Apologies and long stories...

...are forthcoming. We are back. Everything is fine. I am leaving tomorrow by myself for Cleveland for 5 days. I will explain later. Vacation was great - internet was not. Glad to be home, sad to be leaving again so soon. Again, long story, I'll explain later.

Matt

Revisionist History

The nice thing about having such elaborate videos serving as the family memory storehouse is that you have the power to change the past. Therefore...

Yesterday is stricken from the record.

It was a rough day. We were tired, the kids were tired, no one was behaving, there were lots of problems. There will be no video or stills from the fiasco.

There was one bright spot. And that was the lovely and wonderful meal we had at Zehnder's. What a great place, we were so excited to come back, and it was even better than we remembered from 2006. Any time you're in this part of the world, you owe it to yourself to come and have a meal here. If you can do the family-style chicken dinner, go for it. Now, it aint cheap, but the good news is this - you probably won't have to eat breakfast or lunch the next day. Seriously. No joke.

So, today we will try again to have a good day. So far the kids are behaving, and we have no real plans other than to let the kids do some of the activities here at the campground (they're having a candy themed weekend so should be lots of fun).

Hopefully some good pics later. Thanks for stopping by!

Matt

Night before

Funny to think back a year ago - this was the night we had one of our nicest late-night cookout dinners - Buffalo Chili in the Badlands. Such wonderful memories. Hopefully we're about to make some more.

Tomorrow off to Frankenmuth and Mackinaw City for a week and a half. Quite a modest trip by Specter standards but fun nonetheless. I again am reminded of a previous trip - in 2006 we went to Mackinaw, back in our freewheeling days of discretionary income. We had a great time and while we knew we wanted to come back, we never thought it would be with 2-year old twins in tow.

I can remember that on that trip, while we were walking back from viewing Tahquamenon Falls, we passed a family going the other way...not sure how many kids, but at least four, all probably 8 and older, up to mid-to-older teens. They were impossibly happy and pleasant, the Stepford Family if you will - no trace of teen angst or annoyance, no sibling rivalry deteced...and we only saw them for a few seconds...but it seemed genuine.

I often think about that family and make them a goal for our own. How are we matching up? Well, we ain't from Pleasantville. Seriously. We got issues. But then again, we're Specters. We're not going to making any magazine covers for anything. But, in our own way, I'm pleased with how we're doing. Our kids can go 12 boring hours without watching movies in the car. Faith gets excited about finding license plates. They've been to more National Parks than I was at before I was 30, and...even the twins in their own way, are becoming good traveling Specters. Tonight when it was time for bed, they both resisted as they sometimes do...but then I told them we had a trip tomorrow, and they both stopped short...you could see them thinking about it...and then they happily went to bed, with Hannah saying "Go on trip, go on trip."

So I think...we're doing okay.

Stuff is all ready to be loaded in the trailer tomorrow morning - not a crazy early start, but hopefully on the road by 8. Check in in the coming days for updates from the road. Admittedly we have one minor problem...I can't find Rumplestiltskin anywhere - this is actually a cause for concern.

Matt

Catching up

Things continued to be busy in Pittsburgh. On Friday, we swam again in the morning, drove around the city a bit, and then had lunch at Primanti Bros, another culinary landmark, and definitely the top of my 'to do' list food-wise on this trip.

Some pics:






Had a little time in the afternoon to take the Duquesne Incline...




...and then headed over to PNC Park for a Pirates Game. The girls, it must be said, were unimpressed. But well-behaved.



Drove back into town on Saturday and have been attempting to take it easy before the big trip to Michigan on Thursday.

Say some prayers for my mom - she is (we think) in transit from Kenya as we speak, and will arrive tomorrow night around 7:30 local time. She has then less than 48 hours to get herself back together before launching into a trip with us. She insisted that the quick turnaround was okay but we know it's going to be tough for her.

So, expect not much the next day or so and then check in for news from the road.

God bless,
Matt

Pittsburgh Day 2 - Part 2

After the Dirty O, on to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. Again, I find myself discouraged and frustrated by the lack of execution displayed by our own Children's Museum back in Cincinnati. Just so many more "wow, that's cool" type things going on here and so many more "never seen that before" activities...just very impressed. Some pics and maybe some videos again:

The girls got to make paper - cool!


The Limb-Bender


Mari LOVED this PVC-pipe area - you can see how involved she got.




Isn't it nice that they give them those raincoats? They got drenched anyway.

Pittsburgh Day 2

Had a relaxed morning swimming at the hotel pool, then got lunch at the Dirty O, another nostalgic locale for my dad. A few pics:

For those who don't understand how this place works - this is a SMALL order of fries. No joke.


Mari is happy.


Dad and my meal:


Dad is happy too.


We did, however, finish off the fries.


And maybe a video from the O here: (hope this works).......

More in a moment...

Summer trip number 2

Greetings from Pittsburgh!

Steph is back home with the twins, I am here in Pittsburgh with Faith, Mari, and my dad. Long story, this was the best way to do things. We all miss each other but are also enjoying the reduction in workload.

So, today, another early rise, on the road by 6:10 - so that we could make it for a full day at Kennywood Park. For those who don't know, Kennywood is Pittsburgh's amusement park. Now, I've sort of fallen in love with the charm and friendliness found at some of the smaller-scale amusement parks we've found throughout the country. Centerville on Toronto Island, Lake Winnepesaukah in Chattanooga, Wonderland in Amarillo, our own Coney Island in Cincinnati...which by the way, is way way underperforming its potential. But I can talk about that another day. My point is this - Kennywood is really too big to be considered one of those 'smaller' amusmement parks...but it FEELS like one. And it's just really an amazing place. Coaster afficianadoes know all about Kennywood's unique coasters that nearly all 1) use the natural mountainside setting for dramatic and hidden drops (often right out of the station), and 2) do not place the biggest hill first... But what amazes me about this place is the number of historic and 'last left of its kind' rides which are housed here. The Kangaroo, the Turtles, the Auto Race, all are accompanied by historical notes explaning the significance of the rides. This is a cool place. And the kids' area has more stuff dedicated to the smallest riders than King's Island, and in a much more compact setting. We all had a great time. And when the video comes out (in 2012 at the current rate of progress) a big thank you will go to Uncle Barry for doing so much videography. Nice to have an expert assistant.

Now. Point needs to be made about something here. Explanation given. This is Rumpelstiltskin:



He came from a McDonald's happy meal and has become a bit of a cult figure in our household. He joined us on our trip to Hilton Head and is with us now in Pittsburgh. Sort of decided that he would become our own "roaming gnome" and we'd snap photos of him wherever we went. So. Here he is at Kennywood, and then at Mineo's, my dad's childhood pizza haunt:




Oh, and a couple pics of the girls too. Most of what we got today was video, but there are a few good pics:

Back Home

Sorry everyone that the updates ceased so quickly - internet became frustratingly unreliable. Tried several times to do some things, finally just gave up.

We're back home now...return trip was no fairy tale. Stops for puke and whatnot. Over 12 hours in transit when all said and done. Tomorrow will be rough for everyone, patience and behavior-wise. We're ready.

Was a wonderful wonderful trip. I used to get sad like I was leaving a friend when I left here, but this year it felt very much 'easy come easy go'. Not sure why. Probably partially the fact that a beach vacation with our family is actually a LOT of work and not all that relaxing. Fun, to be sure, but not like the golden days of lying by the pool using the music on my headphones to time when to flip over so as not to burn. Partially the fact that there are two more trips this summer still to go - one little one and one longer one. Partially the fact that summer is still very much ahead of us. Lots of reasons.

I think that I personally really turned a corner as far as the work involved. I used to be really really annoyed by all the lotioning, changing, dressing and undressing, and this year I barely noticed it. We've finally found our beach groove with 4 kids. And hopefully...even easier next year.

A good time really was had by all. I'm tired now from a long drive - I will try to post some GREAT pics and a video clip or two tomorrow. Thanks all for checking in - enjoy the summer!

Matt

Beach Update

Another good day yesterday!

Took the kids down to the beach in the morning - Robby was having a tough time, he might be getting sick again. Had no patience for anything. But...with the wind and the waves even his screaming gets drowned out about 20 feet away so we didn't mind. Robby and Hannah definitely like playing in the sand more than being in the ocean. That's good because it lets us split up...and even leave them alone for a moment or two if necessary. They're so good. The first thing I do is dig a big hole and that's where they sit and are happy to sit for hours on end. Meanwhile, Faith is completely trustworthy to go sit out in the shallower water and chill. Mari just keeps moving back and forth and that's good for her.

At one point yesterday I even was able to comfortably watch all 4 kids while Steph went to go do another activity at the pool. No problem.

Now, at the pool is another story. Robby and Hannah are comPLETEly unpredictable. One day they're both happy, the next day they're both freaked out - and it can change randomly at any moment. They need constant attention and we don't always have the help available because the girle aren't completely independent in the pool either. So we don't go unless everyone's there.

All that said it's still being a good time. I've gotten to the point where I hardly notice the mess of work necessary to get them out the door. You just do it.

In other news, Steph and I DID get our hoped-for anniversary dinner last night, just like last year, at Charlie's Etoile Verte. I can't tell you how good this meal was. Literally, the second-best meal of my life. It has moved ahead of my meal at Emeril's in Orlando. It was religious. Now, part of this might be that we've been trying so hard to cut costs at home that we've been eating what the kids eat half the time...but no, the food was that good too.


For our appetizer we had a 'salad' of avocado, lump crab, tomatoes and remoulade sauce. Oh, the flavor explosion! The first bite I tasted as far down my body as my shoulder blades. Steph said she felt it in her knees. I can still taste it. For an entree, I had blackened Mahi and Steph had wild sockeye salmon with basil pesto. I am telling you, every bite I took, it spread a warm happy feeling in my mouth and then I could feel it travel down to my soul and spread throughout the universe. Every bite was a prayer. The fish was a gift from God. Every bite, I would swallow...and wait...and then sigh a contented sigh as peace flooded through all. It was amazing. And then, if the fish brought peace, the strawberry cobbler brought joy. I took one bite and literally dropped my fork. Strawberries don't taste like this unless they've been touched by the hand of God. I mean, layer upon layer of flavor unfolding in your mouth like a taste kaleidoscope...all in a microsecond.

If you're ever here on Hilton Head, and you have a lot of money to throw around, make a reservation at Charlie's Etoile Verte.

I had planned to bring the camera and take pics from Charlie's but forgot. Sorry. Just have to use your imagination.

Anyway, gotta go. Keep checking in - more pics will be taken today.

Matt

Day 1 at the Beach

Good day today!

Hannah and Robby are very happy to play in the sand. Robby is still kind of difficult at the pool - randomly gets freaked out and then suddenly he's fine. Anyway, Faith and Mari had a good day too and we spent a LOT of time outside today. No complaints. Not much else to say, either. Just enjoying the time we have. Some pics:

Hannah and Mari plotting trouble:


Robby and Hannah (and if you look close, you can see Faith and Mari...and a wave hitting Steph in the background)


Surf's up...sort of:


There aren't enough pics of Steph on this blog:


We actually saw a lot of sealife today, which is unusual: