Focht Family Blog

Nathan had work to do in Portsmouth so we found a commuter lot and parked for the day. Now the fun of the day was it took me 2 hours to figure out what town we were in so we could decide what to do for a field trip. I was convinced we were in Norfolk so I was ready to walk to the zoo. Thankfully we figured it out before we started walking the streets aimlessly. :)

So… we found a fun Children’s Museum in Portsmouth. My absolute favorite was the bubble room. I could have spent the whole day there. They had these mats you stepped onto where you could pull a rope quickly and a bubble came up around you and you were literally standing inside a bubble. It blew my mind. Also, their bubble stuff was amazing and blew HUGE bubbles. The lady there told us that they used 1 cup Joy to 1 gallon of WARM water. Apparently the water temperature is the trick.

There were also stations full of trains, legos, places where you could test your balance and stretching abilities, learn about science and pollution and vibrations. It was a very cool place and I would highly recommend it to anyone with kids traveling in the area. Almost the whole place was interactive which made it a great day for the kids. Unfortunately I forgot my camera so you don’t get to see me and all of the kids in giant bubbles. :)

I wish I had more pictures for this post but unfortunately, the chocolate factory and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did not allow pictures. So… we left Indiana on Tuesday morning and took the tour at DeBrand Chocolates. Here is the front of the building.

Once inside they show you a video of how the company got started and tell you about how they ship their orders from their catalog. Next they take you into a hallway that has multiple windows looking into the kitchens. The first stop was the kitchen that made the fillings. They then hand out samples of some of the fillings (think sugar overload). There was a soft caramel, fresh raspberry, dark chocolate truffle (my favorite), and a passion fruit filling that goes into one of their specialty chocolates. The next window showed some of the chocolates they make for special occasions and shows. They handed out samples of two of their unique flavored specialty candies. One was a dark chocolate ganache covered in dark chocolate accented with real gold (so dark it was slightly bitter). The next one was a chai flavored dark chocolate (I was on chocolate overload at this point so I didn’t taste it). The final tasting was of their low fat raspberry ice cream. I ended up with three spoons of it because the kids didn’t like theirs. At the end they show you where they package all of the finished products. You then get a choice of a finished dark chocolate raspberry or a chocolate covered pretzel. They then put you out into their shop where you can turn your tickets in for $5 off. Needless to say I spent LOTS of money.

We then left Indiana and headed for Ohio to meet up with Nathan’s parents near Cleveland. They had our niece Alex in their RV so the girls could spend some time together. We arrived ahead of Nathan’s parents and had our camp set up by the time they arrived. The girls had fun playing together and Samantha and Timmy spent the night at Grandma and Poppa’s (mom and I enjoyed having more room in our beds). The next morning we left around 11:00 to drive to Cleveland to meet Nathan’s sister Vicki and her husband Jim to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. We stopped and had lunch at Olive Garden (Samantha’s birthday choice) because Vicki was running behind. Samantha loved her lunch and loved having everyone sing to her. We had to park separate from everyone else since we were oversized so this is when we finally met up with Vicki.

Sorry the picture was dark… anyways in the Hall of Fame there were lots of opportunities to listen to music on headphones and they had many outfits from different singers on display. I wanted to take a picture of the kids dancing with headphones on but no photography was allowed. Definitely for a select viewing audience but I guess at least we can say that we were there and the kids have key-chains from there. I am trying to buy the kids something little from everywhere we go so at the end of our travels they will each have a trinket box.

We then went back to camp and had dinner. After dinner we took out Samantha’s birthday cake (strawberry) and sat around the table and had cake and opened presents. She got a Nintendo DS (her first game system) and received two games, Dogz and Ratatouille. She is busy playing as I type.

We are headed to Lexington, KY for the night and then on to Atlanta Friday…..

Saturday we took the kids to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum before heading out of town. This was a 5 story museum that had interactive parts throughout. One of the first spots the kids stopped at was an area where you can see how people make models of dinosaurs. They had a station where clay was set out and had examples for you to try to copy. Here is Nathan sitting with Josh helping him, Samantha and Timmy and  Samantha’s finished project.

Next was a station where they could draw over a skeleton of a dinosaur and also an area where you can run crayons over an impression of leaves or dinosaurs. Here is Timmy’s finished drawing, Josh making his abstract work and Grandma Patti’s crayon work.

Here is a picture of the kids playing in a dinosaur nest with the baby dinosaurs.

Next we went through a mummy exhibit where there was a real mummy on display and lots of information on how mummies are made, a few of those tidbits were a bit gross. Then they showed how they took the x-rays and developed how they think their mummy would have looked when she was alive. At the end there are some blocks where the kids can build her town. Here are the kids creating her town.

Down on the lower level of the museum they have a dinosphere where you step back into time where they have skeletons of dinosaurs and information on how they lived. Among the interactive places for the kids in this area there was an area where they can pretend to dig up dinosaur bones. They get to put on eye gear and take brushes and picks into the pit to find the bones. They also had an area where they can dress like dinosaurs and take care of the eggs in the nest.

We then drove to a place called Amishville (Amishville.com) to camp for a few days near Fort Wayne. We will be taking a tour at the Fleetwood plant tomorrow afternoon and a tour at a chocolate factory on Tuesday morning before heading to Cleveland to meet up with Nathan’s parents. Stay tuned…..

We left on our first big trip in mom’s little RV. We were supposed to leave on Saturday but we ended up leaving on Friday. We drove to Asheville, NC the first night and spent the night at a Walmart parking lot. Saturday we made good time and stopped in Troy, OH and said hi to my second cousin, Jackie and my great-aunt Catherine. They were a bit surprised to see us. I forgot to take pictures. Saturday night we arrived at Pla-Mor Campground in Nappanee, IN. Here is our campsite.

On Sunday we drove around town to get our bearings so we wouldn’t get lost on Monday. We also stopped at Amish Acres. This was an old Amish Farm that someone bought and has turned it into an educational experience to teach about the Amish way of life. Here are a few pictures from that day.

Monday morning we toured Monaco to see how they made their RVs. Monday afternoon we toured Newmar and fell in love with the company and their employees. We decided we were definitely getting a Newmar. We have chosen a Newmar All Star 3950. It has a two-story loft bedroom area in the back so the kids will have their space and we will still have ours. We have already built the coach on paper so now we just have to get home and hopefully we can order it. Build time is 6-8 weeks.

Tuesday we drove to a chocolate factory but due to a connectivity issue for Nathan we didn’t stay for the tour. We did buy some chocolate though. Mom and I took the kids to a mall near Notre Dame and had lunch and then found a play area for the kids while Nathan worked in quiet. Tuesday night we arrived at a campground near Indianapolis at a site that is on the White River. We actually look right out the back at the river. Wednesday Nathan had work in Indianapolis and we just had a down day at the campground. Ran some errands and did some laundry (much needed). Thursday mom and I took the kids to the Indianapolis Zoo. It was a wonderful zoo. Here are a few of my favorites from the day.

Tomorrow we are going to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. So stay tuned for more pictures.