This year for spring break our family went on a trip.This is significant because we are terrible planners. We went to the Hocking Hills area of Ohio located south east of Columbus. It is a huge preserve area with hiking trails, waterfalls, and rock formations.

We stayed in an A-frame cabin. Meghan and Andrew slept upstairs in the loft and Terry and I had a separate room. There was a hot tub on the deck as well, which the kids LOVED! Cabin #14, we found out, is supposed to be haunted. We didn't tell the kids until after we checked out. I wanted them to enjoy the trip without worrying over every single noise. And there were a lot of creaks and pops. There were no unearthly events at all though.

The weather held for the hiking day, though it was overcast for the morning. The sun came out in the afternoon. We had rain the next day but it was pleasant in the cabin with the rain on the roof. In an A-frame rain sounds like it is coming down all around you, which I guess it is! And after we checked out we did some more hiking anyway. What's a little rain?

We were able to bring Sadie with us. She did just fine. I think we wore her out though. She is used to sleeping a good deal of the day. On this trip she didn't have time to sleep. We hiked all day.

This bridge was really cool. Most of the trails were obvious, but there were places where we weren't sure if we were still on the path.

This is a formation called Sphinx Rock. Can you see the face here?

These cliffs were actually about 70 feet high. The gorge we hiked through was formed eons ago by water carving out a path through the rock.

We look very much like explorers don't you think?

This is the waterfall where we stopped to eat lunch.

Cute little Andrew!

I loved this huge rock. I'm sure it was a sight when it came crashing down the side of the cliff! Notice the trees growing out of the solid rock.

Meghan taking a break.

The roots of some of these trees were amazing.

What a happy pair!

I think this was actually a live tree.

There were several caves we looked into, carved by the water. We all had a great time. Sometimes the paths were so rough we had to climb over fallen trees and navigate around roots. We had to boost Sadie a couple times up steep embankments, but for the most part she did better than the rest of us. We would like to go back later in the summer when the trees are leafed out. It should be really beautiful. I have lots more photos but I think you get the gyst.

Andrew and I had a date for Mother/Son bowling through our church. We had a great time. All the kids got caps to wear. The side bumpers were up, which saved me dozens of times from gutter balls. Andrew did really well. He made a couple strikes and spares. And thanks to the bumpers I broke 100! Whoo Hoo!

This is Meghan's Brownie troop at an event to learn about different cultures. We "traveled" all around the world and made crafts and sampled foods from different countries. Here, the girls were playing a game from Bolivia where you try to knock the paper hat off each other's head using a wooden stick. Doesn't sound too safe to me.

Meghan was involved with our high schoool's production of Oliver this winter. She got to play the part of an orphan in the opening scene. She absolutely loved it. She came home after a full day of rehearsal and said she knew what she wanted to do when she grew up. She said she wanted to ACT! Duh!

This is a neighbor, David Moir, who also was in the performance with her. They were over here at our house singing their song, "Food Glorious Food" at the top of their lungs.

They loved getting to wear torn clothes and dirty makeup. How great that she didn't need to shower for a reason!

The night of the performance came and she did great! No butterflies. She's in the middle table somewhere! There were 4 shows and a cast party.

I'm sure this could be one of her glossies. We love her no matter what.

Meghan had her 9th birthday at a place called The Movie Tavern this year. She invited her friends to go and see Bedtime Stories. The Movie Tavern is a theater that serves food and drinks. You sit in the dark with a little table and a waitress brings your food and drinks or popcorn. The girls thought it was very cool to be waited on in a theater. Meghan's cake was a Hannah Montana theme.

Andrew's Gingerbread House

Andrew's class made gingerbread houses for Christmas gifts. They worked very hard on them. They are the ones where you take a small milk carton and cover it with graham crackers. Then decorate with candy and frosting. I helped out that day. I saw an awful lot of frosting and candy going onto and into kids. Somehow the houses got made.

December 2008

We had an icy couple of days back in December. Meghan and Andrew had a day off from school and decidee to go sledding on our driveway. They were able to slide all the way from the top of our driveway across the street. Good thing there were no cars at the time.

Mehgan and Andrew did a fund raiser for their school in the winter. It was to raise money for the Children's Hospital in Columbus. They were asked to do extra chores at home in exchange for quarters from mom and dad. Then we were asked to send in photos of them working to the school where the photos would be shown at a slide show presentation, at which time the rep from the children's hospital would take our donation. The kids raised about a thousand dollars. These are pictures of my kids working (for the first time probably). This is the only time they didn't grumble about helping. Thanks kids. Andrew now likes to run the vacuum. Yay for me. And they are good about setting the table. Now if I can get them interested in the laundry.....