Ah, vacation.  Gotta love getting out of the house for a week!  We just got home yesterday from a week at Conneaut Lake with the Ginsburgs.  We had such a nice, relaxing, and fun time with them and are so happy they asked us to go!  It was a perfect place to go for Cara's first vacation...only an hour and a half away and a nice shady spot on the lake to lay out and play. 

We arrived on Saturday afternoon to our cottage (named G&R Station).  I thought the name of the house was cute since a lot of people call my hubbie GR!  However, the cottage was quickly dubbed "Amy's House" by Henry...why he thought it was mine I don't know, but it was so cute the way he said it!  And then Conneaut became mine too when Henry said we were in "Amy's Conneaut!"  If only my bank account reflected that one!  :-)  Anyway, the weather was beautiful for the most part during the week, mostly in the 70's with a little bit of rain here and there which was no big deal.  We managed to go to the beach almost everyday and had a blast watching little Henry dig holes and smash the sand castles we built.  The beach there is so perfect for a family with young children...a big lawn area with trees (and shade), and a roped off portion of the lake so you can keep a close eye on your little ones as they venture into the water.  The trees helped us keep the babies out of the sun while allowing us to periodically get up and put our feet in the water.  And they loved it...just slept and played on the big blanket.

We did have a heck of a time trying to get Cara and Lauren on a similar schedule...it seemed that when Cara slept, Lauren was awake, when Cara wanted to eat or play, Lauren was sleeping.  It was challenging to find time to do things together because of this, but we managed pretty well (even if there were some upset babies sometimes!).  One day we drove out to Pymatuning Lake and saw all of the fish...there were so many of them, the ducks could practically walk on them!  We all got to throw in some bread to see the fish (and ducks) fight for their food.  It was very interesting and kind of disturbing at the same time.  These fish were huge!  Once I post pictures you will be able to see just how many there were.  It was an unreal sight.

We also ventured to Conneaut Lake Park one day even though it was closed for the summer.  Because the park is intertwined with residences, we could easily get in and walk around.  It was sort of like "National Lampoon's Vacation" when the Grizwald's get to Wally World and find it closed for repairs!  We took some pretty funny pictures there and had a nice walk. 

Oh, I can't forget to mention the meat.  Greg and Howie went to the grocery store at the beginning of the week and hit the Meat Market.  They got an incredible deal of 2 Delmonico steaks, 6 chicken breasts, 6 pork chops, 10 country ribs, 2 lbs of kielbossa and 28 jumbo shrimp...all for $56!  They bought a couple of salmon fillets on top of that and we were eatin' good all week long.  We managed to eat all of it with the exception of a little bit of kielbossa.  That is on top of eating out 3 times, and making eggs with kielbossa for breakfast one morning!  It was a pretty good deal...and Greg was in heaven (my very carnivorous husband that he is).

So, now onto the injuries...let's just say only one of us came out of the week with no injuries.  Well, the kids were all fine, it was just us clumsy adults.  Sore backs from the beds, a punctured ankle on a bed frame, a bump on the head from an open cabinet door, and a broken toe.  Yep, a broken toe.  I managed to walk into a case of water and break my pinky toe on Wednesday.  It made for a painful rest of the week, but I started to get used to putting all of my weight on my big toe.  I have a nice purple/black/blue/yellow bruise that has spread through most of my foot.  I know I am clumsy, but I have never stubbed my toe so bad as this.  But at least it's just a toe!

Finally, on our way back home we all decided we would stop at the Grove City Outlets to shop a little for the kiddos.  Well, about 3 miles before the Grove City exit, my car started overheating and white smoke poured from the hood.  The check engine light went on, the battery light went on, and the power steering was no more.  We pulled the car off of I-79 and turned the ignition off.  Greg got out and a pool of coolant formed below the car.  He popped the hood and a belt had broken.  We called the Ginsburgs (who assumed we stopped to feed Cara), and then called AAA.  It was so hot, and I was a little concerned for Cara, but we opened the doors and she slept through the whole thing.  The tow truck came very quickly (maybe a half hour after we called), and we had one of the nicest drivers help us out.  His truck had no room for a car seat, so we actually sat in our car while he towed us to the outlets!  Talk about weird!  It was either that or hold Cara in the truck.  It made more sense to me to keep her strapped in our car.  It kind of felt like we were on a roller coaster, and it was really amusing as we drove through the outlet mall, people looking into our car being towed, seeing us along for the ride!  We had a good laugh out of it (always try to make the best out of a bad situation!).  Greg's parents came to meet us there, and his dad was actually able to get a belt on so we could drive home (just without the AC).  So tomorrow I need to make an appointment to get the rest of the car fixed (the check engine light is still on), and all should be good.  Gotta love an adventure!

So all in all our week was awesome.  We had such a good time with Heeter and Howie and the kids.  I thought of Evan every single day, and the big, billowy clouds in the sky told me he was with us.  It was nice to watch Henry play...he is 4 months older than Evan would be, and it made me think about Evan playing in the sand.  I wondered if he would like to be on the beach or play on the blanket with the babies.  And I wondered how he would react to his sister laughing.  (Oh yeah, forgot to mention that one...Cara started laughing last week!).  Conneaut Lake is not touristy at all, but I am not a touristy person.  And it was a wonderful vacation that we would do again in a heart beat.