Fun-Filled Family Summer

Phew, we’ve been running around like crazy lately! Between work, travel, and all the usual family activities, this summer just flew by in a blur. But it was definitely one for the books – we had a fun-filled family summer!

The little one was busy at the beginning of the summer with a dance team camp at the school where we work. She followed that with a week-long “Born to Perform” camp, where she learned to dance, sing, act, and tumble.

Then, we started on an epic road trip that took us zipping through Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Georgia.

One of the first stops was in Memphis to catch the famous Peabody ducks doing their morning march through the hotel lobby. We had been there before, but we stayed the night. There’s just something entertaining about watching a line of ducks waddling across a fancy hotel carpet. Our kid loved it, and we learned about that historic hotel as well.

Then, we spent a day exploring the huge cave system at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Being that I have a type of RA called Palindromic Rheumatism, we opted for the handicapped tour. It was amazing and easy for me to maneuver. What I loved about it was that it was as much an African American History lesson (a subject I teach) as it was a geology lesson.

We made sure to spend some quality time in Columbus, Ohio since that’s where my wife was born. We visited the church where she was baptized. Later in the trip, in Florence, Kentucky, we met with a friend of hers from 3rd grade, and it was like they had never missed a beat.

The drive through Amish country in Ohio was a highlight, too. We ooh’d and ahh over the rolling farmlands and enjoyed visiting a petting zoo.

Another cool stop was visiting this historic lighthouse on Lake Erie. The views of the lake from up there were beautiful, and it was neat learning about how the whole lighthouse system used to work back in the day. We even bought a passbook in case we visit more historic lighthouses.

We also visited the legendary Cedar Point amusement park. I had to ride the Rougarou roller coaster, which has a Louisiana French name.

To wrap up the road trip, we spent a couple of days in Atlanta. The highlights there were checking out the awesome Georgia Aquarium and the MLK Jr. National Historic Site. The MLK museum and church were just really powerful to experience in person.

As if that road trip wasn’t enough, my wife and I then went our separate ways for some individual professional development trips through the Gilder Lehrman Institute. She headed out to San Diego to attend a seminar about World War II aboard the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum. Meanwhile, I was up at Gettysburg College studying the Civil Rights Movement under Dr. Hasan Jeffries. Of course, I took in some of the sites of the battlefield again.

To top it all off, my wife and daughter jetted up to NYC for a few days to see Moulin Rouge on Broadway and do as much city stuff as they could cram into their short stay. By the end of that one, all the walking wiped them out!

With all that travel, it’s a miracle we made it back home in one piece. But sure enough, the new school year kicked off practically as soon as we got back. So it’s been go, go, go trying to get back into the routine – packing lunches, doing homework, getting to all the activities, and whatnot. Our day jobs have been no joke either.

Still, even though we’ve been busy, we remain committed to keeping this blog rolling. We’ve got so many amazing experiences from this summer to write about in more detail. Hopefully, we can start finding the time to really dig into some new posts soon!