Ark Adventure-April 25, 2017

(click here for today's pictures)

We did have plans to go to bed pretty early last night and the kids did. Robby was just about to lay down when he had to get up and do a bit more work before he finally turned in. We all slept very well and at some point in the middle of the night, I woke up with Whitman in bed with us. I am not sure when he climbed in bed with us but I am just thankful that I didn’t knock him off in the middle of the night.

Everyone started stirring around 7 and started getting ready. I was the last one to get ready this morning but still finished in time to take the first crew to breakfast. The breakfast today was pretty much the same as yesterday’s breakfast so it was also a winner.

After loading up the van, we headed towards the Ark. We had a 45 minute drive before we arrived. The parking lot was a little busy and the line to board the bus was a bit confusing, but we didn’t have to wait too long before loading up on the bus.

While we were on the bus, we could catch glimpses of the ark. It was indeed pretty impressive. Once we left the bus, we took a few pictures outside the ark and then went towards the entrance.

From the looks of the queues, it would seem that the ark has lots of visitors occasionally. It was very crowded today but not nearly as crowded as they are prepared for. The inside of the ark was just as impressive as the outside.

There were two really neat movies that we watched along with an area about where Noah an his family lived during their time on the ark.  The place was pretty crowded and the Creation Museum was our favorite but stopping at the Ark was still worthwhile.

Walking through the massive boat was pretty overwhelming. It is hard to imagine Noah, his 3 sons and their wives being able to build the ark. They probably did hire out some help but still anything that massive, that long ago. Not only the size, but the thought that had to go into the ark-how to feed the animals, store water, repair cages and all of the things that would need to happen on the boat for so long. Pretty wild to think about.

After we disembarked, we headed to the gift shop-Robby bought the kids some candy and then it was to the petting zoo. My favorite memory of the day was when we were in the petting area. We were petting goats and Whitman was right between 3 of them. I was looking away but out of the corner of my eye I did catch Whitman hurrying out of the way. Then I heard him shout, “it pooped!” Yep, that goat pooped right on top of his shoes!

He didn’t stick around the goat section much longer and soon we were headed to the car. We drove just a few miles and found a little park for a picnic. The kids enjoyed playing in the park and I enjoyed eating my sandwich. At the park, Whitman told me that sometimes I get angry and sometimes Daddy gets angry. I asked him why Momma got angry and he said, "cause we un-bey you." Yep, that would be the reason!

After a bit of playtime, we were back in the car. We had about 45 minutes to drive before stopping. We found a neat ice cream stop, Crank and Boom in Lexington. It was a really neat place-so neat that everyone had 2 scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone. Whitman was asleep so he did miss out and Keaton couldn’t pick what ice cream she wanted so she ended up wiht a huge piece of cake. We did have to take out a small loan to pay for this dessert but it was well worth it-we just won’t eat supper tonight!

Afterwards, Robby ran to Walgreens to pick him up some medicine. He must have Graham’s cold and has himself a stuffy head. When he climbed back in the car, I decided I better run back into the store to pick up some candy for the kids-gotta keep them happy!

Then we were back on the road and were headed home-saddest part of a trip! We turned on a movie to pass the time and were soon crossing over back into Central Time Zone. On the Kentucky border, we found an eating place in Louisville-Double Dogs.

We ordered cheese dip and it came with some great pico de gallo which Robby and I both gobbled up. We ordered the kids pizza and chicken fingers. Robby chose and burger which was too salty and I took the server’s recommendation and ordered buffalo chicken mac and cheese. I ordered it with the mild sauce but gracious me, if that was mild sauce I would hate to taste the regular sauce. Robby agreed that it was spicy but he split his burger with me and took home my leftovers. We really should have just split a meal especially since we had cheese dip as well.

From there, we only had another hour or less to our hotel. We drove right to it-after the GPS took us to a gas station in the middle of nowhere. We unloaded into our room and after putting on pjs, everyone had a drink before bed.

Then we found everyone a spot to sleep and it will soon be lights out.

December 4, 2021-Christmas in Michigan

(click for today's pictures)

Hammered dulcimer-that was the musical instrument that the lady was playing behind us last night while we ate dinner. I had to do a little bit of research to find that out, but now we know.

Hmm, let's see if I can remember this morning. We slept late-I was up until 2ish last night. Robby probably went to sleep about 1:30, but then I stayed up a little bit after that looking at my phone. Then we did wake up to go to the bathroom at 5, but after that we all slept well for a good long time.

There was really no hurry today. We had a 5 or so hour drive, but that was all. I heated up Robby and both big boys some sausage biscuits before we hit the road. I grabbed a granola bar and some shredded wheat for my breakfast. Really, I don't know how people eat that shredded wheat stuff-it isn't really that good. I mean, I can eat a few bites of it, but that is about all.

We might have stopped for gas once early in the day. Then how can you go through Ohio without stopping at Blue Ash Chili. We went to a new location for us. It was right on our way, and the parking was super easy for us. 

Robby ordered chili cheese dogs for all of us. They all come with about a cup of cheese on each one. Reagan had a salad that had at least 2 cups of cheese on it. Robby and I had jalapeno bottle caps on our chili dogs-of course that caused me to enjoy a tums after our meal.

We ate in the camper, and it was a perfect little stop. Robby was also able to run into Harbor Freight which was right next door to Blue Ash. What did we need? Duct tape-yep, we had a problem to fix. The round thing that covers the tire on one side of the car dolly has come unwelded a bit. We saw it while we were loading up the car this morning. 

I guess since it is unwelded, it bounces a lot more cause the tail light to come off (no wires broken so not a huge deal). However, we were worried that the unwelded part might come off or worse yet, hurt the tire so we wanted to secure it. We had tried earlier in the day, but his tape didn't really work well. 

And yes, there always seems to be things to fix when we come home from a trip-every trip. That is fine though because it is all still worth it. Thankfully, we have a friend that can weld the pieces back together, and the light replacement should be easy. The tape fix held well today, so hopefully it will continue to hold tomorrow as well.

Our rv park tonight is right near the Ark in Kentucky. We parked the camper in our spot, unloaded the car and headed to see the lights at the ark. Tonight you only had to pay to park, and then could walk around the grounds for free. (We had actually forgotten how expensive the ark was-yikes! Glad we didn't have to pay for that tonight.)

I guess since we didn't have to pay for that ark, we decided to eat supper at the buffet there. It wasn't cheap-though it was still a lot less than last night's supper. This buffet was huge. It was almost comical-when anyone would eat a bite of food, they would comment on it. We all became food critics for the evening. The bests-meatballs, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets. The worst-the lemon bars. 

After eating, we headed outside-by this time it was dark, and you could see the lights that surrounded the ark and the grounds. They were really pretty. There wasn't a ton of lights, but it was just really tastefully done and enough to be pretty. 

We walked through a bit of the petting zoo-it wasn't as chilly as light night, but it was still really cold. I had on multiple layers again, but not many others did. The most interesting part was walking through an area that had free kangaroos hopping around-like they hopped over the same sidewalk that we were walking on.

Then we went to the playground-wow. It was a playground. A maze, some type of teeter totter that Robby and I even enjoyed playing with, 2 zipline type things-it was an awesome playground. The kids could have stayed there for a lot longer, but it is December and it is winter and it is cold.

We walked through the gift shops-even saw some of our homeschool books which made me super happy. Then we caught the bus and headed to the car. The camper was just a few minutes away. Once we were all inside, we started on making beds and settling in for the night. 

We are sleeping with the slides in tonight because the plan is to leave pretty early in the morning. With the slides in, the only people that have to move is Robby and I. Actually I don't have to move-I could stay here and sleep except there is no way that I could sleep in the back of this thing. We have a long drive tomorrow, but hopefully we will be up early and home at a decent time-that means that I shouldn't stay up until 2 tonight!

Christmas Ornament Countdown 2017: Merry Christmas

This Christmas morning we close our 8th year of our Christmas Ornament Countdown with an ornament from this April. It is a pretty fitting ornament since Noah's Ark, which we saw in Kentucky, reminds us that there is just one way for salvation. And since that one way for our salvation was born on this Christmas morning many years ago, I thought this ornament was a perfect fit.

Even though you have heard about Noah's ark all of your life, it is hard to imagine just how bit it really is. It is pretty mind blowing to realize that one family built the entire ark by themselves.

It was a great trip (click here for pictures from that trip) and I hope that we maybe can go back when there are fewer crowds. Our crowded trip did make me grateful that we weren't on the real ark packed full of animals. 

I hope you have enjoyed our Christmas Ornament Countdown this year, and I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas.

May 4, 2017

(click here for today's pictures)

• We had to scurry a bit this morning but were still able to sent Whitman and Keaton off to school on time-or nearly on time. Robby took them and the rest of us started on our school work. 
• Everyone worked pretty hard and were soon finished earlier than usual-well, Anderson wasn't exactly finished early. I don't know what all he did this morning but he didn't mind being the last one to finish. 
• We did our work together early this morning and the kids went to town working on their Mammath Cave junior ranger books. We didn't have time to complete them there so we brought them home so we can sent them in after we finish. I am glad that they enjoyed doing them so much because I have already printed out a few Hawaii junior ranger books.
• Robby brought home Keaton and Whitman. They had good days at school. Ms. Jennifer said that as she was reading a story about Noah's ark, he told her to "Stop!" and ran to his school box to pull out his picture of him at Noah's ark. Keaton had her pictures to show off too and I think that they were pretty happy to have a show and tell.
• Reagan made lunch-buttered toast, sausage, and fried eggs. She did almost all of it by herself and I was just around for clean up duty. After the kids ate, we cleaned up a little bit and soon some of my people were outside-in the rain.
• The girls and Graham splashed around in the dirt pile, which now has a hole filled with water in it. They asked to put on their bathing suits and I said "not a chance." They apparently didn't need them to get soaked though!
• At 3, we hopped in the car to head to the library. I started the car and immediately heard some strange sounds. I could barely hear a man talking coming through my radio. I looked and the radio was off. Hmm, it didn't take long for me to realize that when I turned the car on, Robby's phone's blue tooth connected and the call that he was on was now a call that we were all on. I was quick to hush the kids and tried to pull out of the garage quickly so we would be out of the phone's range. Thankfully, Robby figured it out too and was quick to hang up and dial back in to his work call. I did laugh and laugh about this-thinking about a bunch of people scratching their heads during the meeting while thinking, "It sounded like I just heard a bunch of kids."
• The children's library had May the Fourth party. They had cupcakes, pretzel stick light sabers, cookies and yoda soda. They also had an obstacle course, crafts, a movie playing and some games. My people couldn't have been happier and were especially thrilled when the Kamps showed up as well. After a good time eating and playing, we headed home.
• Once we came home, the kids ended up outside for a bit. Soccer was cancelled because of the weather but it was nice enough for the kids to shoot hoops for a while. After everyone had showers, we passed out nachos. The boys went upstairs to watch a Star Wars movie and the girls watched a movie down stairs. I made some cookies for dessert and when the movies were over, it was bedtime!

Ark Adventure-April 24, 2017

(click here for today's pictures)

We stirred a little bit this morning around 3 with Graham coughing. I got up to give him some water and then he soon went back to sleep quietly. Around 8, Anderson woke us up to tell us the time. We did soon get up but Robby told him that we had a bit more time to sleep and even though our picture this morning of us leaving said 10:00, it was really 9 Central Time so we were still pleased.

Today's breakfast will probably be the winner of the trip. Surprisingly though, the kids didn't eat as much as they did the day before. We still did leave with our bellies full and everyone was happy (me especially, since they had granola.)

Now, we only had a 5 minute drive to the Creation Museum but we somehow ended up going the wrong way leading us out of Indiana and into Ohio and back through Indiana and then finally into Kentucky. Whitman had been looking for dinosaurs and was pretty thrilled to see dinosaurs on the front gate of the Creation Museum.

The museum was very impressive. Our fist stop was a movie with a few special effects. Then we watched a show in the planetarium. The planetarium show was pretty neat and it showed us how vast our universe is. 

Next up was a walk through the museum part. This museum basically explains how the world began roughly 6000 years ago just as the Bible says and not millions or billions of years ago as current science suggest. It did a good job of demonstrating how your view on God's word affects your belief on creation. The museum had lots of reading but also showed lots of science to back up young earth creationism.

After we walked through the exhibits, we smelled the most delicious smell ever-warm fudge. Of course we had to stop and pick some up. We enjoyed most of our fudge and then walked through another area with tons of insect collections. Then it was back upstairs for another special effects movie.

We had almost finished but there were beautiful gardens out back that we walked through. There was a petting zoo, hanging bridge and floating bridge. We could have taken a lot of pictures in the gardens but wanted to hurry to watch a show back inside the museum. It was a singing, scientist, dinosaur creator, guitar playing man. He put on a little show and it was pretty good but it was nearing 4 and we had only eaten our hotel breakfast and fudge so we were hungry.

We snuck out and left the museum and drove towards our next stop-supper! Blue Ash Chili in Blue Ash, Ohio was high on everyone's agenda. The kids remembered it from last year and they could not wait to return. I do believe that cups and cups of cheese were calling their name. Robby thought he ordered them all hot dogs with cheese but he ended up ordering chili dogs with cheese. No one looked too excited but every single one of them were devoured and Robby had to buy 4 more for everyone. Keaton told us that next time we have hot dogs at home she wants chili on hers. 

Robby had a 5 way-spaghetti, chili, beans, cheese and fried jalapenos and I ate a lizard-a fried pickle in a hot dog bun covered with cheese and chili. All of our food was perfectly delicious. Next time we go maybe we can order the No Freakin Way which is 2.5 pounds of spaghetti, 2.5 pounds of chili, 2 pounds of cheese and a cup of fried jalapenos. The kids will be a bit older and will be able to help us devour the large meal.

From there, we were just a few minutes drive to our hotel. We checked in and then after we organized a few things, the kids put on their bathing suits and they went swimming. They had fun and everyone but Whitman and Graham swam the whole hour allotted to swim. The chlorine must have been pretty strong because everyone would climb out of the pool occasionally to wipe their eyes. Graham's eyes were really bothering him so he was ready to take a shower before the others. I had to eventually put drops in Anderson's eyes which he said hurt worse (I doubled checked and it was not the ear ache drops this time.) I did even hold Whitman down and managed to get drops in one of his eyes but it wasn't worth the effort to do his other eye.

After swimming, everyone showered. We had planned on doing laundry but there wasn't any there so instead we had a drink and finished off the fudge from this morning. After a bit of tv watching, the kids bedded down. Currently, the tv is still on but the plan is to have lights out at 9 (it is already 9:10 though). Tomorrow will be an early day-don't want the Ark to leave without us.

May 3, 2017

(click here for today's pictures)

• Today was our last Bible study for the year. The kids were stirring pretty early this morning-I think that it was probably because of our good breakfast-leftovers from what I took yesterday for teacher appreciation-cinnamon rolls and muffins. They pretty much devoured everything and were soon dressed and ready for Bible study.
• The kids were all anxious to get to Bible study this morning and I was anxious to sit in the car and eat my Wednesday morning bagel and finish our book on tape. Anderson was excited to bring lemonade and sprite to his class for their end of the year celebration. Keaton couldn't wait to see if her teacher had remembered to bring her candy-she did. And everyone had pictures to show of their visit to the ark. I was in Whitman's class when he showed his pictures-he said, "Everyone look at these. What do you see?" 
• After Bible study, it was raining pretty good so we couldn't go to a park but headed on to Rock Creek to play. I dropped off the boys so they could go through the church house to open the door for us while we parked near the covered drive through. The kids played and played and ate a little bit of lunch. 
• When everyone left, we dropped off Kennedy and then headed home. I had big plans for another nap (still fighting my cold-Last night I didn't even write out today's list-I'm not yet 100%) but after getting home a bit later than usual, unloading the car, correcting a few pages of math and doing history and science, I was only able to rest for about 15 minutes before waking up to work on supper.
• Robby came home and took over supper and soon we had eaten and were out the door for church tonight. I ended up working in Keaton's class and she was pretty happy to have me as her teacher. Then it was home for a snack-Robby was pulling cookies out of the oven as we came in. 
• The kids had cookies, we watched a Bates and then it was bedtime for the crew! 

Dennie Travel Recommendations by State

We have been fortunate to travel to all fifty states and have seen some pretty cool places along the way.  We always say, “There’s always something to see – even in Idaho!”  So we’ve started compiling a list of some of our favorites – these are the best of the best!  Some are attractions while some are places to eat.  Take a look and if there’s something we’re missing, let us know and we might just go visit!  You should be able to click on the individual places to learn more.

Alabama-
Birmingham-Pete’s Famous Hot Dogs
Scottsboro-Unclaimed Baggage Center
Huntsville-U.S. Space and Rocket Center

Alaska-
Juneau-Mendenhall Glacier

Arkansas-
Hot Springs-McClards BBQ
Little Rock-Clinton Library  
Russellville-Feltner's Whattaburger
Bentonville-Walmart Museum
Bentonville-Crystal Bridges

Arizona-
Holbrook-Wigwam Motel
Grand Canyon-Maswick Lodge Cabin
Grand Canyon-Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim Cabins
Sedona-Sedona Offroad Adventures
Clarkdale-Verde Canyon Railroad
Tucson-Saguaro National Park

California:
Multiple Locations-In and Out Burger
Klamath-Tour Thru Tree
Yorba Linda-Richard Nixon Presidential Library
Simi Valley-Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Los Angeles-Pink’s Hot Dogs
Los Angeles-Hollywood Sign Drive
Los Angeles-Randy's Donuts
Crescent City-Redwood National Park
Mill Valley-Muir Woods National Monument
Yosemite-Yosemite National Park
San Simeon-Hearst Castle
Big Sur-Highway 1
San Francisco-Alcatraz Night Tour
Los Angeles-Randy’s Donuts
Napa Valley-Oakville Grocery
Napa Valley-Picnic at Rutherford Winery
Anaheim-Best Western Park Place Inn-Mini Suites
Carlsbad-Legoland
Anaheim-Disneyland
San Diego-Sea World Dine with Shamu
Coronado-Moo Time Creamery (get the 10 scoops!)
Southern California-City Pass (ultimate theme park vacation)
Desert Hot Springs-Thousand Palms Oasis Coachella Valley Preserve
Joshua Tree-Joshua Tree National Park (Barker Dam Nature Loop
Sequoia-Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

Colorado:
Durango-Soaring Treetop Adventures

Connecticut:
New Haven-Pepe’s Pizza
Orange-Pez Factory Tour

Delaware:
Lewes-Cape May/Lewes Ferry

District of Columbia:
Smithsonian Museums-all have back door entrances
Ben’s Chili Bowl

Florida:
Orlando-Disneyworld  (see Disney Recommendations by the Dennies)
Destin-Donut Hole
Pensacola-National Aviation Museum
Seaside-Food Trucks
Homestead-Robert is Here Food Stand
Key West-Kermit's Key West Lime Shoppe
Key West-Sloppy Joes
Everglades-Everglades National Park (Anhinga Trail)
St. Augustine-Downtown St. Augustine
Winter Haven-LegoLAND (best for kids 5-10)

Georgia:
Atlanta- The Varsity
Atlanta- Georgia Aquarium
Atlanta-World of Coca Cola
Atlanta-Stone Mountain

Atlanta-Hattie B's Hot Chicken (local chain)
Savannah-The Lady and Sons
Warm Springs-Roosevelt’s Little White House

Hawaii:
Honolulu-Diamond Head State Park
Honolulu-Pearl Harbor
Honolulu-Leonard's Bakery
Haleiwa-Matsumoto's Shaved Ice
Kaneohe-Mikes Huli Huli Chicken

Idaho:
Arco-Craters of the Moon National Monument-Indian Tunnel


Illinois:
Chicago-Garrett’s Popcorn
Chicago-Superdawg
Chicago-Giodano's Pizza
Chicago-Cubs Game at Wrigley
Chicago-Trolley and Double Decker Tour
Chicago-Crown Fountain at Millennium Park
Springfield-Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Indiana:
Indianapolis-Indianapolis 500 Track Tour
Indianapolis-The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Lincoln City-Lincoln Boyhood Home NM

Iowa:
Boone-Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad

Kansas:


Kentucky: 
Louisville-Louisville Slugger
Louisville-Churchill Downs
Lesage-Hillbilly Hot Dogs
Petersburg-Creation Museum
Williamstown-Ark Encounter

Louisiana:
Folsom-Global Wildlife Center
New Orleans-Camellia Grill
New Orleans-Cafe Du Monde
New Orleans-Mother’s Restaurant
New Orleans-Acme Oyster
New Orleans-Cajun Encounters Swamp Tours
New Orleans-Maple Street Patisserie

Maine:
Acadia-Mr. Rockefeller’s Bridge Tour
Bar Harbor-Bar Harbor Cottages and Suites
Bar Harbor-Bar Harbor Motel

Maryland:
Annapolis-Chick and Ruth's Delly
Baltimore-B and O Railroad Museum
Baltimore-Fort McHenry
Berlin-Assateague Island NS

Massachusetts:
Boston-Public Garden
Boston-Inner Harbor Ferry
Boston-Mike's Pastry
Boston-Freedom Trail

Michigan:
Milwaukee-Lake Express
Holland-Nelis' Dutch Village
Dearborn-Greenfield Village (Tara's Favorite)
Dearborn-Henry Ford Museum
Royal Oak-Ray's Ice Cream
Mackinaw Island-Carriage Tour
Frankenmuth-Frankenmuth

Mississippi:
Hernando-Velvet Cream

Minnesota:
Bloomington: Mall of America
Bloomington: Chutes and Ladders Playground
Minneapolis: Mill City Museum
Minneapolis: Matt's Bar
St. Paul: Seventh Street Truck Park
Excelsior: Adele's Frozen Custard
Austin: Spam Museum

Missouri:
Branson-Andy’s Frozen Custard
Branson-Silver Dollar City at Christmastime  
Branson-Hurts Donuts
Kansas City-Steamboat Arabia
Kansas City-Joe's KC BBQ
Kansas City-Winstead's Steakburgers (highly recommend the skyscraper)
St. Louis-Ted Drewes Custard
St. Louis-Grant National Historic Site
St. Louis-City Museum
St. Louis-Gateway Arch
St. Louis-Fitz's Root Beer
Independence-Covered Wagon Ride
St. Joseph-Pony Express National Museum

Montana:
West Yellowstone-Wild West Pizzaria
St. Mary-Glacier National Park

North Carolina:
Boone-Grandfather Mountain
Kill Devil Hills-Wright Brother's NM
Charlotte-Billy Graham Library

North Dakota:
Multiple Locations: Space Alien Grill

Nebraska:
Omaha-Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge
Omaha-Gene Leahy Mall Slide

Nevada:
Lake Tahoe-Vikingsholm Castle
Las Vegas-Bellagio Fountains

New Hampshire:
Conway-White Mountain National Forest Lower Falls
Multiple Locations-The Common Man Restaurant
Littleton-Thayer’s Inn and covered bridge behind

New Jersey:
Staten Island-Staten Island Ferry
Liberty State Park-Ferry to Statue of Liberty
Margate-Lucy the Elephant
Hoboken-Carlo’s Bake Shop
Cape May-Cape May Lewes Ferry

New Mexico:
Alamogordo-White Sands National Monument
Carlsbad-Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Mountain Park-Old Apple Barn

New York:
Buffalo: Paula's Donuts
Cooperstown-Baseball Hall of Fame
Niagara Falls-Cave of the Winds (Robby's Favorite)
Niagara Falls-Maid of the Mist
New York City-Famous Original Ray’s Pizza (736 7th Ave)
New York City-Central Park
New York City-Brooklyn Bridge
New York City-Hi Line
New York City-Staten Island Ferry
Lewiston-The Silo
Tonawanda-Paula's Donuts

North Carolina: 
Asheville: Biltmore
Kitty Hawk: Wright Brother's National Memorial

Ohio:
Blue Ash-Blue Ash Chili
Cincinnati-Skyline Chili
Cincinnati-John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
Cleveland-Little Italy
Millersburg-Yoder's Amish Home
Dayton: National Air Force Museum
Zanesville: Tom's Ice Cream Bowl

Oklahoma:
Catoosa-Blue Whale
Pawhuska-Pioneer Woman's Mercantile
Oklahoma City-Bricktown Water Taxi
Tulsa-Weber’s Root Beer Restaurant
Tulsa-Wilson's BBQ

Oregon:
Columbia River Gorge-Multnomah Falls
Portland-Voodoo Doughnuts
McMinnville-Spruce Goose
Crater Lake-Crater Lake National Park
Medford-Harry and David Factory Tour

Pennsylvania:
Gettysburg-Gettysburg National Military Park
Philadelphia-The Please Touch Museum
Philadelphia-Reading Terminal Market
Philadelphia-Independence National Historic Park
Philadelphia-Dalessandro’s Steaks
Ronks-Red Caboose Motel
Scranton-Steamtown NHS
Strasburg-Strasburg Rail Road
Pittsburgh-Primanti Bro.
Pittsburgh-Dequesne Incline

Rhode Island
Newport-Newport Creamery
Newport-Cliff Walk

South Carolina
Hilton Head-Crowne Plaza Resort

South Dakota
Wall-Wall Drug
Keystone-Mt. Rushmore
Custer-Custer State Park
Hot Springs-Wind Cave National Park  
Sioux Falls-B&G Milky Way
Sioux Falls-Falls Park
Mitchell-Corn Palace
De Smet-Ingalls Homestead

Tennessee
Gatlinburg-Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant
Gatlinburg-Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies
Gatlinburg-Ober Gatlinburg
Gatlinburg-The Inn at Christmas Place
Memphis-Graceland
Nashville-Elliston Place Soda Shop
Nashville-Hermitage
Nashville-Bobbie's Dairy Dip
Mt. Juliet-Cori's Dog House

Texas
Fort Worth-Ft. Worth Stockyards
Johnson City-LBJ Ranch
Potter County-Cadillac Ranch
Amarillo-Big Texan Steak Ranch

Utah
Moab-Arches National Park
Capitol Reef-Capitol Reef National Park Gifford Homestead
Springdale-Zion National Park

Vermont:
Waterbury-Ben and Jerry’s Factory Tour
Burlington-Bove’s (now closed)
Shoreham-Fort Ticonderoga Ferry
Walden Heights-A. M. Foster Bridge

Virginia:
Shenandoah National Park
Charlottesville-Monticello
Mount Vernon-Mount Vernon
Roanoke-Texas Tavern
Cape Charles-Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

Washington:
Seattle-Pike Place Market
Seattle-Italian Family Pizza
Seattle-Beecher's Handmade Cheese-mac and cheese
Port Angeles-Olympic National Park-Lake Crescent

Washington D.C.:
Smithsonian Museums
National Mall and Memorial Parks
Washington Sailing Marina-picnic spot

Wisconsin:
Wisconsin Dells-Tommy Bartlett Water Show
Milwaukee-Leon's Frozen Custard
Pleasant Prairie: Jelly Belly Tour

Wyoming:
Grand Teton National Park-Jenny Lake, Leigh Lake Trail
Wyoming-Devil's Tower  
Yellowstone-Old Faithful Lodge
Yellowstone-Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Jackson Hole-Town Square
Jackson Hole-KOA Campground Cabins

Bahamas:
Nassau-Queen's Staircase

Puerto Rico:
San Juan-San Juan National Historic Park

October 17, 2021

(click for today's pictures)

• Some how I seem like the first one up most days around here-even on a Sunday. Now, Robby did get up right before me to take Bentley outside, but he as back sound asleep before I stopped hitting snooze and left the bed.
• I took my shower and then went to wake up the kids. Robby was already working on this. It wasn't an easy task as all. The big boys and Keaton were the first awake. Poor Whitman was sound asleep though.
• When Whitman did wake up, he dutifully went downstairs and put on his Sunday clothes. He has more Sunday clothes choices than anyone else...and every week he puts on the same green polo shirt. It is quite funny that he does this. It has been 3 weeks since he has been there so I didn't say anything.
• We did church and Sunday school. The story was Noah's ark so we all made aluminum foil boats and put animals in it to see if it would sink. This, of course, was pretty messy-especially since I forgot a towel to wipe up the water. Thankfully nothing too major spilled so we were able to sclean our mess with paper towels.
• After church we celebrated Pops' birthday. He bought himself bbq and even his own cake made. And that stinker cut a piece of his cake and started eating it before we had time to sing. You better believe that we put a candle on his half eaten piece of cake and sang to him. 
• He opened presents, and we had time to play a bit of Jason's new trivial pursuit game. We have been playing one from Nonna's house that was printed in the 70s so there are few questions that the kids can answer. This game was a bit more current-though we still can't answer any questions.
• Reagan and I had to leave for her soccer game. She drove there, and since we left a little bit later than I planned, we were a few minutes late. I was snoozing in the car during Reagan's warm ups when Pops banged on our car-scaring Keaton and me to death!
• They came to watch Reagan's game. She played hard today and has really improved. Her team won by 2 or 3 points. After the game, we arrived home just as Campbell, Anderson and Graham were leaving to go to church tonight.
• I unloaded all of the things from the day, worked on this next week's list and watched myself a Hallmark movie. It was a perfect afternoon-well, except for missing a Sunday afternoon nap! 
• We had our weekly supper at the Wilson's house. They had a ton of breakfast foods-biscuits, eggs, sausage, potatoes, and bacon. Shannon even finished the theme with banana bread for dessert and brownies for the non banana bread eaters.
• We headed home in time for us to get things ready for tomorrow. The girls planning on doing their school during bedtime!

September 24, 2015

Celebrating Keaton at school!

(click here for today's pictures)

• There was no having to wake Keaton up today-school day and her day to bring snacks.  And not just any snacks was she bringing, it was Elsa cupcakes to start her birthday celebrations a bit early.  Robby snapped her picture beside the birthday sign and Ms. Jennifer had her a birthday crown.  
• After dropping her off, Robby and Campbell headed to the car place so he could have some work on his car done (recall work).  Robby said that Campbell quietly did her school work as happy as she could be while they waited.  The work took so long that they just ran to Walmart before picking Keaton up from school.
• Once at home, we had lunch and then Grannymom and Grandpa came over to do a bit of work. Grandpa and Robby worked on pimping my ride a little bit-we now have a mini rv for road trips in our van (no, not rest room or showers but a fancy new drawer system)
• This afternoon was exhausted and sat down in the chair and had myself a little nap. I must have been sound asleep when I agreed to paint the girls' fingernails.  I was about to try to talk my way out of that when I realized that it was indeed National Daughter's Day (or maybe that is another holiday that Facebook has made up).  
• We spent at least an hour working on painting nails-the girls fingernails and my toenails. Campbell's and Keaton's polish is pretty much already off.  I really don't know what they do to make that happen since whenever I paint my toes it stays on them for months.  Anyway, Campbell had a chevron pattern, Keaton had little flowers, Reagan had a dot pattern and I also had dots.  It was quite a bit of fun and everyone was pleased when we finished.
• Now since I was spending time with the girls for National Daughter's Day, Robby was outside wishing that is was National Husband's Day because he was wondering why I wasn't coming outside to help him in the yard.  I did eventually come outside just in time to help him clean up. We did decide to clean out the car for a few minutes before coming back in.
• Robby then decided to cut the boys' hair (no, not Whitman-probably would if we could figure out how to not buzz it).  So they sat outside and got their trims while everyone else had showers. Campbell was mad at me about what shower I assigned her and she told me that she was going to take an extra long shower-like 2 hours long.  I said that she should go for it!
• Her shower didn't last that long since soon supper was on the table-fish sticks and cornbread! The meal of champions!  After supper we pretty much did nothing since it was already 8.  We did our story time tonight and the kids were all happy to show off their pictures of Noah's Ark (Reagan didn't want us to take a picture of hers since she said it wasn't finished yet!)

June 23, 2013

(click here for today's pictures)

Sunday Night Fun!

• Sunday morning is doughnut morning and my crew was ready for doughnuts.  There was some debate if they had to eat "those powdered doughnuts."  I explained that their Daddy loved those growing up and they were a special treat.  I believe that the kids were afraid that Robby and I had eaten all of the leftover Krispy Kreme doughnuts-we did not eat all of them!
• A sweet friend of ours offered to do my worship care this week and I sure let her.  We miss big church when we aren't there and I would have hated to miss hearing my kids sing their little hearts out during worship.  Reagan and Anderson were just singing away.  I leaned down to Anderson during one song and told him that this is what heaven would be like.  He must not have agreed and shook his head at me and said "really, how do you know?"  Heaven to a 6 year old boy probably does not involve sitting still for an hour!
• Everyone recalled most of their Sunday school lesson and my Graham must have really listened to the story or had heard it before because he was all about raising his hands to answer questions in class.  Reagan and Anderson loaded me down with info on the ark of the covenant and even stumped me with a question.  And Campbell's report from her class was "some people were taking blocks from me."  I asked her for a list of names and will be calling their mothers.  Actually, my Campbell is pretty large for a 3 year old and if someone in her class is brave enough to take something from her, then my hat is off to them. 
• Reagan missed lunch at Nonna's house and went to play with Kennedy.  Reagan said that had a big time and played dolls, dollhouse and even played Uno.  We will have to play that later this week-or maybe I will put it in her school box-Dennie school starts in less than a month!
• The kids enjoyed Nonna's pizza for lunch and even devoured the cake that Reagan helped her make.  I brought Reagan and the others home a piece of cake for later.  She was a bit bummed when she realized that she would miss eating her cake.  But will be happy to eat it tomorrow-if it is not my midnight snack.
• Back at home, we quickly did laundry (mounds and mounds of laundry) and then began our Sunday nap time ritual.  Campbell laid on the couch with me and was asleep before I could even set my timer to wake up.  After about 30 minutes when I went through the house asking folks if they wanted to go swimming, this house woke up and everyone started throwing clothes and running to the car.
• We met Kennedy and Reagan and swam for about 2 hours.  The big kids are getting really good swimming-Reagan especially, Anderson too and Graham just makes me nervous.  He did go off the slide without anyone to catch him and swam to the ladder but he doesn't know how to come up to take a breath.  And Campbell happily went down the slide, went off the diving board and played with Keaton the entire time.
• At the pool tonight, Keaton was playing in the water fountains with a bottle and Graham came to a nearby fountain and sprayed her.  She turned and looked at him and said "no, no."  He didn't respond to her so she walked up to him, pointed her finger and said "no, no" again.  I guess she didn't like his response because then she pushed him.   He just sprayed her again and then walked off swatting at her bottom as he walked past.  This little incident was pretty comical to the folks sitting beside me.  
• After the pool, the kids know to sit on the curb and drink their juice box while we load up the van.  Robby and I were talking about how long it takes to load the van.  Even though the big 4 can get in without a problem, it is all of the little things that take us so long to load up.  Loading up on Sunday mornings are almost comical-4 kids waiting in the van with Robby and I making multiple trips in and out of the house carrying things and more kids into the car.  
• Anyway, back at the house tonight, we all quickly had showers and then supper.  After supper the kids had their ice cream and then it was to bed for all!  Another good day!

Ark Adventure-April 22, 2017

(click here for today's pictures)

Robby and I went to bed this morning around 2 and it was storming so wonderfully outside. We felt pretty confident that maybe there wouldn’t be soccer this morning. We still had plenty to do before leaving for our trip and a morning off of soccer would help tremendously.

Around 6:30, Robby started staring at his phone waiting for the “no soccer” message but it never did come. A bit after 7, we started hurrying the kids along getting their soccer clothes on. The drive to the fields was a misty mess and so were the first 2 games.

The weather was not a deterrant to Keaton this morning. She hustled as fast as she could but the two other boys on her team were a bit faster (and a bit bigger) today. Keaton wasn’t able to score but her team did win by quite a bit.

Campbell’s turn was next and her team only lost by one point which was so much closer than last week. She hurried after that ball and had lots of fun. Now the boys had fun but they were no were close to winning. They played a boy that was on Anderson’s team last year and he is a superstar. I do believe that their score was 7-0. They hustled to the end and were eventually able to stop (or slow down) the superstar.

During one of the games, Whitman looked up at me and said, “I forgot my beary.” Poor thing, I had to reassure him that we would go home and get his beary before leaving. The mist stopped during Reagan’s game but the wind was still blowing and it was just down right cold during the games. Reagan scored 3 points and her team’s score was 9-0. She has a really fun group of girls on her team and they are all good players.

Before the end of the game, Robby was herding kids to the car at the end of Reagan’s game. I had to hurry with Reagan to the car so we weren’t left. We picked up pizza on the way home and speeded on back to the house.

At home, the girls showered first while the boys ate their pizza and then they switched places. Robby managed the showers and even had to sit down to do some work. I unloaded the car and started on the reloading. We moved pretty quickly and even were loaded in the car 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

We fought the rainy mist the entire drive and the dreary day made our drive to Memphis seem incredibly long. We drove and drove and drove.  At one time I thought that we might be driving in circles. After crossing the river, we did stop at a McDonalds for a potty break and snack. The kids ate nuggets, hamburgers, ice cream and slushies-that really sounds like more than a snack. After a bit of sitting at McDonalds, Whitman told us that he was ready to go to the hotel so we loaded up and headed that way.

Back in the car and we listened to our book for a while. The rain continued to be a misty mess but we passed the time with ipads, talking to Grannymom, talking to Pops and texting Candice and the Wilsons.

I am always amazed at the kids-getting into the hotel was incredibly easy. Keaton asked to help with laundry (none tonight) and then offered to unload the ice chest. Everyone put their shoes up and started getting their pjs and when Whitman walked into the room he started stripping. (Our usual hotel laundry routine is strip when you come in the room so we can get that laundry in the wash quickly.) Soon everyone were in their pjs, having something to drink, and watching ginormous food. (We probably shouldn’t watch this show because we are already planning another trip to go and eat a 48 inch pizza.)

Dennie Kids: March 19, 2009

Highlights from today: (click here for the pictures)

• Another school day and a rough morning for Reagan-she didn't want to go but forgot all about that once she had her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and milk
• Anderson coloring in his class today and Reagan making "two triangles"
• Picking Graham up from Nonna and Pops and everyone getting to play a little bit there before heading home
• Graham eating an early supper and everyone playing until Dad came home
• Writing words and painting our letter W
• Leftovers for supper and then watching "Small World" on Mom's computer-Anderson loves to sing Small World and talk about the ride. He told me that the Noah's ark he was playing with was not Noah's but the Small World boat
• Hanging out at Grannymom and Grandpa's house for a little bit this evening before bedtime
• Mom thought that Graham was waving a few days ago but today she is sure that she is waving-he waved bye to Nonna and Pops tonight
  

October 1, 2015-The Long Way to Disney (Day 2)

Hello Mr. Giraffe!

(click here for today's pictures)

Robby and I went to bed about an hour and half earlier last night than we did the night before since we were busy packing that night.  When Robby stirred at 2, I felt like we had been asleep for most of the night.  Anderson makes some kind of throat clearing noise when he is sleeping sometime and he was really making it last night.  I moved him around and put his head back on his pillow and he stopped that racket for awhile.

The next thing that I knew was that my alarm clock was ringing.  We hit snooze a few times and then Campbell jumped up and climbed in bed with us.  When Robby and I climbed out of bed we started repacking everything.  Since our big road trip wasn’t that long ago, we were still in the repack quickly mindset and were soon all ready and loaded up for breakfast.

The highlight of vacations for Dennie kids and really for the Dennie grownups is hotel breakfasts.  Today was a nice one-Holiday Inn Express cinnamon rolls were the highlight!  While Robby, Campbell and Anderson were loading the car up the rest of us started on breakfast.

When we were finished, we started out for Folsom LA which was about 20 minutes away.  We have stopped here before in 2010-Reagan was just 5, Anderson 3, Graham 2 and Campbell was a baby.  Here is a link to that post if you want to look back and see their adorable pictures.  And then click here to look at the pictures of that day and see my tiny little babies.  It was hot that day, crowded and the giraffes never came to our car….

Today was none of that.  As we stood and waited to board our ride while Robby went over with the kids about how important it was to arrive at places early or when they open.  Our car contained us and 2 other people and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Once on the car, they workers passed out our pre-purchased food.  Now the last time we were here, I was the one who ran in and bought the tickets and the food. When they brought us our food last time Robby laughed and laughed at the huge bucket of food they gave us.  He kidded me saying “do you think that you bought enough?”  He was only quietened when he saw the huge 50 pound bags that other people had purchased. 

Fast forward 5 years and guess who is the one buying the 50 pound bag of animal feed for our safari.  Yep, Robby!  That was food was certainly all needed (though a pound or two did end up on the floor of the car)  Within the first 10 minutes of the safari, almost half of our food was used. 

Let’s first talk about the animals that were there-pretty much every type of grass eating animal that you can think of: deer, llamas, zebras, cattle, ducks, giraffes, and a zillion other ones.  When the tour jeep pulls into the fence, the animals begin flocking to the cars. We have been talking about Noah’s ark at church and in our nightly Bible study and seriously, that is how Noah must have felt. Animals were everywhere following us. 

They were on both sides of the trams, they were under the trams, they were over the trams.  And that brings us to the giraffes.  If you were outside at the time, you probably could have heard my kids squealing and laughing.  Those giraffes were all over our car.  Reagan was feeding them as fast as she could-and even kissed one.  Anderson was working hard at feeding them but would not get close and Graham stayed even further back than Anderson.  Campbell finally got into the giraffe feeding but Keaton would burst out crying occasionally-I probably would have too if I was 3 feet tall and an 18 foot animal stuck his head beside me.  Now Whitman would look right at those giraffes and holler at them.  Once a giraffe’s neck pinned Whitman down to the seat as the giraffe leaned over him to eat from someone else’s food cup. 

The giraffes were the highlight of the safari and we will certainly never forget about all of that.  We had plenty of food as we left the giraffes and started feeding the rest of the animals.  You couldn’t feed the zebras from the cups so you had to pour the food into their nasty little mouths but other animals would eat right from those cups and even try to pull the cups from your hands. 

After the tour, we pottied and hopped back in the car.  Keaton helped me divvy up some of her Halloween candy that she received for her birthday and later I passed out another snack as we moved down the road towards Florida.  Graham has been worried about this day since we will be in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.  He just didn’t see how we can drive through all of those states in one day. 

We pulled over at Mississippi welcome center and had our lunch.  They had a nice picnic area and the kids were able to throw the footballs around a bit after lunch.  And yes, I did say footballs-Anderson had packed one in his box the other day but I took it out saying that I had packed one and we only needed one football.  Then when I opened the back door yesterday, I noticed that Robby had stuck an extra football in the back!

After a bit of football and eating half a jar of nutella, lunch was over and we jumped back in the car. The time ticked by pretty quickly and soon we were passing through Mississippi and Alabama.  The kids watched movies and played their kindles-the bonus today was that Keaton and Whitman took a nap which led to a bit of quiet time in the car.  At one point, I started wondering what Robby and I would listen to on the radio when the kids were gone and we were traveling in the car alone. 

I was the driver this afternoon and Robby spent some time working and some time going through our pictures from this morning.  I might possibly have taken well over 200 pictures during the safari so that took a while for him to go through.  We did get one blurry picture that you can see the giraffe leaning over and squishing our Whitman! 

When we entered Florida, we saw a sign for the visitor’s center advertising free orange juice.  Well that is enough to convince the Dennies to pull over and stop.  It was a nice rest stop but more importantly there was orange juice!  We all gladly drank our little glass and then headed on our way. 

The next destination was the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola.  It was a little bit off of our path but worth the stop.  We knew that we would only have about 45 minutes inside so as soon as we entered the kids and us started hauling through that place.

Of course the main event there was everyone setting in the cockpits of the Blue Angels planes.  Then we made it to the little play area and even though the museum was empty, my kids made enough noise for people to think that it was a full museum of people.  For all we had talked about getting places early with the kids when we were at the safari this morning,we also reviewed how sometime being places at closing time also had its advantages-like an empty museum.

We had time to potty at the museum and Robby went in the restroom with Whitman and they never seemed to come out.  I started to wonder and then they emerged.  Whitman ran up to me telling me something but Robby had to interpret: he (Whitman, not Robby) poo-pooed in the potty.  That is great and all but I have plenty of diapers and that potty training business doesn’t start until after Christmas. 

When the museum was only opened for 5 more minutes, we exited.  If we would have stayed any longer, Keaton and Campbell would have panicked.  They have always been a bit antsy about getting locked in some place.  Once outside the kids ran off to climb on and take a mandatory picture on the anchor before climbing back in the car to meet up with Nonna and Pops in Tallahassee (3 hours away).

We drove through Arbys for supper.  My people all love roast beef sandwiches so that gave us a few minutes of quiet.  And then back to watching a few more Laura and Mary episodes.  After a bit we did have to stop for gas and a much needed potty stop before we finally made it to our destination.

Nonna and Pops were waiting for us when we pulled into the hotel.  Unloading went better today so we walked in with Nonna and Pops while Robby checked in.  After I unpacked, we all watched the pictures from today and then we let the girls spend the night in Nonna's room.  We quickly showered the boys and put them all in bed.

It was a tight squeeze tonight getting Whitman and his pack n play in the bathroom.  I asked Robby if it was going to fit and he said that where there was a will there was a way.  The poor guy's bed probably has one leg on the potty, another in the shower and one on the sink.  That silly pack n play has been in lots of hotels-some I have had to climb through the shower to get to the potty in the middle of the night and at one hotel, I had to crawl onto the sink and crawl across it to make it to the potty.  I guess it won't be long until we do not need the pack n play anymore and probably not too much longer until we have to have 2 hotel rooms (eek!)

It was a really, really good day and hopefully tomorrow will be just as exciting!