We went back to camp and were surrounded the entire time by deer. It was awesome! They would come walking right up to our camp site. Saturday morning I woke up at 6am, took a shower, and was at Florida Field by 8:00am. I must say that doing this UF Football Women's Clinic was one of the most awesome things I have even done! All the UF coaches were there doing drills with us at 8 different stations. We then took a tour of the weight room, locker room, and and got to run out of the tunnel into the SWAMP! I then headed back to the springs to be with my family and to thank my husband over and over for allowing me this day...just another gift from God.

If you click on the title to this post you can view a video of me running out of the tunnel into the SWAMP on YouTube!