End of Summer (Part 2)

This year instead of going to the beach we went to Williamsburg.  We booked a 300 square foot cabin at the KOA campground. You only need a place to sleep right? Definitely an adventure with 4 people and 3 dogs. I don't think we'll do that again but it was still a good time to be had.  I told Granddad about our vacation and he ended up booking a camping site to spend the week with us.  The kids were thrilled that Great Granddad and Gretchen would be joining us.  

The first full day there we went and toured Colonial Williamsburg.  

Here the kids are helping the cook at the Powell House.  

There were a lot of activities for the kids.  This gentlemen taught us how to properly stand with the proper foot positions.

Here is Granddad and Autumn hanging out taking pictures.  I can never resist taking a picture of Granddad taking a picture.

 This was our last stop of the day as we were hot, sweaty and all getting grumpy.  The kids and Gretchen decided to play in the clay for a little while.  I just noticed that Granddad is in the background taking pictures. 

Once back at the campground, it was pool time.  The pool was never very crowded at all.  It had a kiddie pool, regular pool and this splash area.  Couldn't have timed this picture any better with Logan getting dumped on.

Monday we headed over to Jamestown Settlement. The kids were able to experiment with several displays but to be quite honest most of the people here in the living settlement were very short with you when you asked questions and didn't seem like they even wanted to be there. We were all disappointed, espeically seeing how engaging everyone was at Williamsburg.

 

When passing through the museum we stopped and listened to one of the volunteers and we were able to feel several different types of fur.

 

Here is Granddad and Logan touring one of the ships down by the water. 

From the time we arrived at the campground the kids begged to go mining.  It was more expensive than I have seen other places and they were determined so they march on up to the front office and purchased their desired selection with their own money. 

They had fun mining and comparing what they each had.

After mining we had our first campfire of the trip over at Granddad's place.

Tuesday we headed back to Williamsburg to visit what we did not see.

Here Autumn is in Bruton Parish Episcopal Church.  She got a kick out of seeing George Washington's name here.

What could be a better place to have your kids pose for a picture.  We said we would leave them there but they did not think that was funny.

That day we also participated in the storming of the palace.
  

Tuesday night we dined at Christiana Campbell's in Colonial Williamsburg.  It was an good experience with delicious food.  They had the best chocolate cake and I am not a chocolate cake person.  I mean I would drive back there for that cake it was that good.

We all had our bibs on.

We had our own private music and even Ms.Christian Campbell paid us a visit.

Since we didn't do a beach vacation this year.  We promised the kids we would go to Virginia Beach for the day.  It was a perfectly hot beach weather kind of day.

The kids love playing in the sand.

Here Autumn is trying to build her personal size wading pool.

The surf was not to rough and perfect for riding the waves.  The three of them had fun riding in together.

The next day was a pretty low key day.  By this point we were wore out from all the sight seeing.  The kids and I went shopping in the morning and crafts with Gretchen in the afternoon.  It was at this time I noticed Autumn's big toe was purple and very swollen with a line going across the base of it. everyone said it was probably just a broken toe and nothing can be done with it.  My Mom sense kicked in and I called her doctor to see what I should do.  They said to take her to the nearest urgent care.  I called the insurance company and they found the nearest one for me and off we went.  Turns out she had broken her growth plate in her foot on Tuesday evening on the jumping pillow at the campground.  I felt so bad, she did not complain once while at the beach or anytime on Thursday.  She was favoring it and said it hurt a little but she was a trooper about it. She was fitted with a shoe and told to limit activity, no water park or a lot of walking.  She was bummed that 6 weeks of her life was severely restricted.

We did get an O.K. from them to go to GoApe which we had booked days before.  She was happy she could at least do that.

She did really well and made sure she didn't land on it when coming down the zip lines.

We did the course twice with Granddad down below taking pictures.  The kids loved it, so this part of the trip was a big success!

After that we decided to swing by Historic Jamestowne National Park. We watched them blowing glass.  Autumn and I both purchased vases.

I wish we had come to the National Park before we had even gone to Jamestown Settlement.  We were really disappointed with it but this was more engaging and if we all weren't plum tired out we would have walked around more.

Logan was practicing taking pictures and snapped one of Granddad and Gretchen.  I don't think it turned out that bad.

And before we knew it, it was back to school!

None of us were ready.  They arrived home the day before school started after spending a couple of days with Granddad(Dennis) and Nana.

I must follow in my Grandfather's footsteps and take a picture of them boarding the bus.  Let's see if I can get one all the way through their senior year.

That was our summer in a nut shell with a couple more adventures thrown in here and there.  We had a blast and can't wait to see what goes on our bucket list for next summer. 

Opportunity of an Actual Dream

Before I get to the dream part let's back up a few years and keep you wondering for a bit.  It was the June of 2012 that we went to Granddad's for 5 days to spend some time and to also go to the Sailabration in Baltimore.  I realized how close and convenient everything was.  I missed it!  I mean I really missed it.  While living in the country, not near anything, may be fine for some people, for some it is not and I realized I was one of those people that could not live where we do forever. 

My employer was thinking about retiring sometime but didn't know when and I knew that I would not stay on as the company stood at that time.  I told him I was looking to go back to school as well as finding another job.  He said he would pay for my schooling as long as I stayed working for him.  How could I say no?  I started school the Fall of 2012 determined to get my degree as fast I possibly could before things changed.

That winter we scoped out some places such as Greencastle and Waynesboro.  We thought we had made up our minds of where we were going to pick up and move to, but alas that changed as well.  

One of Rob's friends from a previous job, who had moved to Massachusetts, was always telling Rob he should consider it.  Well we considered it. We even drove up last May and interviewed with the company and met with a realtor to show us around.  I had picked out my college where I was going to pursue my love of science.   We absolutely fell in love with the homes of MA as well as the atmosphere.  The offer he received just wasn't what he was after so he passed.  Six months later they once again inquired about him coming to work but there was hesitation on their part so Rob passed on the deal all together.  

This left me wondering, what do I do now.  I felt lost as to where I wanted to go career wise and knew that I would not find another place that allowed me to be a Mom present in the moment of my kids lives and that devastated me.  I knew that I had to get my associates and continue on with my bachelors after that and just see where life took us.  

December of 2013 I graduated from HCC with my associates.  In January of this year I enrolled in my first semester at UMUC.  I knew it was going to be grueling but I had set a goal and I was on a time crunch since Ken, my boss, had hired a company to do an analysis on the value of his company and to talk about marketing to potential buyers.  

It was late January/ early February that I had a dream and came in to work the next day and told Ken I had had this dream.  He sat down on my therapy couch in my office as I explained it to him.  In the dream I felt bad because his company had been on the market for 18 months and not one single person had made an offer. I said "fine, I'll buy the company so that you can go spend time with your Grand-kids and enjoy your retirement".  He looked at me and asked if I would really do just that.  A little stunned since this was just a dream and I was just telling him about it strictly in fun.  I was far from serious. He asked who I would go into business with as my partner and I said without a doubt the Vice President.  I said the only way I would do it is if I was the majority owner to get my MBE/WBE certification and if the VP hired an assistant. 

 I said I needed to think about it and talk to Rob. Rob and I had goals we had established that were about to be blown out of the water. I went home that night and spoke with him and never once did he hesitate to say yes.  He knew that meant that every single penny we had saved was now potentially going towards this new venture.

I went in the next morning and said "I'll do it".  Late May is when the wheels finally started moving with meetings with the bank and lawyers and all that fun stuff. Our goal was a September 2nd transfer date.

Well today is September 2nd and today I can officially say that I am now the President and 51% owner of Antietam Metals, LLC.  It's a big scary adventure but hey why not. I look at is as a challenge. Not many people have known about it.  I just didn't want to tell people until it happened.  There was so much that had to come together to get to this point that there were times I was not sure. How many people have the opportunity that I was given?  Not many.  

To that I am grateful that the ad for the original job I applied for back in 2004 was not entirely burned in the burn pile for me to get the fax number off of.  I was fortunate to work with and for a great man that I can only hope I will make him proud of his company that he has trusted with us to continue.

I have turned into Granddad after all.  
I made sure I had my camera with me to document this day.

Settlement with the bank.

Ken signing his papers.

And Drew and I shaking on a partnership.

Now that it is done, I can now relax!

Well maybe.

End of Summer (Part 1)

So long summer as I wipe the tears from my eyes.  I was not ready for summer to end for a number of reasons.  1) I was not one of those moms ready to ship my kids back to school.  Back to school just means homework.  While it may be their homework, I am vested in that time as well.  With Logan that can mean sometimes over an hour.  Every night it is at least 45 minutes with him not including our reading time. 2) We did not do everything on our summer bucket list.  Almost everything but we still had summer fun to be had.  3) It means my grueling school schedule has begun.  I have no idea what the heck I was thinking with a full time schedule with everything else going on.  Is it bad I am already looking forward to December when I can get one whole month off?  

Our summer was awesome!  We love adventures and the experience that can be had with memories made and knowledge gained.   

Our first adventure on our list was Harper's Ferry.  Logan wanted to earn another Junior Ranger Badge which he was presented with here.

 

Logan really took to the story of John Brown and both kids enjoyed what the town had to offer.

For Father's Day weekend the kids, Zoe and myself headed to Granddad's house.  A visit to G-dad's is always on our summer list. 

 

On a walk with the dogs down to the beach we spotted a blue heron. It never gets old watching these birds.

 

On Saturday I had the family over for a cookout.  Since we are all spread out and live our separate lives, it is nice to get together from time to time. 

I couldn't resist taking a picture of G-dad with his camera. 

Autumn headed to Girl Scout camp with her troop the day we got back from G-dad's.  We headed up and dropped her off with her troop for a week of fun at Cowan's Gap.  The house was a little quiet without her there for the week and we all missed her like the dickens, even Logan, but we survived and so did she.

The day she came home from camp was her 10th birthday.  The day after we had a small family get together to celebrate.

Every now and then a mysterious picture appears on my phone.  

One of our go to places in the summer is Cacapon State Park in West Virginia.  The kids love it here.  

A place they had begged me to go was Gettysburg Battlefield.  One Saturday we headed up and enjoyed the new visitor's center.  I highly recommend it.  You do have to pay since it is not part of the National Park, but well worth the admission.  
Here is the new home of the cyclorama.  

They both earned their Junior Ranger badge here.  It is a pretty cool 150th anniversary patch.

They had some hands on displays which we stopped to check out and ask questions.

We stopped for a little visit with Abe.  

They don't that thrilled here.

We drove through the battlefield and stopped to visit numerous monuments. 

And get our workout climbing towers.

One of their favorite places was Round Top.  

It seems I have created little history buffs.  They talked me into buying the movie Gettysburg, which is 4 hours long, and they have watched it 3 times since.  They proclaim it is the best movie ever!

On top of our regular adventures, the YMCA camp they go to in the summer headed to Hershey Park for the day.  I decided to tag along for the day.  We tackled the Super Dooper Looper which Logan did not like and Autumn loved and also one of the wooden roller coaster, which Logan loved and Autumn hated.  We called it an end to coaster's after that and stuck to less thrilling rides.

We did not get to do Chocolate World when we were there so two days later we headed back to Hershey with Rob in tow.

 

Making your own candy bars was kind of neat and watching the process but it took forever.  

 

Since Rob had a beard he had to wear a special beard cover.

Here are our custom candy bar covers.

Logan also had the chance to go to Cub Scout Camp right down from where I work.  He enjoyed the week which had swimming daily, BB gun, archery and tons of other activities.  Here he is participating in the color guard and bringing the flag down for the day.

That is just part of our summer in a nut shell.  Stay tuned for Part 2 as well as a big announcement.