How Now Brown Cow

 Did I mention we got to milk a cow by hand on a plantation near Charleston, South Carolina?  For those of you who know about my love of cows, I am sure you are not taking this news lightly.



Her name is Annabelle.

 Oh, and who knew that cashmere came from goats? Seriously, these were the softest goats we ever felt. 

The dark side to the Plantation. Janey reads the names of all the slaves that lived on this plantation from 1738 until 1865 - the year the Civil War ended. Next to each name -  how much each one cost.  Before the revolution, it was recorded in British pounds. After, it showed $.  

Soaring

In September 1997, a week after Payton was born, we found ourselves back at Hoag Hospital- but this time not on the Maternity floor.  My dad was in bad shape and needed a blood transfusion. His overnight stay confirmed his kidneys were failing and he would have to immediately begin dialysis 3 days a week.  He was in dire need of a functioning kidney.

We returned to Hoag again and attended a lecture on live kidney donation.  I immediately volunteered to be tested.  We waited and finally got the call – I was a match. This signaled the beginning of our journey into the world of organ donation.  It was a long road, but finally 3 months shy Payton’s second birthday, a successful transplant took place.  

The kidney not only gave my dad a second chance at living life to the fullest, but gave Payton, and his 3 future siblings an opportunity to get to know their grandpa. 

12 years later, a special section of our Great American Field Trip is coming to a close tonight as I write this. Tomorrow, my parents who have joined us for 10 days fly home. 

If we thought we were packed in tight before, this past week we have had to organize the minivan with  7 people representing 3 generations, 6 suitcases, a cooler, books, headphones, first aid kit, a small arsenal of replica guns from various wars, water bottles, tissues, a trash bag, cameras and cell phones, sweatshirts, backpacks, purses and… a carload of functioning vital organs – Thank goodness. 

We had great serious discussions, and grand laughs in and out of the car.   We learned a lot about history, geography and science.  

One highlight was visiting the exact spot the Wright Brothers made their first successful flights near Kitty Hawk, N.C.  in 1903.  We ate lunch in a restaurant that was the sight a telegram was sent home:

"Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty one mile wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest flight fifty nine seconds inform press home Christmas."

Obviously the entire world has been changed by the invention of airplanes but I feel that telegram sealed the fate of my own life.

My dad was from the generation of boys that all had at least one model airplane in their bedroom.  His love of making models branched into flying radio control airplanes and eventually earning his own pilot’s license.    

 I have great memories of our family flying in a tiny 1947 Navion to places with small airstrips like California’s Gold Country.  I was very proud of my dad and his ability to soar in the sky. 

It felt like an adventure, climbing onto the wing’s black scratchy non slip patch and into our seats. Dad would remove the chocks from the tires, get in, pull the glass canopy closed and twist his wrist to lock it into place. Then with his big important headphones he would talk to the people in the air control tower.

Dad:  Niner one seven seven six

Tower: Clear

My sister and I would hold hands and giggle as we went faster and faster down the runway until the butterflies flew wildly in our stomachs upon take off.

I think it is my dad who made me want to feel those exciting butterflies again and again in life.  It's a big reason I am on this trip with the kids.

Mom always believed in Dad. Belief in our own dreams is a necessity, but having another believe in your dream helps it take flight.

Dad's  passion for radio control airplanes overflowed into creating a business.  Almost 40 years ago, he founded Hobby People “dedicated to the true champions, those who fly for fun” and began selling models, radio control planes, cars, helicopters and rockets. 

Through thick and thin, our family business has been dedicated to keeping simple joys a part of people’s lives. My husband has been there in sickness and health for all of us. 

It was powerful walking around the exact spot Orville and Wilbur’s hard work, persistence and unwavering faith (despite many failures) finally paid off. 

Twelve years ago, our kidney transplant was also a success due to doctors, patients, and surgeons before us taking risks and believing it could be done.

My Parents in front of the Wright Brother's Statue (Kill Devils Hill - Near Kitty Hawk, NC)

3 generations on a bench in Yorktown, Virginia

Manassas Civil War Battlefield in Virginia

Grandpa and Payton playing checkers

Wyatt running down the exact spot of the Wright Brother's first successful flights. Dream Big, my baby.  Never give up!

 

And...with the holidays coming, here is my shameless plug;  Support a family business who believes in hard work and the power of dreams. Ours, and yours.  Visit us Hobby People online  www.hobbypeople.net  Or, come by the store closest to you in Southern CA.  Let them know I sent you.  

From Sea to Shinning Sea

Our first glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean was an exhilarating moment for me.  We made it all the way across America!

Taken from where we were staying in Duck, North Carolina (part of the Outerbanks) this photo will always remind me: Don't give up on dreams!

Battle of Yorktown - in Janey's Words

Janey writes my column this week click here to read

Janey in front of the hand-dug trenches on the battlefield at Yorktown, Virginia.

Ready for battle

Wyatt coming out of the trenches to sneak up on the American and French soldiers

A Rainstorm and a Rainbow

Cambridge Maryland is located on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. If you are like me and you only have a vague understanding of Maryland  (as in it is a state on the East Coast which borders D.C.) then you may be surprised to learn about some of the geography like me.

Here is a map of Maryland - the Chesapeake Bay can not be over-emphasized. I learned there is more coastline on Maryland than any other state in the lower 48. 

Cambridge, birthplace of Harriet Tubman is on the eastern shore of the bay.  Above Maryland is Pennsylvania -  where Harriet and others working the Underground Railroad helped slaves escape.  This area of Maryland is also known as Tidewater lands because they are so low and so effected by the changing tides. In fact, we learned, just as some kids in some parts of the country do not have school because of snow days, there are days when the tide comes up so high, the two lane road is completely submersed.  The kids stay home from school - and are given assignments, or they would be stuck there when the tide comes up, with no road to get home.

The flat lands with beautiful scenery make it perfect for bike riding.

We had a guided bike ride. It was fabulous.  Within minutes of our departure,  the skies unleashed an impromptu rainstorm. Chubby raindrops pelted us as winds whipping through grasses and trees, swirled down the street and pushed against our efforts to pedal.

It ended as quickly as it began and a bit later we were treated to a rainbow.

Wyatt was attached to my bike so he could keep up no problem.

Just behind the kids is a yellow house - it's actually Bucktown Village Store. This is the spot, Harriet Tubman was hit with a two pound iron in the forehead, causing a major head injury. The man who threw the iron was an overseer who intended to hit another slave with the iron in an attempt to stop him from running.

Inside of the Bucktown Village Store (our guide and her husband own the store and live next to it)

Payton starting out

An example of the gorgeous farmlands surrounding the area.

We saw where Harriet Tubman was born, and where her mother and father lived. The area hasn't changed much since then. Harriet, after escaping to the north, came back 19 times and helped save 300 slaves by being a conductor on the Underground Railroad that originally helped her. She came back for her parents and her sister and as much of her family she could help escape. Harriet lived to be 91 and died of pneumonia where she lived in Auburn, NY. 

Cambridge was also home to the Powhatan Indians. Susan, our guide's mother was Powhatan and so she was able to educate us about the Natives of this area.

We rode a bit into the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge - many species of water fowl live here under protection.
The only bummer was since it had just rained, this very wet area erupted in mosquitoes.
It was like the movie "National Lampoon's Vacation" when they see the Grand Canyon for 2 seconds then leave. Susan was so excited to point out through the trees the enormous nest made of sticks -  on any other occasion it was gawk worthy and we would have taken several pictures. Instead, we spotted the nest as we were jumping around, swatting and yelling at the blood thirsty little buggers attacking us.  (Susan, meanwhile was standing as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, still telling us about the eagle's nest). We ran back to the bikes - still swatting and jumping and pedaling away to drier land (as we swat and yelled out some more) Payton instantly put about a quarter of a mile between him and us.

As an aside, the bike ride was a great compliment to our visit to the Harriet Tubman museum in town a day earlier. It  was very small, but the woman working there was a wealth of knowledge. Inez Lincolna - she was the 4th generation in her family who was given a feminine form of  Lincoln by adding an A. (How smart is that!)

She told us all about growing up in a segregated Cambridge. How the street the museum was on was the dividing line between the black side of town and the white side of town. She told us about her memories of being arrested during protests and that her mother was even arrested - she laughed heartily at this thought because she said her mom had never cussed or smoked or drank and to pick her up from jail was so unlike her.

The little square outside the courthouse - well that was where the slave auctions were.

Kids at the museum with Inez Lincolna standing with a mural. Harriet Tubman is between Sally and Wyatt

 The bike ride - with the storm and the rainbow was so symbolic of everything that has taken place in the area. 

After the bike ride, we began the itchy 2 hour plus drive to pick my parents up at the airport back in Virginia. 
We are traveling with Mum-mum and grandpa for 10 days.  More about that soon!

Another end to another busy day on the Great American Field Trip

TEAM RYAN - by Payton

For those of you who don't already know, Payton enjoyed blogging so much, he decided to start his own blog called "Generally Speaking"I copied and pasted the post below from his blog. If you want to check his out the address is www.generallyspeaking.blogspot.com 


Team Ryan, by Payton Fales

One of the greatest parts of this trip has been meeting locals, and hearing their stories, good or bad.  The past few days we were in Cambridge, Maryland, the childhood home of Harriett Tubman. While there we ate lunch at a Gastropub, called High Spot, after paying the check, we struck up a conversation with one of the waiters working there, and they shared a story that really struck a chord:

A boy named Ryan Summers (the son of the owners of the restaurant where we ate) was struck by lightning in July, while attending a family reunion. His heart immediately stopped beating, and his mother gave him CPR, until the ambulance came to his rescue. He was rushed to the hospital, where they managed to save his life. 

 Afterward he traveled from hospital to clinic to hospital to clinic. He was just recently released from his last hospital to begin therapy. The effect of the lightning strike had much of the same effect as a stroke, he lost memory, and the ability to talk, and accomplish everyday feats.

The story is both tragic and full of hope. It provides a feeling of gratitude, for our own health, and safety of our friends and family.

While we were at the restaurant we noticed that all the staff was wearing “Team Ryan” wristbands, and we inquired whether they were for sale.  When the answer was yes, we immediately bought them. After all, the money went to a great cause. 

I bought ten extra wristbands, and want to share them with those who are truly interested in helping Ryan, and his family.

First ten people to comment on this, share it with friends or family, and visit his website, will receive a “Team Ryan” wristband.

Mom's Voice Column Explores the Stones of Hope

"OUT OF A MOUNTAIN OF DESPAIR, A STONE OF HOPE"
Read all about it in my column this week.  (By the way there is an edit error towards the end - Obviously I know not to refer to something's proximity as "near at")

I would like to say a very big Thank You to the kids' teachers last  week: A World War II Veteran, a Park Ranger, an actor, Martin Luther King, and a stranger. 

Wyatt meets a real live hero. He told us about being a Pilot and taking off from and landing on an aircraft carrier in the ocean. BRAVE!

The Park Ranger at Gettysburg who taught us all about how all the dead bodies were buried, what went into the making of the first National Cemetery, and all kinds of things about the Gettysburg Address.  

 

 

The actor at the Smithsonian where we participated in a role playing - reenactment of the events that took place at the Lunch Counter Sit-in at the Woolworth's in Greensboro North Carolina in 1961. 

 

 

 

 A real section of the lunch counter.

Martin Luther King - and the people we met at the memorial who shared stories of living in segregated Alabama. Full disclosure, I did not take this photo, we were there at night and it was too dark. This is from Google images. But the one below is us... Gives you an idea how big it is! 

 

 

Go Navy!

Only 45 minutes from Washington D.C. is the quaint and very colonial town of Annapolis, Maryland.  Narrow tree lined streets, brick sidewalks, restaurants serving crab, cute old houses, with black shutters framing paned windows, all give that Eastern Seaboard feel.

But the crown jewel of Annapolis is of course the Naval Academy.  Just being there is an emotionally charged experience. The men and women here are held to a standard well above any most of us have ever or will ever experience. They have surpassed their perceived physical, emotional and mental limits and are growing stronger in all areas everyday. Our safety as a nation depends upon it.

Here is a plaque positioned just inside the pedestrian gate: 


It says: 
The mission of the Naval Academy is to develop midshipmen morally, mentally, and physically; and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor, and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship, and government.

Before we left on our trip,  a fellow lacrosse parent in CA was able to arrange for Payton to be able to see the Navy Lacrosse team practice.  We came on to the campus ("Yard" as they call it) just as the midshipmen (students) were finished with classes and ready to start their afternoon of athletics. Looking for Dewey field that the lax team practices on, we past the football team running to their field, and the sailors readying their boats. The track was filling up with athletes too, some holding poles or discus.




If there was ever a time I needed everyone to pretend that I had 'raised them right', it was now. Payton helped me drill them. It was important that if anyone asked them a question they not say "Yeah"  - say, "Yes Sir" or Yes, Ma'am" Also, for the love of God, please don't fight or draw anymore attention to ourselves than necessary.

On the Yard with a view of the harbor.

We found the lacrosse field and stayed for the entire 2 hour practice. On the sidelines, there were a few injured players and a few of the team managers. They were very informative and answered all of our questions about the team, and life as midshipmen.


The lacrosse team is of course top notch. Their speed and stick handling skills were great to watch, not to be outdone by the constant focus and hustling  that did not wane for a second for the entire two hours. The practice was not to be outdone further by the view to the left: the bay, sail boats, and wooded hills dotted with gorgeous houses on the other side. To the right, stone buildings on the Yard some, that date back to pre Civil War.  And from somewhere in the distance the crack, crack, cracking of the rifle team's practice. We thought is was thunder until someone explained...

After the practice we met Coach Ryan Wellner and Goalie Coach Mickey Jarboe. Both were gracious and made Payton feel welcome.  If you look closely, you will see true pride and happiness on Payton's face that he is sandwiched between two (for lack of a better term )complete studs.

The following day, we returned to  the Naval Academy.  We went to the visitor's center and walked around the Yard, and ate lunch in the one place visitors can eat. We missed seeing the lunch formation because they moved it inside due to the drizzle. We saw the midshipmen (that is the term used for both men and women I found out there is no such word as midshipwomen) in their daily uniforms rather than their sports uniforms.  I embarrassed my kids more than once asking to take a pictures with the sharply dressed future naval officers. 

Just to give you an idea of how their college experience may have differed from yours or mine,  I copied and pasted below from  Naval Academy Website:
And by the way a "plebe" pronounced pleeb - is a freshman. They come to the Naval Academy to start school the summer just after high school graduation and it is something like hardcore boot camp.

A typical weekday schedule looks something like this:

5:30 a.m.

Arise for personal fitness workout (optional)

6:30 a.m.

Reveille (all hands out of bed)

6:30 - 7:00 a.m.

Special instruction period for plebes

7:00 a.m.

Morning meal formation

7:15 a.m.

Morning meal

7:55 - 11:45 a.m.

Four class periods, 50 minutes each

12:05 p.m.

Noon meal formation

12:10 p.m.

Noon meal

12:50 - 1:20 p.m.

Company training time

1:30 - 3:30 p.m.

Fifth and sixth class periods

3:45 - 6:00 p.m.

Varsity and intramural athletics, extracurricular and personal activities; drill and parades twice weekly in the fall and spring

6:30 - 7:15 p.m.

Evening Meal

8:00 - 11:00 p.m.

Study period

Midnight

Taps for all midshipmen

"When you add to this schedule the time required for military duties, inspection preparation and extra academic instruction, you can see the demands on your time are considerable."

 

 

So happy that the kids and I were exposed to this level of work ethic, patriotism, integrity, and intelligence.  I saw proud and confident men and women, but a lot of smiles and laughter too. In the photo above, Sally is drinking lemonade. Two midshipmen had set up a little lemonade stand table... turns out  they had lost a bet having to do with the Navy football game. - the losers would have to have a lemonade stand in the Yard. 

It was all in good fun, as obviously, at the Naval Academy there are no losers. 

Go Navy! 

Mom's Voice Column

Read a little more about Ohio in my column here

Autumn in Ohio

 A delicious homemade dinner at Aunt Myra and Uncle Bernie's

Wyatt and his cousin Zach

Cousins Sally, Janey and Sydney making up a dance performances

Cousin Dave checks changes our oil before we head out of town

The fun never ends in the basement - Aunt Michelle directs a play starting the cousins

ITINERARY UPDATE:  From Ohio we went to Gettysburg, PA which was phenomenal.  We are in Washington D.C. right now with Edie and Nick Crabtree and having a great time. Edie and I are off to go pick up the Ethiopian food we ordered (after feeding the kids pasta we made in our hotel kitchenette) 

 

Visiting Family and the Pennsylvania Turnpike

Here’s a song most of you probably didn’t hear your parents sing to you while growing up, but it was one of the first songs I learned…

“It’s round on the ends and “hi” in the middle, tell me if you know….

Now isn’t that a cute little riddle – round on the ends and “hi” in the middle

You can find it on the map if you look high and low.
The O's are round, it's high in the middle.

O-H-I-O

We spent 4 nights with our Aunt Myra and Uncle Bernie, Cousins Michelle, David, Darla, Hallie, Abby, Charlotte, Zach and Sydney.  It took very little for the kids to have the time of their lives.

So thankful for every second we were together.  Also, the kids saw where their grandparents (my mom and dad) lived, and went to high school.

More about our time in Columbus coming this Friday in my Mom's Voice column. 

From Ohio it was a 6 hour drive directly east to Gettysburg, PA. We broke it up into 2 days.

Today’s drive took us through some of the most beautiful countryside I had ever seen. Especially since in some places the leaves are all starting to burst with golds, reds, and yellows.  A section of the Appalachians rises up through here and below the mountains are grassy hillsides dotted with dairy farms, grassy hills, red barns, and neat rows of crops growing. 

So picturesque, which makes it all the more impossible to comprehend that on 9/11, this serene stretch of countryside  was the scene of horrific crash and heroic acts of the passengers of  flight 93. There is a new memorial which was 15 minutes off the Pennsylvania Turnpike from where we were, but I decided to not stop in the rain and take the kids to the actual field.  But we paid our respects to the heroes by acknowledging we were passing though a battlefield of sorts as we were coincidentally heading to another.

It is not something you can read about or see through the lens of a news camera.  Driving through this area gives one context to the reality that we were in fact attacked on our soil. Unbelievable - it was hard to get it out of my mind.

Instead of feeling down, I decided to feel gratitude for our freedoms.

Like the fact I am able to drive a car for starters! We also celebrated our freedom by eating Hershey bars and listening to 4 more chapters of Huckleberry Finn on CD. 

And we exercised our right to free speech by arguing and expressing our frustrations towards one another after being cramped in the car for 2 days - despite beautiful scenery and Hershey bars. 

 While this photo doesn't show the awesome fall colors we are beginning to see here and there, it is a great example of the little towns typical of the ones we passed through on Highway 30 known as Lincoln's Highway, on the way to Gettysburg.

Wyatt Feels Inspired to Blog

Wyatt seems to have caught the blog bug and the other day asked if he could post. Below is exactly what he wrote by himself.  I changed nothing and made no corrections. I did add photos at the bottom. It took him a very long time and he said he wasn't done yet, so there may be more to come. This was his take on the Children's Museum in Indianapolis: 

The day that we where suppost to go to the meseum we drove by and saw three things

 #1 Three dinosaurs with wich hats

#2 A dinosaur that looks like it is braking in

#3 A big sign that said CLOSED ON MONDAY.

So the next day we came back and we loved it plus all hands on!

It had something called fireworks of glass! It was a huge thing of blone  glass!

It even had the real bummbull bee the auto bot it said he was the smallest auto bot . I now you think it souneds amazing cause it is.

 Exterior of the Children's Museum

 

We all agreed with Wyatt. The museum was all its cracked up to be. 

And he was right. We pulled up after a 3 hour drive from Illinois and everyone was all excited seeing dinosaurs busting in and out of the museum walls. Excited also just to get out of the car I suppose. And lo and behold: The big sign said "CLOSED ON MONDAYS" well...there was a one in seven chance that we would be there on a Monday. Luckily, we stayed 2 nights in Indianapolis so we came back on Tuesday. 

One thing that stood out for me (besides the ridiculous incident when Payton drank out of another family's water bottle) was seeing the kids all play and maybe even learn together, like the one room school house idea. For us, I guess that would be the one minivan school house. 

There was an exhibit about recovering stuff from what they believe is Captain Kidd's ship in the Caribbean.  The real video and photos as well as real artifacts were interesting, but being able to "scuba dive" and do research on the sunken cannons just like the real divers was even more fun. Sally and Wyatt worked together "underwater" measuring and taking notes.

 Janey and Sally with the cells they built in the science lab with a scientist

Wyatt and Payton work together learning about locks

ITINERARY UPDATE: We are in Columbus, Ohio right now spending time with family. More on that to come. We did the midnight at Waffle House run last night, so Payton can check that off his wish list.