Liam'sDad

Camping, Next Mountain To The West

2007-10-31T23:32:00.000-04:00

[check back later for pictures]

Oct 20-21, This weekend Liam wanted to camp but wanted to go someplace different. We drove farther west past the mountain we usually camp on top of and over the next one to a nice valley. We would have went to Shenandoah National Park but I knew they had a burn ban so we tried the National Forest, and Liam really likes having a campfire. We found a great campsite along what would have been a large stream if there wasn't a drought. Unfortunately there were bright orange and yellow signs informing us that the Forest Service also had a burn ban. Liam was disappointed but still enjoyed camping.

The next morning we went for a hike in the forest then drove back to the city. We had time to let Liam play on a tire-swing before I took him back to his mother.

Train Ride

2007-10-29T20:17:00.000-04:00

[check back later for pictures]

Oct 14 - When Liam saw the model trains last weekend he asked to ride a train, so today I took him to ride the Walkersville Railroad. Of course he brought Teeny with him. We enjoyed the ride. After that he wanted to see more model trains so we stopped at a museum in Brunswick Md. Once again he like watching the trains and following them.

Short Visit

2007-10-23T19:42:00.000-04:00

Oct 10 - Today Liam asked to see me so his mother let us spend a little time together. Liam enjoyed singing along with his music. He also does an attempt at dancing while sitting in his car seat which is cute to watch but I have to remind him not to get carried away so he doesn't hit his head on the window. We also read some books together.

Pumpkin Pick, Farm Tour

2007-10-13T15:33:00.000-04:00

[Check back later for my pictures... although some pictures are available here]

Oct 6-8, This weekend I picked Liam up in Catlett and took him to the annual Pumpkin Pick at Numbers Thirteen Farm. As always it was a great event with lots of activities. This year they had a Sheriff and police car. Liam found that fascinating and had the Sheriff handcuff himself, me, and even his pet dinosaur. He also got to ride horse, sit in the fire engine, go on a hay ride, pick a pumpkin, and pet a baby cow. The barn was decorated for Halloween and Liam loved it he called it 'spooky'.

After the Pumpkin Pick, we drove to the mountains to go camping. By the time we got to our campsite it was dark. Ordinarily putting up the tent in the dark isn't much of an issue, only this time it was a brand new tent that I'd never set up before. Liam seemed excited about the new tent. He gave a running commentary about my setup of the tent. Reminded me of a golf commentator. "Now he is unrolling the tent"... "he is putting in the tent pole"... he went on and on for 20 minutes... made me laugh. Liam liked our new "pirate ship". The new tent is big enough we have room for our chairs inside.

The next day we stopped at the Front Royal visitor center to look for something to do. Years ago they suggested Dinosaur Land. This time they also had a great suggestion - The Culpeper Farm Tour. We made it to three farms, including a Buffalo farm. Liam got to see the Buffalo, baby pigs, go on a hay ride, see hundreds of milk cows, one of which 'kissed' him, and pet a baby cow. Liam even got to ride on a giant tractor.

Part of the farm tour included a model train setup at the train station. Liam thought it was great and followed the train in circles. Once a real train ran by outside.

We went camping again and then on Columbus Day we stopped to throw rocks in Passage Creek then also throw rocks in the Shenandoah River. Then I asked Liam what he wanted to do, and after seeing 4 farms in two days, what did he ask for? To go see another farm, so we stopped at Kidwell farm one more time.

Lake Brittle

2007-09-30T21:31:00.000-04:00

[Check back later for picts]

Sept 30 - Today Liam and I went to Vint Hill Farms Park and had a picnic. Liam spent quite a while throwing rocks into a stream.

After that we went to Lake Brittle where the Dread Pirate Liam took to the sea. He insisted on taking his two swords. He said I was the captain and he was the crew, yet on the way back he took over being captain and ran the motor. We had a good afternoon together.

Great Falls NP & Kidwell Farm

2007-09-26T00:24:00.001-04:00

Sept 22 - Today Liam and I were able to spend a few hours together. Of course Liam wanted to see a farm, so we made yet another visit to Kidwell Farm. This time Liam did something new and tried tickling a cow. The cow didn't laugh but I did.

After that we went to Great Falls National Park and had a picnic and viewed the falls. Liam brought his dinosaur Teeny with us. For some reason Teeny insisted on jumping off the balcony of the visitor center. Liam wanted me to catch Teeny, but I refused to make sure Liam didn't try jumping with him. Liam wanted to drop Teeny into the falls, but I talked him out of it. Instead Liam helped Teeny do some rock climbing

2003 Photo's back online

2007-09-23T20:35:00.000-04:00

This summer Liam and I have repeated several of the activities we did years ago. When I finally get around to posting the new activities I wanted to link to the old photo's. I found the old photo's on my laptop but not on my website, so I uploaded them today.

I've uploaded 55 photo albums from 2003 here.

Camping & Two Farms

2007-09-23T14:30:00.000-04:00

Sept 15-16, This weekend I took Liam to the Temple Hill Farm Regional Park. Liam enjoyed seeing the farm animals. After saying hello to the sheep he said he was a farmer and grabbed a broom and started to sweep up the hay.

The farm had several birds loose and Liam always likes to chase birds. Usually he chases pigeons, but this time he got to chase turkeys, peacocks, and chickens. He had a great time until he fell and scraped his leg. He didn't get hurt much but his fall scared him so he wanted me to hold him for quite a while.

Liam also got to feed a bottle to a baby cow. He also enjoyed seeing the other animals.

We planned to camp in the national forest but didn't find the campground we were looking for. However we did see lots of animals, so Liam enjoyed the drive. We saw a fox, deer, and cows. Liam really liked having seeing the cows in the middle of the road. On our drive we passed a beautiful campground, Low Water Bridge Campground, right next to the Shenandoah River so we camped there. Liam really likes streams and rivers so I was surprised that he didn't chose a campsite right next to the river but instead chose one far away from the other campers. In the morning we did go down to the river and throw rocks. Liam also played with the Power Ranger that used to belong to his cousin Travis.

The next day we went to Great County Farms. Its been about 4 years since our last visit. They had added a large 'pumpkin' jumping pillow, slides, and other things that Liam enjoyed playing with. The barn were we saw pigs etc, is now a picnic area. And as always Liam enjoyed seeing the animals.

After the farm we stopped at a friends house and Liam rode a pedal car. On the asphalt he would laugh as he tried to run me over. On the grass he needed a little help from Hunter to push him.

Sunday Night Visit

2007-09-14T13:28:00.000-04:00

Sep 9th - Tonight when I called Liam, he asked to see me and managed to talk his mother into letting us spend an hour together. We didn't have much time but Liam enjoyed watching slide-shows of some of our activities. He had Teeny, the T-Rex, watch along with him. Liam would sing along with the music, and wanted the same song, '65 Mustang, over and over. He also watched part of a Power Rangers DVD, and when I dropped him off, he was imitating power rangers, hitting and kicking at invisible foes.

Labor Day Weekend

2007-09-08T23:57:00.000-04:00

Aug 31 - Sep 03

Liam and I went camping in the National Forest east of Woodstock. In the morning we went to the Shenandoah County Fair. We had been to this fair a few years ago and it was nice to go back. We planned to meet friends there so Liam could ride the rides with them. They didn't make it so Liam had me go on the rides with him.

Liam also enjoyed visiting the animals. He wore his earmuffs to protect him from the mooing cows. He saw some baby pigs and decided the smallest one was Wilbur.

Liam calls our tent a "pirate ship" so I bought a pirate flag for him to fly at the tent. That night at our campsite a group of people showed up who were supporting runners who were running thru the night. So much for our nice quite campsite... Liam seemed to enjoy having some 'neighbors'. In the morning Liam read books to me, which was cute but would have been cuter if I hadn't been still trying to sleep.

The nest day we went to Dinosaur Land (again). Liam enjoyed seeing the dinosaurs. He has a great time playing with the toys in the gift shop, but didn't ask me to buy him anything. He seemed particularly fond of a soft squishy (and sticky) dinosaur so I bought it for him. He was excited and proclaimed "I have a new pet!" He named it teeny as in a teeny T-Rex and took it everywhere with him.

We stopped by the visitor center at Shenandoah National Park. Liam spent a few minutes showing Teeny the exhibits then just played with Teeny on a bench. I tried to get him to go out and enjoy the view but all he did was play with Teeny on a bench outside. It was good to see he enjoyed his new 'pet' so much.

Next Liam and I went to Kidwell Farm. Liam liked seeing the animals and also went into a pen a pretended to be a pig.

The next day we went swimming with some friends at Franklin Park Pool. Again Liam brought Teeny with him and enjoyed swimming with him.

Prince William County Fair

2007-09-06T22:09:00.000-04:00

Aug 11 - Liam's mother was moving today so I offered to take Liam to the Prince William County Fair. Liam isn't fond of the noise so he wore his earmuffs for a while at first. He enjoyed seeing the farm animals. Liam is playing with his shadow in the first photo.

When Liam saw an Elephant he was excited and said it was his favorite animal. He ran right over and insisted he was going to ride it. It turned out they were giving rides (for a price) so Liam did get to go for a ride.

After riding the Elephant Liam got to go on the rides. When riding the cars I was pleased to see he picked Orange #20. On the vertical drop ride he got off and was upset. I thought he didn't like the drop but he was upset because he forgot to yell. He rode it again and screamed like he was terrified. I thought they might stop the ride before the drop. He got off and proudly proclaimed he remembered to yell that time.

His favorite ride was a spaceship ride. He rode that a couple times, then asked for his earmuffs to block the noise and rode it over and over again. The earmuffs not only helped with the ride but worked real well when the tractor pull started. I recall all too well how he freaked out the last time we came to this fair and the tractors started up without any mufflers.

Liam had a great time at the fair. Liam's mother let him chose where to spend the night so he spent it with me and I took him back to his mother in the morning.

Spider-Man

2007-08-27T12:50:00.000-04:00

Aug 10th - I was in town and Liam's mother let us spend a couple hours together. We visited some friends and Liam got to fly like Spider-Man. He stuck out his fingers and said he was flinging webs at us. Liam was also able to play Spider-Man 3 again.

Farm, Spiderman, and Camping

2007-08-25T21:52:00.000-04:00

When I dropped Liam off after our 3 week summer vacation he gave his mother a hug then ran back to the car and begged me to pick him up again real soon. So I traded days with his mother and was able to spend time with him again on Aug 5th & 6th.

We went to visit some friends, and Liam got to play Spiderman 3 again on their Wii.

During our summer trip to Michigan, after one year of faithful service, Liam's inflatable sword developed a leak. Here he is trying out the new foam sword I got him for his birthday.

Camping with friends and Liam being silly with a Blueberry bagel.

We also visited Frying Pan Park Farm again. It was really really hot but Liam still enjoyed seeing the animals. As usual he spent quite a while watching the chickens.

One of the goats wanted to chew on his shorts which Liam found amusing. Just as last time he tried to free the rabbits.

Liam also got to watch a goat being milked.

Summer Vacation In Michigan

2007-08-05T16:17:00.000-04:00

For our summer vacation Liam and I were able to spend 3 weeks together (July 7th-31st). I picked Liam up outside Pittsburgh, PA. On the way to Michigan we stopped at East Harbor State Park in Ohio on the Lake Erie shore. It was so hot the first thing we did was go swimming in lake Erie. We didn't put up the tent until after 10pm. By 8am it was already hot so we went swimming again before leaving.

Once we got to Michigan Liam enjoyed playing with his cousins from 4 different families. He got to go swimming with them, jump on the trampoline with them, play croquet, etc. Liam made mud pies with cousin Sam. We also went to watch some movies at the Grace A. Dow Library, Harry Potter & Charlotte's Web. We also attended the Harry Potter event at the library with cousins.

Liam was able to play his favorite video game, Nanosaur, with his cousins. He also got to play Wii with them and did pretty well with the bowling game getting 3 strikes in a row with a score of 188 (while wearing his shirt inside out and backwards).

Liam enjoyed playing the guitar at uncle Lee's house, he even got to play along with uncle lee.

Liam got to go camping with his cousins. We went camping with Lee's family at Tawas Point State Park. They had a motorhome so we showed them we had a motorhome too - although we couldn't go very fast or the tent would blow off the car. Lee's family camps in style, and actually cooked something other than hot dogs (although that is all Liam would eat). Liam liked camping with electricity as he could just take the laptop into the tent to play Nanosuar and watch DVDs.

At the state park we went swimming (3 times), saw freighters on Lake Huron, went fishing, and even climbed to the top of the lighthouse. The campground also had two playgrounds. Liam finally got to use his can of Silly String on his cousins.

Back in Midland, we also visited the Chippewa Nature Center, specifically the Homestead Farm to see the pigs and chickens. Of course once wasn't enough for Liam so its was nice that its so close to Grandma's home. Grandma's house also had wild Turkeys in the yard.

We made good use of Grandma's field. Liam got to drive the go-kart and also had wagon rides on 5 different days. He even got to go on a wagon ride with cousin Grant driving and ride with cousin Ashley.

We went with Grandma to the Auburn Cornfest and saw the parade and then Liam got to ride the rides and eat cotton candy. His favorite ride was the Mystery Mansion, thankfully I had bought him a wrist band so he could ride as many times as he wanted.

In addition to spending time with family we also visited old friends including Raleigh Wert from whom Liam gets his middle name, and the Schmidts

We also celebrated Liam's 10th birthday on our trip. He was so excited he kept holding up all 10 fingers to show how old he was. We went to McDonald's for breakfast and later had cake, ice-cream, and presents with family.

Liam really liked swimming in the river in front of Grandma's house. He found lots of shells. Later we also floated on a raft downstream to the Nature Center. It took a while to convince Liam that the river was moving us and that it wasn't me rowing. The river was so shallow this year that I had to get out a couple times and pull the raft.

We also went to a minor league baseball game and watched the Great Lake Loons play at the new Dow Diamond. It was a nice new stadium and also had a playground past first base where Liam enjoyed playing while I could still watch the game. Liam got his photo taken with Lou E Loon.

Liam asked several times where Grampa Smith was. He didn't understand the answer 'six feet under' so I showed him Grampa's grave. He observed the headstone for a while then the dread pirate Liam chased grandma around the graveyard. We also went bowling with Grandma.

Liam and I enjoyed the activities but the best part of our trip was just being able to be together for a couple weeks.

Kidwell Farm, Camping, Dinosaur Bones

2007-06-23T13:27:00.000-04:00

This weekend (June 16/17) Liam and I first went to see the animals at Kidwell Farm. Liam is always excited to see the animals.

He spent a while looking at the pigs and goats then went in a pen himself and pretended to be a pig.

This was the first time we saw the farmhouse open so we went in to see it. Of course Liam thought the guide was the farmer. After the farmhouse we looked at the rabbits and Liam tried to free the rabbits. He got both locks open but fortunately the rabbits were not interested in escaping.

As usual he stopped to crow at the chickens, then on to some cow watching and finally stopped to name all the sheep.

Next we went camping at the Prince William Forest Park. It had a pretty good wooded campsite and most sites were empty which was great.

Liam played with his dinosaurs and as usual threw them all over the place. Fortunately I was able to find them all again.

We managed to find enough branches for a fire to roast the hot dogs.

At night the park showed a movie in the amphitheater - the Journey of Natty Gann. Liam didn't follow the plot but he did enjoy seeing the wolf, he was upset when it got caught. He also was interested in watching the light from the projector above our heads.

On Fathers-Day we went down to Capitol Hill and met some friends.

Security must have been lax as the Dread Pirate Liam managed to sneak his sword past the guards.

After a while there we went to Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History to see the Dinosaur Bones.

After the museum Liam had a great time chasing the birds on the National Mall.

Camping & Swimming

2007-06-14T15:57:00.000-04:00

Liam must have had fun on our last camping trip because this weekend he asked to go camping at the same location as last time. He also wanted the light sticks and Silly String again.

When we stopped to buy those he spied a Chuck E Cheese's and talked me into letting him play for a while.

I didn't find the multi-colored light sticks but even an orange one was fun to play with.

In the morning Liam had fun playing with his dinosaurs 'Danny' and 'George'.

Later we went swimming with some friends. It had a playground next to it.

Liam also got to play some video games before heading back to camp.

The next morning we roasted hot dogs for breakfast. Then a little movie watching, cow watching followed by wading in the Passage Creek. As usual Liam enjoyed playing in the mud.

Later Liam enjoyed playing on the slip & slide with Hunter.

Liam was still enjoying the pirate theme this weekend. Including watching Scooby Doo Pirates Ahoy while I packed up the tent, then again while waiting for the slip & slide.

Memorial Day Weekend - Camping & Canoeing

2007-06-02T20:56:00.000-04:00

Last time I was with Liam, just as I finished tucking him into bed, he asked to go camping. I told him it was too late that night but promised to take him camping next time. We were scheduled to go camping on the 19th but his mother wanted to switch dates so we ended up going on Memorial Day Weekend.

We stopped by to visit some friends first and Liam had fun chasing me around with water balloons. After that we headed out to find a campsite. We headed out towards Elizabeth Furnace hoping that would be far enough out to find an empty campsite. Not only were all the campsites taken but the campground was full, cars and kids everywhere. It was enough of a zoo I was glad it was full so I didn't have to stay there.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who wasn't happy with the mountains being invaded by hordes of people. Liam and I saw a black bear running away from the mountains. We also saw several deer, a rabbit, beaver, and a "PeeYew" skunk.

Liam and I checked some other campgrounds but all were full - including some places that weren't campgrounds. There seemed to be some event going on with people running/biking over the mountain. Liam is such a sweet boy he happily offered to sleep in the car. However the forest service allows camping outside of campgrounds and I had good maps so we finally located a great spot to camp.

In the morning we went down to Passage Creek and Liam enjoyed throwing rocks and wading. We also took a short walk to the Elizabeth Furnace. We had been to the creek and furnace several years before.

I brought some new toys for Liam to play with. He had a great time with the silly string. He often points out 'clues' he finds on our trips so I brought him a detective kit and he bagged some clues and went over the suspect list repeatedly. He was quite cute discussing the clues. I'm not sure what the crime was but his analysis of the clues always pointed to the phone company employee.

In spite of the toys I brought for him Liam thought the best 'toy' was the voice recorder. He just loves to hear his own voice. I let him play with it and he recorded over 100 messages, most of which had something to do with him shouting how much his dad loved him. He did have one recording about him loving his mother so thats good too.

As always we had a campfire, roasted hot dogs and set marshmallows on fire. On the second night we had a thunderstorm. Part of having a happy camper is knowing what to pack. I brought a laptop and Liam's favorite movies so while it rained Liam happily sat in the car and watched movies.

The second night I gave Liam some glow sticks to play with. He enjoyed them but a little too much. He usually goes to sleep right away but this time he was up playing with them late into the night.

The next day we went canoeing at C. M. Crockett Park. Liam eagerly looked for alligators but all we saw was turtles. After I told him there were no alligators in Virginia, he switched to looking for zombies (as in Scooby Doo Zombie Island). It was very hot and humid but we had fun, although it was nice to get back to the air-conditioned car.

Zebra Slobber On The Pirate Ship

2007-05-10T12:01:00.000-04:00

Last weekend Liam came down to Dublin to visit me. I usually go outside to get him from his mother's car but today he was too excited to wait and was knocking on the door anxious to see me. It always makes me feel good that he wants to spend time with me.

Liam spent a lot of time this weekend playing with his cousin Garrett. Liam has taken an interest in pirates. He likes to act out scenes from Scooby Doo Pirates Ahoy. He got out his pirate hats and swords and had Garrett and I join in. He kept this theme up when it was time for me to drive him back to his mother's. He called our car a Pirate Ship and insisted we wear our pirate hats and swords, along with the movie for him to watch in the car.

On the way north we stopped at Virginia Safari Park so he could see the animals. Liam got to see and feed many animals including Camels, llamas, deer, Bison, Zebra, Giraffe, etc. Zebras were on the list of animals not to feed but that didn't stop them from asking. One Zebra took up to licking the window of the car. Liam had a great time. One hundred miles down the road he pointed out the germs the Zebra left on the window of our 'pirate ship'.

When I dropped off the Dread Pirate Liam he referred to his mother as 'Captain Mom' just like he calls me 'Captain Dad'. We had a good weekend, but as always its sad to leave him. It did make me feel better that he asked to see me again the next day even if it isn't going to happen.

On the drive home, alone, the car is no longer a pirate ship. I don't have to wear a pirate hat or pretend the rubber 'chicken' is driving. I even get to listen to the music I want. Yet without the Dread Pirate Liam on board the scenery has changed. All the exciting detours that called out to us on the drive up are now silent. The zoos, the campgrounds, the scenic roads, that sounded so much fun that we wished we had time to see them all, no longer seem worth stopping for. The drive up with Liam is an adventure, the drive home, without him, is nothing more than a long boring drive in a car full of toys but no child to play with them.

Farm, Camp, Canoe

2007-04-23T17:03:00.000-04:00

In spite of the court order not being entered on Friday, Liam's mother still let him spend some time with me this weekend. I took Liam to the Farm Baby Day at Kidwell Farm. He always enjoys seeing the animals but today they had the babies on display - baby goats, baby pigs, baby sheep. Liam got a chance to pet many of them. He ran around making animal sounds.

Afterwards we went camping at Pohick Bay. As always we had a campfire, roasted hot dogs, then set marshmallows on fire. This time Liam took a bite out of the marshmallows before we set them on fire. He still won't eat roasted marshmallows but insists on 'roasting' them all the same.

It was one of the nosiest campgrounds we have ever been too. First it was the baby at the next campsite crying, then loud trucks/campers, people partying. After the people finally shut up then the wildlife took over with something hopping thru the leaves, owls hooting at each other and woodpeckers pecking in the morning. Fortunately Liam is a good sleeper so none of that was a problem for him.

In the morning we read books and Liam sang 'Down By The Bay" to me. It was both cute and showed he had a good memory as he recalled that we were close to a bay even though we hadn't seen it yet. We had breakfast at McDonalds then went down to the bay and went canoing. It was a beautiful sunny and hot day. A great day to be out on the water. Liam picked me a bouquet of pretty yellow flowers (dandelions). After a little too much sun we got too hot we went to a library to read about dinosaurs before taking him back to his mother's.

Virginia Tech Tragedy

2007-04-23T13:48:00.000-04:00

I live less than 20 miles from the Virginia Tech campus. One week ago I was at the New River Valley Community College and noticed people standing around the TVs. The last time I saw people congregate around TVs like that was on 9/11.

Watching the local news coverage was a surreal experience:

Surprise at shooting in our quiet part of the world.
Reports of a few students dead and injured.
Our local reporters who cover the small time things that count as "news" here covering an actual news story.
The worried looks on the faces of students and staff who likely have friends and family at VT.
The body count climbs and the faces I see look even more concerned. I don't personally know anyone on the VT campus today but its obvious several watching do and are wondering if they will see them again. After my experience in court wondering if I'd ever be allowed to see my son again, I find the look on their faces painful.
Overhearing cell phone calls trying to locate people.
The police on TV reports a "ball park estimate" of bodies. I'm not sure if its the higher number or the term "ball park estimate" that upsets people the most.
A young woman who from time to time comes back to check the news with tears running down her face then quickly leaves again.
A nurse who walks by and tells us what some of the victims at the hospital are saying.
By the time the body count hits 30, very few people are around watching the news anymore. The NRV campus here is quiet.
When I worked at the hotel in Christiansburg I met many VT students and their parents. Now I wonder if any students I've met have been killed and if so how their parents must feel.
Our local small time reporters are talking on camera to the most recognized news anchors in the nation, a huge change from their 'nothing happened today' newscasts.
Our local news being covered by all the major media outlets. Even the cold windy day I was experiencing was mentioned on national TV.
Disappointment with the national media, looking to blame someone before we even know who the victims are. There will be plenty of time for the blame game later, their questions about blame seem so insensitive I'm pleased that the next press conference does not take questions.

On Friday I had to drive to Manassas (250 miles away) for court and was surprised to see the Tech colors of Maroon and Orange displayed at James Madison University. At the courthouse I saw many people wearing Maroon and Orange ribbons. One young man was wearing a dark suit with a Maroon shirt and Orange tie. Last week one might have laughed at his color choices but not today. Today Maroon and Orange was all the rage. I ate lunch at Subway where they had a large Maroon and Orange ribbon at the end of the line. I looked up to see 6 employees all wearing Maroon and Orange ribbons, serving food to customers many of whom were wearing ribbons or Virginia Tech shirts and hats. Cars drove by with small VT flags blowing in the breeze. I haven't seen this much VT stuff since their last football game.

Sunday night I headed back home. 180 miles out VDOT had signs up welcoming the VT students back - classes start again tomorrow which explains the extra traffic. I even met some returning Tech students when I stopped to eat. Between the mountains among the green fields I see a lone VT flag in middle of nowhere. And once again the VT colors at JMU are displayed for the returning students.

Today I'm sitting in the same place I was a week ago. Maroon and Orange clothing has largely changed to black. The TV is off, I hear a professor lecturing and laughter from students in the hallway. Life seems to have somewhat returned to normal but one thing has definitely changed. Instead of telling people I live 40 miles south of Roanoke, as if they would know where Roanoke is, I'll just tell people I live 20 miles southeast of Virginia Tech, they will no doubt have heard of it.

Spring Break In Florida

2007-04-19T14:45:00.000-04:00

By court order Liam and I were able to spend spring break together. We drove to Florida to spend the week with my mother. I told Liam that after we got to grandma's house we would go to the beach. Liam travels very well in the car and never asks "are we there yet". This time however he asked about the beach several times before we were out of Virginia. By North Carolina his comments about the beach were more frequent in spite of my telling him we wouldn't see the beach until the next day. In South Carolina he assured me that he could smell the beach. In Georgia he not only claimed he could smell it but every few minutes would ask which direction the beach was. Although still pleasant and happy he was quite focused on the beach so I took a look at the map for the shortest distance between I-95 and the ocean. We ended up stopping at Jekyll Island Georgia. Liam had a great time swimming in the waves and he was content the rest of the trip.

We had a good time visiting grandma. We went bowling, swimming in the pool, drove her golf cart, etc. Grandma 'hid' Easter Eggs for Liam to find. She even let him dye some eggs.

The highlight (to Liam) was a trip to Dinosaur World. He was excited and ran all over the place to look at the statutes of Dinosaurs.

Dinosaur World turned out to be fairly close to the beach on the Gulf side of Florida so afterwards we tried to drive to the beach so Liam could swim again. Traffic impeded my planned route so I just took a left turn on an empty road and we ended up at swimming at North Beach on Fort De Soto Island which was voted "America's #1 Beach". Liam enjoyed swimming in the waves and getting buried in the sand. We even got to see dolphins from the pier.

Liam enjoys county fairs and he doesn't understand that fairs come only in the summer when school is out. So he was pleased to see the Lake County Fair opened in April. He got to see animals and go on rides. Liam had fun, but now I'm going to have an even harder time explaining summer only fairs.

Liam loves camping so we also spent a night camping and swimming at Juniper Spring. Liam likes to take his plastic fish swimming in pools and Dory came back to camp with us but Nemo was not to be found. Given the spring puts out 750,000 gallons of water every hour I figured Nemo floated away downstream and was lost but the next morning Liam claimed he could see Nemo at the bottom of the spring.

On the way home Liam got one more chance to stop at the beach. We stopped at Daytona Beach for swimming and seagull chasing before continuing on home.

Starting To Blog?

2007-04-19T14:31:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to add a blog to my website liamsdad.org to let people know what Liam and I are up to. Yet April has arrived without any of the blogging I was planning to start in Janurary. So instead of doing blogging on my own website I guess I'll start here on blogspot.com and see if that easy enough to get me to actually make some posts.