Busy, busy, busy...On Vacation!

Rachael, Evan & Tyler on the porch of The Casselman Inn

Well, sorry to all my loyal blog fans for not posting regularly lately.

I had a week off from work last week. You would have thought...perfect time to post, right?! Um...not so much...Busy with the boys, who both got sick (my luck) during my week off. Tyler with an earache (due to teething) and Evan with a summer cough/cold. I do have to say, though, that I enjoyed playing my Mommy role and taking care of them!

We did take a family trip to the Deep Creek Lake, MD area the weekend before last. We stayed at a wonderful little hotel/motel called The Casselman Inn in Grantsville, MD.While there, John bought me a gorgeous turquoise sterling silver ring as an early anniversary gift from Sacred Ground, a jewelry shop that sells authentic Native American turquoise jewelry. Going to that jewelry shop piqued my interest in how turquoise is valued. So, of course, I did some research online to look up information on turquoise mining. I found a couple of really good resources. One is http://www.skystonetrading.com/. Another good resource is http://jewelry.about.com/cs/turquoise/a/orvil_jack.htm. Apparently, the value of turquoise goes up if a mine has closed or if the turquoise is hard to find. The turquoise on my ring came from the Blue Ridge Turquoise Mine in Lander County, Nevada.

John, Evan & Tyler in front of the Casselman Bridge.

Our anniversary is September 18th. We'll be celebrating 6 years married! Technically, we've been together 8 years. We met November 2002 at Matrix dance club in Station Square. He actually asked me to dance. And, well...the rest is history! A house (with a mortgage) and two babies later...Here we are!

This past weekend we took at day trip to Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, OH where we visited Lanterman's Mill. What an absolutely gorgeous view! It's one of the largest "urban parks" in the country. I love how it weaves in and out of residential areas.

The Casselman Inn

At the Lily Pond in Mill Creek Park, we saw turtles sunning themselves on logs in the middle of the pond next to ducks. And, we met THE FRIENDLIEST squirrel alive! I'll post pictures later...You won't believe how freakin' cute this squirrel was. It came right up to us! Apparently, someone is feeding this squirrel. LOL ;)

Tyler playing in the sand at the lake in New Germany State Park (Maryland).

Evan is "King of the World"!! Tyler could care less...hahaha

Chillin' with my homie, Tyler! :)

Me @ The Stanton Mill near the Spruce Forest Artisan Village

Kayaks @ Deep Creek Lake (Maryland)

Friendliest Squirrel Award goes to...

I've never seen this many turtles in "the wild" in my life!

Lanterman's Mill, Youngstown, OH

Another view of Lanterman's Mill

Flowers in a tree stump...pretty!