Watoga Part 6: Saturday Night is All Right!

So, WOW, can you believe I started this post...  months ago and forgot about it?! 

I figure I had placed the photos in here and thought I'd get back to filling in the details...  oops!  Well, thank goodness I captioned the photos way back when.  So, here are MORE photos of WATOGA!!  Funny, how this all came back right as we were discussing the next epic family cabin adventure.  (This time with HEAT... and perhaps a hot tub?!?! or at least a good shower.) 

ENJOY!

Roasting marshmallows is FUN!

Zoey and Bunny Bunny.  (Update: She now, months later, calls him "Bunny Bun Bun")

Yummy marshmallows!

Tracy knitting.



The sheet we were going to watch old slides on... but the projector didn't work...or we forgot them or something...

I'm pretty sure this was a breakfast picture, but I hadn't added it yet.  Aren't they adorable?!  :) 

This - worst picture in history contender - is simply entitled "me fooling."  Keith was checking out my camera and we were messing with exposure times/whatnot and moving around like mad fools. 

Watoga One, Two, Three, Four, Five.

Watoga Part 4: Lunch at The Pretty Penny

For our first full day on the adventure, we had eaten breakfast and now (in usual family form) were preparing for lunch.  We decided to venture out into the world around us and find a fun restaurant.  And, boy, we did!  The Pretty Penny.

Our crew (I'm taking the picture)

We took the advice of a man we met at the park headquarters.  Evidently he and his wife stay at Watoga quite a bit.  He recommended the restaurant and told us that the woman that ran it also did the Park restaurant - when it was in season.  (This man is also the reason we learned to order kindling! Ah, yes!  Good call.)

The restaurant was one of the only things in the town - or so it seemed.  It was owned and operated by a lady that focused on fresh, local products.  The food was unique and tasty.  Keith ordered the bbq sandwich, I think?!  They boasted to having the best anywhere.  He agreed. Not being a barbecue fan, I'll take his word for it. 

I can't remember exactly what I ate.  It had goat cheese and chicken on it and was tasty!  The sandwich breads were made there too.  Yummmmy!

The building was a general store at one point, I believe.  There was also a small stage complete with upright piano!

 The front of the building was full of windows.  It was really cool.  The light was lovely.  I think these are some of my favorite photos - simply because of the clarity.  ah, natural light.  :)

Keith

Tracy.

Mama.

 After our leisurely lunch, we decided to walk a bit and see what we could find.  Right next door to The Pretty Penny was a little antique place that had...  Fiesta!

Yes, I found some Fiesta to bring home.  (And later on, my sweet sister picked up some MORE mugs at the outlet on her way home - since when Mom and I drove by it, it was closed.) 

I also picked up some old blue glass bottles for my bathroom.  Milk of Magnesia, I believe - though the labels were gone.  One still had a rusty metal lid and dried stuff inside. 

Cousins, knit hats, and a bench!

the side of The Pretty Penny - just for fun

From this point on...  we decided to drive on to Lewisburg.....

Watoga Part 3: Pancakes on McNickle and a walk.

Cabin #7.  (It is actually much bigger than it looks!)

 I believe it has been long enough since I sat down to update the ol' blog... well, that I can't remember much detail now!  ha!  No, seriously, I made an outline of what happened and which pictures to use the first night I started this whole Watoga saga.  Now, I have lost it.  (Outline?  What?  Yep, I am an English teacher's kid and I'm a geek, yo.)  So, I'll settle my future-me brain to remember via pretty pictures.  :)

 After the first night of me waking up every single hour to put more logs on the fire, we all got up to eat a yummy breakfast!  Tracy brought home made pancake batter and cooked it up on cast iron.  We also had bacon! And coffee (using bottled water to try to change the taste this time...  no luck, must've been the coffee pot.)  And toast from the Bakery!  weeee.  And cereal, just in case.

Zoey likes pancakes.  nom. nom. nom.

So does Aunt Tracy...  I kept the photo of her shoving a fork-full into her mouth off of the web. thankyouverymuch. ;)

The two pictures here on the left are specifically for Mom and Barbara.  Mom just loved that we ate on McNickle China and kept saying how much Barbara would like it too.  So I took some snaps of the dishes.  They have the WV state seal on the top and various outdoor/animal scenes on them.  Pretty cool. 


After brekky-poo, Mom hung out at the cabin and the rest of us walked up to the lodge.  We needed some activity and to call John.  We had decided not to leave Dad at Watoga and needed to tell him he didn't have to  drive the 5 hours to get there.  We did miss him (especially now that he's not in any of the pictures of our fun family outing), but it was best because Mom, Z, and I ended up leaving on Sunday anyway. 

Me calling John on the pay phone.  It was a bit gross... and I was a bit peeved that it was the only source of communication (beside smoke signals, I assume).  It worked.  **Keith, you never did tell me how much it cost?!  Hope it wasn't $10/minute!  eek!

 Our walk was pleasant.  Zoey walked part of the way, ran part of the way, and was carried most of the way.  Too bad she refused to let anyone else carry her.  Everyone offered... she made me do it. Oh well, we had fun.  It was just one of those moments where I wished I had a toddler backpack or Ergo or something! Even my old-school Moby knock-off - although I don't know if it would have fit her nowadays.  (If I actually hiked in my real life, I'd consider buying one for a big kid.) 

The CCC worker statue.  Reminds me a bit of Grandpa Buss. 

We took many pictures on our little walk to the lodge.  Delia took some too (while I carried Zoey).

The happy hiking couple.

Cousins playing at the lodge.  Leaves are FUN!

Mom drove up and "rescued" some of us...  from a walk back to the cabin.  :)

Poor Tracy forgot her "Very Important Parks Person" pass to get stamped.  I felt bad - espcially since I doubt we'll ever go back.  But who knows?!  Now that we know how to get there - it wouldn't be bad.  (**Knocking out Mom for the drive... however.**)

We did have a most wonderful morning...  just hanging out.  Cooking.  Setting off the smoke detector...  oh wait, I didn't mention that?!  :)   After the walk, we decided to look for lunch in town... 

**This is where you see the screen fade to black and "...to be continued."  flash across.  :) 

Memorial Day at Sun Valley, Part One

Bubble Time!  (I also love this photo because you can see the shed and other various parts of the yard in the bubble!)

I'm very behind updating the goings on here at the Manor...  So, here's a bit of our trip to Sun Valley for the Memorial Day holiday. 

 Delia and Zoey played all day long together.  First in the sprinkler, then with bubbles!  (The bubble pictures loaded first... so you get those first!)

We also enjoyed a tasty cookout!  The watermelon was especially yummy!  And Zoey enjoyed her first hand-sized hunk on the rind.  (Just like we used to eat it.)

My sun-shiney beauty babe!  :)

Yummy!

Zoey loves her cousin Delia so much!  If you click on this picture, you'll be able to blow it up and see the BIG smile on Z's face.  She smiled at Dee all day long... They had so much fun!  We all did. 

More to come about this day.  ...Just some quirky photos and other fun.  :)   

**Some of these pictures don't look so great when they are this tiny... feel free to blow them up to see the faces.  I suppose I could crop them some more... but I'm tired.  HA!  xoxo

Dad's 64th Birthday Celebration!

My Dad turned 64 on Monday.  Sunday afternoon we all gathered to celebrate our favorite guy!  My Dad loves white chocolate most anything...  my plan was to make white choco fudge.  I thought it would be sweet, but still easy to eat.  Tracy told me it probably wouldn't turn out very well if the chips I bought weren't made with real coco butter.  (She's the master baker. I'll take her word - without question.)  They weren't much more than sugar....  so rather than making a mess of it, I simply made a GIANT white choco chip cookie.  Delia helped me decorate it.  It was uber super sweet, but still tasty.  :) 

Delia, Grandpa, Zoey and Grandma

Delia blowing snow!

 In the afternoon, Zoey and Delia went out to play in the snow!  They are so cute.  Delia is such a wonderful big cousin.  I was a bit worried a year ago or so...  Zoey just wanted to be with her every second and (at that time) Delia just wanted to read.  It was hard.  NOW...  Zoey still wants to be with her every second and Delia is very nice and plays with her.  They are the cutest things!! 

HUG!!

Getting ready to venture outside.  SO stinkin' cute!

Zoey has taken to giving the "thumbs up" lately.  She was all about it this weekend!!  Everyone played along!

Delia putting some finishing touches on the cookie.  (Baked on Fiestaware, of course!!)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!  We love you so very much!! :)