Dollywood!

We left Cincinnati and headed further south. On the drive from Detroit, I had the impression that it was basically downhill all the way to Cincinnati. I had the opposite impression on the road into Tennessee. It seemed like Kentucky rolled uphill all they way into the Appalachians.

We got there. The kids swam happily in the pool, just as they had at the past two hotels. Things got even better when grandma and grandpa arrived with the girls' cousin. After the pool, there were snacks and movies and playing and fun and bed.

Because in the morning, there was Dollywood.

There's a lot to tell, but for now these highlight photos will have to do.

Over the River

Monday evening, we left our hotel and crossed the river. Lots of other people were crossing too. There was a Reds game.

On the other side of the river the bridge ends right at the stadium, so it works out for the fans really well.

We had only a few more blocks to go to get to our destination: The Contemporary Arts Center.

This Zaha Hadid structure is home to the UnMuseum, a hands on environment where all the artworks can be handled, interacted with, explored. Monday nights, it's free.

This elephant was made for the blind. The bottom picture on the right shows Stella's reaction to a drawer that roared when she opened it. Below, Danielle running through the exhibit, which thankfully was 100% allowed.

After the museum we went to this lovely garden a few blocks away.

Danielle fell in just after I took this picture. So we walked home with wet, quishy shoes.

The game was still on as we crossed back to our hotel on the other side of the river.

Why Cincinnati?

Why did I go to Cincinnati? I don't have family there. I'd never been there before. I didn't know much about the city. In fact, the only thing I knew about Cincinnati was that their baseball team is called "the reds".

But I'm not much for baseball.

I went to Cincinnati because it was a convenient stopping point on our road trip. I did a little research and found this place:

The Duke Energy Children's Museum.

I was impressed by the art-deco architecture. It was a train station back when Americans used trains, back when we (as a nation) made huge mosaics depicting our own progress and greatness. I'm not sure why I'm sure, but I AM sure we don't do this anymore.

But understandably, the kids were more interested in the exhibit. Here are some highlights:

At this station kids moved rubble (soft foam "rocks") with shovels and bags hung from pulleys and other workers' tools.

Then they pretended to be vets.

That was fun for a long time.

And then, we played at the water tables.

It was a good thing there were water proof jackets to keep the kids dry.

When we were there, they had a special activity; Independence Day hat-decorating.

Turned out well, I think.


If you want to visit the museum in Cincinnati, you can visit their web site for more information.

Leaving Detroit

It started to rain before we left Detroit, but the storm wasn't in our path so we headed for the road mid-afternoon.

We hit traffic. It didn't last.

I like the look of the farms along the way. That's good, since that's mostly all you see when you travel from state to state.

We drove all the way to Cincinnati.

We went right through downtown, and then over the river into Kentucky. Our hotel was directly off the bridge, on the river between the two states. Perfect location to see the city on foot.

Best DIY Ever

The morning after the weddings, we were so happy that Matthew's Aunt invited us to breakfast. I'm always amazed by hospitality like that. Even when I try really hard, I can't quite see myself getting up early to make pancakes for family and friends the morning after my daughter's wedding--but that's exactly what Aunt Beth did.

Chocolate Chip banana pancakes. They were delicious.

And she had a craft project for the girls to do. Here they are painting, painting away.

They were working on ceramic figurines with a magnet on the back--a really strong magnet.

In the background, you can see a home-made scateboard thing. I don't know its real name. But my husband's uncle and cousin built it. They BUILT it. And the cousin, Austin, is completely at ease out there. He's very good at turns and other stuff that, again, I don't know the name for.

Austin is a great kid. He was unfailingly patient with my girls pretending his ramp was a slide.

So, what with Austin's forbearance and Aunt Beth's thoughfulness, we passed a lovely morning at their home, talking and playing before we left town.

Detroit Steam

The other night as we were leaving the DIA, we noticed a lot of steam rising from this manhole cover and many others like it. I took a picture, and in so doing discovered that my camera made the steam disappear.

The steam was really hot--hot enough to burn your skin. I was curious about it, and curiosity eventually lead me to this: A map of Detroit's underground steam-pipes that provide heating and cooling services.


I found the map here. So now, if you're ever in Detroit and you see steam coming up from the ground, now you know why.

Natalia and Paul

It isn't often that we're invited to weddings, and it also isn't often that we're able to attend. Furthermore, it isn't often that two people as wonderful as Natalia and Paul find each other and decide to spend their lives together.

The ceremony was held in a Syrian Orthodox Church in the Detroit suburbs. Orthodox ceremonies have a lot going on; incense, bells, candles, singing, chanting, and sections where the audience lets out something like a battle cry that is sure to startle you if you don't know to expect it. The ceremony was pretty much half English, half Arabic. Most of it was sung, though there were some readings from the Bible.

It was a very orthodox ceremony, followed by a reception that was far more relaxed and far less solemn--as any reception should be, I suppose. I met a few people there that I knew from the old Beirut days--Matthew's former colleagues who have moved on to other locations. The Bride and Groom made their way from table to table throughout the evening to greet the guests. I chatted with them briefly and their happiness was absolutely contagious.

It was a beautiful wedding.

Missing Emily's Wedding

First, let me share the good news. See? The reception was beautiful, well thought out and executed. As a guest, I must say I felt very well taken care of.

And even better, Emily and James are a fantastic couple. They're off toward a wonderful future together, and I'm so glad they invited us to be here for their wedding.

As good news goes, that ranks pretty high. But there's bad news, and I really have no one to blame for it but myself. The ceremony was to start at 11, and I arrived at nearly 11:40. Yes. 10 minutes after the ceremony ended. ENDED. I missed all of it. They were well into the family photoshoot by the time we arrived.

How did such a thing happen? Do you really want to know?

Glossing over too many details, let's just say that I ended up strapped for time, behind the wheel, with a GPS unit I thought I could trust. The girls and I made it to the car by 10:45, at which point the GPS informed me that it would take 18 minutes to arrive at my destination. This made no sense. I'd looked at a map. I thought the wedding was nearby. It looked close on the map, but maybe I read it wrong. Maybe a road was closed and I had to take a huge detour. Maybe a thousand things that made it plausible that the drive would involve highways. I was immediately completely overwhelmed. I thought about going inside to check google again. Instead, I re-entered the address (straight from the invitation!). I thought about calling someone, but figured everyone would have their phones off. And then I decided to just trust the GPS, follow the directions, and hurry. If I hurried, I'd only be three minutes late.

18 minutes later, after jumping a median, running a stop sign and a red light accidentally because I was looking at the GPS, I arrived at a mini-golf place. MINI GOLF.

Admittedly, I don't know Emily and James really well. Maybe putt-putt says wedding to some people, but I was pretty sure it wasn't what they had in mind for the most important day of their lives. I was supposed to be at a real golf place, a country club, and that place was supposed to have a wedding at it.

Another 18 minutes later, I was back at my hotel, back on google, and then back on the road to do the 5 minute drive to the actual real golf place for the actual wedding. Ceremony was over, and everyone asked where I had been. Everyone noticed. Everyone had worried.

But, guess what?  After the pictures,  I sat down and enjoyed a lovely wedding reception filled with people I love and good food and dancing and fun.  If only horrible tales of getting-lost-in-Detroit stress could always end on such a positive, happy, delicious, love-filled note.

At DIA

The Detroit Institute of Art stays open late on Fridays and brings in live music. I love museums, and I love it when museums stay open late. My girls wanted dinner, and since you can almost always count on major museums to have food too, we went.

Stella had polished off her hot dog before I could even get the camera out. They liked their desserts and discovered that they were best shared. That's why Danielle moved to Stella's side.

Then we made our way through the exhibits.

One really cool thing about DIA is that they have these eye-spy games in almost every room. Each one has a hint about a certain object in the room. The answer is under the flap.

It gives kids something to look for and learn about. As a parent, it's appreciated.

Our visit to the museum ended with a far too much time spent in the gift shop. It shouldn't surprise anyone to read that I really love museum shops. We walked out with a glitter-filled bouncy ball for each girl.

Here's Danielle with hers, just as we were on our way to the hotel for the night.

Toward Detroit

I absolutely scrambled Thursday evening to pull it off (with a lot of help from my parents), but when I went to bed that night our car was ready for the first leg of our road trip: St. Louis to Detroit. We left first thing Friday morning.

The drive took 9 hours. We stopped three times, and the total time we spent NOT driving was about 30 minutes. The kids were great. Like I said, they're excellent travel buddies.

Along the way we saw a lot of farmland. The road to Detroit took us diagonally across Illinois, through the northwest corner of Indiana, and then nearly laterally across most of the state of Michigan.

We were still in Illinois when I took this picture. Apart from the windmills, most of Illinois looks just like this. The windmills are unusual, and I wonder if there will be more views like this one in the future. I'm still not clear on what our future energy production will look like.

Here's another notable sight from the drive: actual construction workers! Along the way I lost count of the number of times a lane or two was closed for roadwork, but only once or twice was there anyone actually doing anything. We didn't have any significant construction-related delays, thank goodness.

The GPS did a great job. It got us to our hotel and I had almost no trouble with it during all the highway transitions. Meanwhile, the portable DVD player kept the kids happy (or the road-trip equivalent of happy) for the entire trip.

This was waiting for us at the hotel. 

It was so thoughtful--a gift basket from the Bride's family with treats made by Matthew's Aunt Beth, toys & games for the girls, chocolates, and a cute little "wedding day necessities" kit--Kleenex, a travel size stain-stick, and breath mints, and more things I'm sure I've forgotten to list.

Chalk

When we left St. Louis last fall, about 2 dozen big tubs full of our stuff stayed behind in my parents' basement (and a whole lot of other things too--my parents are VERY accommodating and I really appreciate it). It took a while to reacquaint myself with all of it. I couldn't believe there was so much! Eventually, I was able to find the one tub that had all our summer fun stuff in it--those folding camp chairs, insulated cooler things, citronella candles, diving toys, fun noodles, etc. In it, there was also a big bag of sidewalk chalk.

Stella, having fun with chalk.

Danielle wanted to swing.

This is Danielle, impatient for me to put the camera down and give her a push.

Candles & Gnomes

We were so glad to be in town to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We went out for dinner, but Mom didn't want to do cake and ice cream in a restaurant. I can't blame here--I'm not much for the spectacle of it. And she didn't want cake--the candles are stuck in a brownie that she made with Stella and Danielle. Here they are, just before Mom blew out the candles.

And guess what popped out of one of the presents in the pile?

The Gnome on the left is the new one--a present from my brother. The one on the right has been in our house forever. I was actually afraid of it when I was a kid. Dad brought it back from Europe, but I don't really know exactly when that was.  Long ago enough that Mr. Blue Pants is an antique. 

I like the comparison.

When Mom has decided where to put him, I'll make another post.

The Awakening

One of the first things my parents told me about as we drove home from the airport was The Awakening--a huge sculpture in Chesterfield. Last year an outdoor sculpture exhibit went up just as I was moving to Beirut. I was scrambling to get everything done and never had a chance to see all the sculptures. The Awakening remains though, and it's in a perfect place for kids--between a park and a library. I guess the city bought it . . . ?

Anyway, The Awakening is five pieces--a hand, an arm, a face, a foot and a knee, emerging from the ground. It's as though a buried man is struggling to stand. The kids scampered all over it, which is allowed thankfully,


See what I mean?

Here's Stella climbing the knee. Danielle didn't feel like it.

Normally I don't have any pictures of myself to post, but my mom took this picture, so I have one and I'm very happy about that. Thanks mom!

This sculpture is also in a Washington DC park by the Potomac, I think. It's been years since I was there, so I can't remember. Probably it's in other places too, though I don't know for sure.

Up in the Air

For us, a vacation usually begins with the Beirut airport. And then another airport. And then one more airport where we catch the plane that will take us to St. Louis.

Here we are waiting in line in London, heading to Chicago.

Some people hate traveling with kids--but I'd guess what they hate is traveling with other people's kids. My kids are fantastic at flying. They know about the lines and the waiting and the beverage cart and which things on their food tray they want and they know about the on-board pillows and blankets and movies etc. They know about security and baggage claim and passport control and customs. They're pros.

Danielle was delighted to have a window seat departing from Chicago. Stella traded seats with her before we landed.

I've counted up the intercontinental flights I've done so far, and the numbers show that I haven't flown with anyone more than I've flown with them. Our jobs are pretty clear cut--I manage the paperwork and the entertainment. I make sure they're happy, and if they're ok, so am I. We take care of each other. When I think about doing the 20+ hours without them, I just feel bored by it. And at this point, (please nobody take this the wrong way) they're my favorite people to travel with. Considering that they'll be my default travel buddies for a lot of years to come, favorite status is a very good thing.