as has become standard over the years, we planned for one of the days of our spring break trip to be a big fat longer hike for me (and a much needed day of doing nothing for my people who enjoy doing nothing and derek who was a little under the weather for the whole […]
tales of vacations and travels
spring break 2023bryson city day.
our second day of spring break was a little drizzly and overcast, so we figured it was a good day to do some shopping and exploring in bryson city. you know, making sure we were close to shelter. but before we hit the city, we drove up “the road to nowhere” to walk through the […]
spring break 2023. wesser bald fire tower hike.
for our first big spring break adventure, we dragged the kids out on a three-ish mile hike to the wesser bald fire tower. it was relatively uneventful. derek wasn’t feeling great and ike was nursing a sprained ankle, so they took their time, while i forged ahead with the girls. we started out a little […]
spring break 2023…
for spring break this year, we packed up and headed to an airbnb, in the wilderness of the nantahala national forest, on the tippy western end of north carolina. as the children grow, so does the volume of our “luggage” (reusable shopping bags, mostly), making packing the back of the subaru feel like the most […]
whirlwind solo adventure to WNY.
with a pair of tickets to the bills game in hand (or saved to my phone using cyber space magic), i began preparing for my trek north for the big adventure. there was some debate about the entire family heading up for the weekend, but that would require missing school and a lot of logistical […]
bills v. dolphins, the playoffs.best ever makeup birthday gift.
in november, i was supposed to attend the bills-browns game for my birthday gift. then, a massive snowstorm struck the area the day before the game, and it was moved to detroit. we were issued a massive refund (140% of our original ticket prices), so when the bills first playoff game was scheduled for a […]
another batavia thanksgiving. not another bills game.
for the last few years, except for that stupid covid year, we have been heading up to western new york for thanksgiving. last year, derek and frankles and i were able to attend a bills game on the sunday before thanksgiving week. when we were up for jakes wedding last summer, and since the bills […]
attempts at favorite aunt status. thanksgiving cookie edition.
in a desperate bid to win the designation as holden’s favorite aunt, i packed an arsenal of cookie decorating supplies for our trip to batavia for thanksgiving. my mom babysits him every monday, so i hyped him up for a full day of baking and decorating and he was all in. my diabolical plan for […]
camping in the great smokies, sans family.
a long long time ago, derek booked us a long weekend at a campground in the smokies. during prime autumn leaf color season. it was to be our very first family tent camping trip since selling the rv. but then. isaac wanted to go to a homecoming football game. and anna had some sort of […]
august in western new york.
usually, we head up to western new york for our annual summer pilgrimage in june or maybe early july. but this year, my baby brother’s wedding was set to take place in august, so we planned our excursion around the wedding date. we arrived the weekend before the wedding, so we could get in some […]