20130731 + Stuck in a Ball

20130731 + Up and in to work.  Still trying to get caught up...  More fires, walked the floor.  Home and picked up the black car $,$$$  had dinner with the LJ&G and then we all watched 'Pitch Perfect', a really great show.  All to bed in good time tonight, tired.

20130730 - Go for a Ride

20130730 - Up early and on the road to Cincinnati. I took some parts to a supplier to he fixed, took a tour of their site, met with the CEO and brought some repaired product back with me. Fast and furious rest of day...  Home and dropped car off at TUFFY.  Then we went to get conies from DQ, L was driving, Lilly in passenger seat and JG&I in the back. Home for dinner and the boys told me all about their day at the petting farm. J trying to decide on what to do for Dad & Me Day, and G&I over to Towler's to play and strategize on the draft this coming Friday.  Home and up late updating all of June 2013 on the blog.

20130729 - Over for Sure!

20130729 - Up and in to work. What a day it was. A mountain of email and meetings... I made it through the day and headed home with a car load of LCD panels I need to deliver to Cincinnati tomorrow morning. Home and got to see LJ&G for a few minutes before they headed to Gma&paB's for a farm visit tomorrow. I stayed home with my camouflage dog, chatted and had a beer with Doc, and updated all of July here on the blog.

20130728 + Feel Good Fair

20130728 + Up in the am and helped D finish getting ready for camp, then ran him to McD's for bfast and finally to the embark point for h to go to camp. I got his settled and ready and then left me boy there for his annual trip to Boy Scout  Camp of the week :-(

Home and finished getting caught up on personal paperwork, them to get a hair cut and ready for the work week ahead. LJG&I then picked up Gma&paW and headed to the Ohio State Fair. We looked at tons of exhibits, petted all the animals, ate some fair food, dropped ice scream on the ground and checked out the butter cow.


This fair is my annual trip to see how I fare vs the population, and it always makes me feel better about my life. Look at the sea of people and just compare for yourself :-P


20130727 - 1322

20130727 - Up in the am and hanging out at Gma&paB's. we checked out GpaB's new canoe and relaxed a bit before heading home.  Our final leg of our vacation was quiet, everyone exhausted.  When we got home we checked the speedometer and had traveled 1,322 miles on our trip.
Home and D helped me get the house back up and running and then we unpacked and unpacked. Then D started putting together his camping supplies. Once he got a list of things he needed we headed to the store. We got his supplies and then got some food and movies on the way home. We ate dinner and watched 'The Hobbit'. The boys wanted to watch another movie, but it was 10 already. Being the last night of vacation I said they could stay up, but D had to finish packing first. It took D an hour to pack and then we started watching another movie. G then J fell asleep quickly once they stopped moving. D was tired too, so we turned the movie off and all to bed.

20130726 - Long Drive, Many Sites

20130726 - Up in the am and heading out of town, but one last stop, at the worlds largest bronze statue of Neptune!

We hit McD's on the way to Mt. Trashmore. Not quite as scenic as Mt. Rushmore.  It is actually a converted land fill into a park

After lunch we were on the road for a bit in horrible traffic and made it to the Air Power Park in Hampton VA.  It was a really cool park with tons of airplanes and rockets.


Back on the road for a bit longer this time and we took a break at a tiny church in Doswell VA.  Someone was working on it inside, so it was a bit of a mess, but still cool these are around the country.  We had our lunch outside in the beautiful day at Burger King and then mounted up for an even longer leg of the journey.


While L was getting the boys situated in the car I checked out the Roadside America attractions that were close and found one I couldn't resist: Dinosaur Land in White Post VA.  This is a nice little park with the typical fiberglass dinosaurs, sharks, snakes and King Kong.  I was sad to see my family get eaten by a shark on this vacation ;-)


Just a littlw ways down the road we came to 2 more irresistible wonders of the natural world! 2 of the worlds largest apples in Winchester VA.


Done with all of the close sites we put the hammer down and raced towards home.  As the miles flew by L tried to capture all of the state signs.  See if you can find them VA, MD, PA (she is not a very good fast capture photographer...)


Now into PA we were hunting the world's largest sundae shop that is actually shaped like a sundae. We happened across the world's largest quarter (sorry no picture) and Kelly's Senic overlook restaurant, where we got some good home cooking. Down the road just a mile or so and there it was the sundae shaped ice cream stand in Everett PA. 

After our bellies were good and full we focused on getting to Gma&paB's.  As you can see L was having a hard time focusing...


We arrived at 12:30 am. A long day in the car, but many memories made on this road.

20130725 - Chilly Fun

20130725 - Up in the am and all down to a different beach this morning. We must have had some serious storms last night as the beach had about a 2 foot ledge on it. Despite the chilly wind and water the boys found a way to make a game of it.
L made a dragon and D dug himself into a hole...  
We hit the pool on the way in to change and go to the boardwalk to do some shopping.  We walked down to the pier and then found a good spot to eat. The bfast we had for lunch at Doc Thompson's was fantastic and the boys ate and ate. 
We walked back Atlantic Ave to the hotel and stopped at every shop along the way to see all the stuff they had inside...  Back to the hotel and down to the pool for a good long swim. Then across the street to Planet Pizza for a great dinner. 
Back to the hotel and out back to the beach for the boys to play with their new light up whirlybird thingys. They shot them to the sky an they floated down over and over.
Up late watching some TV with D as everyone else is worn out.

20130724 - Day at the Beach

20130724 - J up way to early and L got up and went down to eat bfast. They stopped back to wake DG&I and headed to the beach. DG&I got up and headed down to join them. They had a nice camp set up for us and into the water we went.
The water was a bit chilly but once in it balanced by the sun it was great. This beach is a bit steeper than the last few we have been to and has a row of sharp shell fragments to cross to get to the good waves. We played and built castles, caught some jelly fish, dug sand chairs and did some wave surfing. DJ&I took a walk across the road to get some subs for lunch. We had a nice picnic on the beach and than back at to the waves. The tide was going out so D&I threw the football about 100 yards from shore in waist deep water. I drug J&G out kicking and screaming timed perfectly with the jet fighters flying over so not to draw attention from the crowd ;-)
After the beach we hit the pool to de-sand and then up to the room to change for dinner. Apparently L found me asleep in the chair on the balcony, sitting up, head back... Ready for dinner we hit Captain George's: D tried (and liked) crab legs, J ate himself into a food coma and G was the official cracker.

After we consumed our weight in crab legs we headed out for some fun. The boys and I hit the track at a go-kart place and had a blast. Then we played 36 holes of putt-putt. This is G's favorite, but a very stressful and competitive family event. We made it through it... And lucky for us we just happened upon the worlds largest gorilla on the way back to the hotel.

Up late watching TV with the boys.

20130723 + Alice in Winger Land

20130723 + All up, fed, loaded and down the road to meet my great aunt Alice. We invaded her wonderful house, got a tour and talked about all the sites we had seen in DC. She gave us some pointers on the road to VA Beach and poured goodies on us, a true Heydinger!
Back on the road and past the 2nd Washington monument in Alexandria.
Down the road in bad traffic and I found another museum! G, not so happy...
Until he got inside and realized it was the United States Marine Corps Museum: full of airplanes, tanks, gun and awesome displays. The boys were enthralled and spent more time looking and walking and enjoying than any of the previous days.
(Actual flag flown over Iwo Jima)

The best museum yet! We ate there and then fought traffic for the next several hours to arrive at the Atlantic!

We got settled in, found a place to eat, picked up some beach stuff and then hit the the beach in the full moon.
We are excited to have a full day of sun and surf tomorrow :-)

20130722 - Right Up Here

20130722 - Everyone up, a little bfast and to the metro platform. We got there a little after 9:30 so we missed the morning rush. Our first stop was to take care of our biggest boy's desire to find a Washington Nationals hat. We took him right to the source, their home field team store. We looked at all wall of cool overpriced flat billed hats until we found a fitted one that actually fit (with the bill curved, as all baseball hats should be...).


Heading the 2 blocks back to the train G's legs gave out... "Come on G, the metro is right up here..." Back on the train and we got as close as we could for the hike to the second stop, the Lincoln Memorial.


As we walked up the many marble steps G had to stop and sit... "Come on G, Abraham Lincoln, your favorite president is right up here..." It is so BIG and cool. From J's mind "This is so big, Just think how big the Transformers really are!"


The boys and I rested at the top and admired the view while we waited for L to find a bathroom.


On to the Vietnam memorial.  This one is amazing with the sea of names.  It is mind blowing... J read name after name as LD&G (D carrying G on his back) searched for shade in the blazing breezeless day.


We found a stand and had a frozen treat where 2 extraordinary events took place: 1 we saw a wild fox run by, 2 we met some folks from Ashland OH that knew GpaW :-o


Down the path along the mirror pool going from shade spot to shade spot and now both G&J had lost all working function of there lower limbs... "Come on boys, the WWII monument is right up here..." Once we got the they had to find Ohio :-)


The next stop was the museum of American History. The only problem was how to get there: a 4 block detour to try and stay in the shade, or a scorching hot straight line past the Washington Monument... With leg function fading fast, L now in the list of limpers, the shortest distance was the only option... G tried to stay in our shadows, and J collapsed a couple of times but caught up for fear of being eaten by the fox, we made it to the monument. We snapped a couple of photos, saw the sights and headed towards the museum.


With the museum in sight the heard collapsed in the first shade they found... "Come on guys, the museum is right up here..." With the promise of food and air conditioning D got G on his back, I got J by the hand and we pushed L across the street into the cool. We sat and ate and rejuvenated ourselves.


The boys and I even took a ride in a race car in a simulator.


In to the gift shops first... Then 3 floors of incredibly cool stuff, including waiting in a long slow moving line and Dorothy's ruby slippers. 


Time to hit the heat and we headed to the White House. We got as close as we could and snapped some photos.


Now the final leg to the metro. Could we make it? D now hurting badly and L with a severe limp. We got to one corner and G just collapsed next to a homeless lady begging us to leave him there. "Come on G, the metro is right up here..." 76,231 more blocks and we made it to the Metro. Seated comfortably, J somehow stood at each stop and start to 'Subway Surf'. Our destination in sight we made it back to the room for a rest, just beating rush hour.
L read her new Golden Book, 'Nancy the Nurse' to the boys and J tried out his new calligraphy set (to rewrite the Constitution...), D admired himself in his hat and G put on his swimming suite.


Out to the pool to drain the very last ounces of energy...


We walked a couple blocks for dinner, no chili dog tonight :-( Back to the room we watched WWE wrestling and added our own sound track for some good laughs. No arguments about bed time tonight = a good day.