The 2013 Lubin Summmer Road Trip - Eastern Excurison:Part 1

Well, we dropped Cosmo off at the Hound Dog Hotel for his longest stay ever (13 days), packed up the car, loaded up on DVDs, iPads, books, snacks, and other distractions on Thursday night and then bright and early (5AM) Friday we departed on our trip East.  The plan was to travel through 2 countries, 6 states and stay in 6 different cities in 12 days.  The estimate was about 2,400 miles and 50 hrs of drive time.....here is how it all went down:

Day 1 - Friday (720 miles)

As noted we got an early start and drove pretty much straight through to Novi, MI and stayed with the Hazelwoods.  We spent about 13 hrs driving with minimal stops and arrived right on time for dinner at 7 PM.  It was great to see Rob, Anita, Jacob, Annabeth and Drew.  We caught up, the kids played outside (much needed) and I spent about an hour in their massage chair (also much needed!).  Jacob and Isaac camped out in a tent in the dining room overnight.

Day 2 - Saturday  (80 miles)

Saturday morning we spent at Rob and Anita's, we had a nice breakfast and the kids played some more.  Then we headed to Auburn Hills to see Lita and Lulu!  We spent the afternoon catching up with Lita, Lulu had plenty to say as well! 

Later that night we met up with some friends in Sterling Heights to celebrate with Darrin and Kate.  They are having a baby and just happened to be holding their baby shower that weekend while we were in town.  We also got to see, Gus, The Schmitts and the Lees while we there!

Day 3 - Sunday (60 miles)

We spent the day with Lita; we visited Birmingham and went to the toy store and played in the park. Then we went to Royal Oak and saw Despicable Me 2 and had Sushi at one of our favorites....Little Tree!  Miriam and I spent Sunday night in Rochester, while Lita watched the kids....that was our Anniversary present!

Day 4 - Monday (40 miles)

Monday afternoon I took Isaac over to his friend Noah's house.  Isaac and Noah met in pre-school when they were 3!  Every time we get back to MI we try to get Isaac, Noah and his older brother Carson together.  It is fun to see them all play together after all of this time!  They went fishing, played Wiffle ball, used the zip line and the trampoline all in about 2 hrs!  Miriam, Lita and Olivia spent some time with Tiffany and her family at the "Cardboard Park" in Birmingham.  Just like old times they rode down the artificial turf hill on cardboard and amazing still no injuries!  Later that night Miriam went out with her friends Amy and Nancy.  Lots of friends!!!

Day 5 - Tuesday (250 miles)

Got up early and headed to Niagara Falls!  We left around 8 AM after breakfast and arrived at the Canadian side of the Falls around noon.  We parked the car and walked about a mile to the main attractions.  We were able to see the original power plant and some other interesting things along the way.  When we got to the main viewing area we were all blown away by the size and power of the falls!  We decided we wanted to do the "Journey Behind the Falls" and the "Maid of the Mist".   We had ice cream, walked around a bit and had a nice dinner at an Italian Restaurant in the main town amidst all of the crazy tourist attractions.  Then we headed to our hotel across the boarder in NY after a long and exciting day.

1,150 Miles so far!  We had a great stop in MI and it was great to see everyone....onward to Albany, NY!
There are a ton of pictures and a video of the kids at Niagara Falls here....For the videos: if you are having issues with the quality...make sure you click on the settings in the lower right hand corner of the video and set the resolution to the highest choice 1080 HD.

Cousins in town from Mexico

Miriam's cousin Edith (Tia Edith) was in town with her daughter Julia.  They live in Mexico City.  The five of them were extremely busy all week doing all kinds of fun stuff around Minneapolis, Unfortunately, I was toiling away at work:) for most of this so I missed out on a trip or two to the Mall of America, Round Lake and some other fun stuff! 

On Sunday we all went to the MN Landscape Arboretum.  The kids were able to learn about herbs and bake their own bread. 

Later we stopped for Ice Cream.

They girls left on Wednesday and we were sad to see them go!  We had a great week and it was a lot of fun to see the cousins all playing together! 

Here are some pictures...Miriam has a bunch more on her camera I will try and upload later. 

Isaac's Last Baseball Game & Canterbury Park

Today was Isaac's last baseball game of his 2nd Grade Season.  His team had a great year and finished strong with a good game and what appeared to be a win(they don't keep official score until next year).  Most of the team has been playing together for 3 years now, since Kindergarten and they are really a great bunch of kids.  Next year there is a draft so this is really the end of a "Legacy" so it was Bittersweet!

Isaac had a good game....a few singles.

Here is is playing first base, tagging first then going for a double play which he just missed the throw at home plate (tie went to the runner!).  It was a great play though!!!

Before the game I was teaching Julia how to play Baseball.  She was a real natural and was making some really nice hits right off the bat (pun intended).   Here she is after the game with Isaac.

After the game we took the kids; Olivia, Julia, Isaac, Kenny and Cory to the race track, Canterbury Park.  They were having a special kids day there with Camel and Ostrich races....which were fun/different to watch.

 

Check out the link for some pictures from the day and a video of Isaac taking the last at bat for his team this season.  He had a good hit, but unfortunately was thrown out at first....

Cub Scout Camp Weekend

While the girls were in Mexico City visiting family and celebrating SuperLita's (Great Grandmother) 95th Birthday!! the boys headed out to Cub Scout camp in Cannon Falls MN. 

We caravanned up with our Den, stopped at Subway for dinner, arrived at camp Friday night and got settled in.  We unpacked, got a tour of the camp and watched the older Boy and Girl Scouts("the Counselors") do some skits in front of the campfire.

That night we slept in our tent and I was awoken at about 1AM by some powerful thunderstorms, which continued on until about 9AM the next morning. This made for a wet beginning of our first day....but being scouts we were prepared and had our ponchos, so stayed relatively dry.


Saturday and Sunday was spent packed full of activities! To name a few:

• Nature
• Fitness (obstacle course and Finger Fencing)
• Swimming
• Ballistics
• BB Guns
• Skills(whittling) - just a minor cut....but Isaac earned his Whittling Chip!
• Archery
• Sports
• Wall/Rock Climbing
• Boating was closed due to the high water levels from the storms!

There was also some free time to do what ever we liked and more campfire time Saturday night.   It was a great experience, Isaac and I had a lot of fun, learned a lot and got to know the boys and their parents a lot better!  Can't wait until next yr.
See some more pictures and a video here.

Olivia learns how to ride a bike!!!

Olivia learned how to ride a bike today!  It happened really quick....she has been asking for awhile and we finally took the wheels off of her little bike and she pciked it right up.  Next weekend we will take them off her big bike!

See a video here.

July 4th Weekend

 As always 4th of July is a busy day.  We went to the Chanhassen parade, then a few BBQ parties at friends houses and capped the day off with fireworks. 

 The next night we put together our new tent and camped out in the backyard.  We made smores at the firepit, read stories and slept outside...it was lot of fun!

See some more pictures at the link.