Pineland Farm and Andy's Birthday Celebration

Today Andy's Sister invited us to this local farm where they have a story, let the kids feed the cows, milk a cow, collect eggs, and pet some animals.  Anne got freaked out by the cow slobber early on, so she was afraid of everything and was reluctant to try anything after feeding.  But, she loved the playground area and her Cousin loved tickling the cow, and seeing all the animals!

For dinner, we celebrated Andy's belated birthday with some of his favorites.  Ribs and Ice cream cake from Toots.  Toots is a family favorite in our house.  The ice cream and everything else (even the "oreo" cookies) is homemade.  The cows are right there and they sell the ice-cream from an old train caboose.  (Here a blog about them http://weallscreamforicecream.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/toots-north-yarmouth-me/)

Storyland

Today we visited Storyland, in North Conway, New Hampshire.  It was awesome and I was really impressed.  We went with Andy's parents, his sister, and our niece.  We stopped for lunch before, which worked out nice because there weren't good options for kids in the park (but they allowed you to bring in your own food).  Anne loved everything.  There is pretty much every nursery rhyme to play in.  And most animal stories are shown with the animals.  The minimum height for a lot of the rides is 36 inches, and Anne is 36 1/4 inches… when she looks up.  They measured her on the flying fish ride and she had to look up to be the proper height.  Anne was so excited to go from ride to ride.  We've done Disney and Six Flags and there were way more rides for her age group than both those combined.  I was a little worried the rides would would worn down or more carnival like, but they weren't.  Like I said, very impressed.  It is a great park for the 2.5-5yr group.

Also, if you are thinking about traveling this way there is a cool looking adventure hotel that looks neat (http://www.adventuresuites.com/index.php).

ME

We are very fortunate that both of our families live in amazing places.  This is our view of The Lake in Maine from outside our bedroom window.  Beautiful. Anne has been enjoying the water and although it is a little chilly here compared to Florida, the water feels great.

Today we also stopped in at the DeLorme Map Store to prepare for our trip.  Anne really enjoyed the big globe.

Drive to Maine

We left the house at 8:15am and went to get the cars weighed (a requirement for the military move).  That took about 30 minutes!  Mostly because with our little cars the operator can't see us in the camera so we have to get out of the car and tell them we want to get weighed.

Notice how you can't see Andy's car around the trailer.

This time we drove through Pennsylvania to avoid New York City. It was beautiful, very scenic and it cost way less in tolls.  Normally we pay around $50 per car but it was only around $10 going this way. We didn't hit much traffic but if you did it would be terrible because all the roads are 2 lanes.  The only disappointment was that we couldn't stop at the local brewery where we like to have dinner in Connecticut. It is called SBC brewery and they have a magician on Sundays (when we typically travel), great beer and food, and good kid options.  Oh well.  The trip through PA was still worth it to me, and I would recommend it if you don't need to see the NYC skyline.

The radios are very nice to have.  If one of us needs to stop for gas or pit stops we can let the other person know. Also, if something quick is about to happen we can alert the other person (cars in blind spots, potholes, etc). 

After we stopped for gas & diesel in Massachusetts we got back on the road and the trailer's left tire blew out. Andy was quick to pull over before the tire was about to come off.  It was scary how quick it all happened and how there was no warning.  So, at 9pm on the side of I-495, Andy changed the tire.  We were lucky it was the trailer tire and not any of the others because the stabilizer jacks on the trailer made it quick to change--Andy changed it in record time… 10 minutes and we were back on the road.

Our location during the tire change.

We got in at around 11pm.

Tracey's average mph: 45.6 (normally around 42)
Andy's average: 34 (normally 48)
Trip miles: **
Total miles: **

**will update

Last time in our Maryland House

Originally we were just going to stop in for the night and then continue on our drive to Maine, the next morning.  On the drive to Maryland, we decided to just stay a full day so we wouldn't be stressed to get everything done.  It took us all day to pack our stuff and clean the house.  Andy had the idea to work on packing the cars first and cleaning the house second, but for some reason, I kept sweeping the floors.  I must have swept them 5 times. 
We had to get my car weighed empty, so we decided to go up to our favorite Greek Restaurant, Hella's in Gambrills.  The restaurant was near the New Transit truck stop where we weighed the car and we celebrated Andy's birthday with ice cream for dessert.  Anne was also very excited to see our neighbors and say goodbye to them all.

Too busy for pictures :(

Drive from FL to MD

This drive was pretty uneventful.  We did stop at South of the Border, in South Carolina, to play on the playground for a bit.

Buzzin' and Cousins'

Last night we came back from "Pop's House" and were walking the beach and felt itchy all over.  I looked down and thought I saw a flea on me.  Andy thought the same thing.  We had been meaning to get our dog, Lady, a hair cut while the movers were packing, but we canceled our scheduled appointment when the movers finished early and we decided to go to Harper's Ferry.  So, thinking we were covered with fleas, we quickly ended our walk on the beach to race home to take showers and check the dogs for fleas.  On the way we made a grooming appointment for Lady.  Sure enough when we got home, no fleas…
How can you tell you are no longer a Floridian?   When you confuse no-see-ums for fleas.

Lady (before)

That night, Anne got to play with her Cousins on the beach and Pops surprised the kids with s'mores on the beach at a place that has gas fires outside on the walk from the house to the beach.  It was great and it was Anne's first s'more of the camping trips to come.  All the kids had a blast playing on the beach and eating the s'mores on the way back.  Anne's cousin Michael was even nice enough to share his ice cream cone with her while we waited for the s'mores pack.

Beach Bliss

We all love the beach.  Anne isn't afraid of anything; she loves to jump over the waves or jump to keep her face over waves if she is deeper.  She also loves to destroy sand castles that we make and to make us bury her in the sand.  She likes making pretend ice cream and pancakes out of the sand, but prefers to spend most of her time in the water.  After she gets knocked down a couple times in the water she will just walk to our umbrella.  She can fill up her own buckets of water, but will ask for help if she either wants a lot, or thinks the person will get it for her (I've learned that if she fills them herself they tend not to get accidentally spilled as often).  When she is done at the beach, she will tell us she is tired and will ask to go back in the stroller.  This is the only place she will admit she is tired and ask to take a nap.  Sure enough, when we get back to the house, it is a struggle to get her down.

Tonight we went to Dolphin View, a restaurant on the Intercoastal Waterway where on Friday and Saturday nights you can get a boat ride and all you can eat seafood for $20.  The food is great and we don't think timing will work for a boat ride, so we went on Thursday to try and see our own dolphins with Grandma. Afterwards, we went for a walk on the beach and then out for frozen yogurt.

 ** Originally, I had uploaded this entry on the phone and it took forever to upload all the pictures.  Here are some more that I wanted to add.**

Blog Changes

I've added a "follow by email" option on the right side of the blog.  I thought this might make it easier for people that don't want to keep checking the website.  By following by email it will automatically send you an email with our blog post when we post something new.  We haven't been as good at posting things right away because we've had internet and computer issues.  Also, I went back and added photos to some of the older posts.

Circus Day at Cirque Du Soleil

We try to do one "Orlando" type activity when we are in FL.  My parents have a house near the beach, and one a little closer to Orlando.  So, we stayed the night at "Pop's House" near Orlando.  We went to Sea World on our last trip to Florida, and Disney World before that.  This year, we decided that we'd stay away from Disney a bit longer (to avoid the princesses). This year, we thought about checking out Gatorland, but there were many negative reviews and we decided to go to Cirque Du Soleil at Downtown Disney.  During the day, we decided to just play in the pool and I had a gift card for the Aveda Institute and wanted to use it.  Although Andy and I had a blast playing in the pool, Anne only played in the pool a little and was more interested in the toys on the back porch.  After we (Andy and I) played, we hit the road. Originally, we were going to have lunch at Downtown Disney and spend time there while buying the tickets, but we were in a rush because we left later than we wanted.  Anne and I didn't even get out of the car.  Then, I went to the spa, and Andy and Anne went home so Anne could nap in the pack n play.
If you are ever near an Aveda (Training) Institute, you definitely have to try it out.  It is amazing.  I got the longest pedicure, got to keep all my supplies (including nail polish color, pumice stone, files, toe separators, etc), and it only cost $20!  Unbelievable.  Oh, did I mention the polish is vegan, and free of DBP, Formaldehyde, and toluene, so Anne can use the color when she is older. 
Andy woke Anne up from her nap at 4 when Grandma got home from work and picked me up on the way.  Unfortunately they got stuck in all the rush hour traffic and we were 20 minutes late for the 6:00pm show. :(  Anne loved the show, we all did! When we first got in, there were tightrope walkers, one on the other's head, and she said "that's dangerous"… yes, it is, but it is also AMAZING.  The show is like nothing else and is very hard to describe.  Andy didn't realize how athletic the performers in the show would be.  I had been before with my Dad, but didn't realize that everything was so dangerous and probably not the best to be showing my sponge of a daughter.  Andy's favorite part was the bicycle riders, they did amazing things, including jumping up 6ft of stairs with no start up. My favorite part was the trampoline act, they have trampolines in a T on the floor and do gymnastics across them and also jump up the side of a building-like structure.  Anne says her favorite part was the "spider."  The spider was a little gimmick one of the clowns did where he pretended his nose got stuck in a spider web and his hand was the spider.  She was also very interested in the little girls, but watched everything and applauded a lot.

 (I forgot my big camera for the show, so these are pictures from the car with the iPad.)

We still didn't get to eat in Downtown Disney, again we were going to get there early and it was so late after.  We decided to get a quick bite at Steak n Shake after. 


Total drive for the day: 200 miles.

Just Beachy

As much as I don't like long drives, I hate breaking them up over days.  Well, without a daily destination… We continued on the drive and finally got in around dinner time to the beach at FL.  It just feels like two full days of driving, when normally it only takes us one.  I'm not as confident in our plan to go from FL to ME in two days, only stopping in our (old) house to sleep. Maybe if we leave right after breakfast, it won't be as bad.  We walked on the beach before dinner, and it made everything better.  I love the beach.

Traffic, Thunderstorms, and Throw Up

We started our drive to FL around 2:20pm.  We all wanted to leave earlier, but things weren't going as well as planned.  After Andy's last day at work, he had to get his car weighed for the move and I had a bunch of library books to return and to pick up our dog's shot record.  Plus, we were trying to leave the house inspection ready in case our buyers need to get appraisals/inspections done.  Right before we are about to leave, Anne ran to the bathroom after a blow out.  I chalked it up to new pull ups and was disappointed that my freshly sanitized house had to be scrubbed down again before we left.  But, a couple hours later than we wanted, we were on the road.
We've done this trip a bunch and are comfortable doing it in a day (the day following the drive we sleep a lot, but with a good book on tape, we can do it).  DC's rush hour starts early and ends late, so we knew 2:20 was pushing it.  Sure enough, we got two hours worth of traffic on the Beltway and in Northern Virginia.  We listened on the radio for traffic reports, and their only explanation was it is Virgina on a Friday.  Yup, so it is….
We stopped for dinner at Denny's in Virgina.  I'm really a fan of Denny's while traveling.  They are one of the few chains on I-95 that offer fresh fruit and vegetables, plus they are reasonably quick and have wi-fi.  We ate and uploaded a book on our iPhone.  Whenever we stop, we make sure our dog, Lady, is walked and gets some water.  She gets stressed while we're away from the car and just pants and looks for us while we are gone.
We have a few exits and rest areas that we avoid in North Carolina because, the couple times we have, we get strange people that claim their car broke down and they don't have their wallet and need gas money.  But we do like to stop in Selma, NC (Exit 97--just follow the signs for JR) and at around 10pm we stopped at a Dunkin Dounuts for coffee for the night.  As soon as we stopped, Anne got sick.  Anne doesn't get sick often, but when she does, she normally gets all her throwing up out of the way at once.  Unfortunately for us, I wasn't quick enough getting her unstrapped and out of the car and most stayed in the car.  Andy dealt with cleaning the car while I cleaned Anne up in the bathroom (a reason to keep paper towels in the car!).  Anne was a mess, because of the car seat straps, she ended up having vomit in her eyes, hair, and all over her clothes.  She got a sink bath in the bathroom with low pressure water.  I also used bathroom soap to clean her "blankie".  I also used the dryer to dry it.  It worked pretty well, but we all still smelled.  We all changed clothes.  Andy was smart enough to buy an air freshener for the car, water, and a princess juice cup (which cheered Anne up because she was crying during all this). 
We got coffee and tried to continue on the way.  Andy tried the book on tape and it was one in which the volume varies but has to be loud to hear, so we gave up early on it.  Anne wasn't falling asleep, the car stunk, and we were driving through a series of thunderstorms (did I mention Andy woke up at 4:30 am to work that morning?).  So, around midnight, we decided to stop for the night at a Days Inn in Manning, South Carolina (thank goodness for their "pet friendly" billboard on I-95).  I have never been more excited to shower my daughter.  And it was the best $60 spent.  We washed Anne's blanket again (this time with shampoo), her hair three times, and did another attempt at the car. We got in bed around 1 am.  I sent emails to my family telling them our change of plans since they were expecting us around 5-7am.

But, we got a call waking us all up at 7am asking about our location (in hindsight, a text would have been better).

Lesson learned: keep the car, especially the area under the kids as clean and clutter free as possible.  Always leave extra clothes handy.  No matter how rushed you are, if a kid has a blow out, take time to make sure they are felling alright.

Lawyers, Guns, and Money

Today Andy was able to work with our bank and agree on terms for our short sale.  We have been set with one bank, but our second mortgage company, has been harder to work with.  We finally agreed on something, not ideal but a way forward at least, the day the first mortgage company's offer was going to expire.  Whew…. 

On top of that, Andy worked with our perspective landlord on some conditions that we didn't feel comfortable with, and we now have an address in Seattle!  I'm really excited about the location of the house (it is within walking distance to the library, public pool, community center, and grocery store)!  But, I think at this point, any house would be a relief, just to have an address and not be stressing over it during our trips and time with family.  We have a place, and I'm excited!

Since the movers were so quick, we decided to do a trial run with the camper to make sure the car can tow it well, there are no leaks, and no issues all around.  I've wanted to go to Haper's Ferry, WV for a while, the only time I tried to go there with Anne it was raining so we didn't really explore (Harper's Ferry was an armory and weapon-making mill-town after the Revolutionary War and through the Civil War).  We left late because we were dealing with everything else, plus Andy went to the office.  We got in to our camp site around 9pm.  The camper was up and ready in less than 2 minutes.  The only issues were that the back up camera's angle is a bit wide compared to a normal rear-view mirror and I could be a better guider for back in parking at night.  We quickly realized that organization in the camper will make it much easier and we are going to put clothes in the drawers and food under the benches (Anne's tent takes up the already limited floor space which makes it tough to find any place to stand).  We did forget to bring toothbrushes and a change of clothes for Anne… oops.  We had fun at Harper's Ferry the following morning and I would call the day and trial run a success.

Where's My Crib?

Today the movers packed all the boxes from the night before.  Anne and I tried to stay out of the house as much as possible to not be in the way.  We went to our last MOMS Club meeting and a shot appointment for Anne. We only really came back to bring breakfast, lunch, and an additional beverage break. 
Last night Andy and I realized the drivers probably eat horribly and made an effort to get better food.  We got bagels and sandwiches from Panera.  The packers were super quick today and finished before I could even bring them the additional beverages, it didn't help that Anne's shot appointment was 2 hours long.  They left around 3 pm.  Anne has been asking where all of her things are and we keep saying "the movers took them to the new house".  It is funny to see how her mind works, she doesn't notice everything at once.  She noticed her crib first and books, but didn't notice her mirrors and hair bows until the next morning. 

Anne really likes her temporary crib (tent).  She is excited to go in it at night and will try to stay in it as long as possible in the morning.  I'm glad, because she will get a lot of nights in it.

Some things we forgot and that got packed were additional iPhone chargers and our coffee pot lid.  We can make due on the chargers, but the missing lid is essential, especially since we planned on bringing that to have coffee on the trip.  I looked online and couldn't find any.  Luckily, I called the company, Capresso, and asked.  The coffee maker has been discontinued, but they said "they should have a spare lid in the warehouse and will send one to me…. free".  I love Capresso.

Packing with Movers

Today the movers came to box and package all our stuff. We spent all day yesterday preparing by throwing out stuff we don't need anymore, sorting things, and pulling out everything we need for the next month. (Notice the heaping trash on the curb in the picture below.) We were exhausted at the end of the day and just when I was ready to call it a night and grabbed a beer, Andy told me to go through my old trophies that were moldy from being in the shed for the last 5 years (still packed from the previous move). If you know me at all, I loved my High School time and my trophies of accomplishments from college and HS. But, knowing we are paying a chunk for the movers, I want to get as light as possible. I saved only two trophies, some pictures, and my varsity letter (with 10 pins ;) ). But, then I spilled my beer on them and was left with half the number of pictures. Andy told me this evening that he looked at them all in the trash and was proud of me... I guess that was why I kept them all? Seems silly now.

On top of everything else, Andy replaced the brake pads on one of our cars.

Right before bed, my dad called and had an update for our packing list and we added pancake mix, a pan, batteries for a flash light, and a rug for outside the camper.

You can't tell from the picture, but the moving truck takes up our entire cul-de-sac (FYI it didn't crash into the yard on the right, the movers parked it that way to allow everyone access to their driveways). It is a huge truck. Ben and Chris, the guys that are packing and moving our things, are great and fast. Just two guys and they got everything packed today! Plus they were super nice and considerate. Anne is a long napper and they offered to wait and do her room the next day even when I offered to wake her. They really have alleviated one of our big stressors (have I mentioned that we have an unfinished short sale and don't have a home in Seattle?). One thing I forgot was to have plenty of drinks for them. We had donuts in the morning and got them Five Guys for lunch but all I had to drink was off-brand soda. My bad. The neighbors are definitely a saving grace too. When all of Anne's toys were packed she played outside. I kept some sidewalk chalk, but they got more energy out of her. Tomorrow everything will go in the truck.

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Home Sweet Home

Our current home and our future home.

 Andy had to install a rear view camera since he can't see out the mirrors well. You can also see where he mounted the (Honda) generator.  The generator should be all set to start and we can leave it on the mount. Genius!

 Other side of the pop up.

 This is how we plan on sleeping.  Anne will be in a tent (with inflatable mattress and sleeping bag and sheets) on the floor.  We will be on the mattress.  Since it will get cold at night we have a heavy sleeping bag and propane heater too.

 Camper without the bed down.

Andy also had to install a fan so we can use the cook top if we need to.  Oh, and he shortened the cabinet that is all the way on the right side.  That way Anne has the entire floor. Lady (our dog) was originally going to sleep on that, but we realized she will probably be sleeping on the mattress.

Packing

I think camping is all about preparation.  If you have everything you need, the trip will be amazing.  If you forget things, it makes it much harder.  Our movers come tomorrow. Since we have to pack for living in an empty house, a vacation in FL, a vacation in ME, camping across the country, and possibly Andy's new job in Seattle, we have a lot to pack.  I've broken it down by category.  Let me know if we forgot anything:

Camping:
Sleeping Bags (kid and adult)
Sheets
Pillows
Coffeemaker (we decided this was easier with the generator than a french press and our Capresso brand carafe stays warm for hours without a heat source... perfect for the car(s))
        Filters
        Coffee
        Cups
        Creamer
Towels
Shower Shoes
Toiletries
Toilet Paper (just in case)
Bug Spray
Sunscreen
Flash Lights
Camping chairs
Lighters
Water bottles
Paper Plates
Utensils
Cooler
Dry Ice
Paper Towels
Clorox Wipes
Deodorant
Laundry detergent
Kitchen Soap
5 gal bucket
hand sanitizer

Clothes:
Jackets
Swimsuits
Raincoats
Jeans
Long sleeve shirts
Shorts
pjs

Vacation:
Clothes for Brynn
Tiffany's birthday gift
Dress for Jill
Gift Cards (Manny's, FL Aveda, etc)
Books
Anne's Hair products

Travel:
iPhone chargers
ipad
mac laptop
external storage for computer
camera
camera cord
gift cards (Starbucks, gas, etc)
handheld radios (to talk between cars)

Work Stuff:
Andy hasn't provided input but I imagine a portfolio and his laptop...


Kid Stuff:
Diapers (at least 5 a day)
Wipes
Baby
blanket
Books
Little Family
let Anne pick other small toys (likely Fischer Price little people)

Dog:
Food (2 cups a day)
Bowls
Leach
Poop bags
Bed
rope (for outdoors at camp sites)

Home while living here:
Inflatable mattress
Coffeemaker
cleaning stuff
little vacuum
little broom
items from the safe

 Let me know if we forgot anything.  Our thought is we would rather buy something we need rather than bring a  bunch of stuff we don't.  Movers come tomorrow!