Project 365: Day 46 - Thurs. July 2nd, 2009

Who knew that a trip to get a book at a Barnes & Noble in Frederick MD would turn into a trip through history?! Did you know there was a Civil War Battlefield 2 minutes from the Francis Scott Key Mall?! I love that, in Maryland, the present and past are forever neighbors. Today we learned all about the battle for time at the Monacacy Battlefield. The timing was perfect because a park ranger was going to give a presentation at 2:00 and we arrived at 1:45. So we bought some souvenirs and waited. The ranger asked us where we were from and then informed us that he lived in Owings Mills, MD. Small world. He lives blocks away from New Town High! Cody was of course picked to be a part of the demonstration and is proving to be quite dramatic in front of an audience. He had everyone laughing as he pretended to be a Confederate and a wounded Colonel. Cody was filling out a Jr. Ranger activity book and had to list four things he learned. This is what I learned from the Ranger's presentation:

• Robert E. Lee encamped here and wrote many of his orders at this headquarters around September of 1862. On September 13, 1862, Union soldiers found an enveope containing several cigars and a copy of Robert E. Lee's Special Order No. 191, which detailed specific movements of his Maryland Campaign. Union Gen. George B. McClellan was ecstatic but failed to capitalize on the information and lead his men into the bloodiest day of the war at Antietam just a few days later.


• Under the command of Lt. Gen. Early, the Confederates attacked Maj. Gen. Wallace and his Union troops here on July 9th, 1864.


• The Confederates held the town of Frederick up for ransom. If the city didn't pay $200,000 it would be burned. The citizens came up with the money.


• A 6 year old by the name of Glenn Worthington took cover with his family while the war was fought on his farm. He witnessed the action through a boarded up window and later wrote a book called Fighting for Time which encouraged Congress to establish the Monocacy Battlefield as a "National Military Park".

We plan on returning to Monocacy next weekend when they are planning an anniversary reenactment for this battle. Cody can't wait .... should be another great day to live and learn history.

Project 365: Day 39 - Thurs. June 25th, 2009

3:30 begins the car ride from hell. My cousin Laurie said the drive would be an hour and a half. At 6:00 we decide to take a picture from the Twilight Zone so that there would be evidence before our disappearance. I was certain we were never going to make it. I should have made time to get the driving directions off my computer but Mom is a whiz with a map so I left the navigating up to her. Mistake #1. Mistake #2 was taking all the backroads. Lancaster was certainly interesting - Cody saw his first glimpse at the Amish and asked what they were reenacting! :) We were turning around every half hour to catch a road we missed. And I was certain we were looking for a road that didn't exist. Funny, it was the 97 year old back seat driver that saw the sign that finally helped us find our way.

About the time I thougth we were never going to find our way, I got a text message from China - it said that Michael Jackson was dead. It was proof that I had indeed entered The Twilight Zone ... deedeedeedeedee was ringing in my ears. I immediately called my brother-in-law who lives on a computer to see if it was true. Ironically, the news had not yet confirmed the text message that was blazing its way across the nation. I am in awe at the power of technology...

Finding Pheonixville was our first dilemma, the second was finding their house. We turned around another three times but finally we made it... We opened the car doors to a welcome message in sidewalk chalk - too cute! Then we all took our turns with baby Lea. She warmed up to us right away. Cody immediately took to Dave and soon we were relaxing with beverages and snacks. I noticed a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the counter and did question the occasion...soon the question was answered. It was Dave and Laurie's 21st wedding anniversary! Upstairs on her dresser was a picture from their wedding; it was the two of them surrounded by all the cousins. Cody was able to find me 21 years younger but had a hard time picking out Aunt Denise. Boy did we look young.

Before and after dinner I bonded with Lea - she found my sunglasses and was soon trying to wear them on her head like me. Then she kept taking me to her table and chairs and told me to sit next to doggie who was eating a strawberry. I was being held captive by a 21 month old princess and I was in heaven! Then she found my camera and was snapping pictures left and right. (See photo of me and doggie - taken by Lea) Cody got a little jealous but he was busy holding Dave hostage. It was an evening of new and old family acquaintances.

Project 365: Day 35 - Sun. June 21st, 2009

Happy Father's Day! I am grateful my brother-in-law invited us to spend his Father's Day weekend at the lake. And I am grateful that Edwin, Cody's father, was generous enough to give up his time with his son so that Cody could spend quality time with his cousins. Edwin doesn't have family except for Cody and I am always grateful that he gives Cody up on almost every major holiday. I try to never take that for granted. This Father's Day Edwin got a small gift but gave Cody a BIG one. A broken family can mean shared holidays and I am eternally grateful that Cody is usually with me creating a lifetime of holiday memories.

Here I am with the family guinea pig - Zoomer. It was my niece's idea to bring him on the morning pontoon boat cruise to the marina for breakfast. Somehow that idea seemed sweet until the pig did what pigs do ... for a little thing it sure made a BIG mess. YUCK!

Project 365: Day 34 - Sat. June 20th, 2009

Welcome to Huska's Haven! This is the best part about summer - spending it with family on the lake. We have pictures like this one that show the progression from babies to toddlers to this. It will be a blessing to have a lifetime of memories and photos of fun at the lake. This is the favorite dock activity - jumping in and climbing up, jumping in and climbling up ... repeat at least 100 times per day. And once the music gets turned on there is random dock dancing! This video will be used at future weddings and graduations as a way to humiliate and torture! :)

Project 365: Day 29 - Mon. June 15th, 2009

10:00 am: Williamsburg Visitor's Center - we picked up some literature to learn all there is to see and do. Cody now has a patriot hat to go with his union soldier cap, a few more books to read, some Revolutionary War toy soldiers, and another gun to help him reenact the many different battles that take place in our living room.

It's a rainy misty day that we will probably spend indoors thanks to the tail end of my online course. Can't wait to be done....

11:36 pm: I am curious to know what Cody will remember from our many travels. Every once in a while he'll bust out the question, "Mama - do you 'member when we were at ... and saw/did ...." it makes me smile, pause, and give thanks that I am helping him have a childhood of family memories. It may be just the two of us but they are still our family memories. We all take different things back with us - we all hold on to different memories. One of my most vivid family vacation memories is the drive from Michigan to the Florida Keys. My sister practiced her flute in my ear in the backseat of our tan Cadillac; I got lost in Disney (can still remember the shirt my mom was wearing because I had to describe it to the kind elderly couple who came to my rescue); and I started my sea-shell collection that year. I was 10. What is your most vivid family vacation memory?

Project 365: Day 28 - Sun. June 14th, 2009

A day at the pool...

Because I still have course work to finish, I decided today would be a day to stick close to "home" so that I could get my work done before all our friends arrive. Cody didn't mind - he said he didn't want to leave the "house" today. He said, "It's Sunday Mama - we don't go anywhere on Sundays. We love to stay home and eat pancakes, remember?" So we hung out in our home away from home and then headed to the pool. He played in the pool while I sat under an umbrella and worked on my computer. There was an outlet right next to a table. It made my course work so much more enjoyable - doing it in the sun, with a gentle breeze, watching my son entertain himself in the pool. When the swimming was done, it was still too peaceful and quiet to leave so we went back to the room, gathered some food and entertainment and headed back down to the pool. As you can see from the picture, it was a rough day at the office. :)

Project 365: Day 27 - Sat. June 13th, 2009

Day 1 of our Williamsburg Vacation!

This is a photo of Wyndam's Patriot Place time share in Williamsburg VA where we will be staying for a week. We are here for a few days by ourselves until later in the week when my friends Lisa and Cristina join us.

I was up at 6:00 am today because I still had to teach one last Saturday school lesson. From there I picked up Cody at his dad's and we navigated our way to Williamsburg. Cody was interested in liscense plates and states for the first time. We practiced math as we figured out how many more miles we had until our next exit. We passed The Great Wolf Lodge (where we are staying on Wednesday) and once we unpacked set out to explore the area. We found the Great Wolf Lodge and the Walmart to get our week's worth of groceries. I am so blessed to be able to provide vacations for my son. We are gonna have a quiet night watching movies so we can get rested up from a long school year and get ready for a week of fun.