Just To Recap

As the sun set on 2014 we headed to our traditional spot- Hocking Hills- to unplug, unwind, and spend a little quality time doing some of our favorite things- basking by the fire, crafting, hot tubbing, discovering the wonders of nature, and eating like kings (no pics of that as I was busy at the time, eating like a king).

As the sun rose on 2015 a hike to Ash Cave seemed the perfect way to spend the first day of a new year and balance out some of that eating like kings we did.

Seamus seemed to enjoy the trip out to the country.  He got to spend plenty of time doing his favorite thing- 

herding children.

Blogger Catch Up- Family Vacation- Deep Creek, Maryland

For Family Vacation this year, we all gathered at Deep Creek, a beautiful lake in the mountains of Maryland.  Just steps from our front door, 

we fished

and canoed.

We spent one rainy afternoon at the local nature center.

And one beautiful afternoon hiking at nearby 

Swallow Falls State Park

As a special treat, Rick and I went to a wine and cheese pairing at the darling Firefly Farms with my parents. Amazing!

And we brought home a chainsaw art souvenir. 

We call him Arthur.

Blogger Catch Up- Gone Fishin'

Back in the spring we joined the Cub Scout Pack out at Camp Falling Rock for a little spring fishing. It was a beautiful warm, sunny day- just right for fishing. 

Rick got the poles all set up and luckily the very considerate fish in the Boy Scout Camp pond liked hotdogs better than worms.  We fished and fished and fished...

And took some snack breaks

Will broke the ice by catching a lovely catfish 

(who knew those fish made a mad growling noise?!

who knew fish made noise?!)

Soren and I hiked around the camp a bit to take in the other natural sights

Will could not be persuaded to leave the pond and he and Rick caught fish after fish late into the evening.

We're calling that a fishing success. To this day, that is Will's lucky fishing shirt.

New Year at The Little Cabin in the Woods

As the sun was setting on 2013, we headed to Hocking Hills to ring in the New Year by enjoying the peace and tranquility of the National Forest… and the hot tub.

We took advantage of the lovely New Year's Day weather to spend the first day of 2014 hiking through the parks in the area.  We hit them all- Ash Cave, Old Man's Cave, Cedar Falls.  

I have to hand it to Seamus, for a dog with short legs, he can hike with the best of them.  But he was sooooooo tired when we got back to the cabin.

The next day we awoke to a winter wonderland and got to spend a little time sledding before heading back to the big city.  It wasn't great sledding, but it was sledding and we loved it!

  

Holiday Mix Up

Grandma and Grandpa arrived for Christmas with prefab gingerbread house components and a big bag of candy.  We got our holiday going with a quasi-Amish style barn raising (in the form of a gingerbread house) and seemingly all day flurry of eating candy and sticking some on the gingerbread house and eating more candy. What fun!

Thanks once again to the Hagerstown Police Department, Uncle Ed was able to come to Columbus for Christmas but had to leave early Christmas morning to get back for work.  So we called in a favor from Santa who delightfully agreed to bring presents Christmas Eve morning (truthfully he was probably happy to have one fewer house to visit that night).  

I have to admit this arrangement worked out pretty well.  The Smiley Family Wrapping Paper Ripping Extravaganza lasted most of Christmas Eve day.  We went to the Christmas Eve Children's Mass at St. Mary's (where we had a reserved front row pew thanks to a couple of glasses of wine and my awesome bidding skills at the school fundraising silent auction last winter).  We came home and had a lovely Christmas Dinner.

Our Christmas Day started out with birthday pie (we were too stuffed after Christmas dinner to eat dessert) and birthday presents. 

 Will got an antique adding machine from Grandma and Grandpa that was really cool and gave him the chance to quiz everyone on their math skills for the rest of the day.

Then we waved goodbye to Uncle Ed and spent a tranquil day playing with our new toys and celebrating the fact that 

WILL IS 8!

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Boy!

 

Mmmmmm Men Fry Turkey

My brother, Ed, is a police officer in Maryland and he had to work on Thanksgiving Day.  

So, while other people were tazing each other in the aisles of WalMart on Black Friday, we were having our Thanksgiving.  Ed had his heart set on frying a turkey so the men of the family pretty much handled the main course of our Thanksgiving feast.  

They seemed to enjoy bonding over beers and boiling oil in the backyard.

I'm going to call fried turkey a success.  It smelled like potato chips and tasted (to quote Soren) 
Too Licious!

Almost Heaven

We spent a week in West Virginia with my family and packed in a lot of outdoorsy-type fun.

While Will played at the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa, Rick Soren Seamus and I hiked in the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area.

Home of one-sided spruce trees

And rattlesnakes.

We tried to learn how to skip rocks at the river by the cabin 

(Rick already knew how so he mostly showed off)

We spelunked at Smoke Hole Caverns

And Seneca Caverns

And saw the Tooth Fairy's front door.  On the wall of a cave.  In West Virginia.  Huh.

Will read ghost stories by the campfire

We adventured around Blackwater Falls State Park

We rafted down the river

It was a fun trip. 

My favorite part: sitting on the front porch of the cabin, watching a thunderstorm roll over the mountain while the kids caught lightening bugs in the yard. 

(sigh)

Strawberries!

Last year we missed the strawberries and for a year I've been craving homemade strawberry jam.  This year I watched like a hawk for strawberry picking season and on a lovely Monday afternoon we trooped out to Jacquemin Farms to get a little taste of farm life (and a little taste of fresh picked strawberries).

We found that picking strawberries was hot, hard work.  But the reward was the heavenly fresh strawberry smell that filled the car on the way home.  

Oh and the strawberry pie Rick made that evening.  

Oh and the jars of strawberry jam that now line our shelves!

Pinewood Derby

Whew! All caught up!  I guess it's a good thing that not much happens in February and I had plenty of time to catch up before the next bloggable event:

Pinewood Derby!

So it all started with two blocks of wood

Soren's was from a kit and was already more or less the shape of the BatMobile.  Rick did a little research and he and Will decided on a super streamlined design.  

Rick had to work the scroll saw, of course

Then the boys got busy sanding

Rick spray painted a really pretty base coat.  

I airbrushed the flames (really!).  Then Rick finished them off with a clear coat.  Shamrock stickers for luck was Will's idea since the race was on St. Patrick's Day.

The Big Day 

(Yes, that's me being a line judge- a huge responsibility and more stressful than you would think)

The boys loved it and were thrilled to race their cars and win medals

Hooray Team Smiley!