Medina International Fest

Today Abby and the O'Hare School of Irish Dance girls danced at the Medina International Fest at the main street square in downtown Medina. The weather was mild and the girls did a nice job (and dad and Andrew snuck off to Sully's for a bit too). Here are the highlights of the performance (starring Abby, of course).

Back to School - 2009

The kids went back to school today. Abby started 8th grade - big kid in junior high; Andrew started 5th grade - big kid in middle school. Here are a few photos Karen took this morning of Abby, Andrew and a few of the neighbor kids waiting for the bus.

White Water Rafting

Here are some additional highlights of our family white water rafting trip from day 5 of our vacation. These photos were taken with a waterproof, disposable camera that Karen sent to Snapfish to be developed. We just got them back a couple days ago. Some of the pictures are very cloudy because of the down pouring rain that hit us part way into the excursion. Also, many of the photos don't really capture how intense some of the rapids really were (sorry, we all had to row didn't have any free hands to take pictures).

Vacation - Day 7 (part 2)

The finish our vacation we hiked around Grandfather Mountain. This is a privately owned and managed mountain, but it was well worth the $40 to get it. We walked across a Mile-High Swinging Bridge, saw bears and otters, and hiked the Black Rock Nature Trail. That night we stayed at a truly beautiful Fairfield Inn in Elkin, NC. Since it was officially Andrew's birthday, we took him out for dinner to a neat restaurant called Pirate's Landing where he enjoyed a slab of babyback ribs - and a little embarrassment for dessert.

Vacation - Day 7 (part 1)

We started day 7 of our vacation by departing Asheville and driving the Blue Ridge Parkway north through the mountains. There were many scenic stops along the way, including Mount Mitchell - the highest elevation point in the United States east of the Mississippi River. Our next stop was Grandfather Mountain (highlights tomorrow).

Vacation - Day 6

On day 6 of our vacation we explored some mountain areas around the Asheville, NC region. Our first two hikes of the day were in Chimney Rock State Park. The views were awesome, although the trails were a bit easy. The Hickory Nut Falls trail led us to a cool, 400 foot water fall. From there we drove to Pisgah National Forest where the kids slid down the 60-foot Sliding Rock into very cold water (but they enjoyed it any ways). Our hote in Asheville - Brookstone Lodge - was the only non-Marriott property we stayed at - but it was a very nice, new hotel - and for less than $90 per night, it was a bargain!

Vacation - Day 5 (and a little of day 4)

Most of day 5 of our vacation was devoted to Nantahala Family Adventure at the Blue Ridge Outing Co. (whitewater rafting). Unfortunately, I only have four digital photographs from the day. We did bring a waterproof disposable camera with, but we had to send that away for the film to be developed. Later that night (or was that day 6?) we attended an Asheville Tourists minor league baseball game (a double-header). And, as an added bonus I found some missing video footage from day 4 of our vacation at the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort. Enjoy.

Vacation - Days 3 and 4

On day 3 of our vacation we drove from WV to eastern TN. We hung out at the hotel pool, played some putt-putt golf and then went to a Tennessee Smokies baseball game. The next morning (day 4) we hiked to Andrew's Bald in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park (unfortunately, it was very cloudy so couldn't enjoy the views). After that, the kids rode the alpine slides at the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort. For our evening entertainment, we went to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede dinner show (yes, it was cheesy ... but you know what they say ... When in Rome ... well, you know the rest).

Vacation - Day 2

On day 2 of our vacation, we explored southern West Virginia by hiking the Bridge Trail in the New River Gorge National Park. We also drove across the New River Gorge Bridge (the highest vehicular bridge in the Americas, and the second-highest in the world) and took some photographs. We finished out our evening taking in G-Force 3D at the movie theatre.

Vacation - Day 1

Here are some highlights from day one of our our 7 day vacation in southern OH and WV, eastern TN and western NC. Our day one highlights are from our stop along the way in Hocking Hills State Park. We hiked a trail called Old Man's Cave. It was pretty cool - almost like being on the set of an Indiana Jones movie for something like that. Look for more "vacation" posts in the coming days ... (or don't).

Andrew Turns 10!

Here are highlights from Andrew's Birthday Party today - he is now 10 years old! It was hot, but the kids stayed cool in Lake Frogerick.