Deep Creek Lake - Day 1
We have been to Deep Creek Lake before. First, I went there on my senior week vacation with my youth group (in 1998). Then, Michael and I went there on our honeymoon (in 2002), and again on our 1 year anniversary (in 2003). After that, we went for a family vacation the summer Kara turned 1 (in 2007). Michael fishes there every year with his bass fishing club, so he's super familiar with the area. The best part about Deep Creek Lake - it's close to home! Well, much closer than Norway, anyway. ;-)
To tell you about my first day, I have to back up to the evening before. Kara is absolutely enraptured with the Warrior Cats book series. She read all 6 books of the first set in less than a month. When she went to start the first book of the next 6 the night before our vacation, she noticed they skipped a whole year. I understand they wanted to move on, introduce new characters, and get this new series going. Well, Kara is very attached to these characters and was devastated to see how much they skipped over. (Let me also add, it was late, she was tired, and the over-sensitivity was flowing. I wish I could blame this on Michael's genes, but we ALL know she gets this from me.) At first I talked to her about maybe dealing with it and moving on, but that didn't work. She wasn't irrational or badly behaved, just devastated. So, mommy-to-the-rescue, I decided to look up on the internet why they skipped the time and what we could do about it. It turns out there are loads of extra books written individually, on the side, that fill in that timeline. We scoured the library's website and found 5 of the 7 fill in books. She was fine with skipping the other two. 4 of the 5 we found are comic books, and the fifth is a 500 page giant "super book". We committed to getting those books from the library the next morning before we left for vacation. By then it was midnight and the thought of getting up early the next morning to go to 3 different libraries to get these 5 books wasn't super fun, but I won't always have the ability to save the day, and I was happy to help this time. Especially since it's about getting her MORE books to read. I'll always, I repeat ALWAYS, be willing to spend time/money on books for Kara. (Side note: not that I have to defend my parenting in my own journal, but Kara hasn't always been rescued - she deals with disappointment on enough occasions that I was happy to give her this one.)
So. This is how our first day of our vacation started - not enough sleep and a plan to hit the libraries. Did I mention that I only half-packed so far? I was so done with packing after our cruise, that I didn't have it in me. After the libraries, we were home just in time to finish packing, load the truck, and head out.
We left around 11:30 to get Michael's boat settled (we weren't allowed to park it at the house, so he left it at the hotel down the street where he usually stays with his bass club buddies). It turns out my sister left at the same time, so I thought it would be fun to stop and eat lunch with them on the way. They even passed us on the highway - we were right near each other!
After lunch at McDonalds (Kara's favorite), we went straight to the hotel, dropped off Michael's boat, and checked into our rental house. To our delight, the house was ready 30 minutes early and we had the keys at 3:30. The trip felt like it went so quickly - traffic was decent, lunch was a neat way to break up the trip, and we were there in no time. It was a rainy/foggy/cloudy day, which made for slower driving (especially with the boat), but I took some pictures with my new iPhone.
My mom and sister went to the grocery store to get some essentials for the week and fixings for dinner that night. Meanwhile, we all unpacked and got settled in. While I unpacked, I realized in my hasty packing that I had forgotten to pack some essential items, like enough clothes. I packed 6 different scented lotions to wear, but only 4 shirts. Yeah. Looks like we need to plan a shopping day!
I'll tell you more about the house in my next post, but we all wanted to go to sleep early, disappointed in the rain, which meant we couldn't have a fire outside in the fire pit.
Good night!
To tell you about my first day, I have to back up to the evening before. Kara is absolutely enraptured with the Warrior Cats book series. She read all 6 books of the first set in less than a month. When she went to start the first book of the next 6 the night before our vacation, she noticed they skipped a whole year. I understand they wanted to move on, introduce new characters, and get this new series going. Well, Kara is very attached to these characters and was devastated to see how much they skipped over. (Let me also add, it was late, she was tired, and the over-sensitivity was flowing. I wish I could blame this on Michael's genes, but we ALL know she gets this from me.) At first I talked to her about maybe dealing with it and moving on, but that didn't work. She wasn't irrational or badly behaved, just devastated. So, mommy-to-the-rescue, I decided to look up on the internet why they skipped the time and what we could do about it. It turns out there are loads of extra books written individually, on the side, that fill in that timeline. We scoured the library's website and found 5 of the 7 fill in books. She was fine with skipping the other two. 4 of the 5 we found are comic books, and the fifth is a 500 page giant "super book". We committed to getting those books from the library the next morning before we left for vacation. By then it was midnight and the thought of getting up early the next morning to go to 3 different libraries to get these 5 books wasn't super fun, but I won't always have the ability to save the day, and I was happy to help this time. Especially since it's about getting her MORE books to read. I'll always, I repeat ALWAYS, be willing to spend time/money on books for Kara. (Side note: not that I have to defend my parenting in my own journal, but Kara hasn't always been rescued - she deals with disappointment on enough occasions that I was happy to give her this one.)
So. This is how our first day of our vacation started - not enough sleep and a plan to hit the libraries. Did I mention that I only half-packed so far? I was so done with packing after our cruise, that I didn't have it in me. After the libraries, we were home just in time to finish packing, load the truck, and head out.
We left around 11:30 to get Michael's boat settled (we weren't allowed to park it at the house, so he left it at the hotel down the street where he usually stays with his bass club buddies). It turns out my sister left at the same time, so I thought it would be fun to stop and eat lunch with them on the way. They even passed us on the highway - we were right near each other!
After lunch at McDonalds (Kara's favorite), we went straight to the hotel, dropped off Michael's boat, and checked into our rental house. To our delight, the house was ready 30 minutes early and we had the keys at 3:30. The trip felt like it went so quickly - traffic was decent, lunch was a neat way to break up the trip, and we were there in no time. It was a rainy/foggy/cloudy day, which made for slower driving (especially with the boat), but I took some pictures with my new iPhone.
My mom and sister went to the grocery store to get some essentials for the week and fixings for dinner that night. Meanwhile, we all unpacked and got settled in. While I unpacked, I realized in my hasty packing that I had forgotten to pack some essential items, like enough clothes. I packed 6 different scented lotions to wear, but only 4 shirts. Yeah. Looks like we need to plan a shopping day!
I'll tell you more about the house in my next post, but we all wanted to go to sleep early, disappointed in the rain, which meant we couldn't have a fire outside in the fire pit.
Good night!
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