Happy 1st Birthday, Zane!!!

SSS (Seriously Super Saturday)

We went on more adventures on our last day of our getaway. We headed south of Pittsburgh. Our first stop along the scenic route we took was Fallingwater. It was one of those things that we decided to do since we were there. Not anything for really young children to get excited about but it is was neat to see the vacation home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, for the Kauffmans of Kauffman's Department Stores, nestled in the middle of nowhere. The design of the house in and around nature is pretty impressive.

Then we headed to Ohiopyle, PA. We were thankful to sit down for lunch at a local cafe before visiting the falls.

This place is touristy, which for us took a little bit of the excitement away. :) It limits our exploration a tad.

Zane! Watch out for the falls!

Vanessa, I'm not sure that's a safe way to ride in a kayak. But you are cute!

After playing at a local park, we headed to Laurel Caverns. The guided tour lasts 55 minutes. It was Zane's first time doing caverns. Vanessa went to the Olentangy Indian Caverns with Mommy while Daddy was in Canada this last summer, so she knew what she was doing and she was excited to go.

As soon as we arrived to the caverns, we were able to jump in on a group tour getting ready to leave. We went down a loooooonnnggg way.

Vanessa enjoyed finding her shadow with the funny play in lighting.

Vanessa got to help with the optical illusion at Gravity Hill.

Zane really liked feeling the rough rock and gritty dirt. And of course he had to taste the dirt too.

And Vanessa REALLY liked the music activated light show that started after we stayed in complete darkness for a few minutes. The tour guide thought for sure Vanessa would have a hard time with this part of the tour. She and Zane were impressive. Vanessa went on and on about how much she really liked the music show. Zane enjoyed it too.

More cool pictures of the cavern:

After a few physically challenging days, we headed off into the sunset toward home. Perfect way to end our time away . . .

FFF (Fabulously Fun Friday)

On Friday of our vaca, we went to McConnell's Mill State Park. It was obvious to us that PA does not highlight its parks in the same way as Ohio. These places aren't major tourist attractions, although they should be. We only did about 30% of the fun available at this particular park.

A borrowed backpack (Thank you, Andy and Jenni!) made our hikes perfect for Zane.  Vanessa found tons of acorns that we bagged to bring home to grow a tree or two. We can maybe take an order or two. ;-)

We took time to skip rocks before leaving the mill area.

Afterward we headed off to Hell's Hollow Falls. Hell's Hollow had two trails to the falls: 1) A longer and more rugged trail that goes about 4.5 miles to the falls. Or 2) a shorter trail -- about 1 mile --  that passes a number of features related to.the limestone and old iron industry. 

We started the hike by picking up walnuts off of the ground. We stopped for random pictures.

Vanessa loves to locate letters, especially her own. "Look a V! That's my letter!"

From the website: "Hell Run flows in a narrow flume in the limestone that was originally a cave. With time, the roof collapsed and exposed the hidden channel."

Right by the falls there is a  limestone kiln -- a brick-lined vertical shaft cut into the rock. It burned limestone, probably from the quarry, to produce lime.

You probably already caught this fun pic. This is the locale!

We had the area all to ourselves. Time to pull out the toes!

And check out this EXTRA fun picture!

Because this hike topped our expectations by far, we were ready to head back to the hotel by afternoon, without finishing the park. Instead we topped off the afternoon by visiting this really fun toy store: Playthings Etc. I've since wondered why we left Butler, PA without buying Christmas gifts!

Short of Room Service

As partly expected  --  the hotel would be a highlight for Vanessa. Turned out it was really fun for Zane too. On our way there Vanessa tried to comprehend our definition of a hotel. When we got there, Vanessa strolled down the hallway eagerly pulling her suitcase along.

Zane was all over the room. He especially liked the plugs under the desk, and not because they were the coolest thing in the room, but because he thought it was a really fun game to play. :) He emptied a box of tissues over the course of two days. I figured it wasn't a battle worth fighting and I'm certain our room charges cover it. :) We all enjoyed the pool and whirlpool. It worked out great to carry Zane in the pool with the BabyBjorn. We stayed in for what seemed like forever.

A planned sleepover made quite the impression.

And Honeycrisp in bed?! You bet! (Nice shot, Vanessa!)

Although yucky, Zane began working his new trend while at the hotel -- "giving up" and throwing his body down on the floor. I rested on the hotel not being very old. :)

Even short of room service, we had a wonderful stay. 

Weekend Excursions

We took a short but much-needed vaca this last weekend. Our first adventure was the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. We boarded Akron Northside Station for a round trip. Vanessa and Zane waited patiently for the train to arrive.

Of course kids really do have control over how a trip like this will go. Other than Zane not wanting to nap, the kids were awesome. The morning round trip had lots of passengers. There weren't as many for the afternoon round trip. We ended up with a train car all to ourselves, which ended up perfect for the kids to roam and be as loud as they wanted. (They didn't milk it for nearly what it was worth, but it was assuring to know we wouldn't have to fret if they chose otherwise.)

There were neat things to see along the way. And we ate from the meal car.

We got to carry and listen to an audio tour.

(Mommy had to let go of a little of her OCD regarding germs on public seating. :)

I'm not sure we've ever witnessed Vanessa napping so hard in public. She was out of it!

It was an awesome way to spend an afternoon of disconnecting, napping and just plain chillin'.